Grace For The Journey

  Since the beginning of time, mankind has been wrapped up in a hope that disappoints.  Do you know what it is?  It is hope in finding fulfillment, meaning, and significance apart from God.  It started with Adam and Eve when they decided they wanted to live autonomous lives, apart from the grace, goodness, and glory of God.  And men and women have been doing the same thing ever since.  When your hope is in anything other than God is will always disappoint. Self-sufficiency makes a poor savior.  So what is the hope that does not disappoint?

The Bible says in Romans 5:1-5, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Make no mistake; if what you have been hoping in is disappointing you, it is the wrong hope.  Nothing in this world can do for you what only Jesus can do.

• If your hope is in your career, you have the wrong hope.
• If your hope is in your education, you have the wrong hope.
• If your hope is in your network of friends or work associates, you have the wrong hope.
• If your hope is in your next business deal, you have the wrong hope.
• If your hope is in your wisdom or ability, you have the wrong hope.
• If your hope is in the applause of man, you have the wrong hope.
• If your hope is in your marriage, you have the wrong hope.
• If your hope is in your children, you have the wrong hope.

Hope that created things will do for you what only the Creator can provide is utterly hopeless!

Paul made it crystal clear that when we hope in God we are never disappointed.  You see, when you place your hope in something you are connecting your identity to it.  What you place your hope in provides you with your meaning, significance, purpose, and ultimate identity in life.

Your hope is your savior, regardless of what you are hoping in.

That is why hope in anything other than God will always disappoint you.  Only God is big enough to satisfy your deepest needs, meet you in the middle of your darkest night, and deliver you from a meaningless existence from the cradle to the grave.

To hope is to be human.  We all need hope and we all place our hope in something. Therefore, we all need to make sure we are hoping in the right thing!

So what have you been hoping in lately?  Has your hope been unable to deliver?  Has your hope been unable to meet you in your place of deepest need?

The Bible tells us that when our hope is in God, something counter-intuitive happens. Our hope does not disappoint us, even in the middle of a season of suffering.  Most people think hope is connected to painless providences.  Not so. Think of the life of Paul.  He knew firsthand that his hope would not disappoint, even in the middle of suffering.  Why?  Because His Savior was his hope and his Savior was in the middle of his suffering.  Paul did not need blue skies and sunshiny days to have hope, because his hope was in the only One who is worth hoping in: Jesus Christ.

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

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 “Black Friday,” the day widely regarded as the first official day of the Christmas shopping season. On a day when many are resting and recovering from massive overindulgence in food and football, retailers open early and stay late, hoping to entice crowds of shoppers to their establishments. It has been suggested that the term “Black Friday” originated from retailers’ hopes that their books will be solidly “in the black” after their registers ring all day.

So . . . as many will spend this day engaging in uncontrolled shopping and spending, we might do well to take a moment to consider the words of the prophet: “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” Here is one of those lovely contradictions between the ways of the world and the ways of God: the world is calling us to come, spend as much money as you possibly can even if you don’t have the money to pay for it!  Christ calls to those who have nothing to offer. . .

How easy it is to make the stuff of this world more important than our Savior!  You see, the desire for more is not bad; God set this desire in our divine design.  The key, however, is to know where we should be seeking to find “more.”  Adam and Eve were designed by God to seek more of Him.  He was to be the object of their deepest desire.  He was to be their greatest love.  He was to be their first priority.  And they were to seek more and more of this each day.  It was not until Satan slithered into the picture and offered them more outside of their relationship with God that they considered striving for “more” beyond their divine design.

We have been doing the same ever since, and there is no better example than Black Friday.  Now, I am not saying that looking for a bargain is a bad thing.  Taking the time to prayerfully consider and purchasing things on sale is a good thing.  It reflects good stewardship of the resources God has provided.  But as I have said in the past, good things become bad things when we make them ultimate things.  When was the last time you heard about a congregation lining up Saturday night to get a good seat in the sanctuary on Sunday morning?

Because of our sinful nature, we must be careful how we approach the shopping season.  Instead of bigger barns, we need bigger hearts that are sold out for Jesus.  He will tolerate no rival, nor should we.  We are blood-bought and grace-filled, and our lives should shout these facts to the world!

Consider this exhortation: “We ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to live and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more” (1 Thessalonians 4:1).  Now there is a desire for more that brings joy to the heart of our heavenly Father!

Remember that “You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).  It is my prayer that this “Black Friday” we would all remember the very first black Friday, when darkness covered the land between the sixth and the ninth hour . . . the day when our Lord purchased us with His precious blood.

Let us covenant together, you and I, to spend all that we have in the pursuit of knowing Christ and the power of His resurrection (Philippians 3:10)!

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

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.”

  Sandwiched between ghosts in flight and Silent Night . . . a witch on a broom and an inn with no room . . . is Thanksgiving.  For many, it is a time of fellowship with family and friends, fabulous food, and a little football – OK, in some homes, a lot of football!  The day is marked by hours of preparation, fifteen minutes of eating, and hours of clean-up.  It would be hard for a stranger to our culture to recognize the season of Thanksgiving, because as soon as the Halloween decorations come down, the Christmas decorations go up!  Only grocery stores get excited about Thanksgiving.

Because Thanksgiving is not a major money maker for the department stores, we may not give it the attention we should. If we are not careful, we can confine Thanksgiving to a mere day of feasting, rather than a way of faithful living.  Here are three practical steps to help us move from Thanksgiving to Thanks-living.

LIVE THANKFULLY 

The first key in moving from Thanksgiving to Thanks-living is to live thankfully.  This will only be done when we re-orient our focus from ourselves to our Savior.  With our focus firmly fixed on our Savior, our thoughts will ultimately rest on His cross.  When the crucified Christ is the center of our lives, we can live in no other way than thankfully.

“For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”  (1 Corinthians 2:2)

LIVE WORSHIPFULLY

The second key in moving from Thanksgiving to Thanks-living is to live worshipfully. Once the cross becomes central in our lives, worship becomes our way of living.  To use a theological term, it is “living doxologically before the face of God.”  We live grace-filled, Gospel-saturated, God-centered lives.  We worship Jesus – not only on Sunday, but every day, everywhere, and in every way.  We sing His praises in the boardroom, living room, family room, bedroom, schoolroom, lunchroom, and locker room.

“For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.  By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission flowing from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you.  Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!”  (2 Corinthians 9:12-15)

LIVE GENEROUSLY

The third key in moving from Thanksgiving to Thanks-living is to live generously.  What do you have that you have not been given? (1 Corinthians 4:7.)  If everything we have is a gift from the hand of God, how can we live in any other way than generously?  The more we have, the more we are in debt to the One who has given it to us, and the more we should be driven to meet the physical needs of others.  It is a mistake to think the Gospel meets only the spiritual needs of the lost.  To be sure, it does that, but it also meets physical needs as well.  If it did not, how would we explain the two loaves and the five fish that fed thousands instead of Jesus sending them away hungry?  How would we explain the miracles of Jesus in making the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the sick well, the dead alive?  When we get the Gospel deep down into the marrow of our bones, we live lives marked by generosity, remembering that God loves a cheerful giver.

“Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”  (2 Corinthians 9:7)

As you enjoy your Thanksgiving Day in whatever way you choose to celebrate it, take a moment to reflect on these three keys that will take a day of Thanksgiving and turn it into a life of Thanks-living.

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

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

Since the beginning of time, mankind has been wrapped up in a hope that disappoints.  Do you know what it is?  It is hope in finding fulfillment, meaning, and significance apart from God.  It started with Adam and Eve when they decided they wanted to live autonomous lives, apart from the grace, goodness, and glory of God.  And men and women have been doing the same thing ever since.  When your hope is in anything other than God is will always disappoint. Self-sufficiency makes a poor savior.  So what is the hope that does not disappoint?

The Bible says in Romans 5:1-5, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Make no mistake; if what you have been hoping in is disappointing you, it is the wrong hope.  Nothing in this world can do for you what only Jesus can do.

• If your hope is in your career, you have the wrong hope.
• If your hope is in your education, you have the wrong hope.
• If your hope is in your network of friends or work associates, you have the wrong hope.
• If your hope is in your next business deal, you have the wrong hope.
• If your hope is in your wisdom or ability, you have the wrong hope.
• If your hope is in the applause of man, you have the wrong hope.
• If your hope is in your marriage, you have the wrong hope.
• If your hope is in your children, you have the wrong hope.

Hope that created things will do for you what only the Creator can provide is utterly hopeless!

Paul made it crystal clear that when we hope in God we are never disappointed.  You see, when you place your hope in something you are connecting your identity to it.  What you place your hope in provides you with your meaning, significance, purpose, and ultimate identity in life.

Your hope is your savior, regardless of what you are hoping in.

That is why hope in anything other than God will always disappoint you.  Only God is big enough to satisfy your deepest needs, meet you in the middle of your darkest night, and deliver you from a meaningless existence from the cradle to the grave.

To hope is to be human.  We all need hope and we all place our hope in something. Therefore, we all need to make sure we are hoping in the right thing!

So what have you been hoping in lately?  Has your hope been unable to deliver?  Has your hope been unable to meet you in your place of deepest need?

The Bible tells us that when our hope is in God, something counter-intuitive happens. Our hope does not disappoint us, even in the middle of a season of suffering.  Most people think hope is connected to painless providences.  Not so. Think of the life of Paul.  He knew firsthand that his hope would not disappoint, even in the middle of suffering.  Why?  Because His Savior was his hope and his Savior was in the middle of his suffering.  Paul did not need blue skies and sunshiny days to have hope, because his hope was in the only One who is worth hoping in: Jesus Christ.

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

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

  Satan was defeated by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, but he is still busily engaged in a relentless battle against the saints of God. He no longer reigns in the lives of God’s people, but he certainly remains, and he is bitterly determined to inflict as much damage on us as he can before we ascend to heaven. To be sure, Satan cannot take us out of the hand of our Lord, but he can harass us along the way to our eternal rest.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 2:11, “… in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.”

Satan has many destructive schemes; here are just two of them that, from my experience as a pastor, seem to be at the top of his list.

1. Shifting our focus away from Christ and toward our circumstances.

Satan will do everything he can to cause us to take our eyes off of Jesus and put them on our surrounding circumstances . . . often leading to serious consequences.

The Bible says in Matthew 14:29-30, “’Come,’ [Jesus] said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’”

Everything was going just great for Peter. He had the faith to get out of the boat and actually walk on the top of the water! I don’t read anywhere about any the other disciples joining him in doing this seemingly impossible task. Peter was right in the middle of victory . . . until Satan got him to shift his focus away from his Savior and onto the storm winds. Once Peter shifted his focus away from Jesus, his courageous faith turned into cowardly fear.

Can you think of a time something like this happened to you –

when you became a victim of circumstance

rather than a victor in Christ?

I can assure you that it was simply a matter of focus.

2. Causing us to question the goodness of our God.

Satan will do everything he can to cause us to question the goodness of God. This strategy goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Satan attacked Eve by getting her to question God’s goodness. He got her to think about the possibility that God was withholding some good from her that would make her life better.

Satan said to Eve in Genesis 3:5, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

In the perfect paradise God created for Adam and Eve, Satan convinced Eve to question God’s goodness by getting her to focus on the one prohibition God had given rather than all His other abundant provisions. And Satan is still doing that to us today. He loves to get us to question the goodness of our God, and he will throw every lie he can think of at us until he gets something to stick.

It is only by being aware of the attack strategies of Satan that we can “armor up” against them. The more we prepare ourselves for his attacks by learning the truth about Satan and his attacks recorded in sacred Scripture, the better prepared we are to live in a state of readiness to repel every attack that he sends our way.

And when we fail – when we take our eyes off Jesus and focus on our circumstances – we can expect Satan to launch his “God-is-angry-with-you” fiery dart at us. At these times, you can repel that attack by simply remembering that God poured out all His anger on His beloved Son as He hung on crossbeams paying the penalty for our sins . . . all our sins! That is why there is “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1). Far from being angry with us when we mess up, God loves us and forgives us.

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

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

 

  Don’t be! One of the qualifications for being a servant of the Most High God is found, not in your strength, but in your weakness. God will not have His servants seeking success in advancing His kingdom in their own strength; when we head out into service in our own strength, defeat looms in our future.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, “He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

The apostle Paul was not worried about his weakness, in spite of the “thorn” (some unidentified source of great discomfort) God had given him. Far from it! Paul boasted all the more gladly in his weakness, because he knew he would only advance in the service of his Savior to the extent that he advanced in the power of God.

Kingdom servants must serve the kingdom in His strength, not their own. Make no mistake; The Almighty God does not rely on our feeble efforts to accomplish His purposes in this world. To be sure, God uses our efforts, but our efforts advance and accomplish only in His strength that He imparts to us.

The apostle Paul knew very well who he was before Jesus showed up (Acts 8:8:1,3; 9:1-2): his name was Saul, the vicious persecutor of the early Christian church. Saul held the coats of those who stoned Stephen, the first Christian martyr, and personally dragged Christian believers off to prison.

But Jesus stepped in on the road to Damascus, and Saul was forever changed. Saul was renamed Paul and commissioned by God to pen nearly two-thirds of the New Testament under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Paul went from persecutor to preacher, but he knew that none of that happened in his own strength. As a student of Old Testament Scriptures, Paul knew the truth of Zechariah 4:6, “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.”

Paul was not worried about his weakness because he knew that where he was weak, God would be strong. He knew that his weaknesses were simply opportunities for God to demonstrate His power: accomplishing His purposes, through His apostle, and in His strength.

So . . . what weakness has you worried? Perhaps God has called you to do something for Him that doesn’t seem to play to your strengths? Don’t worry! If God is calling you to do it, He will provide you all the strength you need to get it done.

God’s strength will make you sufficient for any task He has set before you.

Remember, God is not surprised by your weaknesses. He created you with those weaknesses so that you will rely on Him and not on yourself. Years of experience has taught me that weakness has a tendency to keep us on our knees, and it is only from that position that we will ever advance in the Christian life.

One final point: weakness is never an excuse for not doing what God has called us to do, regardless of how we feel about it. In the fourth chapter of Exodus, we read how Moses made excuse after excuse before God when he was called to be the deliverer of the Israelites. God would have none of it, and He sent Moses off to do His work – not in the strength of Moses, but in the strength of the Master.

We should walk in the faith of Abraham. Paul lifts him us as a model to us in Romans 4:20-21, saying, “[Abraham] did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”

Whatever God is calling you to do, do it with the confident assurance that the One who called is able to complete the task through you, working through your weakness as a witness to His strength and the power of His promise.

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

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 is important, especially in our current economy, to understand the difference between a good investment and a bad investment. In God’s economy, however, it’s more than important; it is the difference between life and death! The best possible investment in the world is the investment we make in expanding the cause of God’s kingdom in this world. The worst investment in the world is the investment we make in expanding the cause of our own little kingdom.

How have you been investing lately?

The Bible says in Luke 12:16-21, “[Jesus] told them this parable: ‘The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.’ He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself ?’ This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

You know you are expanding the kingdom of the self when the accumulation of stuff seems functionally more life-giving than a growing relationship with your Savior. The man in this parable focused on expanding his own kingdom rather than the kingdom of God. He wanted bigger barns rather than a bigger heart . . . which, in the end, is the worst kind of investment we can make in this world.

So . . . is there anything you could identify right now that seems more life-giving than your relationship with Jesus? Where in your life are you investing your time, talent, and treasure to expand your kingdom – rather than expand the kingdom of God? The poorest man in the world with God is worth more than the richest man without Him.

Another sign that you are working to expand the kingdom of self is your focus to store up for yourself the stuff of this life: more money . . . newer clothes . . . a bigger house . . . a fancier car . . . a better body. In and of themselves none of these things is bad; they can actually be good gifts from a gracious God. But when good things become ultimate things they become bad things. We declare to a watching world what is most important to us simply by the evidence of what we desire most in this life.

What do you desire most in life?

Jesus’ parable challenges each of us to examine our heart to see exactly what it is beating for. Jesus wants us to be thinking beyond the stuff of this world and all that we are working to accumulate to expand the cause of our little kingdom. He wants us to see how everything we have been given is to be used for expanding the cause of His kingdom.

As I said before, good things become bad things when they become ultimate things. There is absolutely nothing wrong accumulating wealth. What is wrong is when we accumulate it without any concern for expanding God’s kingdom and helping others. Let us examine our hearts today and consider what matters most to us regarding the good things God has given to us. Are we simply satisfied with enriching ourselves, which is the worst investment in this world? Or are we enriching the lives of others?

That difference makes all the difference in the world!

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

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

Are you feeling small today? We all feel small and insignificant from time to time, so here is a word of encouragement for those times:

The Bible says in Psalm 115:13, “[The Lord] will bless those who fear the LORD – small and great alike.”

Think for a moment just how many ways we can feel that we are small in the eyes of others . . .

• Small success
• Small influence
• Small opportunities
• Small education
• Small stature
• Small station
• Small talent
• Small significance

The list, of course, could go on and on.

In what area of your life do you feel small today?

Well, the psalmist said that our God will bless all those who fear Him – both great and small alike.

Remember, our God bought both the great and the small with the same precious blood. Jesus went to the cross for both; He died for both; and He walks with both every step of the way. There is no difference in His eyes. The Bible teaches that He holds the hearts of kings in His hand (Proverbs 21:1), and yet he looks with love on the least of those among us (Matthew 25:40).

Perhaps you are a brand new Christian, just a babe in your faith; you look around you and see spiritual giants with gifts that seem to overshadow yours. Turn your attention away from them and fix your focus on the Lord, because He will bless those who fear Him, both the great and the small.
God cares for all that He has created. In the Scriptures we read about both the great and small that God used for His glory. God used both kings and commoners . . . princes and peasants . . . somebodies and nobodies. Our God is no respecter of persons. To be sure, man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks only at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).

So . . . what is your heart beating for today? Regardless of where this message finds you, look to the One who blesses both great and small alike. God is in the business of working through small and seemingly insignificant things (1 Corinthians 1:20-29): a small staff in the hands of Moses . . . a small amount of bread and fish in the basket of a small boy . . . a small amount of faith in a woman who only had enough courage to touch the hem of His garment.

How awesome is our God, who blesses both the great and the small! Thank God for that, because there are so many of us who are so small!

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

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’s blog highlights two gifts beyond measure . . . two gifts which are a source of unimaginable comfort to all those who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible says in Psalm 84:11, “The Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory.”

As the sun gives light and a shield protection, the Lord will give grace and glory.  First, God gives His children grace.  This grace raises the dead sinner to life, pardons all his sins, and brings him into the family of faith.  This is the grace of salvation (Ephesians 2:8) and  of daily sufficiency (1 Corinthians 12:9).  This is the wonderful grace that supplies everything that we need everyday that we live!

But there is more . . . so much more!

God not only gives grace, He also gives glory.  Do you see the incredible promise in this truth?  Glory can only be realized on the other side of the grave.  So when God gives us His grace, He continues giving grace until we are finally and fully received into our heavenly estate.

Charles Spurgeon wrote: “The little conjunction and in this verse is a diamond rivet binding the present with the future: grace and glory always go together.  God has married them, and none can divorce them.  The Lord will never deny a soul glory to whom He has freely given to live upon His grace; indeed, glory is nothing more than grace in its Sabbath dress, grace in full bloom, grace like autumn fruit, mellow and perfected.”

The promise inherent in God’s grace is the final state of glory.  God always finishes what He begins and what He began in you He will one day finish.  With Paul, we can be “confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it” (Philippians 1:6 NKJV).  And that completed state is to be glorified.

Do you see the incredible power in this promise?  The fact that God began His work in you is the guarantee that He will finish it.  Your glorified state is not in your hands and will not be achieved in your strength.  Glory is the gift you have been promised by God, and nothing will get in the way of Omnipotence completing what it started . . . and that includes you!

Regardless of what you are struggling with today, there is coming a day when all your struggles will end:

• Every foe vanquished.
• Every storm stilled.
• Every fire doused.
• Every obstacle overcome.
• Every sickness cured.
• Every problem solved.
• Every Jordan crossed.

God is not finished with you yet.  And if He chooses to bless you through sunshine or rain . . . clouds or clear skies . . . pain or pleasure, you are being perfected for that great day of perfection.

To know that God never gives grace without glory is to know that a day is coming when there will be no more tears, no more pain, no more sorrow, no more sin, and no more death.  What once was will no longer be, as the saints glorified by His grace will reign with Him forevermore!

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

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

  We all face a multitude of challenges on a daily basis. This is one of the great promises our Lord has given to His children, so that they will not be surprised when the winds of challenge begin to blow in their direction.

The Bible says in John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Notice that Jesus promises both trouble and triumph. We will face all sorts of trouble on this side of the grave, but our Lord has overcome it all. And because we are united by faith to Him, we too have overcome it all.

I want to share a deep biblical truth with you that will help you when you face challenges in life: Remember and rise! Here is what I mean. Current danger can be overcome by remembering past deliverances. It helped David and it will help you. Listen to what the Bible says,

[David said to Saul], “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:37)

David knew what we all know by way of experience, that if we will simply look back and we will see what God has been doing in our lives. Just like David, God has delivered you out of the paw of the lion and the bear. Now, it is unlikely that you were confronted with a real, live lion or bear. It’s far more likely that God has delivered you from the “lion of loss” or the “bear of burden” on more than one occasion. The key, then, is to remember and rise above your current difficulties!

David was careful to acknowledge that he did not conquer the lion and the bear in his own strength. He conquered them in the strength of His God, who was gracious to deliver him out of trouble and into triumph. Will God not do the same for you today, as He has done repeatedly in your past? God said He will never leave or forsake you, and that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, so you can be assured that He will deliver you once again from whatever “lion” or “bear” you are facing today.

Oh, by the way, do you remember what happened between David and that giant Philistine? David was trusting in God, who delivered him in the past and would deliver him once again. And that is exactly what God did. Facing overwhelming odds in the form of Goliath, David overcame in the strength of the Almighty.

Take a moment to reflect on all of your past deliverances and determine to face whatever challenge lies before you today. You can be sure that what God did for you in the past, He will do again today. You have His Word on it.

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

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.”