Amazing Grace

Good afternoon everybody,
Thanks be to God!
You know, it is impossible to extend grace to someone who feels like they deserve it. For instance, your child asks for $10 so she can go eat with friends after church. At this point you can give her the money by simply being gracious, but if she says that you owe her because she helps you so much, you can’t be gracious anymore. If you give her the money, it is payment and not grace. Which makes very little difference in this case, but here is the point…
Our Father gives us every good thing we have and ever will have, by grace. Without His grace, we would (we have all sinned) get what we deserve. So when we come boldly before the Throne of Grace, we remember that it is only because of the precious blood of Jesus that we can come at all. We could do everything listed in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3*, but it is still by grace that we are saved, healed, delivered, protected, and blessed. Yes we come boldly and confidently, knowing that we are loved. We are made clean, righteous and spotless by Jesus’ gift of grace – His very life blood! We come full of thanks in our hearts, never calling attention to our measly little acts of righteousness but instead understanding that He gave us the grace, or ability, to do them in the first place!
Oh, yes, they are good. We will be rewarded for each. But we have access to the Father by grace only.
So back to my example, if we feel like we deserve something from the Lord, we have cut off the grace of God. I have heard people ask, ‘I don’t understand why X didn’t get healed. She was there every time the doors at church were open, she volunteered, visited and made meals for the sick, and prayed all the time.’ Well, what does x’s, or anybody’s, good acts have to do with them being healed? Nothing. God owes us nothing, whether we are Sister Theresa or some drug addict on the street.
God has done everything He is ever going to do about our healing, by grace. This is GOOD news, friends! What He did was more than enough for all of us for all time! By grace.
No wonder Paul so often declared grace and peace over his spiritual fledglings. They needed it! And so do we. Thanks be to God for this indescribable gift!!
I love you all!
*speak in tongues of men and angels, have all understanding and knowledge, have faith to move mountains, give all to the poor, give up body to be burned.
Healed by His stripes,
Nancy Bass

Good Advice from Mary

Good evening everyone.

You know, as a young girl, Mary was really wise beyond her years. How many of us would risk our engagement (a woman’s only future), and our family reputation, just like that? But she said, ‘be it unto me according to thy word.’
Later at the wedding at Cana, she said to the servants, ‘whatever He says to you, do it. ‘ something tells me she taught her first boy to do that as well. No wonder God picked her.
Let’s learn from her like Jesus did. After all, He said, ‘I only say what I hear my Father say, I only do what I see my Father do.’
Whatever He says to us, and there is plenty in the bible, let’s do it. Amen!
I love you all,

healed by His stripes,
Nancy Bass

Praise and Thanks

Good evening everyone,
I have family in town and it is michael’s first homecoming dance, so I will be brief.
Psalm 148
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens!
Praise him from the skies!
2 Praise him, all his angels!
Praise him, all the armies of heaven!
3 Praise him, sun and moon!
Praise him, all you twinkling stars!
4 Praise him, skies above!
Praise him, vapors high above the clouds!
5 Let every created thing give praise to the Lord,
for he issued his command, and they came into being.
6 He set them in place forever and ever.
His decree will never be revoked.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you creatures of the ocean depths,
8 fire and hail, snow and clouds,[a]
wind and weather that obey him,
9 mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all livestock,
small scurrying animals and birds,
11 kings of the earth and all people,
rulers and judges of the earth,
12 young men and young women,
old men and children.
13 Let them all praise the name of the Lord.
For his name is very great;
his glory towers over the earth and heaven!
14 He has made his people strong,
honoring his faithful ones—
the people of Israel who are close to him.
Praise the Lord!

healed by His stripes,
Nancy Bass

Thanks and Faith

Good evening everyone,
1 corinthians 15:57 says thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice that the word gives is present and continual. He keeps on giving us the victory!
Thanking God for what He has given us and done for us is the first step. As we remember what He has done, it encourages us that He can do it again . And He will! There is nothing too big or too small for the Lord. He will heal terminal cancer and help you find your lost keys!
Now that you have reminded yourself of all the miracles He has done, you are better prepared to make your request according to Mark 11:24.
24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

So after you ask and believe it is yours now, what is the most natural thing to do? Thank Him! In fact, thanks is the quickest and easiest way to stay in faith until you see it. Thank you Jesus for saving and healing Michael when he was born. He almost died and the reports said blind, deaf or mentally disabled. But at 14 he is a freshman with a’s and b’s, active in sports and music, and is only slightly nearsighted. Praise God forevermore! The doctors only know so much. They are valuable, but they should never have the last word.
So what do you do till you see your answer? Recount the wonderful things that the Lord has done, that you see, then thank Him for the things that He has done that you don’t see yet. Because you do have it. Look at 1 John 5:15 in the amplified version,
15And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him.
Now isn’t that cool? Present possessions means we have it now!
Thank you Lord, thank you Lord, THANK YOU LORD!
I love you all,
healed by His stripes,
Nancy Bass

True Humility

Good afternoon everybody,
Thanks be to God who ALWAYS causes us to triumph in Christ! 2 Cor. 2:14
Notice that the Lord links thanksgiving and victory. This is not the only place, there are lots of scriptures that put the two together. No coincidence.

Why does God put things down in writing? Does it become true when He writes it, or is He telling us because it was true already? Maybe some of both, but in this case I believe that He is relating an eternal principle that was in place before time began.
I have been learning about this for weeks and have so much to learn. And then doing it is another issue, and doing the word is the only way to get results from it. Amen?
It takes humility to thank God. If we are proud in any area, we will be floating along without being thankful in that area. Humility is not what religion says it is… Humility is not saying we are unworthy wretches doomed to a life of trying to be good enough to draw near to God. It is saying that what God says is true no matter what anything else, the world, our flesh, the devil, doctors of theology with theories, or other’s experiences, says to us. The bible says a lot about who we are in Christ. Humble people would not dare say anything against that word. They bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (Christ is the Word made flesh). True humility will not ‘bombard the gates of heaven’ in prayer, it will go boldly before the throne of grace, because that is what the word says to do. These are a few examples of many, but basically we need to ask ourselves, where is the scripture, for everything we believe.
Humility is evidenced by thanksgiving, and God gives grace to the humble.
I love y’all.
healed by His stripes,
Nancy Bass

thanks

Good evening everybody,
O magnify the Lord with me! 1 Corinthians 15:57 says ‘thanks be to God who gives me the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ’.
When should we give thanks? At all times, psalms says. Where should we give thanks? In everything, Paul writes.
That just about covers it, doesn’t it?
Thank you, Jesus, for redemption through the blood. Thank you for writing our names in the book. Thanks so much!
I love y’all.

healed by His stripes,
Nancy Bass

Light

The spectrum of light waves is wide ranging, from radio waves to cosmic waves. We are able to see a tiny sliver of that range, called visible light. But all the while, radio waves, microwaves, infrared, ultraviolet, gamma and cosmic waves are traveling in all directions around us. Some right through us.
There is a theory out there that spiritual beings can’t be seen because they are existing (somehow) beyond the speed of light. They appear by slowing down. I don’t have a clue if it accurate or not, but fact is we can not see them most of the time. And yet, they are very real.
We see so little of what is really going on. The real action is outside our human vision, though occasionally God will allow a glimpse. That is why the bible says that the unseen things are eternal. They are real. Just because we can’t see them doesn’t make them less real. Just because you don’t see a car in your blind spot doesn’t mean it is not there.
Our money in the bank is real, but we can’t see it. God is real, His angels are real, his Spirit is real. They are not like elves, fairies, or ghosts. They are REAL, and they have substance. Angels have bodies as solid as ours, but they exist in the real world. We are here in this virtual world for a very short time. Very short! If we lived 125 years, it would only be three hours on God’s clock. This is by far the shortest thing we will ever do, but how we live here directly affects our future in eternity, for real. Thank God for His grace!
I love you all.

healed by His stripes,
Nancy Bass