Category: Grace

Posted on

Grace Giver

Good hearted people let go of the past. I was thinking about Jesus and the way he reacted to those who treated him badly.

Peter comes to mind; he was one of the inner circle. He knew Jesus up close and personal. He saw Jesus calm the sea, he walked on water, he saw the miracles of raising Lazarus from the dead, feeding the 5000 and he saw Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration and heard God the Father’s voice from heaven. And then…a young girl by a fire questioned him about his relationship with Jesus and Peter denied knowing Him. The heartbreak for both men must have been unfathomable! The betrayed and the betrayer.

Jesus reached out to Peter after the resurrection and restored Him to a place of usefulness. That’s grace!

Have you ever done something that would make others feel that you were unusable? Have you been judged for your past transgressions?

Consider the Apostle Paul, as Saul of Tarsus he persecuted the Christians. He had arrest warrants drawn up for their imprisonment, he stood holding the coats of the Pharisees at the stoning of Stephen. And God…found him usable!

Paul wrote to Philemon about a runaway slave named Onesimus. He instructed Philemon to look beyond his past and find him usable.

“I remember you in my prayers. And I always thank my God for you. 5 I thank God because I hear about the love you have for all of God’s holy people and the faith you have in the Lord Jesus. 6 I pray that the faith you share will make you understand every blessing we have in Christ. 7 My brother, you have shown love to God’s people, and your help has greatly encouraged them. What a great joy and encouragement that has been to me.

8 There is something that you should do. And because of the authority I have in Christ, I feel free to command you to do it. 9 But I am not commanding you; I am asking you to do it out of love. I, Paul, am an old man now, and I am a prisoner for Christ Jesus. 10 I am asking you for my son Onesimus. He became my son while I was in prison. 11 In the past he was useless to you. But now he has become useful for both you and me…17 If you accept me as your friend, then accept Onesimus back. Welcome him like you would welcome me. 18 If he has done any wrong to you or owes you anything, charge that to me.” Philemon 1:4-18

Is there a Peter, a Paul or an Onesimus in your life?

Live a “graceful” life and find them useful. We shouldn’t do any less from them than Jesus has done for us!

Posted on

A New Life

This morning, we are going to do a deep dive into practical daily living. Paul knew that the Christians in Ephesus didn’t need religious platitudes. What they needed was a true relationship with the “One True God”.

We do too.

“ I have something from the Lord to tell you. I warn you: Don’t continue living like those who don’t believe. Their thoughts are worth nothing. 18 They have no understanding, and they know nothing because they refuse to listen. So they cannot have the life that God gives. 19 They have lost their feeling of shame and use their lives to do what is morally wrong. More and more they want to do all kinds of evil. 20 But that way of life is nothing like what you learned when you came to know Christ. 21 I know that you heard about him, and in him you were taught the truth. Yes, the truth is in Jesus. 22 You were taught to leave your old self. This means that you must stop living the evil way you lived before. That old self gets worse and worse, because people are fooled by the evil they want to do. 23 You must be made new in your hearts and in your thinking. 24 Be that new person who was made to be like God, truly good and pleasing to him.” Ephesians 4:17-24 CEV

Once we come to Christ our thinking and lifestyle needs to change. We give up trying to do things on our own, figuring everything out for ourselves. Our knowledge and skills are extremely limited when we put them up against God’s knowledge.

Our relationship with Christ gives us a whole new life.

“We are careful not to judge people by what they seem to be, though we once judged Christ in that way. Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new. God has done it all! He sent Christ to make peace between himself and us, and he has given us the work of making peace between himself and others.” II Corinthians 5:16-18 CEV

Paul knew this transformation. He was a zealot. Die in the wool, true to the Jewish religion. He felt that anyone preaching Christ was the Son of God was teaching heresy and needed to be stopped. Saul, before his name was changed, secured arrest warrants and actively sought Christians to arrest and even kill.

When Christ appeared to him on the road to Damascus Saul recognized his error and sin. He became one of the renown leaders of Christianity, traveling all over the known world with the message of the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

He had a new life. He was done with the old and he became the new person God designed him to be.

We all have a calling from God to accept that same transformation that Christ died to give us. We have been freely offered a new life in Christ.

Posted on

Unearned

Sometimes I get lost in thought; that was the case this morning.

My mind and my heart are filled with the overwhelming, unconditional love of God and His amazing grace.

“ For by His loving-favor you have been saved from the punishment of sin through faith. It is not by anything you have done. It is a gift of God. 9 It is not given to you because you worked for it. If you could work for it, you would be proud. 10 We are His work. He has made us to belong to Christ Jesus so we can work for Him. He planned that we should do this.” Ephesians 2:8-10 NLV

It’s a gift!

If you’re anything like me, you have spent a good portion of your life trying to measure up. Some of my first thoughts in a new situation would be “what can I do to have them like me” or “how do I make friends and fit in here”.

That carried over into my relationship with God, the Father. I knew me and all my failures and hidden faults and flaws. He knew them better than me yet He chose to forget them. The Father offered me a free gift of forgiveness. He offered me grace.

“For His loving-kindness for those who fear Him is as great as the heavens are high above the earth. 12 He has taken our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. ” Psalm 103:11-12 NLV

There’s a praise song that we sometimes sing, Reckless Love of God, by Cory Abury.

“When I was Your foe, still Your love fought for me
You have been so, so good to me
When I felt no worth, You paid it all for me
You have been so, so kind to me

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine
I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God,”

That’s what Paul is saying here to the Christians at Ephesus.

We can’t earn it, we don’t deserve it but Christ has chosen to give His all so that we would be made right with God.

Unearned. Undeserved. Totally forgiven. Grace.

Posted on

Shining a Light on #1

Do you remember the blogs I posted in January? I said I wanted us to start the year focused on the Father’s love. Well, here we are halfway through the year and I think it might be time for a refresher course.

This morning, I found myself starting to read through the book of Ephesians – again! It really is one of my favorite letters that Paul wrote. For the next little while, I will be sharing thoughts with you from his writings. I encourage you to read it along with me and let the Holy Spirit speak to you personally.

“I pray that God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!

3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for the spiritual blessings that Christ has brought us from heaven! 4 Before the world was created, God had Christ choose us to live with him and to be his holy and innocent and loving people. 5 God was kind and decided that Christ would choose us to be God’s own adopted children. 6 God treated us with undeserved grace because of the Son he dearly loves, and so we should praise God.” Ephesians 1:2-6 CEV

Now, that’s a lot to grab hold of and it’s only the first six verses of the book!

You and I – WE – have been chosen before the world began to receive God the Father’s kindness and blessing of peace. Christ brought spiritual blessings from heaven to earth and gave them to us because He choose us to be God’s very own children.

We have done nothing, nor can we do anything, to earn this adoption. It has been given to us as a free gift of undeserved grace.

Do you know what the the word unmerited means? Merriam/Webster defines it this way: not adequately earned or deserved : not merited

We could not adequately earn or deserve God’s favor. It is freely given, a precious gift of paramount importance. It’s free but it isn’t cheap. It is the most costly gift that we will ever be offered because it required the life of the giver.

“Christ sacrificed his life’s blood to set us free, which means our sins are now forgiven. Christ did this because of God’s gift of undeserved grace to us. God has great wisdom and understanding, 9 and by what Christ has done, God has shown us his own mysterious ways. 10 Then when the time is right, God will do all he has planned, and Christ will bring together everything in heaven and on earth. 11 God always does what he plans, and this is why he appointed Christ to choose us.” Ephesians 1:8-11 CEV

Our sins are forgiven because of God’s grace!

Oh yes, God is very kind to us. Our hearts should be filled with peace because of His amazing love. There’s only one thing we should do after being offered such a wonderful gift. We should accept it humbly and then spend the rest of our days thanking Him for choosing us.

We should shine a light on the One who gave His all for us.

Posted on

Ready to Receive?

For the better part of a week, I’ve been re-reading one particular group of verses. That’s not uncommon, I often mull over Scriptures and meditate on their meaning. These verses have been a part of my return reading for over 40 years.

 “I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, 17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. 18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.

19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. 22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.” Ephesians 1:16-23 NLT

Please go back and re-read those verses one more time.

Spiritual truth doesn’t have to be “deep” and hard to comprehend. But it does have to be received by faith. I’ve been practicing receiving from the Lord for years.

We are Christ’s body and we are God, the Father’s, inheritance!

I heard one teacher contrast the difference between receiving and getting. Getting implies working hard, striving, manipulating, using your effort to obtain. Receiving, on the other hand, is opening yourself to accept what someone else has done. You receive a gift with gratitude.

Receiving from the Lord is accepting what Jesus has already done – that’s faith. We don’t “work” to “get” from the Lord we walk by faith and accept His gifts of grace.

He wants us to understand and grow in our knowledge of Him. God isn’t trying to hide from us; He is eager for us to get to know Him. He wants our hearts to be flooded with hope as we learn about His power that He has made available to us.

“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.” Romans 8:11 NLT

“I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency].” Philippians 4:13 AMPC

Are you ready to receive? Hold out your hands and thank God for the wonderful gift of His love, power and strength.

Posted on

Jumping to Conclusions

Jumping to conclusions, making snap judgements and circumstantial evidence has destroyed so many relationships.

I know I’ve told you this story before, but it bears repeating. Years ago, I worked in the Dean of Students office at GCC. I was hired to help with the new student handbook and to serve as Admin to the Dean of Students.

Our office was responsible for student ID’s, vehicle usage for the sports teams and even the campus security. We had lots of students coming and going through our office but one young man in particular stood out.

I was a mature married woman of 35. I had 3 children, a husband and was a “good Christian woman”. He was in his early 20’s, tattooed and pierced, looking like a character from Pirates of the Caribbean. He could have been a stand in for Johnny Depp. I judged him based on his appearance and nothing more. (Now, I’m twice that age and occasionally I still jump to conclusions.)

After working with him for several weeks, he came in one morning, late again. When I asked why he told me that the devil had really been working against him that morning – car wouldn’t start, flat tire, wife was sick and it had really stolen his joy. He asked me if I would pray for him throughout the day so that he could keep a good attitude and do his job well!

Oh Lord, I apologize! I judged wrongly, I wasn’t looking for the good in this man, I was looking at him through my own prejudice and I was wrong!

The Bible reminds us to look at people the way God does.

The Lord chose a young teenager to become king of Israel. Jesus saw four burly fisherman and called them to be disciples; He also chose a tax collector. Just yesterday we were talking about being chosen by God. We don’t need to be qualified; we need to be willing.

“When Jesse and his sons arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, ‘Surely this is the man who the Lord has chosen.’ 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Eliab is tall and handsome, but don’t judge by things like that. God doesn’t look at what people see. People judge by what is on the outside, but the Lord looks at the heart. Eliab is not the right man.’” I Samuel 16:5-7 ERV

And then came this young man, the youngest of Jesse’s sons, a shepherd. David hadn’t even been invited to the dinner because his father had misjudged him as well.

“Jesse sent someone to get his youngest son. This son was a good-looking, healthy young man. He was very handsome. The Lord said to Samuel, ‘Get up and anoint him. He is the one.’ 13 Samuel took the horn with the oil in it, and poured the special oil on Jesse’s youngest son in front of his brothers. The Spirit of the Lord came on David with great power from that day on. Then Samuel went back home to Ramah.” I Samuel 16:12-13 ERV

Have you been like me and misjudged someone based on appearance, education or some other external character? Perhaps you are like David, the one who is the recipient of snap judgement.

Ask the Lord to show you the heart of people; let the Holy Spirit love through you and see those around you as God does. Jumping to conclusions isn’t good exercise.

Posted on

Good, Good, So Good

Sunday we sang the song “King of My Heart” by John Mark McMillan and Sarah McMillan. The past two mornings I haven’t been able to get those lyrics out of my mind.

“Let the King of my heart
Be the mountain where I run
The fountain I drink from
Oh, he is my song

Let the King of my heart
Be the shadow where I hide
The ransom for my life
Oh, he is my song

‘Cause you are good, good, oh
You are good, good, oh
You are good, good, oh
You are good, good, oh”

God is good, good, so good!

“I trust your love, and I feel like celebrating because you rescued me. 6 You have been good to me, Lord, and I will sing about you.” Psalm 13:5-6 CEV

“Shout praises to the Lord! He is good to us, and his love never fails.” Psalm 107:1 CEV

“You surely don’t think much of God‘s wonderful goodness or of his patience and willingness to put up with you. Don’t you know that the reason God is good to you is because he wants you to turn to him?” Romans 2:4 CEV

God’s goodness is incomparable!

He displays His goodness so that people will be drawn to Him and put their faith and trust in Him.

I’ve been reading the book of Jonah. It’s a short book and a good read. It isn’t just about Jonah being swollen by a great fish, although, that is also evidence of God’s goodness. It’s about God offering salvation to 120,000 people who were about to be destroyed because of their wickedness.

Jonah got to Ninevah, after being vomited up by the fish, walk a day’s walk to the center of the city and said this:

“After walking for a day, Jonah warned the people, ‘Forty days from now, Nineveh will be destroyed!’

5 They believed God’s message and set a time when they would go without eating to show their sorrow. Then everyone in the city, no matter who they were, dressed in sackcloth.” Jonah 3:4-5 CEV

It goes on to say that the king heard what was happening and he repented and called for a fast for the entire city. Then God “saw that the people had stopped doing evil things, he had pity and did not destroy them as he had planned.” (Jonah 3:10)

Jonah got angry because God was gracious to these people. God was and is merciful, kind, and good. He told Jonah how much He cared about the people.

Not just the people of Ninevah – God cares about us, even when we are living in rebellion and contrary to His word. It’s His goodness that draws us to Him. His love is everlasting and His goodness lasts to all generations.

The image I am using this morning reminds me of this verse:

“ O taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the man who trusts in Him! 9 O fear the Lord, all you who belong to Him. For those who fear Him never want for anything.” Psalm 34:8-9 NLV

Come – taste and see that God is good, good, so good!

Posted on

Amazing Grace Is Sufficient

Yesterday I received a text from a friend. She told me how the blog from the last couple of days had been just what she needed. That humbled me and made me smile – I was so glad the Lord used His word through me to touch her heart and encourage her.

I am always amazed how the Lord reaches out to us. He has done it from the very beginning. It has been His purpose to touch our lives with His goodness, power and love. That’s who He is – it’s His character.

“You surely know what happened everywhere in Judea. It all began in Galilee after John had told everyone to be baptized. 38 God gave the Holy Spirit and power to Jesus from Nazareth. He was with Jesus, as he went around doing good and healing everyone who was under the power of the devil. 39 We all saw what Jesus did both in Israel and in the city of Jerusalem.” Acts 10:37-39 CEV

Jesus went around doing good and healing all that were sick. That’s who He was and what He did. His ministry was reaching out to people, touching their lives and impacting them with His love.

Jesus was teaching in the synagogue and told the people listening to Him. This is why I was sent to you.

“Jesus went back to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and as usual he went to the meeting place on the Sabbath. When he stood up to read from the Scriptures, 17 he was given the book of Isaiah the prophet. He opened it and read,

18 “The Lord’s Spirit has come to me, because he has chosen me to tell the good news to the poor. The Lord has sent me to announce freedom for prisoners, to give sight to the blind, to free everyone who suffers, 19 and to say, ‘This is the year the Lord has chosen.’”

20 Jesus closed the book, then handed it back to the man in charge and sat down. Everyone in the meeting place looked straight at Jesus. 21 Then Jesus said to them, “What you have just heard me read has come true today.” Luke 4:16-21 CEV

God’s plan was Jesus’ purpose and He fulfilled it to a T. Sometimes we just need a gentle reminder of His grace. The Apostle Paul, truly one of the greatest Christians of all time, experienced severe persecution and affliction. He was subject to spiritual and physical attack. In his moment of weakness he writes these words:

“I begged the Lord three times to take this problem away from me. 9 But the Lord said, ‘My grace is all you need. Only when you are weak can everything be done completely by my power.’ So I will gladly boast about my weaknesses. Then Christ’s power can stay in me. 10 Yes, I am glad to have weaknesses if they are for Christ. I am glad to be insulted and have hard times. I am glad when I am persecuted and have problems, because it is when I am weak that I am really strong.” II Corinthians 12:8-10 ERV

My grace is all you need – My grace is sufficient! Amen. His grace, God’s grace is all we need for our salvation. For by grace have we been saved through faith, not of works. We have no room to boast.

His grace healed the sick, mended the broken hearted, set prisoners free from bondage and gave strength to the weak.

Grace is the overlying attribute of His character. God extending His nail pierced hand to those bound by sin is grace; calming the fears of the disciples on a storm tossed sea is grace; giving peace to Paul & Silas as they were singing in a prison cell after being beaten is grace.

God quieting our hearts when we hear the word “cancer” or the words “we have to let you go, your job has been phased out”, is grace. I have a feeling some of you are like Paul and have asked God on multiple occasions to fix some situation, God’s answer to you is the same as what He said then, my grace is all you need.

“Jesus Christ never changes! He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8

Jesus is faithful, he’s trustworthy and he’s unchanging! Everyone who came to Jesus was drawn by his love and compassion. When you come to Jesus with your needs today, realize He’s never changed. Experience His amazing grace; it’s sufficient.

Posted on

What to Share?

That’s the question I was asking this morning. The answer was loud and clear:

Share the Gospel – the good news of Jesus Christ!

“My friends, I want you to remember the message I preached and that you believed and trusted. 2 You will be saved by this message, if you hold firmly to it. But if you don’t, your faith was all for nothing.

3  I told you the most important part of the message exactly as it was told to me. This part is:

Christ died for our sins,
    as the Scriptures say.
4 He was buried,
    and three days later
he was raised to life,
    as the Scriptures say.
5 Christ appeared to Peter,
    then to the twelve.
6 After this, he appeared
to more than five hundred
    other followers.
Most of them are still alive,
    but some have died.
7 He also appeared to James,
    then to all of the apostles.

8  Finally, he appeared to me, even though I am like someone who was born at the wrong time.

9  I am the least important of all the apostles. In fact, I caused so much trouble for God’s church that I don’t even deserve to be called an apostle. 10 But God treated me with undeserved grace! He made me what I am, and his grace wasn’t wasted. I worked much harder than any of the other apostles, although it was really God’s grace at work and not me. 11 But it doesn’t matter if I preached or if they preached. All of you believed the message just the same.” I Corinthians 15:1-11 CEV

The good news? Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose from the dead so that we could have new life in Him!

Salvation is nothing we earn but something we receive. It’s a gift from God, the expression of His grace.

“God did this so that his kindness to us who belong to Christ Jesus would clearly show for all time to come the amazing richness of his grace. 8 I mean that you have been saved by grace because you believed. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God. 9 You are not saved by the things you have done, so there is nothing to boast about.” Ephesians 2:7-9 ERV

We can’t boast or brag about our good works, intelligence, financial status or any other thing. It’s all about God and His unconditional love and forgiveness.

“I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus,
Since I found in Him a friend so strong and true;
I would tell you how He changed my life completely,
He did something that no other friend could do.

No one ever cared for me like Jesus,
There’s no other friend so kind as He;
No one else could take the sin and darkness from me,
O how much He cared for me.”

I am so thankful for my life with Christ. He is my all-in-all; my Lord, my Savior, my Friend!

Posted on

Changing of the Guard

Have you ever seen the guards at Buckingham Palace? What about the sentry at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier? I’ve only seen pictures or videos but those are amazing!

The concentration and determination on the faces of the guards in England is almost mind boggling. How many times a day do they have people getting in their faces trying to make them laugh or a least smile? A wink, a nod, even a twitch would prove that they recognize the existence of the passers-by but nothing. How long do they train for that?

Train they must – what kind of schooling do they go through to keep from reacting? But if they felt their gates were truly being threatened, I’m sure that they would fight to defend it.

I have to ask myself would I make a good guard? Would I be easily distracted by all of life’s little annoyances? Would I scream “enough is enough”? Would I refuse to show up for duty the next day?

“My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. 21 Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, 22 for they bring life to those who find them,
and healing to their whole body. 23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. 24 Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech.” Proverbs 4:20-24 NLT

We need to know our enemy; know the subtle ways that he will use to break our concentration, the ways he will try to get inside our head and get us off track. James says he will use the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. That’s how he brought temptation against Jesus – “turn the stones to bread, throw yourself from the pinnacle of the Temple, if you worship me, I will give you the nations of the world”. (Matthew 4)

Each time Jesus defeated Satan’s temptation with the word – it is written!

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 NLT

The distractions, the attacks, the temptations will come but we can be like those guards at Buckingham Palace and while being ready for battle, we can ignore the distractions and the temptations. Like the sentries at the Tomb of the Unknown, we can be consistent in our duties regardless of the storms, the heat, the cold…we stay on task.

I know it’s hard. Sometimes it’s an hour by hour or minute by minute vigil. Guarding our hearts and our minds requires constant discipline.

“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. 10 Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.” Galatians 6:9-10 NLT

It’s often easier to let self-pity stand guard over our hearts but it’s always more profitable, and more difficult, to let God’s peace be our guard!

Privacy Policy Proudly powered by WordPress