Growing in Grace now at www.growingingrace.org!

We've moved to www.growingingrace.org!

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Brueseke) — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 13:00:00 +0000

This is the final post on this site, since we've moved! The podcast continues, and you will now find us at www.growingingrace.org. It's the same Growing in Grace program - just a new, easier to remember web address to type into your browser and share with friends!

The permanent feed for Growing in Grace is http://feeds.feedburner.com/GrowingInGrace.

Highlights of Past Programs

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Brueseke) — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 13:00:00 +0000

Due to the Christmas holiday this weekend, there is no new program this week but we invite you to check out some of our past episodes if you'd like. As a suggestion, here's a link to three "highlights" programs that we put together about a year and a half ago to help celebrate our 200th episode. This link goes to the first highlights program, and you'll find the second two programs there as well.

Growing in Grace Special Celebration Edition - Highlights

We hope you had a very wonderful Christmas, and we look forward to growing in grace with you in the new year, with brand new programs beginning next week.

271. Continuously Reminding Ourselves of Who We Are

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Brueseke) — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 13:00:00 +0000

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Peter mentions some of the qualities of the new nature that we've become partakers of, such as knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness and brotherly kindness, etc, and says that the person who lacks these things has forgotten that he has already been cleansed (past tense) from his past sins. When we do things that don't line up with our new nature/new identity, it doesn't change who we are, but perhaps we have simpy forgotten who we are, or not appropriated the truth of who we are.

One of the overall purposes of our Growing in Grace programs is to provide constant reminders of who we already are in Christ, which will hopefully help people to grow in their knowledge of their identity and nature and in walking in it more and more steadily.

Here's this week's short GIG-Bite, a quick sample of this week's program.

This week we joked around about the special "Growing in Grace Coffee Mug" created by our friend Leonard. Here's a pic of it. :)

Check out the original post that inspired the mug (read through the comments on the link). "Brother Slick" is Joel's alter ego. :)

Identity Reformation - Living Our New Nature (new FB page)

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Brueseke) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 18:00:00 +0000

Here's something I think will be a great resource for many Growing in Grace listeners.

My friend Jim Robbins has started a new page on Facebook called Identity Reformation - Living Our New Nature. In Jim's words, he created the page "to showcase authors/bloggers/publishers who support the good and noble heart message." I think the page is destined to be a great resource as it will feature all kinds of new-heart / new-identity / grace-based writings, links, blogs, videos, etc, from various people. So far the contributors to the page include me, Jim Robbins, Gary Barkalow, Kevin Miles, Bob Regnerus, Matt Gillogly and Andrew Farley.

If you're on Facebook, go to the link and "Like" the page, and then postings to the page will show up on your FB wall. If you're not on Facebook, WHY NOT?? Haha!!

270. Stop Trying to Produce Fruit

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Brueseke) — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 13:00:00 +0000

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Jesus said, "Apart from Me you can do nothing." He didn't leave it up to us to produce godly fruit, but rather He said that whoever abides in Him will bear fruit. The beautiful thing is that we don't produce this fruit! Rather, God produces it in and through us, and we simply bear the fruit.

If it was up to us, we'd fall flat on our faces! So instead of trying to produce all these wonderful things in the Christian life, our "job" is to rest in Christ and to allow His life to flow in and through us instead of trying to do all the work.

Here's this week's short GIG-Bite, a quick sample of this week's program.

269. The Foundation of What God Has Already Given Us

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Brueseke) — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 13:00:00 +0000

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The Apostle Peter says that God's divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. This is the key - the foundation - to the living out of our lives in Christ. Without living from the foundation that God has already supplied us with everything, many try to live their Christian lives from their own strength and efforts.

Peter talks about "adding" to our faith things such as virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love. Are these things that we can come up with on our own? This week we talk about how these things are already a part of who we are in Christ. They are already supplied to us, as they are part of the very nature of God that is in us. We're "partakers of the divine nature," not because we struggle and strive to produce any of these things on our own, but because God has already supplied us with these things.

Here's this week's short GIG-Bite, a quick sample of this week's program.

268. God Has Already Given Us All Things

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Brueseke) — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 13:00:00 +0000

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Do you find yourself hungering and thirsting for God and His righteousness? Do you find yourself pursuing or attempting to live a life of righteousness and godliness, but keep coming up short? In this week's program we talk about how God has said that those who come to Him will never hunger or thirst again and how He already given us all things that pertain to life, godliness, righteousness, etc. It seems that many Christians live their lives trying to attain to things that they have actually already been freely given! We hope the perspective we share about these things will help to lighten your load a bit in your walk with God.

Here's this week's short GIG-Bite, a quick sample of this week's program.

267. Why We Gave Up Trying to Be Like Jesus

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Brueseke) — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 13:00:00 +0000

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Do you think it's the Christian's job to try to be more like Jesus? Should that be our goal? Well, this may be a different perspective than you've previously heard, but we're here to say that we gave up trying to be like Jesus! Why? It has to do with the difference between self-effort/performance-based Christianity and resting in Christ/living out of who He has already made us to be. Find out more by listening to this week's edition of Growing in Grace!

Here's this week's short GIG-Bite, a quick sample of this week's program.

266. The Armor of God Is a Part of Who We Are

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Brueseke) — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 13:00:00 +0000

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Continuing from last week in our talk about God's strength in us, we get a little deeper into the words and the imagery that Paul uses in Ephesians 6 to describe "the whole armor of God." We discuss how all the things Paul mentions are really the gifts and workings of God that we simply walk in, and are really a part of who we are in Christ. Perhaps the biggest battle that the Christian faces has nothing to do with "fighting spiritual battles," but rather has to do with understanding the reality of their true identity in Christ!

Here's this week's short GIG-Bite, a quick sample of this week's program.

265. God's Strength in You

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Brueseke) — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 13:00:00 +0000

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"Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might." This is how Paul begins a small section of an epistle in which he writes about the "whole armor of God." We'll take a bit of time this week and next week talking about this. What does it mean to be strong in the Lord? Do we need to muster up a certain amount of spiritual strength and might so we can go out and do great battles for the Lord? Or do we simply rest in His strength that He has freely given us, and walk in that?

Here's this week's short GIG-Bite, a quick sample of this week's program.

264. There Is No Record Against You

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Brueseke) — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 12:00:00 +0000

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Talking this week about the good news of the fact that God is not counting your sins against you! The Bible calls it "the ministry of reconciliation." God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their sins against them. Guess what? There is no record against you! You're free from guilt and condemnation!

Here's this week's quick GIG-Bite, a quick sample of this week's program.

263. Living By Grace

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Brueseke) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 12:00:00 +0000

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The Bible says we've become new creations - partakers of the divine nature. We're holy and righteous, and we're full of the unconditional love of God. We've been given a new heart and a new spirit that is in union with and identifies with the Spirit of God. Our lives in Christ are not a matter of trying to attain any of this but rather living from all of this, by the grace of God.

Here's this week's quick GIG-Bite, a quick sample of this week's program.

262. Is God's Forgiveness Based Upon Our Remorse?

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Brueseke) — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 12:00:00 +0000

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It's all right to feel sorrow over some of the things we've done. But... is God's forgiveness based upon how much sorrow or remorse we feel? Listen in to hear some thoughts about that on this week's edition of Growing in Grace. Thanks for listening. Feel free to drop us a note to let us know you're out there, and/or to share your thoughts with us. Our contact info is on the right column.

Here's this week's quick GIG-Bite, as a sample of this week's program.

261. Living by Law vs. Living by Grace

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Brueseke) — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 12:00:00 +0000

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Some would say that we've been saved by grace so that we can now keep God's law. But that misses the whole point of why God's law was given. Was it given with the expectation that people would ever actually keep it? The book of Hebrews says that there was a problem with the Law and Old Covenant. The problem was that people couldn't and didn't keep it!

So a new covenant was needed that had nothing to do with "us." This New Covenant has nothing to do with what we can or can't do, or what we do or don't do, but is solely based upon what God already did. And our daily lives in Him are not a matter of what we can do for Him, but rather a matter of what He does in and through us. It's the grace of God, not the law of God, that motivates us and empowers us to live godly lives in Christ Jesus.

As a sampler from the program, here's this week's "GIG-Bite."

260. We Love Because God First Loved Us

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Brueseke) — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 12:00:00 +0000

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"We love Him because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19)

Is our love for God and for others to be based on commandments? If we love because we're commanded to - because we're "supposed" to - is it really love? What about Jesus' mentions of the two Old Testament laws - "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength" and "You shall love your neighbor as yourself?" Was He laying down the law for Christians? Jesus said the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments... but does the gospel hang on them? What about Jesus' "new commandment" that He gave His disciples, that they love others as He has loved them? Is this "law" for the Christian?

Is it our responsibility to love God and others more? Or perhaps does love for God and others come some other way? Check out our thoughts on all this on this week's edition of Growing in Grace!

Here's a quick snippet from the program. This week's "GIG-Bite."

259. Struggling With Experiencing God's Rest

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Brueseke) — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 12:00:00 +0000

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This week we read an email from someone who is struggling with "God's rest," and then we talk about living in God's rest and peace that is already ours. The person who sent the email says he has "believed so many paralyzing lies and accusations." This is a real issue for far too many people, in varying degrees.

For many, the root of the problem is that they don't have a good understanding or grasp of the truth of their identity in Christ. The truth is, we do have peace with God and we have entered into His rest, not because of anything we've done to attain it, but solely because of the blood of Jesus and our union with Him. The truth of our identity remains rock solid, even when our feelings and emotions would lie to us and tell us otherwise. One of the keys to ending the struggle with not being able to experience God's rest is to believe what He says to be true about us, instead of believing those lies.

258. What Is Your Motivation?

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Brueseke) — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 12:00:00 +0000

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What is your motivation for doing the things you do? Is it duty? Is it "musts" and "shoulds?" Or is it the living out of desires that God has placed in you? What are your motivations, dreams and desires? What are your gifts and callings? Do these things all work together?

This week Kap and Joel talk about their own motivations for doing the things they do in life, including this very podcast, and talk about you living from the dreams and desires that God has implanted in you.

257. Rest and Motivation

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Brueseke) — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 12:00:00 +0000

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Are "rest" and "motivation" words that contradict each other? If we're operating from a position of resting in Christ, where does the motivation to "do" come from?

256. Jesus Bore All Our Guilt and Shame

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Brueseke) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 12:00:00 +0000

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We were created by God to be loved, not punished. We were created without the capacity to bear the full weight of the consequences of the guilt and shame of our sin, and so our big brother Jesus stepped in and took it all upon Himself. His finished work was sufficient in every way. The law was a curse to us, but the Bible says that Jesus Himself became the curse for us. All the guilt and shame from our sin has been taken away.

Joel's Testimony During the Online International Grace Party

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Brueseke) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:00:00 +0000

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During today's online International Grace Party, I shared my testimony of coming to Christ and some of the process of growing in grace up till now. As I look back on my life, it's fun to look back and put some of the pieces together that show how I've been shaped the way that I am today. At each point in sharing my testimony, I was tempted to further elaborate on various things, because it's so wonderful to see some of the details in all the things that God has done. But that would've taken far too long, so here's the nutshell version that I shared today.

By the way, the article that I wrote that I mentioned and began to read during my testimony is found here.

255. Where Did Our Sin Go?

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Brueseke) — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 12:00:00 +0000

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God's Law was powerless to do anything about sin, and in fact the only thing that came from the Law was condemnation and death. But through the blood of Jesus, something was accomplished that could never come through the Law: Our sin was completely, utterly and sufficiently taken away! So where did it go? We talk about that on this edition of Growing in Grace.

Always remember the good news that the record that stood against you has been wiped clean forever. There is no longer a record against you! Your sin has been taken away, forgiven, forgotten... Never to be brought up again!

254. Freed from Guilt and Shame

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Brueseke) — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 12:00:00 +0000

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Jesus didn't come to declare people guilty or to put them to shame. He came to do just the opposite. Jesus knew the Law very well and was without sin, so He, of all people, would've had the "right" to use the Law against people and to put guilt and shame on them. But instead, He lifted away their burden of guilt and shame through love, mercy and grace. He helped people who had been hiding from God and who were afraid of Him to instead trust Him and draw near to Him and love Him!

Guilt and shame should no longer be the reality for us as we relate to God. Jesus not only released all our guilt and shame, but He took away the very sin that caused guilt and shame! Guilt and shame is really only a mindset that people carry around with them. We can get rid of that mindset by believing the truth of how Jesus has, in reality, taken away all our sin, guilt and shame!

253. Freed from Sin By Being Freed From the Moral Law!

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Brueseke) — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 12:00:00 +0000

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It's a pretty common mindset that in order to be free of the entanglements of sin, we must follow God's moral laws (the "Ten Commandments"). But is that what the Bible says? To the contrary, God's moral laws are known as the ministry of death and condemnation, and they are called "bondage" by the Apostle Paul.

After the Galatians had been set free through having the gospel declared to them, and they had initially believed in the free gift of the righteousness of God, they eventually went back to the Law. They had gone back into the bondage of the prison from which they had been set free! Paul wrote to them to set them straight again on all of this, reminding them that what had come from Mt. Sinai (the Ten Commandments) had only given birth to bondage. He told them to cast it out and instead to live in the freedom for which Christ had set them free!

252. More On What We Have Been Freed To

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Brueseke) — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 12:00:00 +0000

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Continuing on from last week in our conversation about the things that we've been freed "from" and the things that we've been freed "to" in Christ. We've been freed from "slavery" and "bondage" and we've been made legitimate sons of God through faith, and heirs of God, and coheirs with Christ.

In another form of the word "slave" - a good form of the word - Paul called himself a "slave of Christ" (a "bondservant of Christ"). This is a willing type of devotion to a Master, rather than unwilling slavery. We've been freed to be devoted to the One who is devoted to us!

251. What We Have Been Freed To

noreply@blogger.com (Joel Brueseke) — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 12:00:00 +0000

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As believers, it's wonderful to understand the various things that we have been freed from. We've been freed from the demands of the law. The law demanded perfection but was powerless to provide it. We've been freed from religion. We've been freed from sin. And so on and so forth.

But now that we've been set free, are we simply to wander around aimlessly, with no real direction or devotion to something? The truth is, we've not only been set free from many things, but we've also been freed to many things! For example, we've been freed from Mr. Law to Mr. Grace (Jesus). We've been freed from dead religion to an alive relationship with someone - a union with someone. This union is described in many ways in the Bible. In addition to a relationship, it's also described as a "marriage." It's also said that we've received "adoption as sons." We're not simply out there on our own. We're freed to a vital relationship with the One who gave us His life!

There is a very tiny minority of people who say that we have been freed to sin. And there are some who say that if we preach this wonderful freedom that we have in Christ, then people will just go out and indulge the flesh. Either way, it's a perversion of the gospel of grace. It's a perversion of the true meaning of freedom. It's not what freedom in Christ is about. However, just because some pervert the gospel, that doesn't mean we should stop telling the truth about the freedom that we have in Christ! Those lies shouldn't stop us from telling the truth!

The truth is that we are free indeed! And we should never submit ourselves to the bondage of the law or religion. The truth is, we have been freed to love God and to love others. We have been freed to serve others. We've been freed to be devoted to our Lord Jesus Christ!