Exploring the Good News of God’s Unconditional Love & Acceptance.
We are loved by God. We are His beloved sons and daughters.
We are liked by God. We are His forever friends.
God is right here, right now. We are not alone.
The Gospel of Grace motivates us to positive life-change through God’s unconditional love and acceptance, while religion seeks to motivate using guilt and shame. Without the Gospel of Grace, we’re left to find our own way out of darkness. With it, our Heavenly Father literally loves the darkness out of us. The Gospel of Grace demonstrates to us that Jesus of Nazareth can lead us into Eternal Truth, and the Holy Spirit can indwell & empower us to live freely and lightly as beloved sons and daughters of God.
Brennan Manning’s book, Abba’s Child – The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging, had been on my bookshelves for years but I don’t remember ever reading it. But as I walked out of my office in June 2012, on my way to a two-week hiatus in Florida, I sensed a nudge from the Spirit to pull it off the shelf and tuck it into my suitcase.
I’ll be honest. This book opened me up like a canned ham. As I sat by the swimming pool in the warm Florida sun, I slowly underlined nearly every other paragraph! Indeed, the Lord was going for the jugular and Brennan’s story of discovering his core identity in Christ was doing it like no other book I’ve ever read (outside of the Bible, of course!)
So here we go friends. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to re-blog with you, my dear reader, through the late Brennan Manning’s classic, Abba’s Child, offering up a few choice tidbits that just might help you benefit from the book as much as I have. We shared this blog for the first time back in 2013, but I thought this would be a great season to re-share it with you. I call this blog series, The Gospel of Grace: Exploring the Good News of God’s Unconditional Love & Acceptance.
I hope you’ll be blessed. But let me also warn you. If you pick up this material and begin reading it, the Lord may start ‘reading’ you. Hang on. There’s a lot of stuff here that might hit the fan if you decide to let God begin digging into that self-centered imposter soul of yours. Yet, as I see it, there’s nothing better than walking away from this journey with a much clearer understanding that you and I truly are, in Christ, Abba’s special kids.
Below, you will find a complete list of all the posts (32 blogs) of this series. We suggest that you bookmark this home page for ease of use. Enjoy!
Each one of our blog studies can serve you well as a support piece in your devotional life with Jesus. As you’ll see when you open up one of our pages, each blog begins with a short scripture or reading, some thoughts to consider, and then concludes with a prayer and a question or two for you to ponder. Go slow. Walk at your own pace, inviting the Holy Spirit to join with you as you read and reflect.
Session 1. One Great Quote and Two Unique Blessings.
Session 2. Are You Ready For This Journey To Your Core Identity?
Session 3. A Profound Conversion.
Session 4. Acknowledging Our Nothingness.
Session 5. The Core Truth of Our Existence.
Session 6. Welcome to the World of the Imposter.
Session 7. Liberated By God’s Gospel of Grace.
Session 8. Anchored In This Reality.
Session 9. Mike Yaconelli. A Testimony of Grace.
Session 10. The Gladdest Thing of All.
Session 11. The Abba Experience.
Session 12. The Tenderness of God.
Session 13. Living in the Wisdom of Accepted Tenderness.
Session 14. The Way of Tenderness.
Session 15. A Cribbed, Cabined & Confined God.
Session 16. Our Biggest Foe: A Theology of Works.
Session 17. I Don’t Want To Grow Up…I’m a Child of God.
Session 18. Imagine the Present Risenness of Christ.
Session 19. Saying Yes to the Present Risenness of Christ.
Session 20. Present Risenness = A New Realm of Possibility.
Session 21. Contemplating the Present Risenness of Christ.
Session 22. The Recovery of Passion. Beholding The Treasure.
Session 23. The Recovery of Passion. Beholding His Love.
Session 24. The Recovery of Passion. Beholding Our Call.
Session 25. The Inner Workings of the People-Pleasing Pastor.
Session 26. Fortitude in Our Journey as Abba’s Child.
Session 27. Fortitude in Our Silence and Quiet Trust.
Session 28. On-Going Confession Leads to On-Going Reconciliation.
Session 29. The Confounded Power of Woundedness.
Session 30. Behold, I Make All Things New.
Session 31. In Closing. Let’s Keep Going.
Don’t take this journey into Abba’s Child: The Gospel of Grace alone! One of the best ways to explore the on-going applications of this blog series is to walk alongside a biblically-based, Christ-centered spiritual director who is familiar with how to make material like this part of your overall spiritual formation in God. Many of our directors in our Sustainable Faith-Heartland network are available to companion you in your journey with Jesus. Click here for more info.
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