Tag: Grace

Days of Grace-Day 32

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Our stop along the grace walk today will give some glimpses into God’s love and His kindness toward us following up on our look at Psalm 139. In Ephesians 2:10, we are told “For we are His workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them.”(Ephesians 2:10 NET)  This goes right along with the psalm. We each have been specially designed by the Creator of the universe on purpose and for a purpose. It is no coincidence when, where, how and why we come into the world, yet because we have freedom of choice, we may or may not fulfill our originally intended destiny.  The Message puts it this way…

It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose His temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, He embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on His own, with no help from us! Then He picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah. Now God has us where He wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all His idea, and all His work. All we do is trust Him enough to let Him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join Him in the work He does, the good work He has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing. (Ephesians 2:1-10 MSG)

What a great message. In Ephesians 1 we were told in verse three that we were blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. We have seen that we have been designed masterfully for a purpose and that God has gone to great lengths to do all that is necessary for us to have right standing with Him. Our job is to trust Him. One of the best gift’s we can give ourselves is to get to know this God we believe in. How? Studying His character throughout the Word, looking at how He interacts with His people. Looking at His character by how He interacts with the patriarchs, Israelites and people in the New Testament can be very eye-opening! Throughout history, God has used ordinary, normal, common, and flawed people to accomplish extraordinary feats. Timid Gideon becomes a mighty warrior. Young David becomes a giant killer, then a mighty warrior and King. Orphan Hadassah becomes the courageous Queen Esther and sabotages evil Haman’s plot. Rejected, Joseph enters as a slave into Egypt and in time becomes second in command and is able to take in the brothers who rejected him during the famine in their homeland. Moses who fled to the desert, goes back to Egypt 40 years later to lead around two million of his people to freedom. The list could go on. When we take a deeper look at the stories, we see they were all flawed people who messed up at times just as we do. Many of them questioned God, asked for signs; some lied. God knows better than anyone that we’re human and we fail. In fact that is why He made provision through Jesus. If we look carefully, we will see God is not just a just God waiting to dole out punishment; but we will see He is holy, extraordinarily patient, kind, merciful, forgiving, impartial, generous, compassionate and so much more. Psalm 113:13-15 says:

“Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.  For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust. As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.”

God knows our weaknesses, strengths, and our humanity. Nothing about us is a surprise and not only that; no circumstance we ever find ourselves a part of takes Him by surprise. He has an answer for every question and a solution for every problem. Because He loves us immensely, He wants us to trust Him, seek Him, surrender our lives in exchange for the best life we could imagine. He has done all the work for us; now, He asks for our trust. Our problem is we shy away from trusting someone we do know.  We have to choose to get to know Him through His Word and then for some of us, one baby step at a time. For others, one giant leap of faith. Either way, it is worth more than we can ever imagine!

 Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]– To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen (so be it). (Ephesians 3:20, 21 AMP)

Days of Grace-Day 31

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     Greetings, we have made it to day thirty-one. When I first heard that “Still small voice” say focus on grace for the next forty-five days until Resurrection Sunday, my first response was okay. My next thought was forty-five days focused on such a small word, can this be done? The word seems small at first glance, but the topic is huge. It flows like an enormous river from cover to cover throughout the Bible. I am beginning to view this word grace like a diamond. I am finding it expensive, rare, priceless, multifaceted and quite exquisitely beautiful.  I am finding that true grace, like a diamond is formed in us when we are under pressure, subjected to high temperatures, and finally are shaped and faceted by the precision and work of the Master.

     Psalm 139 tells us that God knit us together in our mother’s womb.  It continues by saying that He made all of the delicate and inner workings of our body. In all of our complexity, He masterfully designed each of us.  He was witness to the uniting and dividing of each cell as our lives came together in that secluded place.  This same Psalm tells us He knew us before we were born and that each and every day of our life was recorded before we breathed a single one.  Precious are Your thoughts toward me it says; more than the grains of sand! (Psalms 139:13-18) I find that incredible!! The Creator of the Universe and everything in it knows me that personally…He knew everything I would ever do, think or say before I lived the first day. He saw my humanity, knew that I would mess-up, make mistakes; sometimes big ones. Still in His love, mercy, grace and sovereignty; He gave me life. God did this for everyone of us from the greatest to the least. He did this for you! God has a plan and purpose for every human and yet He loved us enough allow us to have free-will to choose. How He longs for us to choose Him.

Ephesians 1:2-8 says:  ” May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give yougrace and peace. All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. He has showered His kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.”  (New Living Translation)

     When we chose a life with Jesus, God has already made provision by His grace for us. This passage tells us that we already have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. We are no longer just God’s creation, we have become His children and heirs. As if that were not enough, it tells us that it gave Him great pleasure to do this! 

     It is very  interesting to me that over the years, I have heard many teachers, preachers, and pastors talk about ancient adoption. One thing they all pointed out has been that in ancient times when a child was adopted it was permanent. It was not something that could be undone, taken back or reversed. A parent could ‘disown’ their blood related child but could never do that with a child they choose to adopt. I have done a little research on it also that seems to confirm its validity. What an amazing gift is ours when we choose to follow God’s plan. We are not only forgiven, redeemed, and placed in right standing. We become sons and daughters. We are heirs. We are showered with kindness, wisdom and understanding. Yet many times we are not even aware of who we have become in Christ.  It is almost like we gain this huge inheritance yet we are completely unaware of what is now ours and continue to settle for living in all our old ways rather that believing that we are who He says we are.  I am certainly not suggesting that we should think more highly of ourselves because of this grace He has given us, rather I am suggesting that we understand how our Father sees us, the value He places on us and with that proper perspective we can live more victorious and fruitful lives serving Him and others.

Days of Grace-Day 30

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       One of the greatest blessings in my life has been learning to look for grace in unexpected places. It may also be one of the hardest lessons that I have learned.  There are typically two types of learners when it comes to these things; the ones who learn by watching or hearing of the experiences of others and those who have to actually go through something in order to learn from it and move on.  I don’t know about you, but I have been seated in both of those seats and I would much rather learn from others if I have that option. 

     I would like us to take a look at a specific passage today that has meant a lot to me over the last ten years. Although grace is only mentioned once in the passage’s greeting, it is all about the grace and favor available to us through our relationship with Christ.  For me personally, this passage came very alive at a time in my life when I felt that the floor had been snatched right from under me and that life as I knew it would never be the same.  Hope was greatly in question and it was emotional pain like I had never known.  I had absolutely no idea how I would navigate the future because I could not even imagine getting past this one moment; how could I find my footing and try to stand, much less try to take a step forward into the future. Everything had changed in a moment and ‘normal’ and ‘comfortable’ looked like it was gone forever. I know how dramatic that sounds, but you can ask my husband, I am not a dramatic person by nature.

     We all experiences difficult times at some point in our life and it is often accompanied by pain. Pain is very relative. What I mean is if the greatest physical pain we have ever experienced is a severely inflamed hang nail, then for us that is the greatest pain. Likewise, for the one who has experienced the pain of giant kidney stones or multiple broken bones from an accident, the first persons pain is quite small. To be fair to all, we have to realize that pain is relative to what we have experienced. That first person will never understand the greater pain until they either experience it or see someone they love experience it.

Before I continue, Let me share the scripture passage:

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

To the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout Achaia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.“ 2 Corinthians 1:1-5

     So, here I am on the possibly the hardest night on my life, free-falling and not in a good way. (no parachute) What does one do when the worst thing they could imagine happens?  How does one deal with it? I can only share with you what got me through that night and the weeks, months and couple of years that followed in hopes it might bring help and comfort if you ever find yourself in this situation. I found myself in a place that no individual could help me or bring comfort. I grabbed my Bible and kneeled on the living room floor with it open on the couch in front of me, laid my head on it and cried. I cried hard and loud as I cried out to the only One who could begin to understand and could change what was happening. I begged to know what I did that could have triggered or caused the events, how they could have been prevented…no answers. I was there for hours praying, waiting, listening until the wee hours. No answer came but in time a peacefulness began to seep into my heart little by little. In a while I was able to ask God to lead me to some scriptures to help me; He did. My peace increased; circumstances were the same. After hours, my heart calmed. Nothing had changed except I knew beyond a doubt that God was with me, He had the answers; He would take care of me even if nothing changed, I would be alright in time.  I also got up from that place with an assurance that everything would be ok. It might be different, but it would be restored at some point.  It was resolved in my heart that no matter what, I could trust my God.

     My challenge to you is this; when you find yourself in one of those tough spots in life that tend to come around unexpectedly, turn to Him. The above passage promises abundant comfort. It also promises that when we have endured and found His comfort we are then equipped to be able to use that which we learned in our struggle to comfort others who may be going through a similar struggle. This is just one of the ways our trials and difficulties can be redeemed and we can learn to say like Job, “Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him.” Job 13:15a

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord
for the display of His splendor.They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated“  Isaiah 61:1-4

My friends, grace and peace to you in the Name of the Lord Jesus!!

 

Days of Grace-Day 28

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     Being over half way through this study of grace, it seems only fitting to address the form of grace that we know as thanks, thankfulness or thanksgiving. Though we see less of it, saying grace or the blessing is still a big part on many people’s lives. Part of the grace life is our taking time to be grateful for the many blessings in our lives no matter what we are going through.

     Today, we come to First Corinthians in our study. The word grace is in eight places in this book of the Bible. It is also translated many different ways here, unlike most verses we have looked at where it is simply translated grace. Here we find it translated as grace; grace of God; thankfulness; thanks and gift. For our purposes today we will stick with thanks and thankfulness. Our first example to ponder today is:  If I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks?  1Corinthians 10:30

     Paul has been talking about the freedom we have in Christ and telling the folks that though all things may be permissible, all things are not beneficial and edifying. This particular conversation is about meat purchased in the market.  Paul says here it is fine to eat it but if someone tells you it was sacrificed to idols, then for that man’s sake do not eat it. He goes on to say, “If I eat with thankfulness (Charis), why am I slandered for that which I give thanks (Eucharisteo). ”  I think Paul’s point here is when buying meat in the market, they do not know whether it may have been sacrificed to idols or not but if it was that is on the one who sacrificed it not on the purchaser. However, if you are informed it was, then for the sake not of not causing another to stumble do not eat it. As long as it causes no one to stumble and he expressed his thankfulness for the meat, why would someone slander him for this?

     In chapter 15, Paul is teaching on the resurrection of Jesus, the order of resurrection and the mystery of resurrection. Paul sums up the mystery of resurrection this way: “But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks (Charis) be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.“ 1 Corinthians 15: 54-57

      Webster’s Dictionary 1828 online defines thankful as grateful, impressed with a sense of kindness received and ready to acknowledge it. Dictionary.com defines it feeling or expressing gratitude; appreciative. In the verses we cited today, Paul first is expressing his gratitude for the food he would partake of and next he was expressing his thanks to God for the great victory we have through Jesus Christ over death and the grave. Yesterday, we also noted how Paul always expressed gratitude for those to whom he wrote the Epistles or letters to. Writing these letters was his way of keeping in touch with the communities of believers after he had gone to the next area to spread the gospel of Jesus. Reading through a few of Paul’s letters will give us understanding about Paul and his character. It seems our apostle lived a life of thanksgiving and gratitude. It was deeply ingrained in this man what Jesus had done for him, where Jesus had brought him from and what Jesus had brought him to. Paul, previously named Saul, had been known for persecuting the early Christians until he had a personal encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. That day everything changed and Paul became a fully engaged believer for life. (Acts 9) Paul knew he had much to be thankful for and he remembered to be thankful.

     James 1:17 tells us that “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”  What would happen if we, like Paul took the challenge to be thankful. What if we began to see every good thing and everyone in our life as a gift; something to be grateful for? I know, I can hear it now…how can I see _________ (you fill in the blank) as a gift? Maybe the blank is a person who is always challenging you or a difficult situation and it is almost impossible to find anything good in it. Think about this, if you will. Everything that has happened in our lives make us who we are. Each situation we find ourselves in has potential, even the difficult ones we would rather avoid. They are opportunities to grow better and stronger or to grow angry and bitter.  For example, when my parents died at a young age, you bet I asked why and I was not thankful to no longer have them with me. I was very thankful that they both knew the Lord; I was thankful that they did not suffer, struggle or become unable to care for themselves because I knew that neither of them would have wanted to be house bound; I was thankful for all the years we did have together and the memories we had made. We can always find something to be thankful for and trust me focusing on those things were much more beneficial that the alternative. There will be some times in life when things seem impossible and as though nothing good can come from them, but God is a God of redemption and He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above and beyond anything we can ever ask or imagine in any situations. He can redeem the years that the locust have eaten. In the mean time, maybe just maybe we can find little things all along the way to be thankful for as we wait to see how He unfolds the bigger picture in our lives.

 

Days of Grace-Day 27

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Grace and peace to you from our Father God and The Lord Jesus Christ!  

     So far our journey has lead us through the Old Testament, the Gospels, Acts and Romans. As we move into the epistles, we will see that many of them begin similarly. For instance, 1 Corinthians begins, “From Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother, to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, and called to be saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God that was given to you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Corinthians 1:1-4 NET). When reading the letters of Paul we see he tends to always start with a greeting whether written to a group of believers or to an individual and then add Grace and peace to you from God the Father and The Lord Jesus Christ. 

     Peter and Jude also use a comparable phrase in their greetings. James, written by Jesus brother did not begin this way.  Hebrews, 1 John, 3 John, and Revelation do not begin in this style but the majority do. Being an inquisitive person, I have to ask why. Why did these men choose to include this as part of his greeting?  Perhaps it was just part of a polite greeting used among the early church or a customary style used by their culture. I suspect it was much more. One thought was that as these men sat down to write their letters, they may have been sitting at the desk or table reminiscing about the time they had spent in these cities. Maybe they began to think about each individual they had connected with while there. Longing to truly connect with them personally rather than by letter.  These words could have flowed as a way to show their love and affection or a way to offer up a prayer over them as the writer composed the letter.  Another possibility might have been that it was simply a reminder to them that God’s grace and peace is ever available to them. Whatever the reason, what a great way to open a letter or even greet a brother or sister of like faith. 

     So much communication is lost in our day of quick emails or texts. I don’t know about you but I can’t remember the last time I wrote a letter. Usually it is a quick message here or there; phone calls are even being undermined by texting more and more. For many, it is about getting the point across or the message given in the quickest amount of time and moving to the next obligation or project. Please don’t get me wrong, I am certainly not condemning or judging because I am guilty of this too! Life is fast paced and busy. We forget to take time to slowdown and enjoy the simpler things in life and neglect connection with old friends and distant relatives.  Just think for a moment how it might feel for someone to take the time to send a message resembling one of Paul’s:

    From (_________), your (neighbor, childhood friend, 3rd grade teacher/student). Grace and peace to you, my friend. I thought of you today and smiled just remembering our times together. I hope that you are in good health and all is well with you and your family. Praying grace, peace and blessing over you today as I send this note…

 

     As I pause and still my mind for a moment! I can think of at least a hand full of people right now that I probably could stand to sit down and jot a note card or letter to. I am making a mental list as I type. No, better not trust my mind; hold on while I jot a note to remind me…

Oh but before I go! Grace, mercy, and peace to you dear friend! Until tomorrow…

Days of Grace-Day 26

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Today’s first scripture makes me smile. Though there is no reason it should, it conjures up a picture in my mind of a plate sitting on the counter filled with just out of the oven fresh-baked cookies and a little person looking up longing to sneak one of those delicious smelling cookies and gulp it down before anyone is the wiser.  We are looking first at Romans 6:1: “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?”  Paul’s response, “May it never be!  He goes on to that when explain we are baptized into Christ, we are also baptized into His death and when we are raised, we are raised to new life. We are given the Holy Spirit to abide in us, to bring us new life and to transform us. Sin will always try to sneak in, the enemy will always use it to tempt us, but once we begin this new life in Christ; He empowers us to make the right choices and to ‘put to death’ the nature of our old self and to begin to walk in greater victory. Chances are that we will stumble and fall at times.  If we truly understand all that He had done to purchase our freedom and all that is available to us in this new life in Christ, we will have a great desire to grow toward a better life rather than use it as an excuse to continue in our same old path. 

      Paul goes on to say, “ For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.” Romans 6:14-19

     Our Father knows when we have had our hands in a cookie jar when we were not supposed to be in it. He knows we are a product of fallen humanity and we stumble and fall often. He knows that sometimes when we know we shouldn’t, we do things anyway. That is why He sent Jesus. It is why Jesus went through betrayal, torture and suffering and died. It is also why He spent three days in a borrowed tomb and rose on the third day…victorious. That in itself would have been enough. He paid the price for every sin we would ever commit. That would have been enough. Jesus did not stop there! He made further provision through the gift of the Holy Spirit to come and abide within us; leading us, guiding and teaching us all truth, and making it possible for us to lead victorious lives.  This alone should powerful motivation for us to seek Him, to grow deeper in wisdom and understanding of His Word, become victors over our circumstances and share our experiences with those around us.

     Still, we are human. Since the decision of Adam and Eve to eat from the forbidden tree, humanity has struggled with control. The serpent made them question what God really said; he made that which was forbidden look irresistible, almost as if God was holding back something from them. We too wrestle with submission. Adam and Eve failed to remember that everything edible in the garden was theirs for the taking. It was there for their nourishment. God’s only stipulation was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Rather than stay focused on all the permissible things at their fingertips, the enemy managed to get their entire focus on the can not.  They lost abundance and full life all for a piece of fruit from the one forbidden tree. It cost them paradise. It made their lives forever difficult compared to life in the garden. That same enemy today would love nothing more than to pervert our thinking and draw us into the mindset that Paul was speaking against.  One look at the example of Jesus set for us and we can see how differently He intends us to live. In John 10: 14-18 Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” (NAS) Jesus surrendered His will to the Father’s will so that you and I could receive forgiveness, grace, and full and abundant life through Jesus Christ. Abundant blessing came because of Jesus’ surrender.

Days of Grace-Day 25

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     Sometimes God just takes me by surprise, for instance the weather today. It started off much like yesterday; dark, cloudy and drizzly. We are currently working on a small project getting a house ready to sale and Saturdays are ‘work’ days to finish up the projects that need doing. The wetness of the day really did not matter because there was plenty that could be accomplished inside. There were blinds to hang and an area of the hall ceiling to prep for painting; carpets to be cleaned, so there was not lack of work to be done.  Later, about mid-day, the weather broke, the sun came, the day warmed and it was a beautiful afternoon. Finally, about 6:30, the wind picked up, clouds rolled in and the sky began to darken and prepare to release more rain. Now I bet some of you are thinking just what does that have to do with grace?

      On the way home I read today’s grace passage and when I did I just laughed aloud!  Today’s passage is all about the beauty of grace. It also talks about trials and struggles. I laughed thinking about yesterday’s statement regarding the weather and my topic of the day. When I was focused on beauty it was rainy and when focused on grace through difficulty, it was sunny and beautiful. My first thought was of how our God must have a wonderful sense of humor; followed by a sense of awe thinking about His character and diversity. Why? God created man in His own image or likeness, yet He also created us with much diversity. Our likes, dislikes, attitudes, interest, appearance are all different. The most amazing part to me is that even in our diversity, we are all very similar. We all need sustenance; we need love; we are relational; we all seek acceptance; we all face struggles, disappointments, and at times heartache; and lastly we all have times of victories, disappointments, and failures. Honestly, for most of us, we are more alike than different.

      Today, we are in Romans chapter five. This chapter has grace written all over it and I recommend when you get a chance just to spend some time lingering in it and soaking it in. For now, we will just be looking at the second half and it speaks for itself.  My prayer is that this passage will wash over you and give you great joy and comfort in knowing no matter what is going on in our lives God is here and He is for us. He went to great lengths to show the abundance of His love for us and this is one of the many proofs of that love!

                 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.        

              But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.                                          

              The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.             

              For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.                                                                                                

             So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.     

             For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.                                                   

            The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.   Romans 5:14-21

May grace and blessing abound to you this day!

 

Days of Grace-Day 23

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     Just a few days ago, we hinted at some division in a small portion of the early church. It seems that there were some from the Pharisees among them that were convinced  that the new Gentile believers were to be both circumcised and follow the 613 laws of Moses.  The apostles and elders came together at the Council of Jerusalem to address the matter.  Peter went before them reminding them of his call to take the gospel to the Gentile people and how God, who knew the hearts of these folks, had given them the Holy Spirit and had made no distinction between the Jewish believer and the Gentile believer. God cleansed them all by faith.  Then Peter asked the question, “why put God to the test by placing on them a burden that neither our fathers or we could bear?” Peter continued, “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”  All the people kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were  relating what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.” Acts 15:11-12 (NAS)

     James, head of the Council, agreed with Peter citing the words of the Prophets as proof. How could they place a heavy burden on these believers? God had already given them the Holy Spirit upon their believing without condition. Next, James sent Paul and Barnabas along with Judas and Silas to the Gentile followers with a letter with the following message:

“The apostles and the brethren who are elders, to the brethren in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia who are from the Gentiles, greetings.  “Since we have heard that some of our number to whom we gave no instruction have disturbed you with their words, unsettling your souls, it seemed good to us, having become of one mind, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,  men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  “Therefore we have sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will also report the same things by word of mouth.  “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essential:  that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell.”   Acts 15:23-29 (NAS)

     The body of believers at Antioch was gathered together when the men arrived and the message was read. The fellowship rejoiced and were greatly encouraged.  Paul and Barnabas stayed at Antioch for a while preaching and teaching, then Paul began his second missionary journey.  Paul and Silas left together to return and revisit all the cities that he had previously taken the gospel message. Verse 40-41 tells us “Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia.”

     There is so much to be said for wisdom! When questions and differences of opinion arose it appears to have been handled swiftly and with wisdom. They took into consideration the testimony of the witnesses, the prophets teaching in Word of God and they prayed. The result was a response based on both the Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit.  The bottom line for both groups of believers was that it was through the grace of the Lord they were all saved, because of His favor, goodwill, mercy and love.

       Two of our other grace verses are also found in Acts. Both were spoken by Paul on his missionary trip to Ephesus; the first is Paul speaking about his life and his mission. He says in Acts 20:24,“But  do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God. Paul is totally committed to complete the work that was begun in him and the purpose that God had set before him as a minister of the gospel. The second was to those to whom he was ministering. Paul told them to be on guard for their flock; wolves will come in speaking falsely to draw them away from the faith; Be Alert! Then he said, “And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” Acts 20:32

     All through the book of Acts there are examples of grace upon grace. Grace is a powerful motivator. The more we receive or realize that we have received grace, the more we want to give it to others. My prayer for us all is that our eyes be opened to the great grace that God has extended to us through Jesus. That in itself would have been enough, but may we also be acutely aware of the many examples of His grace in our day-to-day lives and in our circumstances. May your days be filled with the awareness of amazing grace all around you!

Days of Grace-Day 22

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     We have traced grace all the way through the Old Testament and through the life of Jesus. This new movement of His followers has spread outside of Jerusalem and throughout many cities. The body of Christ is spreading, growing like wild-fire and planting new fellowships in many areas. They are being blessed in great ways  but life is not without many trials also. Many people, both Jew and Gentile alike, are hearing the good news and are seeing the wonders and miracles. People are being healed, delivered and set free from the things that bind them; hold them back. Still there is division and strife from some of those who choose not to believe.  Acts 14 tells us “After they had reached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch,  staying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.  They passed through Pisidia and came into Pamphylia.  When they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.  From there they sailed to Antioch, from which they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had accomplished.  When they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to report all things that God had done with them and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.  And they spent  long time with the disciples.“ Acts 14:21-28

     Sometimes when one comes to believe and follow Jesus, the impression is given, though it is not true, that it will make life smooth sailing and we will never have any major problems or struggles.  Then when the trials of life do come along and buffet us on every side we get discouraged, desperate or worse. We wonder where God is or what we are doing wrong that these things have come upon us.  Sometimes we blame God. As in the above passage, God tells us here and in other places in the Word, “Through many tribulations (troubles, trials) we must enter the kingdom of God”.  He also proves it to be true by showing us in the lives of the people in history.  Jesus never promised us an easy life but He did promise us a full or abundant life in John 10:10. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.“ (NET)

     James tells us to consider it joy, all joy, or great joy when we face various trials… lets look. “My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything. But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him.” James 1:2-5  Why? was my first thought when I first saw this scripture many years ago. Am I supposed to be joyful, happy that something terrible happened? How can you be joyful when a loved one dies or tragedy happens? So I reread it many times and did as it said. I prayed for wisdom. I was finally able to understand the true meaning of the message. I believe what James is actually saying here is: in the midst of trials, He will see us through and in the process we will grow in faith, in endurance and in wisdom. When we don’t understand what we are going through we need to ask for wisdom, understanding and grace to move through the situation.

     In my experience with walking with God, there have been many  scary times, hard times, struggles and losses of very dear loved ones.  One of the earliest and most frightening times I can remember was when I was about five years old. All I knew of God at the time was the normal children’s Bible stories parents read to their children. A situation arose and I was scared to death. I literally feared that might be my last night.  I feared what the future would be if it wasn’t and this continued. In the back seat of a car in the dark, I cried out to God. I prayed hard! He answered that little girl’s prayer and the chaos began to subside. It was not completely resolved for several years but the circumstance was drastically changed within the next hour or two. That answered prayer was favor; it was grace. He met me where I was and granted me grace to hold on not just initially but time after time until the issue was completely resolved several years later.  That was the night I gave my heart to Him. In every trial and trouble throughout my life, this has been the case. Did all of them turn out the way I like? Absolutely not. Did I always understand the whys? No. Did I feel at time He wasn’t there? Yes. Did He ever leave me or forsake me? NO!  Today, I can say with boldness:

  • God is good and has goodwill toward us.
  • His thoughts and ways are higher than ours, He sees the big picture.     Isaiah 55:8-10
  • God knows what we are suffering is hard.                                               Hebrews 4:14-16
  • He sees every last tear and He knows our pain.                  (NKJV)        Psalm 56: 7-8
  • God knows the outcome, even though we don’t.                                      Psalm 139: 1-18
  • He will provide for all our needs.                                                             Philippians 4:19
  • God will see us through.                                                                          1 Peter 5:6-10
  • He will redeem our troubles.                                                                    Romans 8:28
  • God likes to bring restoration, restoring what was lost.

     Many would challenge my thoughts here. What if things would have turned out differently? There were times they did, times my prayers seemed unanswered or were answered very differently than I would have liked. God was always there even when it did not feel like it.  God has proved Himself faithful to me and proved each of the above things in my life over and over again. His love, grace and mercy has been the sustaining force  in my life and He can do the same in any life.  Our job is to  turn to Him rather that blame Him when the struggles, trials, and troubles come desiring to overtake us.  It is to believe He is who He says. Hold on to the promises in His word.  Trust in His grace to get us through both difficult days and good days.   He is able!

“Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLqTZ07ja7g

 

 

Days of Grace- Day 21

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     Incredible! We have been looking at one word for three weeks! Grace-We have seen firsthand that one simple word encompasses much more than one would think at first glance. Grace we have witnessed is often very costly. We have journeyed down a road beginning with God’s favor  to Noah. The world had become very wicked but Noah found favor in God’s eyes. A flood would destroy the inhabitants of the earth but Noah was commissioned to build a huge boat and prepare his family and pairs of all the animals in order that the world could start fresh after the waters receded. Just reading the dimensions of the boat and the thought of gathering all the animals is a difficult task but think of those long days on end with all those animals! Next we spoke of Moses. Moses had been raised by the Pharaoh’s daughter and lived forty years in palatial comfort until he fled to the desert and spent another forty years; then he was commissioned to lead God’s people to freedom. He had great mountaintop experiences with God, and he was the recipient of much grace and favor but leading approximately two million people in the desert was hard work and it cost him plenty. Hannah was heartbroken and childless, tormented by her husband’s other wife. She petitioned God and found grace and went on to have six children but it cost her first-born. Naomi and Ruth suffered the loss of their husbands, traveled the distance from Moab to  Bethlehem to return home and found God’s grace in a man named Boaz. It was a tough road for them but they persevered and found grace and favor.  Grace is costly!

      Grace can be frightening. Esther was selected by God’s plan and His grace to be the replacement queen to King Ahasuerus after he banished Vashti for her disobedience. It never mattered that the King’s request was inappropriate and demanded when he was in a drunken state Vashti was gone and Ester was now queen. Her people were going to be annihilated and she was in a position to help but it could cost her her life, she helped anyway and said “if I perish, I perish.” God’s grace was all over the future King David but David prior to kingship found himself in a volatile relationship with the current King, Saul. Saul would draw David in close and then David would be running to hide from him. This went on for years.  The Israelites received much prosperity and great times of God’s favor, yet there were time of captivity and bondage to foreign nations when they chose idols above God. They  would return to God and return to grace.  Sometimes it can seem that the cost is too great and too frightening. Consider Jesus. Bringing grace, mercy and forgiveness to the world cost Him everything. It was a priceless gift. He left heaven and His home with Father God and all that encompassed. He came to earth and lived a fully human experience. He was exposed to all the temptations and situations that we endure. Not once did He react sinfully to any of the trials and sufferings; not even when falsely accused, beaten until He was unrecognizable, nor when they hung Him on the cross. That dark day after endless suffering, He took upon Himself all the weight of our sin, bondage and sickness. He could have chosen not to but He carried out His Fathers plan. Because of His love and sacrifice we are the benefactor of great grace and mercy. Grace is brave and extravagant!

      Today’s grace verse is found in Acts 13:43. Let’s glance at it:  “As the meeting broke up, a good many Jews and converts to Judaism went along with Paul and Barnabas, who urged them in long conversations to stick with what they’d started, this living in and by God’s grace.” (MSG) (for context read chapter 13) Context is very important in scripture and I encourage you to always consider checking out the context and weigh scripture against scripture. Today, I am going to let this verse stand alone. Paul is encouraging all the believers, all those following the life and example Christ set for us to deliberately choose to live in and by the grace of God. What does that mean to us? For us? I believe it means we need to learn what we can about grace and be a student of that grace; asking for wisdom and understanding of what its full meaning is; seeking glimpses of grace in our lives and asking God to help us be aware of them both in the great times but also in the difficult times and in ordinary situations as well. Whether we are the receiver of grace or the giver, it is my belief that true grace flows from great love. because God loved extravagantly.  He provides great grace and out of grace flows great mercy; because we receive great mercy or compassion we are moved to great love for Him; out of great love for Him we are moved or should be moved to a great love for others. That great love will move us to show grace to them, and to have mercy and compassion toward them; even when they have not shown it to us. Why? Grace is costly. Grace is brave. Grace is extravagant.