{"id":10198,"date":"2020-07-09T21:22:08","date_gmt":"2020-07-10T04:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?post_type=portfolio&p=10198"},"modified":"2020-07-09T21:22:13","modified_gmt":"2020-07-10T04:22:13","slug":"2020-5relax","status":"publish","type":"portfolio","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/gospel-express\/2020-5relax\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Ways to Relax in God\u2019s Grace"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201dBe careful that no one fails to receive God\u2019s grace\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>(Hebrews 12:15 NCV).<\/p>\n

How do you learn to \u201cR.E.L.A.X<\/strong>.\u201d in the liberating grace of God?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

R\u2014Realize nobody\u2019s perfect.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Psalm 119:96 is a verse directed toward God, and it declares, \u201cNothing is perfect except your words\u201d (TLB). What society tells you isn\u2019t perfect. What popular opinion tells you isn\u2019t perfect. What you learned growing up isn\u2019t perfect. But God\u2019s Word is perfect. When you get in the Bible and build your life on it, you will have a perfect foundation.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

E\u2014Enjoy God\u2019s unconditional love.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Bible says, \u201cSee how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for he allows us to be called his children\u2014think of it\u2014and we really are!\u201d (1 John 3:1 TLB) When you become a follower of Christ, you\u2019re not just a servant of God anymore. You are a child of the King. A servant is accepted on the basis of what he does; a child is accepted on the basis of who he is. A servant starts the day anxious and worried that her work will please her master; a child rests in the secure love of her family. A servant is accepted because of his workmanship; a child is accepted because of his relationship.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

L\u2014Let God handle things.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What do you do about the uncontrollable things in life? \u201cCast all your anxiety on [God] because he cares for you\u201d (1 Peter 5:7 NIV). When you\u2019re fishing and you cast a line, there comes a point where you have to take your finger off the button and let it go. Just like the essence of casting is letting go, to overcome perfectionism you have to let go and let God do his work.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A\u2014Act in faith, not fear.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Remember how you got into God\u2019s family in the first place. Ephesians 2:8 says, \u201cFor it is by grace you have been saved, through faith.\u201d There\u2019s no other way to get into heaven except by grace. You\u2019ll never be good enough, and you can\u2019t buy your way in. It\u2019s a free gift from God.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

X\u2014Exchange your perfectionism for God\u2019s peace.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Perfectionism destroys peace. Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-29, \u201cAre you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you\u2019ll recover your life. I\u2019ll show you how to take a real rest . . . Learn the unforced rhythms of grace\u201d (The Message). What a deal!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

You\u2019re going to fail a lot in life. But you don\u2019t have to worry about it if you\u2019ve received God\u2019s grace. In fact, there\u2019s only one failure you ever need to worry about: \u201cBe careful that no one fails to receive God\u2019s grace<\/span><\/strong>\u201d (Hebrews 12:15 NCV). Receive it right now, and then relax!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":10201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"portfolio_entries":[35],"class_list":["post-10198","portfolio","type-portfolio","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","portfolio_entries-english-writer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/10198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/portfolio"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10198"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/10198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10205,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/10198\/revisions\/10205"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10198"},{"taxonomy":"portfolio_entries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio_entries?post=10198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}