Beyond Salvation: The Art of Receiving God's Promises

by Katherine Is. Free

Overview

Do you, or does anybody you know, think you're experiencing as much of God as there is to experience?

Perhaps you


think your Christian life should be more victorious than it is;
want to experience greater manifestation of healing, provision, and prosperity in your life;
want to know everything that belongs to you as a child of God; or want to know how to access everything that belongs to you as a child of God.

Or maybe you


know there's got to be more to life than what you are living,
want to understand God better,
think you have to be a "good Christian" to get to Heaven, or feel all churched out.

Do you


think God is some big, impersonal, out-there God;
think serving God is too hard and no fun; or think you have to give up too much to serve God?

If any of the above applies to you or anybody you know, this book is for you. Beyond Salvation: The Art of Receiving God's Promises was written for those who are looking for more. Based on the Holy Bible, the truths in this book are simple, yet piercing as a sword and exact as a scalpel. These truths penetrate to the heart of the matter severing layers of religion and wrong mindsets that have discouraged some from entering into the Kingdom of God and blinded others to the reality of their Kingdom benefits as a child of God. Topics include Salvation vs. Religion, Why do People go to Hell?, What is Salvation?, How do I Receive?, Principles for Holding onto God's Promises, and more!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781504975087
Publisher:	AuthorHouse
Publication date:	02/03/2016
Pages:	116
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.24(d)

About the Author

Katherine Free is a woman who is in love with the Lord and enjoys sharing the love of the Lord in everything she does. Katherine counts it an honor and a privilege to have left house and home in 2012 to embark on what she calls her "Abraham Journey." With only the belongings that would fit in her SUV, she traveled to across the country to destinations that would not be revealed to her many times until it was time for her to leave, and even sometimes until the moment she arrived. She describes herself as a "Forrest Gump missionary," as God often uses her to run into the spiritual war zone to rescue one person at a time, returning deeper into the war zone with each successive rescue.

While her profession is speech pathology, her passion is people. Speech pathology has been God's gift to Katherine, as it has been and continues to be a profession that she thoroughly enjoys. Speech pathology has been God's gift to numerous others as it has been the open door through which Katherine has walked to show and to communicate the love of God to children, adults, and entire families. Her motto is "Growing people . . . building relationships . . . changing lives."

Katherine enjoys engaging people in authentic relationships wherein they learn to communicate truthfully with themselves and others, removing negative mental and emotional filters that can distort their communication. Katherine believes such communication can only occur by communicating through the mind-renewing, life-changing filter of God's love. It is Katherine's desire that as people read her simple yet penetrating offering of Beyond Salvation: The Art of Receiving God's Promises, they would learn and receive the truth of God's love, taking them deeper into authentic relationship with Love Himself. God is Love, and Love never fails!

Read an Excerpt

Beyond Salvation

The Art of Receiving God's Promises

---

By Katherine Is. Free

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2016 Katherine Is. Free
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-5049-7508-7

---

CHAPTER 1

Part I

Salvation vs. Religion

Religion has painted the picture of people having to follow a bunch of rules and go through a bunch of changes to "get right" before they can experience the goodness of the Lord. This inaccurate portrayal has resulted in people trying to achieve salvation in their own strength, not even understanding what salvation is. They think salvation is about acting right or being a good person. Therefore, they become discouraged when they fall short, and they begin to doubt their salvation.

Salvation is not about acting right but about being made right. Second Corinthians 5:21 tells us that He who knew no sin became sin that we might be made the righteousness of God. The only thing we can do to become righteous is believe on Jesus — the One who makes us righteous. Once we believe that we have been made righteous and receive our righteousness, the pressure is off us to become righteous. We will begin to behave righteously because it is right believing that leads to right living. Getting saved is not nearly as complicated or burdensome as religion has made it out to be. It's not even about "getting saved" as much as it is about receiving salvation.

Don't get me wrong. We do "get saved." I remember going outside to play with my friends when I was eight years old. When I got outside, everyone was so excited. They couldn't wait to tell me, "Mrs. H. got saved! Mrs. H. got saved!" I had no idea what they were talking about.

"Saved from what?" I asked. I didn't know what she had been saved from, but I knew that I wanted to be saved too. I didn't want anything bad to get me.

For those of you wondering as I did, I am delighted to tell you that we get saved from death, or eternal separation from God. We get saved from condemnation and eternal punishment in Hell. We get saved from the dominion of sin. The devil no longer has reign over us! However, if we look at the salvation experience only through the lens of "getting saved," there is the potential to miss out on experiencing salvation itself.

Salvation is about relationship, not about religion. When we enter into relationship with Jesus, we receive His love. We receive His provision. We receive His guidance. We receive the victory that results from receiving His love, provision, and guidance, which equip us to overcome battles and shortcomings. In religion, people often fear that God will reject them: they fear that God will be angry at them or fear that God will abandon them. They rarely experience victory because they have an inaccurate perception of who God is. In trying to "be right with God," they do not realize that through Jesus they are already made right in God. This is one reason so many Christians live beneath their Kingdom benefits. If Christians would just learn to receive!

When we receive salvation, we are born again. We are a new creature. As far as this earthly realm is concerned, we have died; our new, real life is hidden with Christ in God. Many zealous and well-meaning Christians become frustrated and get burned out trying to achieve in their own strength what Jesus has already provided for them through grace.

Grace is God's undeserved favor. There is no way to earn it. If you could earn it, it wouldn't be grace. If you could pay it back, it wouldn't be grace. If you could make it up to God, it wouldn't be grace. The only proper thing you can do with God's grace is receive it. So many people are in a fear-based relationship with God born out of the rules and regulations of religion rather than in a love-based relationship born out of the free gift of grace. They do not recognize God for the loving God that He is.

Isn't it amazing how two people can be in the same relationship but view the relationship through totally different lenses? I was engaged to a gentleman once. I was completely in love with him and shared my whole world with him. As far as I was concerned, everything I had was his — even my time.

I was always available when he called (we were in a long-distance relationship, and lived in different time zones). If he needed anything and I had it, it was his. If there was anything he wanted and I knew about it (well – almost anything), it was his — many times before he would even ask. I knew what kind of food he liked, what his favorite colors were, his favorite TV shows and pastimes, and even who his favorite authors were. When I knew he was coming to town, I arranged my schedule to pick him up at the airport, spend time with him, and take him to his family's home. If possible, I would arrange my work schedule so he could have my car during the day.

I made sure the refrigerator and cabinets were stocked with his favorite snacks so when he came over, he would have plenty that he liked to eat. I planned outings to go see his favorite performers. I wore his favorite color ... you get the picture. I enjoyed every moment that we spent together — even when the moments were not so pleasant. I was always excited to hear from him, even more excited to see him. NEVER liked saying good-bye to him — not even when I knew I would see him in a few minutes.

I know. I sound like a lovesick puppy. But I loved him. I understand Mariah Carey when she sings, "Far too much is never enough." However, the day came when my fiancé told me he was leaving. He told me he was not ready to get married. Of course I was sad. I was hurt. I felt disillusioned. (But I understood that I had a part to play in that — a big part.) The day that we parted, the only words I had for him were words of love. Not an evil, mean, or angry word. Just love, love, well wishes, and more love.

His words for me were words of love as well. We continued to talk over the phone for a couple of weeks after we parted. I was taken aback when he said to me, "You know, it would be really easy for us to be angry at each other. But we're not. I'm really proud of us for that." I had no idea what he was talking about. To this day, I still don't know. Though he had left two days before we were to be married, I did not have one ill thought or feeling about him. I just loved him.

Don't get too angry, ladies! Leaving me then was the noblest thing he could have ever done for me. He could have left me at the altar, after our first child was born, or after twenty years of marriage. He did right by me, and I love him for it!

When he said it would be easy for us to be angry at each other, I remember thinking (and still think) that we must have been in two different relationships. I had nothing against him and – even though there were plenty of opportunities to be angry about things that transpired during the relationship and the present ordeal was quite painful –I could not think of anything to be angry with him about.

Evidently, he felt differently. Imagine how surprised I was when he told me he was afraid of me. (He did not explain why. In fact, he said he didn't know why.) My head went tilt, tilt, tilt. Does – not-compute. Fear and love cannot occupy the same space. Reflecting on various conversations that we had over the course of our relationship, it is my heartfelt belief that he wore himself out trying to "be worthy" of my love, so to speak, instead of just receiving it.

I wonder if God looks at us sometimes and thinks that He and some of His children are in two different relationships: He is lavishing His love upon them, and they are walking around afraid of Him — maybe because they feel unworthy within themselves or maybe even because they think He is angry with them. Sadly, just as my fiancé did not view me the same way I viewed him, many of God's children do not view Him the same way He views them.

God views us through the lens of love: Love that covers a multitude of sin. Love that pays no attention to a suffered wrong. Love that bears up under anything and everything that comes. Love that is ready to believe the best of every person. Love whose hopes are fadeless under all circumstances. Love that endures everything without weakening. Love that never fails. Love that never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end.

God loves us! There is nothing we can do to earn His love. There is nothing we can do to make Him love us more, and there is nothing we can do to make Him love us less. God simply loves us. He has loved us since before the foundation of the world. He demonstrates His love for us in that He spared not His own Son. Rather, He gave His all and He gave His best. While we were still sinners — before we were even thinking about Him — His Son, Jesus Christ, died for us.29 God did not wait for us to become worthy or to earn His love. We wouldn't be able to anyway! He didn't even wait to see if we would return His love. He loved us simply because He is Love.

Where salvation is concerned, it is not something that we have to worry ourselves with qualifying for. On the contrary, it is something that God absolutely wants to give us! He wants us to have it more than we want to have it! He wants us to come to Heaven more than we want to go! He wants us healed more than we want to be healed! He wants us prosperous more than we want to be prosperous! Do you see a trend here? But God is a gentleman. He will not force Himself upon us. He loves us so much that He will give us every opportunity to receive His Son, but He will also reserve our right to go to Hell if that is what we choose.

Why Do People Go to Hell?

Despite what religion has taught, there is only one sin for which people go to hell: that of not believing on Jesus. I know. I know. This is a strong statement, and it contradicts what many of you have always believed. Remember — set yourself to be in agreement with God's Word even if your mind does not yet comprehend it. If you are open to receiving the truth, the truth is what you will receive. That being said, let me share a story with you, and then we will go straight to the Word of God.

It was not long after I began writing this section of the book that I met a young man. My assistant and I had gone shopping to pick up some supplies and were leaving the store. As soon as we stepped out of the door, a young man approached us, wanting us to purchase his CD. He was a young, aspiring rap artist — nineteen years old. I looked at his CD and asked him what his message was. He told me the CD was about how he had overcome trials and tribulations, and he assured me that the music contained no profanity. I told him that I would purchase his CD, but that I wanted to share something with him first. He agreed to listen. I asked him if he was familiar with the concept of sowing and reaping. He said he was. I then explained to him that I was sowing to support him in his musical endeavors, believing that I would reap a harvest of supporters for my literary endeavors, as I was in the process of writing a book (this book). Before I could ask him more about his CD, he asked me about my book.

This is the first time I had been asked to explain the contents of this book to someone I did not know. Not knowing where to start, I said, "It's about salvation. Do you know Jesus?" He said he did. So I began to explain very generally how religion has presented Christians with a lot of misinformation, which has led to their having inaccurate perceptions of God and salvation. I went on to explain that God is a God of love; He is not some out-there-somewhere God who does not care about us or who is angry with us, just waiting to punish us every chance He gets. Rather, I explained, He is a loving God, and He loves us so much that He gave His Son Jesus so we could live the wonderful life that He had planned for us from before the foundation of the world.

I had found a rhythm in describing the book by then, and I began to explain that the only sin people go to hell for is the sin of not believing in Jesus — that it is not their sinful acts that send them to hell.

My rhythm was suddenly interrupted when the young man said, "Sista, Sista, Sista, Sista! Wait a minute. I have to stop you right there." I listened as he began to almost scold me for telling people such a thing. His first objection was that God is not all love, but that God is a man of war. I did not debate him. Rather, I imparted to him the knowledge that he was missing.

"Yes, God is a man of war," I said. "Tell me someone you love."

"My little brother."

"If someone were to try to harm your little brother, would you just stand there and let it happen, or would you do everything in your power to protect him?"

Almost indignantly, he said, "I would protect him!"

"Exactly, man of war! You love your little brother and if anyone messes with him, they've got to deal with you. It's the same way with God. If anyone messes with His children, they've got to deal with Him. God doesn't play about His children."

He went on to say, "But at the same time, if my little brother does wrong, I have to punish him."

"Yes," I agreed, "just like God chastises those whom He loves." He was beginning to understand but still was not without objection.

He told me that people must obey God's laws, precepts, and commands to go to Heaven. I maintained that people must receive Jesus as their Savior and Lord to go to Heaven, and I then expounded that if people truly receive Jesus as their Savior and Lord, they will obey God's laws, precepts, and commands. He was appalled that I would say such a thing.

"You mean to tell me that serial killers and murderers can accept Jesus and keep killing people and won't go to Hell?"

"No," I assured him. "If someone says they accepted Jesus but continues to enjoy doing the sinful things they used to do, I can assure you that they did not receive Jesus. When we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our very nature is changed. We are no longer sinners. It will take our minds and bodies some time to catch up, however, so yes we will continue to engage in sinful acts. But we will no longer feel comfortable doing them; we will no longer enjoy them as we once did."

He continued to refer back to the laws, precepts, and commands. He said, "People keep saying that the law is done away with, but if it wasn't for the law, I wouldn't know I was sinning."

"I never said that the law was done away with," I assured him. (People need the law so they will recognize their need for Jesus.) "It's just that people who have received Jesus are no longer under the curse of the law."

I explained that God loved us so much that He made a new covenant. The old covenant was between God and His people. God had to treat them according to how they behaved. If they did good, they got good. If they did bad, they got bad. But God didn't want us to get bad at all. So He made a new covenant — with Himself! In this covenant, He is no longer bound to give us bad when we do bad or to give us good only when we do good. He can give us good even when we do bad. (It is called God's grace – His undeserved favor.) Even when we are faithless, He is faithful. He said He would write His laws in our hearts and in our minds so we wouldn't need anyone to teach us. He would be our God, and we would be His people.

The young man argued that God wrote His laws only in the hearts and minds of prophets. "What about Pentecost?" I asked.

"I don't know nothin' about Pentecost." As far as he was concerned, Pentecost didn't have anything to do with anything.

In the New Testament, Pentecost is when God poured His Holy Spirit out upon all flesh. When we receive Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to live on the inside of us. He teaches us how to live the Christian life. He guides us and directs us. He reminds us that we are the righteousness of God; when we sin, He reminds us who we are in Christ Jesus and helps us to overcome that area of sin in our lives.

My assistant had been watching this whole exchange. She finally joined the conversation. She said, "I am only watching from the side, but you two are saying the same thing. You're just saying it in your nineteen-year-old version, and she is saying it in her her-age version: God is a holy God, and only the righteous can go to Heaven. Isn't that what you're saying?"

(Continues...)

---

Excerpted from Beyond Salvation by Katherine Is. Free. Copyright © 2016 Katherine Is. Free. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

Table of Contents

Contents

Introduction, xiii,
To Whom It May Concern:, xiii,
This Book Is For ..., xvi,
Unbelievers vs. Disbelievers, xvi,
Unbelievers, xix,
Open Invitation, xxiii,
Part I, 1,
Salvation vs. Religion, 1,
Why Do People Go to Hell?, 6,
What Is Salvation?, 13,
Part II, 19,
How Do I Receive?, 19,
What Does It Mean to Receive?, 23,
How to Receive Salvation, 24,
I've Received — Now What?, 33,
How to Receive the Promises of God, 34,
How to Receive Forgiveness of Sins, 40,
What Do I Do When I Mess Up?, 41,
Part III, 45,
How Do I See Manifestations of the Promises of God?, 45,
Principles for Receiving the Manifestation of God's Promises, 47,
Principles for Holding On to the Manifestation of God's Promises, 61,
Overcoming Hindrances to Receiving, 69,
Conclusion, 73,
Appendix A, 75,
Appendix B, 79,
Appendix C, 81,
What Is the Holy Spirit?, 81,
Indwelling of the Holy Spirit, 85,
Function of Holy Spirit, 86,
Baptism of the Holy Spirit, 87,
Praying in the Holy Spirit, 89,