God will bring your Purpose to Pass!

Yes, it’s that time of year again, The End! It’s the time of year people have a tendency to think to themselves, another year has come and gone, and I didn’t accomplish that weight goal, I didn’t run that 5K, I didn’t start that degree program, heck I didn’t even change my outlook on life like I said I would!

If you said any of those statements to yourself, then take courage in knowing that you aren’t alone, many people didn’t see their dreams, visions or goals actually came to pass; but don’t give up on yourself, and more importantly don’t give up on God; He will bring your purpose (your dreams, visions and goals) to pass!

In the book of Genesis chapter 15 about the 5 verse, God took Abraham out into the night sky and showed him a vision. He said to him, look at the stars in the sky, as many stars as there are in the sky, this is how many offspring you will have, and They will bring my (your purpose) purpose to pass.” Could you imagine what Abraham was probably thinking when God told him this, especially seeing his age and the fact that he didn’t even have one child yet! (Talk about waiting on the Lord…now that’s patience and faith!)

Sometimes when God births a dream or vision in us, the full manifestation or fruition of that dream may be to vast for us to take hold of; just as with Abraham! Could you image having faith in God telling you that you would have as many children as there were stars in the sky when you didn’t even have one child yet? Well Abraham did,…through faith… in God and what He was telling Him, Abraham spoke the language of God in His everyday life and eventually the vision came to life! He may have been in the latter stages of his life when it happened, but it did happen!

The Bible tells us in Habakkuk 2:3, “For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.” Your dreams may seem to tarry or to not be reachable at this time, but the Word of God tells us that they are only waiting for an appointed time and they will not prove to be false in your life, they will come to pass!  

My friend let me encourage you that even though the end of the year is here, GOD WILL BRING YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE TO PASS! Look at how long it took Abraham before He saw His dream of having one child come to fruition; but once that one child (dream) came, the flood gates of heaven opened and now he has so many, until they out-number the stars in the sky.

LOOK TO GOD as Abraham did, HAVE FAITH IN HIM and TO THAT SEED HE HAS PLANTED IN YOU! God will not allow you to become pregnant with a dream, a vision or a goal and not give you the strength, or the ability to give birth to it!

REMEMBER THAT HIS LOVE, GRACE AND MERCY ARE FOREVER PRESENT WITH YOU and that according to The 23 PSALM, HIS GOODNESS and HIS MERCY aren’t just present with you, but THEY PURSUE YOU ALL THE DAYS OF YOUR LIFE! AMEN!   

Forever In His Grace,

Toinette Neube 

If we have the Spirit of God inside of us why do we still sin?

The Bible tells us in Romans 8:9, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”

The day I got saved and received the Lord into my life, I just knew now that I had confessed with my mouth and believed in my heart that Christ was crucified, buried and rose again, that the Spirit of God lived on the inside of me and I would no longer sin or do wrong in the world!

Well imagine my surprise when this revelation was tarnished by..let’s say the next day… when I woke up and inadvertently, none-the-less, sinned. What happened? I was now a child of God and I wasn’t supposed to sin any more! Right?  

After many years of not gaining a true understanding of this scripture, feeling guilty for continuing to sin even though I desired not to, and being chastised and condemned by others for sinning, The Lord provided revelation and understanding for me.

In short, ... We are tri-part beings. We are made of a Spirit, we have a soul, and we live in a body (flesh), Once we are saved our Spirit is reborn and we now have the Holy Spirit or Spirit of God living on the inside of us, but our soul or mind needs to be renewed daily with the Word of God in order to keep our flesh or body under subjection to the new Spirit that lives within us.

Now understand that even though we study to show ourselves approved, according to 2 Timothy 2:15, even though we strive to keep our minds on things above, according to Colossians 3:2, and even though we renew our minds daily according to Romans 12:2, we will never be without sin; at least not until the day of Jesus return! Even Paul knew this when he said in Romans 7:15, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”

According to Romans 8:23, which says, “…And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” We are waiting for the day to come when we are able to gain a new body (redeem) which will be compatible with our new (renewed) spirit, and we will no longer have that battle between the spirit and the flesh (which wills us to sin)!

We will never be without sin, (in this lifetime) it is for this reason God has provided us with His LOVE, GRACE and MERCY!  We can work and strive, study, attend church and even pray to never sin again, but as long as we are in this body it is inevitable.

So then how do we live a sinless life in this lifetime? There is only one true way to live a sinless life, or to be seen as sinless in the eyes of God, and that is by accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior! Christ is your intercessor, He is your sacrificial lamb, and accepting Him is the only true and sure way to live a sinless life! According to Romans 8:34, when we accept Christ as our Savior, God  no longer sees us when we sin, but He sees Christ, our stand in, our intercessor, and it is because of this gift of Grace that we are able to stand before God and be seen as blameless and sinless in His eyes! Thank you Jesus!  

Is this gift of Grace from God liberty to habitually sin? Of course not, if you are truly saved and a child of God, you will desire to live a sinless life, which is not just about works such as dressing a certain way, or going to church every Sunday, but it’s a matter of the heart, it’s about showing and displaying Love to those we come in contact with! You see, living a sinless life is not about works,.. it’s about displaying God’s LOVE, GRACE & MERCY to the world! It’s not about choir singing, church attending, or Pastor following that will bring others to Christ, it is only by the displaying of God’s LOVE, GRACE & MERCY to others that those that are lost will ask, “What must I do to be saved?

Forever In His Grace,

Toinette Neube  

It can't JUST be about Faith with God and not works? Can it?

The first thing I must do here is put a disclaimer, “I am not against "works" for The Lord”, as most people say; I believe works have their place in the Kingdom of God, but I believe “FAITH” has an even bigger place!

Romans chapter 4, is not the only scripture, but possibly one of the best known scriptures on the importance of Faith in Christ over works, whether in the church or in the community.

Romans 4:5, says, "But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners." If you have faith in God, then you are now seen as being in right standing with Him! It’s not about what you do, but about where and whom you put your trust and faith in life!

Galatians 3:25 and several other scriptures in the Bible tell us, “And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.” So why do so many Christians still put such an emphasis on themselves and their “works for Christ”? I personally believe it’s because it is easier to do something than it is to have faith, yes even in God; and it is also easier to perform a task than it is to love one another as God has loved us! We would rather sing on the choir or go door to door witnessing than to be vulnerable enough to love others or have them to love us in return.   

The scripture above along with many other scriptures in the New Testament tell us that Christ died for our sins and that we are longer under the laws of Moses which are the Ten Commandments; but time after time we place guilt and condemnation on ourselves and those around us to perform, perform, perform. To put it plainly, one Preacher out of Texas said, “To say that a person can't be the righteousness of God in Christ apart from their PERFORMANCE is to claim that Christ's WORK on the CROSS was INCOMPLETE!!" (Mumba, R., 2013) and I couldn’t agree more!

Romans 4:13-14, says, “Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless!

No other words needed! Clearly Faith in God is the Key factor in our lives as Christians. Faith is the key to God’s Love, God’s Grace and God’s mercy, for Hebrews 11:6 tell us, “For without Faith it is impossible to please God!”  

Forever In His Grace!

Toinette Neube  

Reference:

Ramson Mumba. (2013). El Shaddai International Christian Center, Houston, TX. 

Developing “An Attitude of Gratitude & Thankfulness every day of the year!

I hear it all the time. “You are such a positive person, don’t you have any problems?” Well let me answer that by emphatically saying, “Yes!” I do have problems, but one thing I’ve learned in my 29 years (LOL) here on earth is that “An Attitude of Gratitude!” takes you a long way in life.

I learned at an early age what I thought about the problems I encountered in my life mattered; problems came, trials and tribulations came and even heart ache and pain, but it was how I saw these issues that made all the difference in my life. I could either believe what the Bible told me according 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” thus forcing me to believe that whatever I was going through was for a lesson or a blessing, or I could let the issue take me under. There were times when my faith wavered, but through the years, I learned to develop “An Attitude of Gratitude”, and it was this thought pattern that brought me through the process, and always on top, because I knew I would learn a lesson from the issue or I would receive a blessing from the issue.

With Thanksgiving upon us, take this time to examine your life and not just be thankful one day of the year. Develop “An Attitude of Gratitude”, every day of the year; believe that God is in control of your life according to Psalms 37:23, which says, “the steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord.” Embrace this scripture; write it on the table of your heart, live by, walk by and believe it!   

How can I develop “An Attitude of Gratitude” you may ask? There are several ways to achieve this, but the way I did it was by reading The Word for myself, praying for interpretation of The Word, and then believing what it said regardless of what Preachers, teachers, leachers,(J) or  naysayers had to say.

Begin to believe what the Bible says about you! According to Romans 4:25, Christ loved us so much that He died for our sins, and because of His death we are now justified in the eyes of God, we are His workmanship created by Him to do good things, according to Ephesians 2:10, and thirdly begin to believe and put to practice Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.”

Think on good things and be thankful every day for what you have, His Love, His Grace & His Mercy and watch your attitude, thought patterns and your life begin to become a life of Thankfulness!

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving Everyone!

Forever In His Grace,

Toinette Neube

Are You A “River of Living Water” to those you meet?

John 7:37-38, “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink, He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive…” This scripture speaks abundantly to how every Christian should view themselves, their words and their deeds.

Rivers of Living Water- water represents the Holy Spirit in this scripture. There are two times “Living water” is mentioned in the New Testament. The first time is when Jesus meets the women at the well, and the second time is in the scripture above.

When Jesus meets the women at the well He tells her if she knew whom she was talking to she wouldn’t ask Him if needed a drink, but she would be asking Him for a drink, and when He provided it, she would thirst no more. In John 7:37-38, When Jesus says, if anyone thirst, they are to drink of Him and when they do, out of their heart will flow rivers of living water, He meant that their actions and words, those things which came from their heart, would constantly flow like a river and provide living water, which is The Holy Spirit, to those who come in contact with them.

So how do you provide “Rivers of Living Water” you may ask? You provide it by displaying the fruits of the Spirit, but more simplistically, just by displaying Love! How do you display Love, by providing it’s by-products of Grace & Mercy!  

According to John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another, By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” If we just showed love for each other, then those who are thirsty would see the “Rivers of living water”, the Holy Spirit, flowing from us and they would in turn ask, “What must I do to be saved.”

Have you ever met a bitter, unloving Christian? Well if you have you aren’t the first. It’s sad how many Christians today believe they are truly living examples of Christ yet they are just as evil, unloving and dry as the devil himself! Not only do their words not bring life to others but sometimes their words and deeds kill the little life that is present in the person in the first place. They have no evidence of “Living water” present in their life, yet they claim to be an example of the original body of Living Water, Christ Himself!  

A true disciple of Christ should display, God’s Love, Grace and His Mercy. They should not only possess the fruits of the Spirit, Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness & Self-control, but these fruits should be flowing out of them like a river of living water, and this water should be living in that it brings life to that person and not death or destruction, in word or deed!   

So my question to you today is when others meet you do they leave your presence feeling parched and dry, have they left you feeling drained and thirsty, have their needs been fulfilled, have they been given tools and resources to work with to thirst no more; tools like love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, kindness, goodness, faithfulness & self-control from you; because if you truly displayed "Rivers of Living water” they should leave your presence feeling full, refreshed, quenched & thirsting no more!  

Forever In His Grace!

Toinette Neube 

Do you really want to see your life change? Start by doing this one thing…

For years I’d been living in what I call a state of religiosity or bondage, and like a slave, I didn’t realize how much in bondage I was in until I was set free!

I’d been praying out loud to the Lord, praying in silence to the Lord, fasting before the Lord, tithing, and being a faithful church goer for years to obtain the abundant life I was promised once I was saved, but it seemed as if nothing had really changed in my PHYSICAL life. Yes, I can sit here and tell you that my church attendance increased, my circle of church friends increased and my Christian vernacular had increased. “I’m blessed and highly favored!” “Praise the Lord!”, “I serve a mighty God who is able!” (etc.), but in reality my everyday life had not really changed.

It was not until I did one thing that my life took a 360 degree turn, and that one thing was I started receiving God’s goodness in my life! I stopped feeling guilty for my sins, I stopped condemning myself for not doing “church things”, I stopped judging others who weren’t in church every Sunday, I stopped gossiping, I decreased my circle of friends, church and secular, and most of all I stopped focusing on my own actions and what I was and was not doing right or wrong and I started focusing on what Christ had done, was doing and will continue to do for me! In a nutshell, I BEGAN TO RECEIVE CHRIST’S GOODNESS IN MY LIFE!

So my prayer for today is that you stop being so hard on yourself, stop condemning yourself, stopping thinking you have to be perfect in your Christian walk, forgive yourself when you fall short of His glory; first of all because you will fall each and every day, and secondly because He has already forgiven you! Now watch your life catapult to a more abundant life!  

I don’t make too many promises, but this is one promise I can make, if you would begin to take your mind off of yourself and what you are doing (that’s right, what you THINK you are doing for Christ) I can promise you that your life will make a major shift for the better; and If you really want to please Christ, the only thing He asks of you is to HAVE FAITH IN HIM, nothing more nothing less. HEBREWS 11:6, tells us “And it is impossible to please God without faith!”

So stop focusing on yourself and begin to focus on what He had done, is doing and will do for you, and I PROMISE HIS GRACE, MERCY AND LOVE WILL OVERWHELM YOUR LIFE SO MUCH until it won’t have a choice to do anything, but change!!!!

Forever In His Grace,

Toinette Neube  

Stepping out of the boat to experience His Abundant Grace!

I had a really awesome conversation with my brother this morning about experiencing all that God has in store for us in life. We talked about how sometimes you have to be like Peter in Matthew chapter 14 and just obey God and step out into the deep in order to really experience God’s true abundant life of Love, Grace and Mercy!

Many times we say we are praying for success in life or for things to change in our lives but it seems as if nothing is really happening; well have you ever thought about the fact that maybe nothing is happening because God is waiting on you to “take a step of faith”, to “step out of the boat”, or to “walk on the water” first then He will follow through with His promise of an “Answered Prayer” for you?

The Bible tells us in Psalms 37:4, “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires.” God wants to please us! What Father doesn’t want His children to have the best? It’s just that sometimes we are so conditioned to think that all miracles come by osmosis, come in our own comfort zone or come without having to take a “step of faith”! Sometimes we don’t recognize when God is calling us out of the boat and to just trust that He will cease the storms and uphold us as we “Walk on the water”!

Take a look at your life today. Do you have unanswered prayers, or unfulfilled goals and dreams? If the answer is yes and time is ticking in your life, I admonish you today, examine yourself and see where God might have told you to “Step out of the boat”, “Take a step of faith”, “Walk on water”, and trust Him, it may be to move to another  state, it may be to move to another country, it may be to forgive someone who has hurt you, and it may be as simple as reading a book you’ve been meaning to read, which may change your outlook on life or give you more wisdom to accomplish that goal or dream!

Whatever your “Walk on water” moment is, and most people know what theirs is, they are just too afraid to admit it or do it, be obedient to God and do it, and watch that answered prayer come to fruition, watch those goals and dreams manifest, and watch how the Grace of God begins to take over your life!!!

Forever In His Grace,

Toinette Neube  

Are you more like Martha, who was frantically serving or Mary who was gracefully receiving?

Luke 10:41-42, “And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

What is that good part which Mary has chosen which will not be taken away from her? Her receiving from Jesus!

While Martha was working and keeping busy making sure everything was in order for God, which may appear to be a good thing, Mary was gracefully sitting in awe of Him and receiving from Him; apparently this was that part which was good and will not be taken away.

Receiving from God is the only work we can do which no one can take away from us. Works such as, ushering, singing, writing, and even preaching the gospel can not only be taken away from us, but they also make us self-conscious instead of Christ-conscious.

Christ desires us to be focused on Him, hanging on to His every Word and having faith in Him. We didn’t depend on ourselves for Salvation or Righteousness in the first place so why would He want us to depend on ourselves to continue in this Righteousness? He doesn’t! It’s just that we have become a society so focused on ourselves until this practice has even seeped over in the body of Christ!

There were numerous preachers of Faith and Grace back in the day and they all taught us to focus on Christ and not on ourselves, but today, society has become so self-conscious until even Christians feel the need to have the light shine on them and what they accomplish in life (Even though we say, “We are doing it for God”), instead of on what God has accomplished for us!

God gets pleasure when we receive from Him. As a matter of fact it fills Him. Remember when Jesus met the women at the well and how she wanted to quench His thirst. Christ came to the well hungry and thirsty, but instead of being feed and quenched by her, He quenched her thirst by telling her about Him. He was thirsty and hungry no more even though she did not feed Him or give Him water. His thirst was quenched because He gave and she received from Him!

My desire for you today is that you too will be like Mary and RECEIVE from CHRIST! Works have their place in the body of God, BUT NOTHING IS MORE NEEDFUL THAN RECEIVING FROM HIM! Receive His Love today, Receive His Mercy today and Always Receive His Grace, this one needful thing will make the difference in your Living the Abundant Life Christ desires for you to Live!!!

Forever In His Grace,

Toinette Neube  

Does God care more about what you do, or how you treat people?

John 13:34-35, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

How many of you have heard Christians say, “I just want to live out Gods will for my life, and do what pleases God!” or “I don’t care what people think, I’m not here to please people, I'm just here to please God,” If most people would really stop and think before they say these words, they would hear how much of an oxymoron it sounds like!

If you are trying to please God then you will automatically care about how you treat someone and how it affects their lives.

I’ve never understood how someone can say, “all I care about is pleasing God”, and treat someone with malice, a nasty or ill-willed attitude, anger, or bitterness. To me being a child of God is synonymous with treating someone, anyone, with LOVE!

Pleasing God is not about what most people think it’s about, going to church every Sunday, Wednesday and sometimes on Friday. It’s not about singing on the choir, it’s not about writing a book about God, it’s not even about Tithing 10% of your income!

You tell me what do you think Christ cares about the most, you going to church & paying your tithes, or you treating your neighbor with LOVE? As much as we would like to say the prior because it's easier to pay tithes & go to church than to be vulnerable enough to love someone unconditionally, the latter statement is not only scriptural, it’s The New Commandment according to John 13:34, “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another!”

Most people think that the Ultimate commandment of The New Testament is in Matthew 22:35-40, “One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

It’s not that these commandments are not still active in God’s eyes, it’s just that they are now All-inclusive of The Newest Commandment which is found in John 13:34. “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” This is now God’s desire for His people and once we do this, we in turn love God with all our heart, soul and mind!

Doing things for Christ that are related to what I call "church things" are good and have their place in the body of Christ, but Gods ultimate commandment for us is to show Love, Grace & Mercy to others! It's what Christ did and continues to do for us, so why is it so hard for us to do it for others? Unconditional love is the reason you are saved today; because God loved you in spite of your sins!

Let's begin to really take Christ as our example, and not use "what we do for Christ" (and I use those words lightly), going to church, singing on the choir, paying tithes, (etc), as a barometer for whether we are pleasing Him or not. Let's begin to use how we treat others as that barometer, and watch how you not only bring others to Christ by example, but watch how it also brings change to your life!

Christ came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly, so let's do as Christ did and begin to “Bring Life” to others; let's spread Love, Grace & Mercy to the world; and realize that Loving Him is ALL-INCLUSIVE OF HOW WE TREAT AND LOVE OTHERS, unconditionally, now that’s LOVE!

Forever In His Grace,

Toinette Neube

Jesus has set you up for Success! Excerpt from Joseph Prince: 100 Days of Success!

Jesus gives you His Shalom to set you up for success in life. You cannot be a success in your marriage, family and career when you are crippled and paralyzed with fear.

Today as you are reading this, I believe with all my heart that Jesus has already begun a work in your heart to liberate failure, the fear of success, the fear of people’s opinion of you (and) even the fear that God is not with you.

All the fears that you are experiencing in your life today began with an untruth, a lie that you have somehow believed. Perhaps you have believed that God is angry and displeased with you, and that His presence is far from you. That’s why the Bible says, in 1 John 4:18, There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” This scripture tells us that when you begin to have a revelation that God loves you perfectly (not because of what you have accomplished, but because of what Jesus has accomplished for you), that revelation of the unmerited favor or Jesus will cast out every fear, every lie, every anxiety, every doubt and every worry that God is against you. The more you have a revelation of Jesus and how He has made you perfect, the more you will free yourself to receive His complete shalom and succeed in life!

My friend, know that as a believer in Jesus Christ, you have absolute peace with God. The new covenant of GRACE is also known as the covenant of PEACE! Today you stand upon the righteousness of Jesus and not your own!

Today because of Jesus, God says this to you: “I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke (condemn) you. For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall my covenant of peace be removed. (Isaiah 54:9-10).

God is on your side. Jesus’ Shalom is on your side and Love, Grace and Mercy is on your side to make you a success in life!

Forever In His Grace

Toinette Neube

Reference:

Prince, J., (2011). 100 Days of Favor. Casa Creacion: United States of America. 

No More Priesthood!

Colossians 1:27, “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY!"

1 Corinthians 3:16, “KNOW YE NOT THAT YE ARE THE TEMPLE OF GOD AND (THAT) THE SPIRIT OF GOD DWELLETH IN YOU?”

Romans 8:9, “But YE ARE NOT IN THE FLESH, BUT IN THE SPIRIT, IF SO BE THAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD DWELL IN YOU.”

These scriptures remind us that once we become saved, Christ now dwells in us. How many Christians do you know that say they are saved, but feel they cannot say or do anything unless their Pastor, Preacher, Minister or Priest tells them it’s okay? The Bible teaches us in numerous places that we are no longer in the dispensation of the Priesthood. When Christ was crucified, buried and rose again, He became our Priest and once you accepted him as your Lord and Savior His Holy Spirit came and dwelt on the inside of YOU!!!

Various times throughout the book of Hebrews, the writer (presumably Paul), reminds us that CHRIST IS NOW OUR HIGH PRIEST! That Christ brought a more perfect tabernacle, one not made by hands, and that He became a sacrifice for us, not having to depend upon a man to make sacrifices for us any longer.

My point here is to think about who you have made the head of your life? Is it your Pastor? Is it your Minister or even a Priest? Too many Preachers are not providing an important message to their congregations and that is that CHRIST IS OUR GOD, not them; and then they wonder why their congregation can’t stand on their own and get themselves right with God. Well more likely than not, it’s because they haven’t been taught to listen to the God that dwells on the inside of them. They have been taught to come to church and do what the Preacher says, not what the Holy Spirit is telling them.

Being a Minister myself, I recognize the call of God on a clergypersons life, but I also know they have been called to lead others to Christ and not to lead them to depend upon man. I desire for no man to follow me, but only to see the God in me and then ask, “What must I do to be saved?” And yes, there is a place and time for a man or woman of God in a person’s life, especially if they are a babe, but remember babes grow up and there comes a time when you should know the voice of God for yourself and not have to depend upon a man to tell you whether God is telling you to do something or not… And the way to this type of knowledge, understanding and obedience is by studying the Word of God, being obedient to His voice in your life, (which is usually a whisper and always involves showing Love, Grace and Mercy), talking and praying to Him every day so that you become familiar with His voice in your life, knowing and believing that the steps of a righteous man or ordered by the Lord, knowing that God loves you and provides no sorrow and shame to you, and most importantly knowing that He LOVES YOU REGARDLESS OF YOUR SINS! (Unfortunately this is how the enemy usually trips people up. He makes them feel guilty and condemned and they then think they are not worthy enough to hear from God, thus turning to man, a pastor, minister or priest to tell them what to do.)

Some of you may remember the Pastor out of California whose church fell when he was allegedly accused of being with a few of his male members; as much as I feel this was a lesson for the Pastor, I also feel it was a lesson for the people of the church as well! Stop putting the man or woman of God on a pedestal, remember they are human and can and will fall and sin, as we all do!

ALWAYS KEEP CHRIST AS GOD, never put your faith in any man or woman, they are only human! As I mentioned earlier, being a Minister, I am not taking anything from anyone’s calling to preach and teach the Word of God. My desire is just that you remember it is God you should be following and have faith in, not man, because it is God who provides you with His Love, Grace. & Mercy everyday, not man!!!

Forever In His Grace,

Toinette Neube

My Journey with GRACE, and why I now live a life of FREEDOM IN CHRIST!

My journey with Grace manifested itself in my life in the year 2009. I’d known for years that my Calling in life and what I was being taught in most churches wasn’t exactly lining up with what The Holy Spirit was telling me was, The Truth, His Truth!

For years I felt and knew that the guilt and condemnation I was feeling from not going to church every Sunday, desiring to go on a date with my husband to a club and judging people who weren’t as spiritual as I was, wasn’t exactly right. I knew in my heart that I wasn’t feeling guilty before God, but I was before man, and I didn’t know how to escape the turmoil in my spirit I knew wasn’t God-imposed.

It wasn’t until after I accepted the Call of God on my life to teach His Word that He showed me the True Way to His Heart, which was to teach His people about His GRACE, no guilt and no condemnation!

My Calling in life as a Christian and a Christian Minister is not to add any sorrow to His people, not to condemn or add any more guilt to their lives. People already feel guilty enough in life. Guilt and condemnation is the reason why unbelievers don’t accept Him as God and why Christians judge and condemn others. When you don’t feel accepted, you in turn make others feel unaccepted, and not only is this a recipe for disaster, it’s also a tactic of the devil, known as “misery loves company!”

Well I’m here to tell you that God loves you, just as you are! Romans 5:6 tells us, “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. BUT GOD COMMENDENTH HIS LOVE TOWAR US IN THAT, WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US!" Christ died for the ungodly, and that was you and I; so why do we make sinners or unbelievers feel as if they have to get their lives right, before God will accept them as His own, and then we go on to make them feel they must keep themselves right after they are saved for God to continue to love and accept them. Did you become saved by any of your own doing besides confession and belief? Then what makes you think you can keep yourself saved by what you do? You can only please God by having faith in Him and in Him alone! “For without Christ I am nothing!”  

As Christians we need to stop condemning, and judging unbelievers, because the tactics we are using is losing them and not gaining them. The Bible tells us in Romans 2:4, “Or despises thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.” That’s right it is the GOODNESS OF GOD THAT LEADS PEOPLE TO REPENTANCE. Not the chastisement or judgment!

So my plea and prayer for you today is that as Christians we would stop bible beating, condemning, and placing guilt on God’s people. Yes, I said God’s people, because whether we want to admit it or not He made us all, good, bad or indifferent. Granted we have freedom of choice to choose Him or not, but it is only THE LOVE OF GOD THAT WILL BRING UNBELIEVERS TO A PLACE OF REPENTANCE, a place to where they will even want to look at your life and say, WOW, “WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?”

Embrace His Love, Grace and Mercy in your life today and truly begin to live the life He desires for all His Children, “An Abundant Life!”

Forever In His Grace

Toinette Neube 

The strength of sin is The Law!

Sin-missing the mark, or in laymen’s terms, doing anything against God’s will or laws. Sin has become such an obsession today that unfortunately it has taken center-stage in our walk as Christians. It has actually taken the place of the very thing that should be our focus, which is showing THE LOVE OF GOD!

Since we have such a fixation on sin or the thought of it, and we try so hard not to engage in it, why is it that we still do it? I mean don’t we love the Lord enough not to do something He has told us not to do? Of course we do! The reason why Christians such as you and I still sin against God despite the very fact that we love Him with every bit of our being is because we are so focused on not doing it.

The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:56, “…the strength of sin is the law.” What does this mean? It means the more you try to obey the laws of God the more strength you are giving to sin itself! That’s right! The more you focus on sin and not doing it (or obeying the Laws of Moses, which is not all-inclusive of just The Ten Commandments; more on that in a later blog), the more strength you give to it!

So what is the key to not sinning in life? The key is to stop focusing on not sinning. Stop thinking about it and focus on Christ. I once heard a preacher say it this way, if I tell you to not think about a juicy cheeseburger right now; what is the one thing you are going to do? You are going to think about it, right? You may not want to think about it because I have told you not to do it, but human nature desires to do the very thing we are told not to do!

The same goes with God and sinning. He tells us not to do it, but our human nature will desire and in most cases do just what we aren’t supposed to be doing. OH BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! What did He do because He loves us so much? He gave us an intercessor to take the place of the punishment for our sins. God knew we couldn’t keep the laws which He gave to Moses in the beginning, so according to 1 Corinthians 15: 57, He gave us, “Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” He gave us a way of escape; that all we have to do is confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that Jesus Christ is Lord and we longer are seen as sinners, but as sons and daughters! Yes, we still sin, but God no longer looks at us or our sin. He only sees our intercessor Jesus Christ! THANK YOU JESUS!

So the key to not sinning is not really to stop, because as long as you have breath in your body you will sin. But the key to not sinning in your heart and mind is to stop focusing on it, stop giving life to it, FOCUS ON CHRIST and not on sin! If you fall or if you sin, which you more than likely have already done since you woke up this morning; don’t place your focus on the sin, place it on THE CHRIST WHO HAS FORGIVEN YOU AND PAID THE PRICE for that sin!

Place your focus on God’s LOVE, GRACE AND MERCY for you, and watch any and all thoughts of sin begin to dissipate in your life!

Forever In His Grace,

Toinette Neube 

Are you A Great Pretender or Do you rely on The Great Defender?

What is the difference between being positive about a situation and showing faith within the mist of the situation?

I consider myself a pretty positive person, but one day a few years ago, I received the revelation that my positivity and my faith in God weren’t one in the same! As a Counselor I’ve had to teach myself how to be careful when it comes to this type of thinking, because one can lead you into trying to psych yourself up about a situation and one can lead to the actual dissipation of the situation!

As a Counselor I learn strategies and techniques to use to teach my clients how to think positively about life and how to change their thinking, via modalities such as Cognitive Behavioral therapy and it’s like; well being a Christian counselor I’ve found myself faced with the question of when one thinks in a positive manner are they psyching themselves into believing the event or circumstance didn’t or isn’t happening or are they placing their faith in the fact that it may have happened, but I have a God who will not let it over take me! Basically where is their faith being placed, in their own thinking or in their God?

Via my own walk through trials and tribulations, I have learned that the only true way to help someone overcome their fears, anxieties, obsessive compulsive disorders, phobias, etc. is to not necessary get them to change how they see a situation but it is to get them to change who they see in control of the situation! It’s one thing to pretend something isn’t happening when in reality it is, and it’s another thing to know that it is happening but there is someone bigger than you who is taking care of it!

Jesus is not asking for us to pretend that life doesn’t happen or that the devil isn’t real, but He is asking us to believe in the fact that He is our defender, Psalms 3:3, tells us, “…Lord you are a shield around me…!” He is our fortress, He is our refuge and according to Isaiah 59:19, …”when the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against them!” It doesn’t say to pretend the flood didn’t come, but it says, THE LORD WILL LIFT UP A STANDARD AGAINST THEM!

So consider this, “Are you A Great Pretender, or do you rely on The Great Defender?” Are you trying to psych your life into a positive light, or are you believing that in spite of everything that is going on around you, God is in control, and that His Love, Grace and Mercy is provided to you every day, and all you have to do is have faith in Him to handle every situation that comes your way! The Bible tells us to ask and we shall receive, to pray and not to worry and to KNOW AND TO BELIEVE THAT CHRIST LOVES US in spite of our sins!

Allow the Grace of God to change your way of thinking, allow Him to be just what He desires to be in your life, YOUR GREAT FORTRESS, YOUR GREAT COUNSELOR and YOUR GREAT DEFENDER!

Forever In His Grace,

Toinette Neube 

The Secret to Great Faith!

Well it has been almost 3 months exactly since my last Post, and now that Fall is almost upon us what better time to refresh yourself for the rest of the year than in Autumn!

Autumn is a time where leaves fall off trees, grass begins to wither and weather begins to gain a crispness to it's bite. Autumn is my favorite season and I personally believe it’s God’s way of cleaning out the old and preparing the world for the new; and the newness comes in the form of spring and summer!

As much as we probably don’t think about it in this manner, somehow unconsciously we "have faith" in the fact that next spring and summer will come and so we go with the flow of life by fall cleaning, hibernating, and awaiting the newness and freshness of next year!

"Having faith" in something or anything seems to be an automatic process in life! We seem to "have faith" in so many things in life, our jobs, our friends, ourselves, and even our money; I mean doesn’t the Bible tell us that without faith it is impossible to please God? Well yes it does, but what we forget is that that faith is not in things, but in God Himself!

Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” It is a lack of faith that makes it impossible to please God! And we all know that according to Romans 1:16, “The righteous shall live by faith!” The Greek grammatical structure for this scripture is, “The righteous, by faith shall live” This tells me that I can only live or have life in abundance when I have faith in God!

As many godly men and women as there were in the Bible, noted Pastor, author and Bible scholar Joseph Prince reminds us that there were only two people (besides Abraham) in the entire Bible who Jesus said had “great faith,” the Roman centurion who came and said his servant was at home paralyzed and suffering, and asked Jesus to just speak the word and he would go and believe that his servant would be healed, and the Syro-Phoenician women who had a demon-possessed daughter and asked Jesus to cast the devil out of her. These two people who weren’t your average disciple or follower of Jesus and they didn’t appear to be overtly religious or extreme followers, they weren’t even Jewish; but Jesus Himself noted that they had what He called “Great Faith,” in Him and His sovereignty! So what’s the secret to having “great faith?”  

The secret to great faith is as simple as this…neither one of the those people knew the laws of Moses, neither one of them knew to feel condemned or guilty or that they weren’t even supposed to come to Jesus because they weren’t Jews, they didn’t disqualify themselves because of their sins, all they knew was He was known as being God, being a healer, and being The Messiah! They didn’t take into account anything they did or said, they just stayed Christ-conscious not self-conscious! The secret to GREAT FAITH is to stay Christ-conscious and not self-conscious!

Take your mind off of yourself and your sins and place it on Jesus and His LOVE, GRACE AND MERCY for you, and you too can be known as having GREAT FAITH IN THE EYES OF GOD!

Always In His Grace!

Toinette Neube

Prince, J. (2007). Destined to Reign. Harrison House: Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

There is Something Special about You and you should expect Good success in life!

Excerpt taken from 100 Days of Favor by Joseph Prince, (2011).

"1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

It is the Lord’s manifested presence, His glorious power working in your heart and through your hands that will cause everything you touch to prosper with the Jesus-kind of results. In fact, even your hardest critic will have to conclude that the Lord is with you and is prospering the work of your hands, and because Jesus is with you, you should expect good success in everything that you do!

Beloved, stop looking at your outward circumstances or the position you are in. Whether your employer is a believer or not, Jesus can make ALL that you do prosper when you depend on His unmerited favor in your career! And believe me, when things begin to happen, your employer will sit up and notice that there is something special about you.  You will stand out in a crowd! Remember the same Lord who was with Joseph is with you today. His name is Jesus and because Jesus is with you, you can expect good success in everything that you do!"

The excerpt above says it all! There is something about you and you should expect good success in life! Psalms 139:14, tells us that we have been fearfully and wonderfully made, and Ephesians 2:10 says, we are God's handiwork created in Christ Jesus! God loves us Beloved, and we need to be reminded us this sometimes! We all have times in our lives when it feels as if God has forgotten us or things just aren't going our way, well I'm here to tell you that your Heavenly Father loves you, He has not forgotten about you and He will step in on time. He has made you special, He knows the number of hairs on your head, He knew you before you were in your mother's womb, and He wants nothing but good success for you and your family! Receive His Love, Grace and Mercy today! It's yours for the taking!!!

Forever In His Grace!

Toinette Neube 

Prince, J., (2011). 100 days of favor. Charisma house: Lake Mary, FL.

Works vs. Sacrifice, A Picture of Grace in the Old Testament!

The message of Grace or “The Experience of Grace” as I like to call it, maybe to some a new phenomenon that is infiltrating the Christian world today; it started with Joseph Prince a young Singaporean Minister coming onto the scene about 3 years ago, and now it seems everyone from famous Ministers like Creflo Dollar to writers like myself are catching “The Experience of Grace”, but in reality The message of Grace is not a new concept to the Christian community, as a matter of fact it was The totality of Paul’s whole ministry in the New Testament and it was the second reason Paul preached across the land, the first being to bring the message of Christ to the people. But if you have been following my blogs, reading your Bible and praying for understanding and interpretation of it, then you may already know that there are countless accounts of God’s grace throughout the Old Testament as well.

The story of Cain and Abel in the 4^th chapter of the book of Genesis is one such Old Testament story where surprisingly Grace was present. Most people know the story of Cain and Able and how Cain murdered Abel because of what most people thought to be jealousy over God accepting Abel’s sacrifice over Cain’s offerings. Not to get deep into the story in this blog, but as you can see I chose the words sacrifice and offerings for a reason. You see Cain offered God an offering of his work, tilling the ground, while Abel gave God a blood sacrifice, the first born of his flock. You see Cain brought to God a sacrifice from his own sweat and tears, while Abel bought God a blood sacrifice and not only did he bring him a blood sacrifice which was an early picture of Christ’s blood sacrifice for us, but according to Hebrews 11:4, Abel brought his sacrifice by faith!

Abel knew his own works couldn’t cleanse him; he knew he needed a blood sacrifice, while Cain thought his works would save him and give him favor in the eyes of God!

This is where Grace comes into the picture because you see, they both brought something to God, which in their eyes was probably good, but God only wanted a blood sacrifice and He only wanted it brought in faith! Abel brought a blood sacrifice and through the shedding of the blood of the sacrifice and his faith in it, he received favor from God by Grace, and God rejected Cain because he believed in his own works; this is a picture of God’s Grace, receiving the favor of God not because of works, but because of our faith and the blood of a sacrifice, (In our case it is Christ)!

As Christians today we do exactly what Cain tried to do, we try to work and bring to God the works of our own hands, (the tilling of the ground) when all He really wants is a blood sacrifice and He wants it brought in faith. What is that blood sacrifice He wants you may ask, It’s Christ blood and it has already been shed for us, and where does the faith come in you may say, by us having faith in Christ and His finished work!

God’s forgiveness of our sins and His desire for us to have an abundant life is not contingent upon us offering our own works to Him. He is not asking us to work the ground and then bring him offerings, as you see by Cain’s offer, He never did; He just wants us to accept the blood sacrifice He has already provided for us through Jesus’s death, burial and resurrection, and have Faith in His finished works.

You see Christ shed His blood for us and He did it so that we would no longer have to scramble and bring him the works of our own hands or blood sacrifices for that matter; Christ was our blood sacrifice, He is the atonement of our sins. All God is asking from us today is that we accept Him as Lord and Savior, love our neighbors as He loved us, and accept His Love, Grace and Mercy!

Forever In His Grace!

Toinette Neube 

Are we cursed because of our sins?

As I sat and listened to my daily inspirations this morning, sadness welled up inside me as I heard a preacher, who I don’t normally listen to, tell people, “The number one reason for the curses in their lives was because of anger, resentment and sin,” and then he had the nerve to have his wife say, “but God does not want you to be condemned.” All I could do was pull out my laptop and begin to write; and this is what He gave me.  

If you don’t get anything else from this blog today, know this! If you are saved, you have been redeemed from any and all curses that your sins could bring against you!

The Bible tells us in, Galatians 3:13, “But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoings. For it is written in the Scriptures, "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."

It grieves my spirit when I hear people tell others something bad that is going on in their lives is either a generational curse or because of some sin they have committed. If we as believers are still cursed even after receiving Christ as our Lord and Savior, what hope or point is there in being saved for someone who isn’t? Why should they be saved if they are still going to get cursed or worst go to hell even after being saved, just because they did something that is viewed as a sin?

The Bible tells us, according to 1 John 4:17, “As He is in this world, so am I”, and that according to Gal 3:13, He has paid the price of any curse which would be placed on me because of any and all my sins! How do I know it is any and all my sins, because ALL my sins were already future sins to Him 2000 years ago.

I ask you today, please stop, pray and ask for understanding in your Bible readings and interpretations! The price for curses due to our sinful nature has been paid and to continue telling someone that they are cursed even after they have accepted Christ is only placing guilt and condemnation on them, and according to Romans 8:1, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus!"

Yes, I hear some of you saying, but the Word of God doesn’t change and He definitely doesn’t like sin! No, the Word of God does not change and He doesn’t like sin, but according to Romans 8:34, He gave us Christ to be our intercessor. Once you are saved God no longer looks at you, but He looks at your intercessor and sees only Him in place of you! And as far the word of God not changing, God does make His Word relevant for today; let’s look at the book of Timothy. In the book of Timothy, there is a reference to slaves obeying their masters; do you believe this passage of scripture is relevant for today? The concept of obedience may be relevant, but not the nature of the relationship between slaves and masters; this relationship is no more relevant for today than the relationship between sin and curses!

So know this, we, as God’s children, are no longer under curses, generational or other-wise; believe it or not sometimes, just sometimes when things happen to us in life, it’s not because of a curse, the enemy or any other supernatural force, it’s because of our own actions!

Romans 5:20, says, “Where sin abounds, Grace much abounds, not curses!!! You have been redeemed from curses and the only things God places on His children today are His unconditional LOVE, MERCY AND yup you guessed it HIS GRACE!!!!

Forever In His Grace!

Toinette Neube

Where sin abounds Grace much more abounds!

The Bible tells us in Romans 5: 20, “Where sin abounds, Grace much more abounds!” But let me give this scripture to you in the New Living Translation version, it really becomes potentate here, “God's law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God's wonderful grace became more abundant.”

Are you as “Wowed” by this scripture as I was? Paul is literally saying God provided the law only so that people could see how sinful they really were. Now understand that He wanted people to see how sinful they were not to make them shame, punish them, make them feel guilty or condemned; because if He did then He wouldn’t have said in Romans 8:1, “Therefore there is now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” God provided the law so that we could see that we needed Him, and that without Him we would not have remission of our sins and we would be doomed to a life and death of living hell.

Now part B of Romans 5:20 is where things really get good. “But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful GRACE became more abundant!” Yes, you heard it right, the more we sin the more God’s grace is given to us. Now does this mean we should then go on and live a life of sin so that we continue to get God’s grace? In the words of Paul, “Certainly not!” Even though we are given God’s unconditional Grace, it is this grace that in turn changes a true Christian’s heart (this is called repentance) and gives them the desire to not sin against God.

Here is the catch 22 with most people; once we are saved, we then begin to think okay then so now I have to go out here and strive not sin; NO, it is not in you focusing on yourself and trying not to sin that Christ is well pleased, that is why He died, He knew you couldn’t do it in your own strength, it is when you do not have faith in Christ’s finished work that He is not pleased. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 11:6, “Without faith it is impossible to please God!” You see it is not in the sinning that God is displeased with us, but it is when we display a lack of faith in Him.

Grace is such an awesome Gift from God; and the more we focus on it and receive it from God the more Freeing, and abundant our lives will become! The Bible tells us in Romans 2:4, “It is the goodness of God that brings us to repentance”. Not the focusing on, pointing of fingers or chastisement of our sins. But it is focusing on God’s goodness, His love and His mercy and His Grace that will eventually bring all to desire to not sin against Him. So I say to you without remorse in my speech, stop focusing on your sins and start focusing on God’s abundant Grace, because in the words of Paul, “Where sin abounds, Grace much more abounds!” 

Forever In His Grace!

Toinette Neube

Why would you choose to put yourself back under the law?

How many times have you caught yourself or someone else saying? “I promise to do all that God places before me to do!” or “I have dedicated my life to doing the will of God!” or even “All that the Lord has spoken we (or I) will do.”

Well if the last statement sounds familiar it is because it is the statement that the Israelites said to Moses in Exodus 19:8 while they were at the foot of Mount Sinai. Now I’m sure the Israelites had great intentions and they probably only meant to do what they thought God wanted them to do, but without even realizing it what they did was by the words of their mouth, they took themselves out of “the Abrahamic covenant” of God’s grace and place themselves under “the covenant of the law”. Basically they held themselves to a standard that even God initially wasn’t trying to hold them too; but they spoke it and so He gave it to them.

The original Hebrew meaning for “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” is “All that God requires and demands of us we are well able to perform.” In laymen’s terms what they basically said is, “God stop blessing us based on your goodness and start judging and blessing us based on our obedience.

That’s right, what they did was by using their own words placed themselves in a position to be judged and blessed based on their performance. Sound familiar? I’m sure it does. This is what so many Christians today have done. God has given us “a way of escape”, an abundance of grace and mercy, and when you believe that God blesses you based solely on your works and your sinless life, you have chosen to stay under being blessed by what you do and not by what He has done!

Now you may ask yourself were the Israelites really under grace, I thought they had the Ten Commandments which placed them under the law? Well, yes, they were initially under Grace; think about it, they complained against God the whole journey through the wilderness which was a sin according to the Ten commandments and yet he chose to give them manna from on high, he parted the Red Sea for them, he brought fourth water out of a rock for them, and he even spared their lives as they escaped from Egypt, that’s right not one of them died during the journey. And He did all this in spite of their murmuring and complaining, wouldn’t you say that was “Nothing but the Grace of God?”

Since the people desired to be judged by God and blessed only by their obedience, then God did as He always does, obliged them, and gave them what they spoke into existence. After they spoke these words, He gave them the Ten Commandments; and it wasn’t too soon after they received the Ten Commandments that they did what we all do in our sinful humanness, broke the first one, “Thy shall have no other gods before Me,” by making a golden calf and worshipping it. What happened to that obedience?

Now do I think they did this on purpose, of course not, I truly believe they, just as so many of us do, desired to please God and be obedient to His words. But this is a symbolic picture of how important it is for us to not put our trust and faith in our own walk as Christians but to place in it Christ’s finished work at the cross!

I choose to believe that we all have a heart to want to please God and do what is right in His sight, but we are human, sin every day, and can do nothing without Him. Don’t put your faith in God blessing you based on your sinless life. Your Christian walk is supposed to be a “Walk of faith” and that faith should be in Christ and not in yourself!

God has freely given you the opportunity of a lifetime to be blessed only by receiving what He died to bring you, “Truth and Grace”. Why would you want to put the blessing of your life back in your own hands? The gift of GRACE is yours for the taking all you have to do is receive it! Take His gift of GRACE, RECEIVE and begin to LIVE LIFE AND LIVE IT MORE ABUNDANTLY! Choose to BE BLESSED BY HIS ACTIONS AND NOT YOUR OWN!

Forever In His GRACE!

Toinette Neube  

Let the Grace of God justify you!

Romans 8:33 33Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

Some people see God as a judge who has exacting demands on man. When they fall short or when things go wrong in their lives, they think that God is judging them. My friend, the truth is that if you are a believer, God does not bring any charge against you. Instead, He justifies you because of the blood of His Son. In fact, God’s Word goes on to say that the One who has the right to condemn you, chose instead to die for you and is risen at the Father’s right hand to be your righteousness! (Romans 8:34) But what the devil tries to do is to get you to believe that God watches you with a critical eye and punishes you when you do wrong. He has deceived many sincere Christians into believing that if they have done something wrong, sickness or some other evil thing has a right to come upon them and their families. And when these things happen, he convinces them that they are suffering God’s judgment because of their wrongdoings. In the meantime, these sincere Christians struggle with condemnation because they think that they are the cause of their problems. Nothing could be further from the truth. Ever since the cross, where Jesus was judged in your place for every one of your wrong actions, thoughts and words, God no longer judges you, His child. You need not accept condemnation or evil things happening to you because Jesus took all your punishment at the cross. So when you start to feel condemned for your actions or when you experience negative circumstances, say, “It is written: It is God who justifies me. I am completely forgiven and made righteous before Him. I refuse to accept any condemnation and I reject every symptom of the curse that I am seeing in my circumstances!” Then, simply stand on the truth (and the Grace) of God’s Word, and watch Him deliver and bless you! Forever In His Grace! Toinette Neube

Prince, J., (2013). Singapore. 

What does a "Blessed Life" look like to you?

Many times as Christians we quote and recite scriptures like, John 10:10, “I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly” or we say things like, “my blessing is on the way”, or “I can’t wait till my change comes”, or even things like “I’m getting ready for my blessing”, or “I’m taking back what the enemy stole from me”, or “the wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous.” These sayings and scriptures are great positive thought patterns and affirmations to keep us thinking on the right track that we are Blessed to live a victorious life, but what some people are missing is that they may already be living that “Blessed Life”, that “Abundant life”, or their change may be right in front of their eyes and they may not even know it! They may not know it because they have never really mapped out what their concept of a “Blessed Life” really looks like to them, and the “Blessed Life” they may be waiting on may be someone else’s life and the type of life they really want to live may be right in their reach!

Here’s something to think about; what does your concept of “A Blessed or Abundant Life” really look like? Is a Blessed life to you a house on a hill in Southern California, or is it a small cottage in mid-western Montana? And here’s the pièce de résistance, have you ever written down what your “Blessed Life” looks like to you? The Bible is full of visions and dreams, from Abraham being shown the stars in the sky and grains of sand on the beach to the famous Bible scripture, Habakkuk 2:2, “Then the LORD replied: "Write down the vision and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.” In every situation a vision or picture of the blessing is presented before the person. Something is written and shown so that the concept of the dream or vision stays before the person!

It’s no secret that writing down our dreams, blessings and visions is a tried and true catalyst for making them come to fruition! Even the world (those that are unsaved) knows this methodology to be true. Leadership gurus from America to India talk about writing down what you desire for your life so that your focus will constantly be on that thing and subconsciously your actions will be propelled to go in that direction. Well for Christian’s it may not be our own work and effort that gets us to the place of living an “abundant life” or living out that “blessed life”, but there is something in writing down what that life looks like to us. The point for us may be to constantly be in prayer and petition about it to God, and God will allow it to come to pass, but the intention behind it is still the same, The Holy Spirit subconsciously drives us to put action toward those blessings and they do supernaturally come to pass, not because we have done so much, but because we have put our TRUST AND FAITH IN GOD TO GIVE US THE DESIRES OF OUR HEART! This does not mean we don’t work toward it, but it does mean our faith is not in our work or own self-effort, but in THE TIMING, FAITHFULNESS AND GRACE OF GOD!

As for me and my house, as far back as I can remember I have had vision boards and journals in my house. I even had my boys to write down their visions when they were just 9 and 6 and just about a month ago we pulled out those journals at 17 and 14 and talked about them; they haven’t all come to pass, but they are still in the forefront of their minds and hearts and we have no doubt that in God’s timing they will come to pass for their lives!.

So I encourage you today, write down what a “blessed life” looks like to you, what an “abundant life” looks like and have your kids do it for their lives as well! AND PLEASE BE AS SPECIFIC AS YOU DESIRE, GOD ALREADY KNOWS WHAT YOUR DESIRES ARE ANYWAY! THE METHOD OF WRITING THEM DOWN IS NOT FOR HIM, IT’S FOR YOU! NOW BEGIN TO WATCH AS THE GRACE AND LOVE OF GOD BEGINGS TO PROPEL YOUR LIFE TOWARD THOSE BLESSINGS! NEVER FORGET THAT CHRIST CAME TO BRING US TRUTH AND GRACE AND THAT GRACE WAS GIVEN SO THAT WE MIGHT HAVE A SECOND CHANCE AT LIVING THE KIND OF LIFE WE DESIRE and don’t be worried or fooled into thinking about whether what you want as a “blessed life” lines up with God’s plan for you or not, because if you are true Christian and you are seeking Him daily, there is no more missing the mark! According to PSALMS 37:23, THE STEPS OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN ARE ORDERED BY THE LORD AND HE DELIGHTS IN HIS WAY! Are you righteous via your confession of Him as your Lord and Savior; do you delight yourself in the Lord as much as you can; then God delights in you every step of the way!

Forever In His Grace!

Toinette Neube 

Let the GRACE of GOD Motivate you to succeed in Life!

A few months ago I blogged about one key trait the world’s greatest achievers have in common with each other and that is, “a great imagination”. In order to succeed at anything in life, you must be able to see yourself living it out; living out that debt free life, possessing that CEO position, walking in total health and divine healing and owning that business. Well along with having a great imagination successful people also have another trait in common and that is “Motivation”!

The word motivation is defined as “that which moves one towards an action, that which changes, or impels our very being.” The word grace is defined as, "unearned, unmerited favor"! Looking at these definitions and their relationship in life is uncanny. The GRACE OF GOD should be the biggest motivator for moving ALL Christians towards action or change for a successful life.

This may surprise you, but studies say there really are no unmotivated people. That’s right thieves are motivated to steal, liars are motivated to lie, and con-men and women are motivated to con people.  Yes, they are motivated for the wrong reasons, but they are motivated nonetheless.  

Although everyone is motivated in one way or another in life, we are all motivated in different ways and by different things. Studies have been done, and assessments have been developed throughout time to help people find out what they are motivated by and why; but today I am here to encourage you to let the GRACE OF GOD ALONE BE YOUR MOTIVATOR TO SUCCEED IN LIFE!

The Bible tells us in John 1:17 that the law came by Moses, but Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. That’s right Christ came, suffered, was crucified, died, was buried and rose again, just to bring GRACE AND TRUTH to believers such as you and I. I’m not sure about you, but just knowing this is enough to motivate me to do my very best in life.

When Christ came and brought Grace into the picture He basically gave people another chance at life. Not only did He forgive us for our sins but He also gave us the opportunity to mess up in life and then say to us, even if you mess up in the future, it’s okay, I will forgive that as well. WOW! What more can you ask for in a Father?

God loves us so much that He gives us chance after chance to wake up every morning with grace and mercies anew to us and the chance to get it right once again, in spite of our sins. The grace that He brought to all believers when He rose and ascended into Heaven is truly LOVE, UNSPEAKABLE LOVE.  It is this grace that brings believers to be motivated to live a better life, to be motivated to live a healthier life, motivated to live a SUCCESSFUL LIFE. Titus 2:11, 12 tells us that, “For the GRACE of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.” It is God’s Grace that brings all believers to a place of being motivated to live a right life! It is not our works, or a daily reminder of our sins that makes us want to live better for God. These things do the exact opposite, they develop pride in believers, they develop statuses, they produce sin conscious Christians and they cause condemnation and guilt to come alive in the hearts and minds of believers who should know that according to Romans 8:1, “there is now, no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but are called into the Spirit.

GRACE IS A THE BEST MOTIVATOR I know of in life. It’s my reminder that I have been given a second chance at life, that even though I sin every time I open my eyes in the morning, I can have a successful life because of God’s unfailing Grace. Grace reminds me that I do not have to live a defeatist life style, that I can have the desires of my heart because I delight myself in the Lord, and that God does want me to live life and live it more abundantly!

Grace is my motivator to live a successful life! Make it yours today! Embrace the Gift of Grace that God so unselfishly gave to us through His death, burial and more importantly His resurrection! It’s why He came and He desires that you receive it today. LET GRACE BE YOUR MOTIVATOR TO LIVE A SUCCESSFUL LIFE! 

Forever In His Grace

Toinette Neube