Tag: actions without words

Week 2 of Advent: Hope

Grace and Mercy over Justice Equals Hope

Richard J. Needham said, “Many of those who cry so loudly for justice would soon beg for mercy if justice were done to them.” When it comes to standing before God, I don’t know about you, but it’s mercy that I want – not justice. The Bible is clear that every one of us are sinners (Romans 3:23) and that the justice we deserve for our sins is death (Romans 6:23). If God were only a God of justice – none of us would have any hope. It is only by His grace and mercy that the invitation of salvation was given to us and Ephesians 2:4-5 tells us that we sinners are made acceptable by God’s grace and because of His love for us. It is the very essence of our hope.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.

Our hopeless situation

As sinners, we each find ourselves in a hopeless situation. One where we are spiritually dead and enslaved in our sin as we walk among the disobedient and under Satan’s dominion. As such, we are objects of God’ wrath and justice demands payment and the payment is a debt we are not able pay. It is impossible for us to do enough good works to change our hopeless situation. There is no amount of money large enough to donate to the church to buy you way into eternal life. There is absolutely nothing we sinful humans can do on our own to change the justice we deserve. On our own, our situation is hopeless.

But God is a God who turns hopelessness into hope and abundant life. Here’s how…

God is Rich in Mercy and Grace

Mercy is simply God’s compassion for our hopeless and helpless situation and spares us from the justice we deserve. Instead, He shows pity, compassion, and kindness in that He made it possible for us to trade in our hopelessness for His abundant life. However, we must understand that God does not owe us mercy. In fact, mercy cannot be owed because it is given to someone who doesn’t deserve it.

Another aspect of God’s mercy, is that He is rich in mercy – or in other words, He is very patient with us. If God handed out justice immediately upon our first sin, none of us would ever get passed our toddler years. Instead the holy and righteous God chooses to hold off pronouncing judgement to a later time to give us the chance to experience His mercy, repent of our sins, and accept Christ as our Savior. William Farley wrote in Outrageous Mercy: Rediscovering the Radical Nature of the Cross, “The cross displays God’s mercy and grace, and justice, and does so with startling clarity.” Because God’s wrath and mercy met at the cross of Christ who paid our sin debt for us, we have hope and can become a new creation and a child of God.

Mercy triumphs over justice, but if we choose to refuse God’s mercy, our hopelessness remains and instead of abundant life, we face eternal damnation. Rejecting God’s mercy is choosing justice and judgement instead of hope and eternal life. But if we reject what He freely offers, then we can expect to receive the justice and wages of our sin – eternal separation from God and an eternity in hell.

God’s Love is Great; therefore our Hope is Great

To see the greatness of God’s love, we only need to look at the cross. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave is only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Jesus, the sinless son of God, took our place. It should have been us on the cross – but Jesus bore all of our sins on himself and willingly went to the cross so that we could receive God’s forgiveness and accept His mercy. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “He made the One [Jesus] who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” As Jesus shed His blood for us, His blood covers all of our sins and God sees us as righteous.

God’s Love is Great, Even while we are still hopelessly lost sinners

Romans 5:8 says, “But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinner, Christ died for us.” We often hear stories but soldiers who throw themselves on a grenade to save the platoon or a parent or spouse who steps in front of a bullet. But how often do you hear a story where someone sacrifices their life for their enemy? This is exactly what Jesus did for us. As a lost sinner, we are God’s enemy, but even then Christ loved us enough to die in our place.

Because of God’s rich mercy and great love, He extends grace rather than justice and hope rather than eternal death

If mercy is God not giving us the punishment and justice we deserve, then grace is God giving us blessings we do not deserve. Instead of justice, God extends his favor towards us when we choose to accept his free gift of salvation by faith in Christ. It is only by His grace that we receive the blessing of salvation and eternal life. It is impossible to earn it.

If I should give you a gift, but you want to pay me for it, it ceases to be a gift. If you work for the gift’s value, it ceases to be a gift. And if you refuse and reject it, then it is no longer a gift. It is only a gift when you reach out and accept it. Christ already paid the price for the gift of salvation – with His life – so that once we accept the gift of salvation our sin debt is marked “paid in full” with the very blood that Jesus shed on the cross in our place. The grace God offers, is the unmerited gift of eternal life.

Justice = Dead in Sin or Grace = Alive in Christ

When we accept God’s generous and loving offer of mercy and grace, He makes us alive together with Christ and gives us abundant and eternal life. Instead of being spiritually dead in our sin, God’s grace and mercy makes us a new creation that is now spiritually alive and when we pass on into eternity, there is a place waiting for us in heaven where we will dwell with Christ.

The work of salvation cannot be accomplished by our works. We can’t earn it and we can’t buy it. The entire process of salvation is an act of God’s goodness and only by His unmerited favor and only for His glory. When we truly see ourselves as the sinners we are and the grace and love that God has for us despite our sinfulness, we must then choose to accept or reject His gift of salvation. Accepting it by faith leads to eternal life in heaven with Christ. Rejecting it leads to the justice we deserve – eternal separation from God in hell. What will you choose?

Check out our Spreadshop store with Christian Tees and other products

The elves have been busy! Check out these new Christmas designs

There are only 3 weeks to Christmas. Products are printed when ordered so order now. See all our Christmas designs in the store.

Here are some of our other Christmas Christian tees designs.

Here are a few samples of our Christmas designs. You can see them all in the store. There are only 5 weeks ’til Christmas. All designs are printed when ordered so you’ll need to give time for printing and shipping. Order early to ensure they arrive in time for wearing this holiday season or giving as gifts.

Here are some of our favorite designs

Listen to our Christmas Playlist on YouTube

Get a head start on your Christmas Shopping at Christian Book Distributors

Only 4 weeks ’til Christmas!

Click here to enter the Christian Book Distributors 2020 Christmas Collection

Wellspring Christian Ministries receives an 8% commission on any purchased made from Christian Book Distributors through any affiliate link on this site. Your price for any item is the same as purchasing from CBD directly.

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• Scripture to memorize and meditate on.
• Conversation Starters.
• Concepts from the Bible on Godly marriages.
• Romance Builders.
• Relationship Builders.
• Personal reflections.
• Date ideas.
• Group date ideas for you and other Christian couples.

Available in hardback, paperback and ebook from Westbow Press Bookstore, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. Click the icons below to purchase from your preferred bookstore. Now also available at WalMart online.

904.239.8937
A non-profit ministry located in Jacksonville, FL 

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Week 2 of Advent: Hope

Sacrificial love always gives so others can have more

During the Christmas season, children always hope to receive the gifts they want. Parents often sacrifice so that the kids can get the gifts they asked for. In today’s world, children don’t always recognize the sacrifices their parents make for them. We don’t always recognize the sacrifices our bosses make, or the ones our spouses make. We take it for granted, or we feel it’s their responsibility to sacrifice, or we feel entitled to receive. However, one little boy recognized through the lesson of fractions the sacrificial love his mother would make.

A teacher had been teaching fractions to her students and wanted to know how much they were understanding the concept. So she asked a boy in the class: “Suppose your mother baked a pie and there are six of you — your mother, your father, and four children. What percentage of the pie would you get?”

“One-fifth,” replied the boy.

Disappointed and wondering how she could explain fractions better, she said to the boy, “I’m afraid you don’t know your fractions. Remember, there are six of you.”

“I know,” said the boy, “but you don’t know my mother. She would say she didn’t want any pie so we could have more.”

Christ wanted us to have more

Christ also wanted us to have more. He wanted us to have hope for eternal life. He wanted us to have hope for redemption of sin. And He wanted us to have hope for a restored fellowship with God. That’s why He left heaven and came to earth.

Before He became our sacrificial-debt-settler, the people had to sacrifice animals over and over again to find redemption for their sins. But that method was a “temporary fix” to our sin problem. It was a representation of what Jesus would do when He came to earth. They only had the hope of the coming Messiah. But a baby changed everything. Christ was the permanent solution. He is our “more.” He is our hope.

Just as the mother’s love for her family is revealed by not wanting pie, so God’s love is revealed to us by sending His One and Only Son to earth as both God and man to live, die, and live again so that our sin debt is paid. So if you’ve ever wondered if God loves you, remember the manger, the cross, and the empty tomb. Because in these, we can have hope.

In 1 John 4:9-10 God reveals His love for us and we see what His love consists of.

God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Actions without Words

A couple sat in a pastor’s office attempting marriage counseling as a last resort before divorce. The pastor asks the husband, “why do you want a divorce?”

“I don’t. I have no idea why she wants this.”

The pastor looked at the wife, “Mrs. Smith, why do you want a divorce?”

Angrily, she blurted, “He just doesn’t love me anymore.”

Shocked by her words, the husband said, “Doesn’t love you? How could you get that idea?”

“Because you never tell me you love me!”

“I say it every single day! I say it when I worked hard to provide for you and when I have been there for you. And I say it when I have stood up for you and defended you. I said it when I gave you children to make sure you would not be alone in your old age. I say it when I make sure your car runs properly so you don’t break down. And I say it every moment of every day because every single thing I do is because I love you!”

The wife burst into tears and ran into her husband’s arms. Instantly, he wrapped his arms around her and tenderly said, “Shh now. Don’t cry.”  

The pastor then heard the weeping woman say, “I just needed to hear the words too.”

The husband chuckled and said, “I told you I loved you on our wedding day. If it ever changes, I’ll let you know.”

While the pastor understood the husband was teasing his wife, he cleared his throat and said, “Ummm Tom, I think if I were you I’d say it every day and as often as you can.”

Tom shook the pastor’s hand and said, “Thanks pastor. I got that message loud and clear.” 

To know we are loved, we need both words and action

The husband was revealing his love for his wife, but never said the words. He assumed she understood his love for her through his action. After all, actions speak louder than words – right? And yet, she longed to hear the words. Without the words, the husband is just a good provider, protector, and husband. In her mind, for his actions to reveal love, the she needed to hear the words. Without the words, she felt little hope in his love for her and as a result she felt little hope in their marriage.

The opposite could also be true. Someone could tell us they love us but without the actions that reveal that love, we’d sooner or later begin to doubt the words. To know we are loved we need both the words and the actions that back up the words so that the truth of the words is revealed.

God tells us He loves us, but Jesus’ birth proves it

Over and over again in God’s Word, He tell us He loves us. In fact, the Bible is God’s love letter to us. And yet, we want to know the proof of His love. Have you ever said, “If God loves me, then why….” That’s a moment that you’re looking for the proof of His love. Or maybe you feel as if you have sinned too much and there is no hope that God could love you. Maybe you’ve been put down and rejected so often in life that you feel like you are not worthy enough for God’s love. Whatever it is that makes you doubt God’s love for you, then I want you to hear the words of 1 John 4:9-10 because God revealed His love to you in the most expressive and expensive way anyone ever could – He sent us Christ.

Christmas is a celebration of God’s revealed love that gives us hope

As we celebrate Christmas, we are celebrating God’s revealed love to us. Verse 9 says: “God’s love was revealed among us in this way.” God’s love isn’t a mystery or secret or reserved for a few. He wanted us to know and understand His love for us. He wanted us to have the undeniable proof for when we are scared, feel alone, hurt, grieving, or we just don’t understand why something happened. So… He revealed it. Let’s see how He revealed His love to us, what He revealed, and why He revealed it.

God sent us a gift

Don’t you love to receive a gift from your spouse – especially an unexpected gift for no reason other than because of his/her love for you? God sent us a gift – for no other reason than because He loves us. He didn’t have to send it. If God were only a God of judgment he could look at each one of us and say, “Yup. Another broken, imperfect human. That one sinned too.” And then marks you down for the “doomed” list on the way to hell. But God isn’t a God of only judgment. He is also a God of love, grace, and mercy where we can find forgiveness of our sins because of the gift He sent. That’s what Christmas is all about. Celebrating God’s gift He sent to us. As you unwrap gifts this Christmas, I hope it will remind you of God’s gift to you.

God’s gift was His One and Only Son – and that’s our hope

After two miscarriages and nine long months of worry, on the day after Christmas (and the day before my birthday) I finally held in my arms a baby. A little boy, perfectly made. Healthy. The cutest little baby you ever saw. Three and a half years later God surprised with a baby girl who is the sweetest, lovable, and most beautiful girl you’ve ever seen. Today, my son is 24 and my daughter is 21. As they began their college years and then my son got his first apartment, I experienced the part of parenting where you send them out into the world. I thought as Rayce packed up his things and moving day came, how did we get here so quickly?

I remembered sitting on the couch with him as a brand new baby and marveling over his tiny fingers and toes. Then I thought the time when mommy was his world and he wanted to grow up to be an astronaut so he could pick the stars out of the sky and bring them home to mommy. Now, all of a sudden, I have to let him go – into the world. A place of sin and evil.

I spent the day helping Rayce move and settle into his apartment and as I drove away towards home, I felt as if I left part of my heart in that apartment. And I thought, did God feel this way sending Jesus into the world? When God sent us His One and Only Son into the world, He was sending us part of His heart. In John 10:30, Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.” Because God and Jesus are one – when Jesus was born, God literally sent a part of who He is to us.

God sent Jesus so that we could live

Why did He send his Son to us? So that we might live through Him. Because our brokenness and sin separated us from God and the just wages of our sin is death (Romans 6:23), God provided a way to restore our relationship with Him by sending Jesus to earth. Wages are what we are paid for what we do in life. If you work forty hours on your job, you receive wages for your work in the form of a paycheck. The wages we receive for our sin comes in the form of death and eternal separation from God. So God sent Jesus to us to pay the debt for us.

Jesus, who never sinned, took the punishment for our sins in our place. In John 15:13, Jesus said, “No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends.” If you ever wonder about Christ’s love for you, then just take time to remember what He went through as part of the cross: the mocking, the hatred of the people, the betrayal of Judas, the crown of thorns, the beating that shredded his body, the nails piercing His hands and feet, the hours of hanging on the cross – just for you.

At any moment He could have said, “Nope – this is more than I bargained for. I didn’t imagine it would be this bad. I’m not doing this.” He could have instantly vanished and returned to heaven and leave us without any hope – but he stayed, humbly being obedient to His Father’s plan for our redemption and endured the torture of the cross and death – for you. Paul wrote in Philippians 2:8, “He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death — even to death on a cross.”

What is God’s love like?

John doesn’t just tell us how God revealed His love for us, but in verse 10, he tell us what is not consisted within His love, what is consisted within His love, and what it cost Him to love us.

God’s love is not based on our love for Him

First, God’s love does not consist of our love for Him. He doesn’t love us because we love Him – He loves us unconditionally – even while we were His enemy. Romans 5:8 says, “But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!” If God only sent Jesus after we loved him, then Jesus would have never been sent. John wrote in 1 John 4:19, We love because He first loved us. It is because He loved us that He sent Jesus. He loves us whether we love Him or not. There is no part of God’s love for us that is dependent on whether we love Him or not.

God loves us even if we hate Him

Second, God’s love consists of His love for us. Even if you hate God – He still loves you enough that He sent Jesus to die for you in your place – and there is nothing that can change it. Jeremiah 31:3 says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” Psalms 136:26 says that God’s steadfast love endures forever. Lamentations 3:22 says that “steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.”  Isaiah 54:10 says, “For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.” 

God’s love cost Him Something

Third, God’s love is both lavish and expensive. It cost him something – His Son. His love for us consists in Jesus being the propitiation for our sins. The Greek word for “propitiation” is hilasmos and basically it is God’s plan that satisfies the payment for our sins. Because God is a holy God, His anger and justice demands that be punished. When Jesus became our propitiation, he became the appeasement or satisfaction for our sin debt toward God.

He not only appeased God’s wrath, but also provided reconciliation to Him. He became our substitute, taking on himself all the sins of every person and paid the price through agony and blood that washes away sin. Because Christ willingly became our substitute, we can come to Him by faith, ask Him to forgive us our sins, and surrender our lives to Him as we ask Him to be our Savior. Ephesians 2:8 says, “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift.”

As with every gift, you must choose to accept or reject God’s gift

With every gift offered, we have a choice to receive and accept the gift or we can decline and reject it. In order for Jesus to be the propitiation for your sins, you much choose to accept His gift through faith. In John 14:6, Jesus said,  “I am the way the truth, and the life; no man comes to the Father, but by me.”   There is no other way. Only by faith.

You must believe that Jesus is who He said he was – the Son of God. You must recognize that you are a sinner, lost, and eternally separated from God. And You must acknowledge that the only way to receive God’s forgiveness is through the sacrificial, shed blood of Jesus who died on the cross for you, was buried, and then rose again three days later. Then you can ask Him to forgive you of your sins and invite Him to be your Lord and Savior. A Baby changes everything for us. What will you do with the gift God sent? Will Jesus be born in you this Christmas? Will He be your Hope for everlasting life and a relationship with the God who loves you?

Check out our Spreadshop store with Christian Tees and other products

The elves have been busy! Check out these new Christmas designs

There are only 3 weeks to Christmas. Products are printed when ordered so order now. See all our Christmas designs in the store.

Here are some of our other Christmas Christian tees designs.

Here are a few samples of our Christmas designs. You can see them all in the store. There are only 5 weeks ’til Christmas. All designs are printed when ordered so you’ll need to give time for printing and shipping. Order early to ensure they arrive in time for wearing this holiday season or giving as gifts.

Here are some of our favorite designs

Listen to our Christmas Playlist on YouTube

Get a head start on your Christmas Shopping at Christian Book Distributors

Only 4 weeks ’til Christmas!

Click here to enter the Christian Book Distributors 2020 Christmas Collection

Wellspring Christian Ministries receives an 8% commission on any purchased made from Christian Book Distributors through any affiliate link on this site. Your price for any item is the same as purchasing from CBD directly.

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God, Love and Marshmallow Wars is a book that includes 365 daily activities and takes you on a guided journey through Biblical principles about Godly marriage that you can then apply to your marriage, as well as helping you talk through concepts that can help you develop a solid relationship. Inside you will find simple, quick activities that include:

• Scripture to memorize and meditate on.
• Conversation Starters.
• Concepts from the Bible on Godly marriages.
• Romance Builders.
• Relationship Builders.
• Personal reflections.
• Date ideas.
• Group date ideas for you and other Christian couples.

Available in hardback, paperback and ebook from Westbow Press Bookstore, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. Click the icons below to purchase from your preferred bookstore. Now also available at WalMart online.

904.239.8937
A non-profit ministry located in Jacksonville, FL 

Follow us on: