03 March 2019
Two-Minute Features | 10 March 2019

Acceptance Based on Our Works? Part 2 (TMF:1080)

Friday, March 08, 2019
Peace to Live By: Acceptance Based on Our Works? Part 2 (TMF:1080) - Daniel Litton
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       Sadly, people in our world most often operate the other way, whether it be people at church or unbelievers we are alongside. That is, people often treat us based on what we have accomplished or what we are currently accomplishing. Favoritism is shown to those we feel deserve our attention. Or, on the other side of the coin, people may not accept us unless we do things their way—follow their way or brand of Christianity, and how they think the Christian life should be lived, or how they think good works for God should be accomplished. And if we don’t do things a certain way, these people will not accept our work. They may not accept us if we don’t follow their rules, live by their standard. Slandering may occur if they feel others are doing wrong when in fact they are not. Criticism can become a big problem. Thankfully, though, our acceptance by God is not based on what we do or what we don’t do.

Acceptance Based on Our Works? Part 1 (TMF:1079)

Thursday, March 07, 2019
Peace to Live By: Acceptance Based on Our Works? Part 1 (TMF:1079) - Daniel Litton
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       Another lie that we as Christians often believe is that we are accepted by God based on the good things we do, the good things we accomplish. It is definitely true that God is pleased by our good works, the things we do for him, or others—for the kingdom, but he has already accepted us as his children regardless of what we do. Whether or not we do a good work, each of us belong to him. Even if we sin, we still are his child. For we all know these verses: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2, 8, 9, ESV). So, God’s salvation for us, his acceptance of us, is a gift, and is not dependent upon any good works that we do in our lives. If it were, as the verse stated, we would be able to boost in our accomplishment of our good standing with God, that we were able to come into God’s acceptance by good things we did. That’s not the case. He chose us, and gave us the gift of acceptance.

We Have God's Unlimited Help (TMF:1078)

Wednesday, March 06, 2019
Peace to Live By: We Have God's Unlimited Help (TMF:1078) - Daniel Litton
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       Yes, we who are righteous in God by Jesus will have problems just like anyone else. But a big difference is, we have God’s unlimited help. A key way to combat a belief that God doesn’t approve of us is to simply just ‘believe’ what the Bible says in ‘faith’ even when we don’t feel it. The Bible says a lot of things, and much of it contradicts the pattern we see in those in the world around us. We may see the Bible say one thing, but at the same time notice that most people practice something else—live by some other standard. But we are to believe the Bible’s ways are correct at all times, in all times, and are to follow what it says. If the Bible says that God loves us, we should believe he does. If it says he already accepted us as his personal children, we should believe that. If it says that God is with us at all times, we should be encouraged by that promise. We have to have faith in certain things that are true, even though we may feel in a moment’s time that something isn’t true for us. I may not feel like God is with me, but if the Bible says he always is, and it does, then I can know for sure that God is always with me.

Trapped with Incorrect Perceptions of God (TMF:1077)

Tuesday, March 05, 2019
Peace to Live By: Trapped with Incorrect Perceptions of God (TMF:1077) - Daniel Litton
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       Unfortunately, I think often times we just have misperceptions of God. Perhaps we’ve spent too much time in the Old Testament versus the New Testament, or more likely we just don’t really believe that God is on our side. When something bad happens in our life, small, big, doesn’t matter—we believe it must be punishment from God. If we drop our lunch on the kitchen floor, we think, “Oh no. What have I done now? What is God upset about with me?” Or, if we get robbed on the street corner, we think, “Oh man, why didn’t God protect me? I must have sin in my life and he is trying to tell me something.” Not everyone thinks like this, for sure. But there are many Christians who do, many who are trapped with incorrect perceptions of God. And this hurts God’s feelings and he doesn’t like our incorrect perceptions. We forget the Psalm that says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (Psalms 34:19, ESV). Yes, we who are righteous in God by Jesus will have problems just like anyone else. But a big difference is, we have God’s unlimited help.

God's Not Against Us; He's Our Daddy (TMF:1076)

Monday, March 04, 2019
Peace to Live By: God's Not Against Us; He's Our Daddy (TMF:1076) - Daniel Litton
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       You see, God not only adopted us into his own personal family, but we have such a relationship with him that we are not to fear him, but rather address him as Daddy. Certainly, God doesn’t like it when we believe incorrect things about his character, like that he is against at us most of the time, or that he doesn’t want to give us good things that we want. He doesn’t like the bad reputation and criticism that many of us give him in our minds. God the Holy Spirit is our Helper, our Comforter, and yet, often times we feel that God doesn’t help us with a lot of things, and we feel that God more often torments us as we fail from time to time, as we don’t feel we live up to his standard. It is really an amazing thing when you realize that you have someone who is with you all the time, who can help you with whatever you need in life, big or small. God will help us get groceries at the store, and he will help us be a light to our unsaved family member. He will help us be a comfort to someone else in a conversation, and he will help comfort us when we are very sick and need to be healed. Whatever it is, God will support us and comfort us.