Forgivin' Livin' Daily Podcast
Our podcasts are 5-8 minutes in length. We create these messages using one or two brief verses from the Bible that come from a devotional book. Our purpose is to help you hear the grace of Jesus in these verses so that your life may find its grounding in Christ alone. It is this grounding in grace that makes forgivin’ livin’ your way of freedom.
12/08/2024
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00(Sundaycast) “Advent 2” Saved By Faith In God’s Work And Not Ours (Psalm 106:6; Romans 3:28)
The Second Sunday in Advent reminds us of the need for Christ to come to us. We are people who need to be saved by the work of Christ not our own. As many people watch football games, the commentators will often say “he redeemed himself.” This comment is made after a player has made a mistake, like a fumble or a missed field goal, and then later scores or kicks the winning field goal. As each of us knows (and we will learn from today’s podcast) this is never true in our relationship to God. People who are wicked, and evil and destructive will never be able to do enough to redeem themselves. All of our efforts to do this are based on our wicked need to prove to God that we are good enough after all. But our motive is evil. So God has to do a cleansing from the inside out. And then we are clean. Then we are free. That is the work of our Lord. Only God can do this. You will hear this promise for you in the hymn for today.
12/07/2024
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00(Mission Cast) “What Have You Done” (Genesis 4:7; 1 Tim 1:15)
Jeff and Mim discuss the meaning behind the phrase, “What have you done?” as it relates to the “Daily Texts” and to their personal lives. The Lord’s question to Cain bespeaks the need for accountability and justice for sin. Paul writes to reminds us what God has done for us through Christ Jesus, his Son. In Him, we are forgiven! The phrase can communicate a tone of despair or hope, sadness or joy. We invite you to travel this Advent Path to the manager to behold what God has done! It is marvelous in our eyes! We also update you on our Babette's Feast with our Chinese friends in Santa Maria. It was quite the evening and lots of fun. It was amazing what you can accomplish with modern translation apps on your cell phone. We invite you to seek out the stranger in your midst and welcome them into your home that they may experience Christian love and hospitality.
12/06/2024
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00Do You Know How Much God Loves You ( Jer 32:17; John 3:16)
December 6 is remembered as St. Nicholas day because it was on this day that this generous man died. He is remembered for his act of charity. It was around 350 AD that he threw money through a window that landed in the shoes of some children to save them from slavery. On this day you are invited to throw some money through the Ground Up Grace window. Its impact will change the “souls” (not soles) of many people. But they are all sons and daughters who need to hear each day the promise of how we are saved by grace through faith. You can make your gift online by clicking the “donate” link on this page. You can also send your gift in a check to Ground Up Grace, PO Box 93, Bayport, MN 55003. All your gifts are tax deductible. But mostly your gifts “deduct” any guilt listeners are carrying. They are set free from “slavery” to sin. Your gifts make it possible for us to proclaim this promise as in today’s gospel text from John 3:16. We declare that our Father God loves us so much that He gave us Jesus, His only son to die for us. When we trust in Jesus, we are forgiven and saved. And eternal life begins for us right now. Thank you for supporting this ministry that brings God’s good news right to the people who need to hear it. Every day!
12/05/2024
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12/04/2024
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00Rivers And Waves Of Peace Flow From God (Isaiah 48:18; James 3:18)
Our dear friend Bettye Olson created this artwork of a flowing river using pastels. The color of the water reminds us of what we are as rivers of peace. God has made us multi-colored rivers of the grace of God. We share this grace of God wherever we are sent by our God. We sow the various colors of our Lord’s blessings with the world where we live and move and have our being. Today as you consider your calling, remember you are a river…you are a wave. You will bless the world around you with peace and righteousness.
12/03/2024
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12/02/2024
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00Jesus Encourages The Trip And The Abc’s (Isaiah 26:4; Luke 6:47 48) 2
Ground Up Grace and Forgivin Livin teach two simple practices or spiritual disciplines. TRIP and ABC. In today’s message from Luke, Jesus affirms the TRIP method of praying by inviting us to come to him to listen to His voice. Then we can plan our action for the day. You will hear Sonja give a TRIP prayer based on today’s verses. The four steps are what in the verse makes me THANKFUL. Then what am I sorry about because I see how far short I fall from what I hear my Lord telling me. That is REGRET or REPENT. When we admit we are in trouble we need to ask God for help. This is the “I” letter or INTERCESSION. Finally when we have dug deeply to discover this rockbed of our faith, we can PLAN an ACTION or PURPOSE for the day. Other actions based on the rock of our faith are the ABC’s. These are found in Luke 6. A=ABSOLVE in verse 37: Absolve and you will be absolved. B=BLESS in verse 28. Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who abuse you. C=CONSTANTLY. This is in Matthew 18:21-22 when Peter asks Jesus how often he should forgive his brother, “7 times?” And Jesus tells him “I tell you not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” Build your faith on Christ’s words (TRIP) and the ABC’s will follow.
12/01/2024
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00(Sundaycast) Advent 1st Sunday “Repentance Is God’s Work Inside You” (Psalm 119:5; Matthew 3:2)
PRAYER FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT: “Stir up we beseech you, your power, Oh Lord, and come; that by your protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by your mighty deliverance, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God world without end. Amen” Can you imagine what we will be like after God is finished stirring us up? We won’t be the same and we won’t be in control either. Maybe not good news for all of us who like to keep the stirring stick in our control. We are “beseeching” our God’s creative power to stir us up. We are asking God today to continue stirring up our lives with that same power that created all things. What in you does God need to stir away? What does God need to stir in?
11/30/2024
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00(Mission Cast ) Love Fulfills The Law (Deut 6:5; Romans 13:10)
Jeff and Mim reflect on command to love God and your neighbor. In anctipation of the new liturgical year, Mim has invited the local Chinese masseuse team to dinner at their house, in order to love well. Whereas our Mandarin language skills are rusty and rudimentary, we seek to welcome the stranger in our home that they might experience warm hospitality and Christ’s love. Each guest will receive a hand-crocheted heart to hang on a Christmas tree and a flashlight and a bookmark with the gospel in Mandarin. We hope to play games and laugh a lot. If any of are crochet masters, we gladly include the pattern with the podcast. You, too, can start your own ministry of hospitality this season.
11/29/2024
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00God Delights In You (Psalm 119:14; John 15:10 11)
Do you realize that the word delight is found in the Bible 364 times? This text is from Psalm 18:19. Do you know how much your Heavenly Father delights in you? Not because of anything you have done. Simply because you have a God who is delightful and loves to overflow with delight for His children. His cup of delight runs over for you. You are God’s child when you believe the promises He has made to you. Jesus is your brother. The Spirit is the Father’s gift to you. Ask for the gift of the Spirit if you aren’t sure. God loves to give the Spirit as a way of helping you discover how delightful you are to Him. We only get one life to live. Let’s live it in the assurance of knowing that the Creator of Heaven and Earth is delighted in us.