The Grace To Be Grateful, Part 1

Many thoughts have been occurring to me lately. One of them is how unutterably UN-grateful I usually am. This is a poor witness to the new life in Christ that I claim. It is a poor payback for the "marvelous grace of our loving Lord" that has been poured out so freely - both for eternal salvation, and for the means to make it through each day by faith.

So, it's time to remember be grateful. By His grace, these are the "bigger" things that I give thanks for:

Eternal life - that Jesus Christ stood in my place and bore the full wrath of God for my sins, forever standing in the gap, interceding for me before the Judgment seat, marking my sin account as "PAID IN FULL", and welcoming me as an heir of the Kingdom with Himself.

The Word of God - both Christ Himself, the Living Word, and the inscripturated Word that He has preserved for His people through the ages. Today, His people see Him and hear His voice through the written Word, through which we are enlightened, instructed, confronted, rebuked, trained, corrected, comforted, strengthened. And by His grace, we are made able to minister the Word one to another.

The Church - and by this, I mean all believers, everywhere, for all time, but I also mean the local assembly to which I belong. In the larger sense, God has graciously kept His people through a couple millennia, building His Church by bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth little by little. In the smaller sense, God grows His people individually in the context of a local body of believers who teach one another, learn from one another, and show love to one another by care & comfort as well as by rebuke and correction. Relationships are difficult, but God's people will seek each other out, and will endeavor to obey the Scriptures as they are tried and tested and fail and grow, continuing to relate to one another and not running away from the difficulties. It is only His grace that causes us to give grace to one another in the midst of the trials and testing and failures and growth, and only His grace that keeps us from running away when the going gets tough.

Governments - yes, human governments. Believe it or not, but God ordains the leaders of every nation, state, town, etc. - even the ones we don't agree with. In simplistic terms, the Word tells us that governing authorities are instituted by God for the good of their citizens. This is not to suggest that no leaders ever "go astray", or that despots don't exist. It means, though, that God is in control. So, even if the one you want doesn't get elected, or even if leaders of other nations wage war on nations they see as "Christian", it all is still in His hand. And He is trustworthy. This comes all the way down the ladder, too - heads of nations, heads of states, heads of counties & towns, bosses, coaches, pastors/elders, husbands/fathers. God has instituted leadership. I'm thankful for this.

In a future post, I will come closer to home, and name specifics in my day to day life that I'm grateful for.

Almighty God and Father, please cause us to remember Your grace, and in turn to be thankful in all things, even the difficulties. You assure us that the testing of our faith produces endurance, which grows our character and causes us to hope and not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Give us the grace to be sincerely grateful for all You bring or allow into our lives. Amen.

The Grace to Give Grace

Do we give grace to one another?

I had a heart to heart with a young sister in the Lord today. She's feeling overwhelmed by the responsibilities put on her, but at the same time, recognizes that she has borne up under the same responsibilities before. As we talked, she lamented that she didn't know what was wrong with her, and why things were so much more difficult now.

What would you have done? Would you have commiserated her lot, or spouted the platitude, "I'll pray for you," and left it at that? Would you have listened to her complaints and gotten upset on her behalf? Would you have told her to suck it up and deal with it? I will admit to thinking all of the above.

But God had other plans for our discussion.

On the one hand, yes, her burden is heavy, and in this modern society, it's hard to imagine one so young having such expectations made of her. It would've been easy to commiserate, complain with her, get upset at the way things are, or speak only empty words with no power. It would also have been easy to be harsh and just tell her to suck it up, 'cause that's life.

But God doesn't ask us just to do what is easy.

God asks us to give grace to one another. To give favor that is undeserved. To bless one another. To speak truth to one another. To encourage one another. To plead with one another to focus on the face of Christ. To remind one another that we exist for Him, not for ourselves. To pray for one another. To correct one another. To exhort one another to live holy lives before our God. This, all this, is not easy.

But God expects it of His people anyway.

As we talked, and began to speak of the things of God, many thoughts went through my mind. For one thing, Jesus didn't have to leave his throne in Glory to become a man. He didn't have to take on human frailty. He didn't have to grow up in a working family. He didn't have to spend 3 years teaching and preaching about the Kingdom of God. He didn't have to allow Judas to betray Him. He didn't have to allow the religious leaders to mock Him. He didn't have to be subject to Pontius Pilate's judgment. He didn't have to submit to the physical beatings. He didn't have to get up on that awful Cross. He didn't have endure all the wrath of Almighty God against all the sins of all of His people for all time. He didn't have to die that horrific death, separated from His Father.

But God in Christ did all this.

His grace, His immeasurable, completely undeserved favor upon such a worm as I (or you), made Him do it.

But God didn't stop there.

Jesus Christ, the God-man, the perfect Lamb of God, the Messiah/Anointed of God, our Redeemer...proved who He is by rising from the grave! He conquered sin and death, broke the power of reigning sin and set the prisoners free! (remember the lyrics?)

But God still does more, even today.

Without His grace, we are lost, hopeless, condemned for the sin we cannot help but to commit. With it, we are found, full of hope, redeemed from the consequences of that sin, and empowered to live our lives in obedience to Him. With it, we are growing from grace to grace, as little by little we remember that we have been freed from bondage to sin, and can actually choose NOT to sin. With it, we can open our hearts and lives to each other, and pour His grace over one another as we each have need.

So, the conversation with my young sister could have been very different than it turned out to be. It could've been filled with grumbling and empty talk. Instead, though, we discussed how it's the heart that must be addressed to see any real change, and that the change may not be in the circumstances themselves, but in the way we see, and respond to, our circumstances. When we focus on Christ, and His grace to us, we are suddenly more grateful and less complain-y. When our hearts recall all He's done for us, we are more willing to serve cheerfully. When we remember that we are dust, day to day aggravations become less aggravating. When we remember Him, His glory, His gift to us, we become far more willing to bestow favor on others, to be less harsh with them, to exhort and encourage more than beat down. Our anger dissipates because we know we are nothing and deserve nothing.

Giving grace is simple, but difficult. It was as simple as Christ dying on the Cross for my sin. But it was so difficult, He sweat drops of blood as He anticipated it. I pray we all are willing to do the simple thing and give grace one to another, no matter how difficult it proves to be in our respective spheres.

May God be with us all.

The Grace to Change

This blog began during a time of deep grieving, when God's grace was manifested to me in so many ways every single day. A time when I knew, from the depths of my being, that the only reason I could even stand, the only reason I could get through each day, the only reason I didn't curl up in the fetal position and suck my thumb, was the grace of God in Christ.

The exquisite grace of the Almighty Lord of the universe, completely unmerited by me, was granted to me completely of His own volition. For no reason in myself, the God who would be entirely justified in obliterating me (and everyone else who ever lived) off the face of the planet, extended His nail-pierced hand to lift me up, to cradle me, to care for me. And not only for my eternal salvation (though that's the most important application), but for the strength to endure every moment of every day, even in the really dark times. And let me tell you, they were dark times! But, in the darkness, His light shines ever brighter. Fellowship with Christ and with His people was so sweet, such a ray of sunshine in the middle of a storm. And I could feel myself changing, growing in His grace as I leaned so heavily on Him to wade through the quagmire of grief and loss.

Many things happened (like a massive hurricane) that kept my eyes on Him for a long while, but then, life smoothed out. Without any new devastating losses, no new hurricanes, it was easy to become complacent, easy to forget to draw near to my God, easy to think too much of myself and my desires, my hopes, my disappointments. It was easy to lean on my own understanding, not His. I put too high a value on my own thoughts and plans, and when they weren't carried out as I thought they should be, I would give the adult version of a temper tantrum.

You'll also note that my blog was silent for a very long time. Though I was mired "merely" in self-centeredness, not grief and pain, it was a very bleak, dry time of my life. I had turned my back for a while on the light of Christ, closed my ears to His voice, hardened myself against His Word.

Praise God, He didn't abandon me in this state! By surrounding me with His people, who loved me enough to get in my face and confront me in my sin - the fact that I put MYSELF on the throne when it rightly belongs to only God Himself - He kept me and protected me. He didn't forsake me. He didn't leave me. In the midst of my tantrums, He was the loving Father who would neither allow me to continue (via confrontation & correction), nor allow me to separate myself from Him. He held me tight as I flailed at Him, calmly reminding me that He was my security, and that He wasn't going anywhere. What is that but grace itself? What is that but love unknown?

So, now...here I sit, amazed at the grace that still flows down to me - I have often been so ungrateful for it. "Grace so amazing, so divine, [it] demands my heart, my life, my all." (Recognize the lyrics?) This grace saved me from eternal damnation, this grace guards my comings and goings, this grace humbles me as I realize I deserve none of it, this grace uplifts me as I am carried by Him who will never lose me, this grace enables me to obey Him who is the Perfect Master, this grace strengthens me to endure trials & temptations, this grace empowers me to CHANGE in accordance with His will, this grace is conforming me into the image of Christ.

His grace to change is my focus as I re-enter the blogosphere. Lord willing, I will give evidences of this all-consuming grace as I point to changes that are happening already, and others that I seek to see in my life. Brethren, pray for me.

Wow.  Just, wow.

It's been almost 4 years since my last post. That is inexcusable for someone who thinks she's a writer of sorts!

But, I've been wanting to journal a bit, share some things (if anyone's interested in reading), and not have something with my contact info floating in the ether without my attempting to control it. So...here I am again. Lord willing, I'll be more consistent with posting.

More later, but for now, I'm saying, "Hi!" And here's a new pic of myself:

Blessings!

Suppose an updated pic of me is in order. Well, this is actually around 18 mos old, but it's newer than the last.

Time Flies

Incredible how quickly a year...two years...goes by. It's been nearly 2 years since this blog has seen a post of any kind.

Perhaps it's time to start journaling again...putting my thoughts in print. My thoughts on God's work in my life, on my sin that blinds me to His grace, on His ever-present love to this ungrateful child.

If you think of it...pray that I focus more on Christ and His perfections than on anything else. And pray that these reflections are more than just thinking out loud - that they are evidence of a heart broken over my sin, and wanting to obey my Lord.

White-Sabin Debate mp3

I've been told I must listen to this debate between James White and Robert Sabin, so I'm posting the link here for all to see...and hear. :) Look for mp3 #484.

Click here