I was reading Acts Chapter 12 Today. Let’s see, what happened here? First Herod is harassing the church (of new believers) and he has James killed, (verse 2) then seized Peter, Locked him up in Prison. This all during the feast of Passover.

The church prayed for Peter CONSTANTLY It says. Suddenly, an Angel shows up (verse 7) and by verse 11, it says he was delivered by this very same Angel. An iron gate opens by itself, Peter walks out. The church, who is praying in faith, is still amazed when he’s free.

Verse 19, Herod has the guards killed for not doing their jobs. (Very unrighteous of him) and in Verse 23, we have the report Herod is now STRUCK by an Angel and dies.

“the church was praying constantly……..”

Now, I don’t know what they were praying exactly, but if they were praying constantly, I think it’s logical to say, they probably didn’t just pray the Lord’s prayer or just say “you’re will be done” and walk off and go about their business. They were passionate, fervent, and effectual about their prayers. I dare say, they had made up their minds that James getting killed was not God’s best, and that Peter should not be locked up in Prison by a wicked man! I want you to notice, two Angels showed up!

I dare say God in his Wisdom and Mercy, made an individual Judgment call in this circumstance as well. And he rules in favor of his children…..

Laura Grace

I was out driving today, pondering, praying, The Spirit of God rose up inside me and overwhelmed my heart how important it is to say this.

THE GOSPEL MEANS GOOD NEWS! First we realize, because of the Holy Spirit and his conviction, we do need a savior, that even if we have broken the tiniest of God’s laws, we are separated from him forever, without the Price Jesus Paid to redeem us. We then decide to receive that seed (of good news) Into our hearts, becoming born again. 

Redeem: PAID IN FULL (for us) to be saved.

By the Spirit of God, we realized we are nothing without Him, and then we begin to learn about fruits of the spirit, dying to self, and we should understand that the Holy Spirit becomes our constant coach, companion, teacher, and friend, and so on……….

WE ARE OVERJOYED in our newly found Salvation! The Word of God becomes alive to us, because of the Holy Spirit. We begin to feed on the Milk of the Word, and begin to Grow.

-Then, sometimes, someone cuts in on us…….(Galatians 5)

Now, the Apostle Paul was very overjoyed about not only His own conversion, which to him was a treasure and a Joy, after he had left the doctrines of men (being a Pharisee) which was a doctrine of death and not life. It was based on the law.

My friends, we cannot preach both blessing and cursing (book of James) and believe we are preaching good news, all at the same time. Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law. He went around doing good, healing people, saying no they are not permanently cursed because they sinned, or their Fathers sinned. All the curses were broken (on that tree!)

That means even the curse we are supposedly under for not giving 10% so …..we are actually given a higher law (which I do obey) to give out of our abundance, to provide for someone’s lack. Be led by the Spirit how you give, don’t muzzle the ox (the person who is treading out the corn to feed you) and God loves a cheerful giver, my new Testament says.

Now, the world is watching (and listening) and when you are found to be preaching out of both sides of your mouth, saying God blesses you, but he really curses you (Malachi) and other such none-sense, you are free to do so, but you are not preaching a full gospel (Good news) Message.

We’re fully redeemed or not ……BLESSED all the time because of Jesus, or not. Time to stop cursing yourself, and others, by the tongue, which can be an unruly evil…….

No Man can tame the tongue, but the Lord can cause “OUT OF YOUR BELLY” to flow LIVING WATER” …………and out of the abundance of your PROSPEROUS HEART because you CHOSE TO LOVE GOD”S WORD (all of it) …will the rivers of life flow……

This is the message, GROW into the man or woman of God you were intended to be. The Arguments coming against you from the world is not always persecution, sometimes you are going through a fire, as a result of the refining fire, which was caused by the UNTRUE message you are preaching. SO REPENT! Get on your knees…..plea for wisdom,

Grace ……and growing….Consider Galatians 3 as you pray for understanding………

¹⁰ For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”

^” Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.”¹² The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.”

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” ¹⁴ He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. Amen. (Laura Grace)

We have many who say, if it isn’t in the bible, it just isn’t so. Therefore, we have what I call “the word of God people.” I had a person once tell me, “show me the word fun” in the bible. Because it wasn’t there, they honestly believed God does not allow us to have fun.

I’m going to say this, what does being a disciple mean to you? “Come, follow me,” What do those words mean to you, personally?

Do you even know? Jesus came, asked some fishermen (and others) to follow him. After He died, and was resurrected, He said he would send another teacher, the Holy Spirit. He said it was GOOD He went, so the Holy Spirit could teach us.

You should not be afraid, to read the bible for yourselves. If there is something you don’t understand, don’t be afraid to ask God for understanding, and how this particular passage applies to your life, personally.

If you are afraid, there is something wrong. When I became Born Again, the Word of God became alive to me. I was just silly enough to believe God actually DID become my Father, and that the Lord really IS my Shepherd.

Of all the things that messed me up in life, I am sad to say, it was church people that messed me up the most. Why? Not because they are bad people, surely not. Not because they meant to mess me up. It’s because they were following each other (Not God) and then the whole lot of them were falling into the ditch (and leading me there as well.)

I”m sorry to tell you, that you will not find this out until you need some counselling that is a life or death decision, and the reason a lot of people have quit the church, left and never returned, is they got some cliche’ or platitude from a Christian, which did not work for them. Until we start facing the facts (people of God) that this is not a game, lives are at stake, and we need to PRAY before we speak (asking the Holy Spirit for direction) we will certainly not be world changers.

We will be yelling scriptures and the world will continue to plug their ears. Why? They don’t need scriptures shouted at them, They (and we) Need to Know Jesus for real. The ability to quote scripture is certainly not the same thing as Knowing God for yourself…….

The reason you are tempted to compromise is, deep down, you know you don’t know……

So, let’s start knowing (God) for ourselves, shall we? And not be a parrots.

Laura Grace, Author, Grace to Grow Study Guide (available on Amazon)

I want to share something I believe to be super important, especially right now, in the world we live in.

I don’t know if you have noticed, but we live in a pretty reactionary-type society. Most of us who have spent any time on social media, have noticed, the list of things we cannot say without getting a pretty strong reaction, is really increasing.

Why? I’m not sure, I think partially, we live in a society that is in pain. I personally believe a lot of it stems from looking everywhere but to God, for the answers.

And, when I say God, I do not mean religion, I mean seeking a heavenly Father, who really does love us. Still, I have even found myself reacting at times, to the incredibly scary things I see sometimes, on social media. (IE: Facebook).

It is pretty wonderful Is it not, that we can all have a voice if we want to? No more are we the who’s down in who-ville, which Horton had to prove were there, but all of us have this great opportunity to share on the wonderful world of Facebook!

Personally, I am a pretty sensitive person. I cry easily, get my feelings hurt (more often than I would like) at any words or antics that seem to be callous, non-compassionate, or anything that basically disregards ME as a person. Something in us cries I AM HERE!

When a driver cuts us off, and earlier that day a friend did not seem to care (about what mattered to us) and we have deep seated hurts about “way back when” in school nobody liked us, or we weren’t picked for the team, or just whatever our history may be, it really does cause “reactions.”

All of us have been hurt, rejected, or completely disregarded at one time or another, in our lives, haven’t we? In some way or another, we’ve probably all been discriminated against.  I have difficulty with this new world of ‘boxes” where only certain people are supposedly discriminated against. It’s not fair, it’s not objective, and it certainly isn’t right. I think, Sometimes Feelings become an Idol.

Anytime truth is compromised because it hurts someone’s feelings to hear it, In the Kingdom Of heaven, we have a problem. Anytime we have people screaming, freaking out, and plugging their ears at the very sound of TRUTH coming forth, We have an anti-Christ spirit at work. How do I know? Because, God is into truth.

So then, In very plain English, I am doing my part to say this. When we hear that we need to dig in, (to the Word of God) or we need to Seek or PRESS IN or GROW ………We are talking about God revealing the hard truths we may not wish to hear…..

So then, screaming a lie, trying to make someone that is telling the truth SHUT UP really is quite telling, isn’t it? Calling someone names, just because they do not agree with you, all that kind of stuff really tells me ……..”you do not wish to Grow” …….and if you don’t wish to Grow …..you will stay in the dark as far as truth is concerned. And if you stay in the dark, you will stumble, fall, and have a difficult time Pretty much “ALL THE TIME” ……and those who cry out to God and claim He refuses to help …..

Did they do what God first asked? (Seek me, Find me, Seek after my wisdom?)

Now, do we want to Grow? Or don’t we? and if we refuse……the outcome is not God’s fault.

I know these are strong words but…….I have had to eat them too.

With Love, and In a Servant frame of mind,

Laura Grace, Author, Grace to Grow, The study guide

You know, I feel led to share this, this morning. I want you to think with me a minute, about the subject of persecution. Persecution is not when “you” tell someone what a sinner they are, and they get mad at you for it. When we do things like this, it’s actually a trespass which we are committing. I know you don’t wish to hear this, but it’s true.

God gave people free will. I want you to really think with me “SOAR” above the pages of your bible, or what you have been taught, or what someone else has said to you about the meaning of Christianity for a moment, and let THAT all go.

What I am saying can sound pretty radical, to a dyed in the wool type Christian.

TELL ME one example where Jesus got in someone’s face about their sin? Can you? Or do you see him going to a tax collectors house, while the Pharisees complained? Did he grab a rock and stone that woman caught in adultery? No, he didn’t. Did he tell any of the lepers he cleansed “they deserved what they got?” ……..

Once I had read my bible for myself (several times) is when I really began to wonder how many people actually have read their bibles (in it’s entirety) and how many have just said what they heard everyone else saying over the years. Jesus didn’t get in people’s faces about sin. He said “come, learn of me….” He said “I am sending you a teacher” (the Holy Spirit). This happened after his death and resurrection.  

Persecution is when God raises up his “man of the hour” and people are blessed, healed, delivered, set free, and They hate the blessing (of God) and try to stop it.

All because they are jealous, upset, their power structure is no longer needed, their income just may cease (to exist) and they have to start calling a great move of God a heresy, because………..Well, people being in relationship with God is a very big threat to any religious system. They might lose their job! No longer be needed!! …..

Thus, the love of money truly IS the root of all evil (which supposed God lovers do these evil things) and worse yet, they are not sorry for it, they feel all justified (self righteous and full of pride!).

SO there is a counterfeit then, for what people THINK Is persecution, but in reality, the people who love God are already being persecuted, and have been, (for a long time now) by the very people who CLAIM to love God. -Father forgive them, they know not what they do …….and let your gospel (and good news) go forward forever I pray…..’

Laura Grace (author) grace to the rescue, Grace to Grow, Grace to Grow study guide, and the upcoming, Grace to soar (available on Amazon) …….Love to you all