Grace For The Journey

 

  When was the last time you found yourself getting ahead of God? It is one thing to walk with God along the path of life, but it is another thing altogether to run ahead of Him . . . which is the great tendency for many of us. Abram did that very thing when it came to waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promise that He and his wife Sarai would be parents to a child of promise. You can read about it in Genesis, chapters 15-16.

Humanly speaking, Abram and Sarai could never have children; he was 100 and she was 90, both long past the biological age for producing children. But they forgot that with God ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE (Matthew 19:26). And when God makes a promise, HE KEEPS IT (1 Samuel 15:29)! God even confirmed His promise to them in Genesis 17:3-16 by changing their names to Abraham (“father of many”) and Sarah (“princess.”)

Unfortunately, Abraham suffered from two conditions that affect all of us:

His perception of God was as small as his patience was short!

So . . . where in your life have these conditions afflicted you? Where has your perception of God been way too small? In your finances, your calling, your relationships, your abilities? And where has impatience marked your life? In your single walk with Christ, your desire to be a parent, your hope of a getting out of school and getting on with life, your career?

We serve a BIG God, who works all things together for our ultimate good and His glory in His way and in His timing (Romans 8:28). Impatience and a small view of God are harsh taskmasters, and the consequences of either often stay with us for the rest of our lives. We need to remember that God will fulfill every promise He has made, but it may not come to us when we expect it to and it may not look like what we were anticipating. But just as God confirmed His promise to Abraham, so He has confirmed His promises to all those who have placed their trust in Christ’s redeeming work.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 1:20, “No matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through Him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.”

It’s important to note that Abraham believed God, even if he did a very foolish thing in running ahead of God. I love the way the Bible describes the faith of Abraham and exhorts us to live in a similar way:

“He [Abraham] did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He [God] had promised He was also able to perform. Therefore, it was credited to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. Who was delivered up because of our sins, and was raised because of our justification.” (Romans 4:20-25)

We all do foolish things and can look back on a life littered with our impatience and a small view of God. But don’t let the past keep you a prisoner! Learn from the past and look to the future promises of God. He will accomplish every one of them, in His time and in His way.

Remember, regardless of where this finds you today, waiting on God is the best work you can do.

This is God Word … This is Grace for your Journey … Rest in this eternal truth … AMEN!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

  The Bible says in 1 Peter 2:9,11, “God has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light to engage in the process of expanding His kingdom in this world.” How have you responded? What has been the confession of your life? Let’s take a brief look at the life of Moses and see what we can glean.

After Moses killed an Egyptian for beating a Hebrew slave (Exodus 2:11-12), he fled Egypt and lived on the back side of the desert for 40 years. While tending sheep near the mountain of God, Moses saw a bush that was burning . . . yet would not burn up. When he drew near to see this strange, supernatural event, the Lord God spoke to him, which must have seemed even more strange and supernatural than the burning bush! God called Moses to deliver God’s people out of their bondage in Egypt.

And what was the response of Moses to the Almighty? The Bible tells us in Exodus 3:11 and Exodus 4:10,13, “Moses said to God, ‘Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” … “Moses said to the LORD, ‘O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue’ . . . Moses said, ‘O Lord, please send someone else to do it.’”

Moses was full of excuses for not answering the call of God in his life. “Who am I” . . . “I am slow of speech” . . . and “Send someone else to do it” were his ways of saying “I CAN’T!” and “I WON’T!”

And how did God answer His troubled deliverer?

Again, the Bible tells us in Exodus 4:11-12, “The LORD said to him, ‘Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.’”

Here is an awesome truth …

God answered Moses the same way He answers us today …

When God calls us into service, He equips us for that service.

The calling of God presupposes the equipping and preparing of God; we simply need to answer His call and go in His strength. God gave Moses everything he needed to get the job done. From providing Moses with his staff to enlisting the service of his brother Aaron, God sent Moses off into Egypt in His strength to complete the service He had called Moses to perform.

So . . . what is God calling you to today? What excuses have you made for not answering that call? Following God’s Word by “Trusting in the LORD and leaning not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5) will turn every “I CAN’T” into “I CAN” and every “I WON’T” into “Here am I. SEND ME!”

This is the only appropriate response to the Almighty.

This is God Word … This is Grace for your Journey … Rest in this eternal truth … AMEN!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

  Today is our third and final installment of encouragement from the Scriptures relating to sin in the life of the Christian. On Monday, we saw that God has removed our sin as far as the east is from the west. On Tuesday, we looked at supernatural “holy hurling” and saw how God was pleased to plunge our sins into the depths of the sea. Today we will see …

THE REDEEMER WHO WILL NOT REMEMBER.

The Bible declares in Isaiah 43:25, “I (God), even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for My own sake, and remembers your sin no more.”

Notice that God uses some supernatural “white-out” in blotting out our transgressions from the record. Think about that for a moment! We once had a record that was filled with transgressions . . . but no more. In what we would call a legal act, when we admit that we are sinner, admit that we cannot save ourselves, accept Christ’s redemptive work on the cross, and ask Jesus to be our Savior, God blots all of our sins out from our record! We have been pardoned by the Supreme Judge! He has wiped the slate clean!

And as if that was not enough, God does something even greater: He chooses to no longer remember our sins! This is a relational act. It is putting away the sense of having ever been offended, harmed, wronged, or injured.

We all know what it means to forget something. I constantly forget where I put my keys, phone, and sunglasses. It is a passive act that you and I engage in on a regular basis. But “not remembering” is something much more than forgetting; it is active and intentional.

Let me encourage you to print the three blogs in this series and keep them in your Bible or put them up next to your computer. And every time you start to feel defeated from thinking about all of the sins and mistakes you have made in your past, read through these articles again.

We all need daily Gospel reminders that our sins have been removed as far as the east is from the west . . . they have been cast into the depths of the sea . . . they have been blotted out and remembered no more.

Our love Lord God declares in Isaiah 1:18, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” God requires no penance, nor does He put us on probation to see how well we will behave. Because God the Father has dealt with our sins in God the Son, we have been liberated to live a life that is pleasing to Him and beneficial to others, living in the joy of the Lord, which is our strength!

This is God Word … This is Grace for your Journey … Rest in this eternal truth … AMEN!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

  Today is the second installment of encouragement from the Scriptures relating to sin in the life of the Christian. Yesterday we saw that God has removed our sin as far as the east is from the west. Today we will see some supernatural HOLY HURLING!

Have you ever been in a boat out on the water and had something fall overboard? I watched a boat motor sink out of sight one day … it was a horrible feeling! Fortunately we had just come into dock and we able to retrieve it! Well, today God has a word of unimaginable comfort as it relates to our sin and His forgiveness.

The Bible declares in Micah 7:19, “You (God) will tread our sins underfoot and hurl our iniquities into the depths of the sea.”

Unlike something that “falls” overboard, to “hurl” something is to do it intentionally. Because of the work of Christ on the cross, God has hurled our sins into the depths of the sea, never to be seen again. Imagine what that really means! Our sins are gone forever and ever and ever. God’s forgiveness of our sins is as complete as it is irreversible. Once forgiven . . . always forgiven!

Even SpongeBob may not be able to tell us precisely where the bottom of the ocean is. It is an irony that we know more about the surface of the moon than we know about Earth’s ocean floor. 70% of Earth’s surface is covered by water. Very little or no light penetrates beyond a few hundred feet in water. Besides, trillions of pounds of water make the pressure extremely heavy at the bottom of oceans, causing scientific instruments sent below to be crushed. Studies over the last couple of centuries have however given us clues that mountain ranges and valleys far higher and deeper than even Mt Everest can be found at the bottom of the ocean.

Today the deepest ocean discovered is in the southern part of the Pacific Ocean in the Mariana Trench. The Challenger Deep has been established as the deepest point in that trench and is 6 1/2 miles deep! Compare that with Mt Everest which is 5.49 miles tall. As technology becomes more sophisticated, there may yet be another point that is deeper than Challenger Deep. And if so, we are yet to discover it.

God has dealt with our sins through the sinless life and sacrificial death of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. If you have placed your trust in Christ’s atoning work on your behalf, God the Father loves you unconditionally and completely forgives you. He will never punish you for any of your past sins. They are gone, hurled overboard, never to resurface again.

As I wrote in Monday’s blog, if you are being reminded of your past sins – sins that have been removed from you as far as the east is from the west and hurled overboard into the depths of the sea – it is not God who is reminding you. It is Satan, the liar and the accuser of the brethren, who wants you to live looking back instead of looking up.

HOLY HURLING is a Gospel truth that frees us up to advance confidently in the direction God is calling us to go.

This is God Word … This is Grace for your Journey … Rest in this eternal truth … AMEN!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

This week I would like to give you a word of encouragement from the Bible relating to sin in the life of the Christian. To be sure, sin was the ruin of mankind, but God had a remedy for our ruin: He sent our Redeemer, who does something quite radical to what was once our ruin. When we trust in Christ alone for our salvation, all of our sins – past, present, and those still to come – are freely, fully, and immediately forgiven. They are taken away and nailed to the cross of Christ.

Today we will look at one remarkable way the Word of God explains this Gospel truth. Tomorrow and Wednesday we will unpack two others.

A DIVINE DISTANCE

The Bible says in Psalm 103:12, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

You might well ask, “How far is the east from the west actually?” Well, if you start heading due north at any point on the map you would eventually get to the North Pole and begin heading south. But if you start going west and continue going west you keep going west. East and west never meet!

WOW! Think about that truth for a moment! God is saying that your sins have been completely forgiven and removed from you by an infinite distance – A DIVINE DISTANCE – never to meet up with you ever again.

Now, it may very well be that you will find yourself meeting back up with the memory of your sins. If and when that happens, know this: it is not God who is reminding you of your transgressions. It is the devil who wants you to focus on your past sins so that you will not advance into your promised future. Don’t let him do it! Refuse to relive your past sins. If you have owned up to your sin, have admitted them to God, and have asked for His forgiveness you can enjoy the Gospel truth proclaimed in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” God has removed them as far as the east is from the west. They are gone; the sin debt was paid in full at Calvary. Let those old sins go and get on with living the life God is calling you to live today.

Wait until you read tomorrow’s blog and see more about what God has done with your sins through Jesus Christ! These Gospel truths empower you to press on . . . in spite of a past stained with sin!

This is God Word … This is Grace for your Journey … Rest in this eternal truth … AMEN!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

 

The church is full of people who spend the lion’s share of their time trying to broker God’s favor and bind His conscience for a blessing. They believe their “good works” can obligate omnipotence. They have lost sight of our Lord’s words in Luke 17:10 . . .

“So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

Even if we were to live a life of perfect obedience (which, by the way, we cannot do) we would only be doing our duty . . . and at the end of the day, we still would be unworthy servants. Think about it this way: if we were to keep the laws of our state perfectly, would the state be under any obligation to reward us for our obedient behavior? Of course not! We would have only done our duty as American citizens. The same is true when it comes to our relationship with God. And on top of that, even our best works are no more than filthy rags in God’s sight (Isaiah 64:6).

God declares in Job 41:11, “Who has a claim against Me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to Me.”

You will remember the story of Job, who lost everything – his health, his wealth, and his children – except his life . Even his wife turned against him and urged him to curse God. Then Job’s three friends showed up and hurled false accusations Job’s way. In defending himself, he began to demonstrate an attitude of “deserving better from God” . . . and God quickly corrected Job’s misguided thinking.

To be sure, Job suffered through an unimaginable season of tragedy. He started out well, saying “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, may the name of the Lord be praised” (Job 1:21). But Job drifted into an “I deserve better” mentality, complaining that “It profits a man nothing when he tries to please God.” (Job 34:9) At that point, the Lord stepped in and redirected Job’s focus away from himself and back toward God.

Regardless of the life we live – even a righteous life like Job’s – we simply cannot obligate Omnipotence. We live in a fallen and broken world, and storms will come our way; our comfort is found in the fact that Jesus is in the middle of the storm with us.

Knowing that Gospel truth helps us to weather any storm, trusting that God has delivered it for our ultimate good and His glory. Instead of trying to obligate Omnipotence we must simply open our heart to gratefully receive whatever He sends our way.

This is God Word … This is Grace for your Journey … Rest in this eternal truth … AMEN!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

Jesus came to this world to conquer Satan, sin, and death.  And conquer He did, through His birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension.

The Bible records His last triumphant words from the cross, “When He had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.”  With that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”  (John 19:30)

To the watching world, this was the last despairing cry from a defeated man, nailed like a common criminal to die a ghastly death on wooden crossbeams.  But to the Father in heaven, this was the cry of a Conqueror who did what He came to do: debt paid, sin forgiven, crooked straightened.  “It is finished!” is the fulfillment of the promise God made to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden after they sinned! “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel.”  (Genesis 3:15)

When Jesus cried, “It is finished!” He uttered the Greek word tetelestai, which literally means “Paid in full.”  When someone in the first century finished paying off a debt the judge or creditor would utter the word, and stamp over the charge, tetelestai, meaning “The debt is paid in full; the obligation is fulfilled.”  Jesus was making it clear that He had paid the penalty for our sins in full by His death on the cross.  His was not a cry of relief, the final whimpering gasp of a criminal being crushed under the weight of the cross; it was the cry of a Conqueror!

We must keep in mind that Christ’s finished work was not limited to the price He paid by His death; it also included the price He paid in the life He lived.  He lived a life of perfection, though He faced every imaginable obstacle, though He was “tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15) He overcame every test!

At birth, King Herod tried to have Jesus killed.  As an adult, He was falsely accused by the religious leaders who branded Him a false teacher.  He was rejected by the people He came to save, betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter, and abandoned by all His friends.  He was spit upon, viciously flogged, had a crown of thorns jammed into His head, and nailed to a cross. He hung there in unimaginable agony, His cruelly lacerated back scraping against the harsh wood as He pushed against the spikes in His hands and feet to draw in each shuddering breath.  The religious leaders mocked Him, the soldiers cast lots for His clothing, and even two thieves reviled Him as He hung there, no doubt shivering in blinding pain. And if that wasn’t enough, his Father in heaven would not even look upon His very own precious Son, as He who knew no sin became sin for us.  And it was that – not the pain of the nails or the insults of men, all of which He bore in stoic silence – which prompted His desolate cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

But He was not defeated!  To be sure, there was a great defeat suffered as Jesus hung on the cross . . . but it was not His defeat.  It was Satan who was defeated, his plans forever frustrated, sin and death eternally vanquished for all those who will trust in Christ.  On the cross what looked like the defeat of Jesus and all that He stood for was actually His victory . . .

and it was our victory too!

His cry of victory is our cry of victory.  We now live under the banner of the finished work of Christ!  We cannot add to His work; we cannot build upon it; we cannot improve on it in any way.  When Jesus cried out in triumph, “It is finished,” He meant what He said!

This is God Word … This is Grace for your Journey … Rest in this eternal truth … AMEN!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

It’s almost impossible for most of us to imagine the anguish that Job experienced, simply because most of us have not gone through what Job went through.  Yet, the amazing thing in Job’s experience is that in spite of the tidal wave of grief and incomprehension that he must have felt …

 Job did not cry out to God for a reversal of his great loss.

What the Bible does show us is His fortified and focused faith that would lead him to God for help, “Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come even to His seat!” (Job 23:3)

Job lost his health, his wealth, and all ten of his children.  Had it been you and me . . . do you think we might have cried out to God for a return of our precious children from the grave?  Or perhaps a restoration of our wealth? At the very least, to be returned to good health?  Surely these thoughts were swirling through his mind.  But in his deepest moment of despair, his first cry was that he might find God – not that God might fix it.  Charles Spurgeon writes this about Job’s nearly inconceivable plea:

“A hypocrite, when afflicted by God, resents the infliction, and, like a slave, would run from the master who has scourged him; but not so the true heir of heaven, he kisses the hand which smote him, and seeks shelter from the rod in the bosom of the God who frowned upon him.  Job’s desire to commune with God was intensified by the failure of all other sources of consolation.  The patriarch turned away from his sorry friends, and looked up to the celestial throne, just as a traveler turns from his empty skin bottle, and takes himself with all speed to the well which shall never run dry.”

Job knew that nothing in this world could mend his broken heart and ease his troubled mind like the presence of God, the Fount of his every blessing.  Job sought after the only consolation in both life and death; in doing so, he left us with the key that calms every storm.

God’s presence is the only place where we can truly find …

Comfort in times of challenge . . .

Certainty in times of change . . .

Consolation in times of confusion.

Only God can meet us in our place of deepest need.  Friends, especially friends like the ones Job had, simply will not do.  Even our family relationships will fail us.  Job’s wife was so devastated by their losses that she added insult to injury in telling her husband to curse God and die.  Yet Job promptly rebuked her folly, saying “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10).  Only God can keep us going when the going gets so tough we don’t believe we can take even one more step.

So . . . what was your cry the last time you were in the middle of a storm?  Was it “FIX IT!” – which is so common to most of us, or was it “FIND HIM?!”  Only the latter response comes from a deep understanding of the Gospel.  The Bible assures us that God cares for us in seasons of plenty and want, sunshine and rain. Our Lord’s promise is utterly unambiguous: “I will never leave (desert) you; nor will I ever forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

Think for a moment about the scandalous message of the Gospel.  God loved us so much that left the glories of heaven, suffered immensely while upon the cross, and He died in our place that we might live with Him.  Next time you find yourself in the middle of some struggle or storm, focus on the Gospel of grace (God’s Resources At Christ’s Expense), so that your heart’s cry to God will not be “FIX IT!” but rather “FIND HIM!”

Adrian Rodgers suggests that there are three reactions you need to have when you encounter suffering. First, you are to rejoice in what God is allowing to happen. (see 1 Peter 4:13)  Second, you need to review your life (see 1 Peter 4:17-18). Am I suffering because of something I have done? If the Holy Spirit convicts you that your suffering is a result of your sin, then you need to repent.  Third, when you review your life and discover that your suffering is for the cause of Christ, then simply rely on Him (see 1 Peter 4:19). It is not your problem. It is His problem.

In 1 Peter 4:19 we see the word “commit.” That is a banking term. It means “to deposit something of value with someone else, to keep it safe.”  What God is saying to us when we go through suffering is this wonderful truth – He will take care of you. You can bank on it!

This is God Word … This is Grace for your Journey … Rest in this eternal truth … AMEN!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

Have you ever bumped your “funny bone?”  I am not sure why they call it that – it creates a response that is anything but funny!  it seems like you are paralyzed for a few seconds!  Here are textbook definitions of the word paralyze:

1. To make unable to move or act.
2. To impair the progress or functioning of; make inoperative or powerless.

At some level we are all “paralyzed people” when it comes to our walk with Christ. From time to time we seem to be unable to act; we behave as if we are powerless.

We are paralyzed by a variety of conditions. Here is a brief list; I could easily make it ten times longer!

• Unbelief
• Under-belief
• Shame
• Guilt
• Fear
• Failure
• Desire for acceptance
• Desire for approval
• Religion and non-religion
• Obsessions, addictions, and disorders

Only by keeping the Gospel in clear view will we overcome our tendency to paralysis. The supernatural power of the Gospel is enough to counteract any attack made by the world, the flesh, and Satan, “the accuser of the brethren.” The Gospel truths bring healing and hope.

The Bible tells us in Romans 8:1-4, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

“No condemnation” means no accusation. Think on that for just a moment. “No condemnation” means no accusation – not today . . . not tomorrow . . . not ever! Jesus came to set the captives free (John 8:32-36; Romans 8:2), and that includes you and me. We are freed to repent and receive forgiveness . . . which further frees us to continue moving in the direction God is calling is to go.

Through the power of the Gospel, a past littered with set-backs is simply a set-up for a comeback! Your past does not determine your future; the truths of the Gospel empower you to deal with your history so you can move in the direction of your destiny.

The Bible is full of stories of people who could have – and probably should have – lived paralyzed lives. But they did not, because they knew the God who had set them free. Abraham lied. Jacob schemed. David dishonored. Peter denied. Paul persecuted. The list goes on and on. Noah became senseless after drinking too much wine. Elijah became nerveless after hearing of Jezebel’s threats. John Mark became alienated from the apostle Paul after he left Paul in Perga. Yet, in spite of a past that could have easily paralyzed, these men continued moving in the direction God was calling them to go.

Solomon knew the power, freedom, and joy of forgiveness and grace, when he penned these words through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again.” (Proverbs 24:16)

So . . . how about you? Is there anything that has been keeping you paralyzed? Are you imprisoned by a problematic past? Remember the Gospel and its benefits and you will be able rise above paralysis to progress and productivity!

This is God Word … This is Grace for your Journey … Rest in this eternal truth … AMEN!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

The caption to the left was enclosed with an article on “Fast and Furious.” It serves to drive home the spiritual truth I will make today. The dictionary defines the word paradox as “a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true.” Today we’re going to look at paradoxical propositions in the Bible that are seemingly contradictory but are not; and instead of being “perhaps” true, they are absolutely true!

Here are just a few of the most common ones delivered by our Lord Jesus for our benefit:

To live you must die (Mark 8:35)

To gain you must give (Matthew 19:21)

To rule you must serve (Luke 22:26)

I think you’ll agree that those are some jaw-dropping paradoxical propositions! And yet they are all true. In order to live we absolutely must die. We must die to self. We must die to our way of thinking. We must die to our dreams and desires. We must die to everything we want in order to live for everything God wants for us. Dying to the self is the only way to live for our Savior.

In order to gain we absolutely must give. The more we give the more we gain, because the gain is first to be found in the giving. Now, I am not talking about the “prosperity gospel,” which teaches that if you give so much you can expect so much in return. We simply cannot bind the conscience of our God or broker His favor. We are blessed by the Best simply because we are in union with Christ. The more we give, the more we get . . . in ways we never imagined.

In order to rule we absolutely must serve. Jesus set the ultimate example of service and He is the ultimate Ruler – the King of kings and Lord of lords. This paradox was so alien to the minds of the disciples that they did not know how to handle His foot-washing seminar recorded in John chapter 13.

Clearly the way up is down. The way in is out. The way to life is death. The way to gain is to give. The way to rule is to serve. These paradoxical propositions are the keys to unlocking the door leading to a better life, one filled with the freedom, joy, and faithfulness that only comes through the Gospel.

And only the truths of the Gospel free us to live such apparently contradictory lives. The Lord says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways” (Isaiah 55:8). Instead of trying to figure out the best way to go, we do well to simply follow our Lord’s plan and prepare to pick the fruit He has prepared for us.

This is God Word … This is Grace for your Journey … Rest in this eternal truth … AMEN!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”