One of the memories I have growing up is the many times I went fishing with my dad.  We would spend hours out in the boat and much of that time we would spend simply drifting down a lazy river or with the breeze on a large lake.  Sitting back in the boat and drifting slowly along with the pull of the current or gentle push of the breeze is a wonderful, relaxing feeling.

All in all, drifting on a river or large lake is a good thing.  However, drifting on the river of life is a bad thing!  It’s one thing to drift aimlessly on a river or lake.  It is another thing altogether to drift on the river of life.

The Bible says in Hebrews 2:1, “Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.”

Funny thing about drifting in life, we never seem to drift toward the things of God.  We don’t drift toward holiness.  We don’t drift toward faithfulness.  The writer of Hebrews painted a picture of a boat aimlessly drifting on the water, left to the mercy of the strongest wind blowing or fastest current pulling at the time.

When there is no intended destination, we reach it every time!  Like the slow pull of the current on a river, or breeze on a lake, often you don’t even feel like you are moving at all.  Yet, slowly, methodically, almost imperceptibly, you go round and round, enjoying the drift but getting nowhere fast.

There is great danger in drifting spiritually; it is one of the sharpest darts in Satan’s arsenal that he frequently aims at the saints of God.  It starts as an infection and winds up a raging disease.  It is in our DNA to drift.  Just like sheep, we are all prone to wander and drift a bit, and when we start drifting in our relationship with Jesus, our love begins to grow cold, our fire begins to flicker out, and we move further and further away from our Master’s moorings.  You see, Satan doesn’t need to knock us off course; he only needs to get us drifting, little by little . . . bit by bit . . . until we drift onto the rocks of ruin and regret.

Drifting is not only dangerous to you; it is dangerous to those around you.  Think about a boat drifting aimlessly on the water.  Every other vessel in the area is in danger of being damaged by the boat that is adrift.  This is true for those around us when we are drifting in life.  Those we are responsible for lose their safe harbor when we start drifting aimlessly on the river of life.

But this is not God’s plan for us!

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it.  (2 Timothy 3:14)

And how do we continue in what we have learned and believed?  We need to continually preach the Gospel to ourselves daily.  The truths of the Gospel are a “lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105).  Preaching the Gospel keeps before us all that Jesus has done on our behalf: lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death, paid the full penalty for our sin, rose on the third day, ascended into heaven, and now seated at the right hand of the Father.

But that’s not all!  Preaching the Gospel keeps before us all that Jesus will do on our behalf; He will complete what He started (Philippians 1:6).  God is not finished with you yet.  You are being conformed into the image and likeness of Christ; and one day, when you are received into glory, you will be perfect . . . just like Him!

The more we keep in view both past grace given and future grace promised, the less we drift.  The pull of the Gospel is more powerful than anything that is trying to pull us in the wrong direction.  The Gospel keeps us anchored to our unshakable hope (Hebrews 6:18-19) and to the unconditional love which loved us even when we were God’s enemies (Colossians 1:21-22).  These truths will help us in two ways: they will minimize our times of drifting and they will strengthen us to paddle against the current when we are in the middle of a drift.

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

  In a world that cries out for “my rights,” me first,” and a “what’s in it for me” mentality, today’s blog presents a refreshing example of One who did not consider Himself at all.  It is the amazing reality of One who lived with no thought of Himself.  He did what He did out of love, grace, and mercy.  There is no human comparison to the amazing life!

Ernest Gordon in his book, Miracle on the River Kwai, shows that man can come close when relates the true story of a group of POW’s working on the Burma Railway during WWII:

At the end of each day the tools were collected from the work party. On one occasion a Japanese guard shouted that a shovel was missing and demanded to know which man had taken it. He began to rant and rave, working himself up into a paranoid fury and ordered whoever was guilty to step forward. No one moved. “All die! All die!” he shrieked, cocking and aiming his rifle at the prisoners. At that moment one man stepped forward and the guard clubbed him to death with his rifle while he stood silently at attention. When they returned to the camp, the tools were counted again and no shovel was missing.

What an incredible story of putting others before yourself in spite of the incredible cost! Instead of everyone dying, an innocent man stepped forward and offered himself in their place.

The Bible says in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

Imagine what all the other men in the work party must have thought when they returned to the camp, only to find there was no shovel missing. I wonder what the guard that clubbed him to death thought?

As incredible as this story is for demonstrating selfless love for others, there is another story even more remarkable, because it involves the sinless Savior who went to a cross to save sinners from their sin.

You see, the justice of God demanded payment for sin, and Jesus stepped forward for sinners, took our place, and paid the penalty in full. The POW stood silently at attention while the guard clubbed him to death; Jesus stood silently before His accusers and executioners as He received the penalty that you and I fully deserved. He who knew no sin became sin on our behalf and died a death reserved for the most vile of criminals. He did it so that all those who place their trust in His atoning death will never feel the sting of death and never be punished for their sins.

So . . . have you experienced this amazing grace? Have you acknowledged your sin and need of a Savior? Have you turned from you sin and received forgiveness for your sins?  If so, does the love of Christ now compel you to love others even to the point of demonstrating this “no greater love,” regardless of cost or circumstance? The more we look to the Savior, the more we are seized and strengthened by this “lay-your-life-down-for-others” love.

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

  When was the last time you gave any thought to having a savior other than Jesus?  At this moment, you’re probably thinking, “Never!”  To be sure, Jesus is the only Savior.  But you might be surprised to see just how easily we replace Jesus on the throne of our lives with “functional saviors,” which we imagine will meet us in our place of deepest need.

A functional savior is anything other than Jesus that we focus on to meet our needs, give us our identity, strengthen our significance, or magnify our meaning in life.  Jerry Bridges writes:

“They become the source of our identity, security, and significance, because we hold an idolatrous affection for them in our hearts.  They preoccupy our minds and consume our time and our resources.  They make us feel good and somehow make us feel righteous.  Whether we realize it or not, they control us and we worship them.”

My years spent devoted to pastoral ministry has brought me face to face with countless functional saviors that many people serve: from accomplishment to addiction . . . from money to ministry . . . from good looks to the good life.  The foremost functional savior for many men and women is their careers!  Whether they are searching for a feeling of significance, meaning, purpose, identity, or approval, most men and women I have counseled over the years look to their careers as their savior – not Jesus Christ.  In the end, of course, the career could not deliver on its promise and left these folks wrecked, washed up, and wandering aimlessly on the empty trail of their own selfish ambition.

So . . . is there a functional savior that you are depending on to bring you happiness and fulfillment?  Let us look at a man who worked through this question.

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.  A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.  He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd.  So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.  When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.’”  So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.’ But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.’  Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.’”  (Luke 19:1-10)

The functional savior for Zacchaeus was money.  He even profited off of his own people by charging more than what was owed; because of this he was hated and despised by his neighbors.  Then Jesus showed up and everything changed, because this tax collector now knew what he was looking for in his money was only to be found in his new Master.  Zacchaeus was not only willing to give half of his possessions to the poor, he was willing to make it right with anyone he had cheated out of anything.

You see, while Zacchaeus was depending on money, he was never really happy.  He was never really fulfilled or satisfied.  And this is clearly evident in the account above; he was so eager to meet the genuine Savior that he scaled a tree, so as to be sure not to miss Him as he passed by!  Zacchaeus had tried to fill the God-sized void in his heart with money, but it wasn’t until that void was filled by his Master that he come to know true joy and fulfillment and to discover his real identity.  Do you know this feeling?  Is this the testimony of your life?

Only the truths of the Gospel can empower us to trade in all of our functional saviors for the only true and real Savior: Jesus Christ.  Only Jesus has the power to deliver on His promises – every one of them, every single time.

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

  The dictionary defines the word desire as a longing for something; to exhibit or feel desire for something; to express a wish. We all have countless desires throughout the day. Desires determine the clothes we wear and the food we eat. Desires determine how we spend our leisure time and where we allow our thoughts to dwell. To stop desiring is impossible, but when it comes to our walk with the Lord Jesus Christ, we find ourselves facing what some have called “dueling desires” moment by moment.

The Bible says in Galatians 5:17, “The sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.”

Make no mistake. In the heart of every believer, there is a real and bewildering conflict of desires going on between the old sinful nature and the new “spiritual” nature. They are at constant war, each nature desiring what is contrary to the other. Every Christian knows this to be true by way of experience. Who of you reading this would not echo the apostle Paul’s sorrowful confession of Romans 7:15 – “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do”?

Our desires place us smack dab in the middle of two kingdoms in conflict. We have the desire to expand the cause of God’s kingdom and we have the desire to expand the cause of our own kingdom. We have the desire to serve the kingdom of The One and the desire to serve the kingdom of one. We have the desire to serve our blessed Creator and the desire to serve ourselves. The primary problem we face is our desire to serve our own little kingdom is in direct conflict with the One who has saved us to serve Him.

The world, the flesh, and the devil battle all day long to capture the desires of our hearts. They make alluring and attractive promises, but in the end they simply cannot deliver on any of them. They leave us poor, blind, and hurting. They promise peace and deliver disquiet. They promise fulfillment and deliver despair. They promise life and deliver death.

So how do we win the battle of these dueling desires that rage inside of us? Through the Gospel, of course! Only the Gospel has the power to dislodge an inappropriate desire and replace it with one that pleases God.

The Gospel not only impacts our desires,

It also empowers our disciplines.

The Gospel is both the motive, motivation, and the only enduring power to keep us consistently seeking after the things of God.

Only the truths of the Gospel can free us to desire the things of God from our place of acceptance – not for our place of acceptance. If our desires are rooted in what we will ultimately get from God, we will eventually turn away from Him, because we will be devoid of any lasting joy. But if our desires are rooted in what we already have been given by God, the joy of the Lord will be our strength to keep on keeping loving Him, learning of Him, and living in Him (Nehemiah 8:10).

Let me close with a little story that wonderfully describes the inner battle of “dueling desires” and how to win that battle each day.

A Native American chief once described his own inner struggles in this manner: “Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time.” When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, “The one I feed the most.”

On this side of the grave, we will always struggle with the battle between two desires; we can either feed the good, God-centered desires or the bad, self-centered ones, knowing the one we feed most will win the day.

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

  Those who are in Christ are living in the shade of the shadow of the cross.  This is the place where we meet with all the blessings of being in Christ:

• Pardon
• Adoption
• Acceptance
• Forgiveness
• Redemption
• Freedom
• Love
• Eternal life

The list of blessings, of course, is virtually endless.  Indeed, the Bible says in Ephesians 1:3, “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.”   Having been raised up, made cleaned, and brought in, we simply cannot fathom the height and depth of the blessings that we have received in Christ!  But we must remember that the Christian life is not an endless parade of balmy days and delightful, cool breezes.  We will spend days on the other side of shadow of the cross, where the sky is bronze and brittle, and a scorching sun beats pitilessly down on us – on that side of the cross is suffering.  And in that suffering we also need to live, and live well, as a witness to the One who hung on that cross in our place.

To be sure, it is always easier to live in the shade of the shadow of the cross.  This is the place where we find the sky is always blue and the clouds are always fleecy.  But on the other side of the shadow we find suffering . . . and this is part of taking up our cross and carrying it for Jesus.

Jesus said to all, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”  (Luke 9:23)

The cross is not only our greatest source of blessing, it is the source of our heaviest burden.  Jesus was a cross-bearer, and all those who would follow Him must be cross-bearers too.  If we will one day receive a crown, it will only be by way of the cross.  The Via Crucis, or the Way of Sorrows, is the only way to the place of blessing; it must be walked by every follower of Christ.  Jesus carried His cross to the Hill of Mount Calvary to be crucified and to die upon it.  Will we not submit and surrender our shoulder to our cross to be purified on our way to eternal life?

If you keep the promise of the glorious life to come in view, your present burden will be greatly eased.  Jesus willingly gave Himself to a cross He did not deserve.  God forbid that we would shrink back from the cross that has our name carved into its side.  To know the Father’s love – a love that gave His only Son to be nailed to the cross to pay for all our sins – is to know enough to receive our cross as a badge of holy honor.  The apostle Paul’s prayer was that he would

. . . “Be found in Chris], not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith – that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death.” (Philippians 3:9-10)

Paul believed it was an honor to share in the sufferings of His Lord, because Paul knew what His Lord did for Him on the cross.  He knew “the incomparable riches of [God’s] grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7-8).  He stood in the glorious shade of the shadow of the cross on the road to Damascus, and in that moment when Jesus raised Paul from death to life, Paul stooped to surrender his shoulder to the glories of its suffering too.  Paul wanted nothing more than to be like Jesus.

To live like Jesus . . . to suffer like Jesus . . . and to die like Jesus!

The more deeply we understand the Gospel, the more delighted we are to carry our cross.  Both blessing and burden live beneath the cross, and it is the call of every follower of Christ to take it up daily, regardless of the cost or circumstance.

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

  The greatest gift we could ever receive is the gift of God’s grace, which is given to us through the sinless life, sacrificial death, and supernatural resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sadly, we can treat this priceless gift like any other gift and misuse it . . .  even abuse it!

The Bible says in Jude 4, “Certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.”

Jude, the half-brother of Jesus, identifies those who perverted the priceless by changing the grace of God into a license for immorality. They took the greatest gift that could ever be given and distorted it. They perverted the priceless gift of God’s grace by teaching that the Christian was no longer under any obligation to follow the Law of God as a rule of life.

In his book, The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote about a “cheap grace” that crystallizes the way the church in the 21^st century has perverted the priceless gift of God’s grace. Bonhoeffer decried the rhythm of redemption that requires no repentance, the duty of discipleship that requires no discipline, and a Spirit-led service that requires no suffering. It is a Christianity that is devoid of Christ and His call on the lives of His disciples. It is a style of living marked by self-protection rather than self-sacrifice. And when forced to choose, those who seek “cheap grace” always choose the way of ease rather than exertion in Zion.

But this is not what God wants us to do!

Reminding ourselves about the Gospel daily is the cure that keeps us from perverting the priceless. The clearer our view of what it cost our Lord to give us His grace, the more careful we will be to both appreciate it and appropriate it in our lives, regardless of the cost or circumstance.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, “Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again.”

Being compelled by the love of Christ begs the question, “What are we to be compelled to do?” And the Bible makes it clear that our greatest work is not in the doing, but in the believing. The more we understand the truth that our freedom was not free—it did, in fact, cost Jesus everything—the more we will walk by faith, rather than by sight, and live in sold-out service to our Lord.

The grace of God remains “amazing” the more we are amazed by His grace!

The perfect Son of the Living God freely took our place on the Cross and endured our punishment for our sin – all our sin. He who knew no sin became sin on our behalf. He lived the life we could never live and died the death we deserved to die in order to give to us His life – a life of righteousness, to be lived out with both freedom and joy, knowing that we are unconditionally loved and fully forgiven.

Keeping Gospel truths in view keep us from perverting the priceless gift of God’s grace. These truths shout to the heart that has been made new that grace is far more than a theological proposition; it is a person, and His name is Jesus Christ.

Now that is the truth that truly transforms!

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

  Really? Two things?!  Now that I have your attention, let me tell you what these two things are.  They are true for all of us, regardless of where this blog finds you.  The two things that never change are:

1. God
2. The fact that there will always be change in your life!

I think you would agree that it is a whole lot easier dealing with life when we deal with it truthfully.  First, we know that God never changes, and that is very good news!  Those of us in the theological community refer to this as God’s attribute of immutability.  God simply does not change.  He does not change His mind, He does not change His plan, and His feelings toward us never change.  He does not have a Plan A, and then respond to our actions and go with Plan B, for not even a bird falls to the ground apart from His will (Matthew 10:29).

Knowing this first truth is a source of great comfort for the Christian.  God is the same, regardless of what is going on in the world around us and regardless of what is going on inside of us.  We read this truth in Scripture and we sing about it in congregations all over the world.

“He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.”  (1 Samuel 15:29)

“I the Lord do not change.”  (Malachi 3:6)

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”  (Hebrews 13:8)

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”  (James 1:17)

However, as contrary as it might seem, the second truth is also very comforting for the Christian believer.  Everything other than God is always changing.  Now, I know the only person who actually likes change is a baby with a wet diaper, but whether we like it or not, change is happening around us and within us.  It never stops!

Some of these changes are welcome and some are not.  Advances in medicine have turned diseases that were once dreaded killers into a note in a history book.  There have been remarkable technological changes that have helped us advance in all areas of life.  But while these changes have made life longer, easier, and more productive, they have not come without a cost.  Today we can communicate with people all over the world at the touch of a button.  At the same time, however, we no longer have to build real relationships with face-to-face communication.  Today’s technological advances in communication have created individual lives that are, as the saying goes, “a mile wide, but only an inch deep.”

So . . . how do we deal with this second truth that everything except God is in a state of constant change, including you and the life you are living?

We must believe and fully embrace the first truth!

The only way to effectively deal with the truth of change is to view it in light of the truth that God never changes.  He is the one constant we have, in both life and death, and He is the One we are to focus our attention on.

When those we love move away, we can be assured that God never moves away.  When those we love begin showing the debilitating effects of aging, we can be assured that God does not age.  When those we love die, we can be assured that God never dies.

What change are you dealing with today?  Are you facing changes in your personal life?  Changes in your professional life?  Have the climactic changes in our economy triggered difficult changes in your life?  Regardless of the changes you are confronting and the anxiety they might be causing you, keep looking to the only One who never changes.  And along the way, you can trust that our sovereign, immutable God is working every one of those changes for your good and His glory.

One last thought: the most important change you will go through is to be conformed into the likeness of Jesus (Romans 8:29).  This means two things:  first, it is going to be painful!  Second, God will not stop His work until it is completed, and it will not be completed until you get to heaven.  Yes, along with the apostle Paul, we can be sure of this: “that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

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

  Yesterday, we took a look at the testimony of thirst. Today we will focus on the witness of waiting.

The Bible says in Isaiah 40:31, “Those who wait on the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Waiting is a part of life. We wait at traffic lights. We wait in traffic jams. We wait in check-out lines at stores. We wait on hold on the telephone. We wait for a promotion at work. We wait for the doctor’s report to come back. We wait for the start of our vacation! Frequently our attitudes during these “wait times” could in no way be described as “Christ-like.”

But there is a witness of waiting for those who wait on the Lord. And that witness is strength! The apostle Paul prayed that the Christians at Colossae would be “strengthened with all power, according to [God’s] glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience” (Colossians1:11).

There is a special kind of strength that can only be found in waiting on the Lord. Waiting on the Lord strengthens the saints of God in a supernatural way. Imagine what it means to soar on wings like eagles! Only eagles and hawks have the ability to soar. They take advantage of air currents and heat risers to soar (fly) with little or no effort at all, simply being carried along in the sky. This is the witness of waiting for those who wait on the Lord.

You see, God has a perfect plan for our lives. But we must remember that this plan is His plan, and it will happen in His time and in His way.

As we wait upon the Lord, our strength is renewed,

which gives us everything we need to do all

that God is calling us to do.

There will be times of running in God’s plan for our lives, but we will not grow weary. There will be times of walking in God’s plan for our lives, but we will not be fainthearted. And there will be times of waiting on God’s plan for our lives, but we will not be discouraged or disappointed. We will be strengthened according to His glorious might!

So . . . how is your witness of waiting? Remember, the Christian life requires waiting on the Lord, and in that waiting we find a strength that cannot be acquired in any other way. This supernatural strength lifts us above the clouds of life and empowers us to soar with very little effort, because it is our Lord who is carrying us along on Almighty air currents and Holy heat risers to our intended destination!

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

  The Bible says in Psalm 42:1-2, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?”   Can you picture a deer literally panting with thirst on a blistering summer afternoon? Does your soul ache like that for God? Do you thirst so greatly to be in His presence that you feel your breath quicken? Or . . . maybe not so much?

What does your thirst for God – or lack thereof –say about your life today?

The best way to glorify the worth of a stream of water is to drink in great gulps of its cool, clear refreshment . . . and to keep coming back for more! The same is true for our God, who is our only source of living water. Whether we acknowledge it or not, our soul does thirst for the living God. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:11 that the Sovereign Lord “has set eternity in the hearts of men” (Ecclesiastes 3:11); as Augustine said so beautifully, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

We feel that thirst within . . . but all too often we work hard at trying to quench our thirst in countless ways other than coming to the living waters. We look for fulfillment in:

• Our work
• Our finances
• Our relationships
• Physical intimacy
• Recreation
• The applause of man

Yet we all know from personal experience that none of these “false fountains” can deliver on their promises. We are left unsatisfied and far more thirsty after we drink from these soiled streams then we were when we started. There is a God-sized void inside of every one of us that can only be filled by God; only by sipping from the streams of living water will we find the refreshment our soul longs for.

If you want to perform a quick self-evaluation on the testimony of your own thirst, consider how much time you engage in these two means of grace: Bible Intake and Prayer. God has given us His Word that we might drink it in daily; along with His Word, He invites us to come into His presence through prayer. The best gift we can offer our God is a thirst that pants for Him who delights to satisfy us through multiple streams of living waters.

One final thought: when God moved the prophet Isaiah to write, “Come, all you who are thirsty” (Isaiah 55:1), He made it clear that the waters are available to all who thirst. Isaiah did not identify a special few who have access to these waters; the invitation is made to all . . . the invitation is made to you. If you have never come to these waters, come today, just as you are, and drink. If it has been too long since your last drink, come back and sip from the sublime streams of your Savior. You’ll be glad you did!

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

  If someone was going to write about you in a book and describe the life you are currently living, how would you like to be described? As a faithful friend?  A loving parent?  A hard worker?  A super servant?

None of us would want to be described in someone’s book the way John, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, described Diotrephes. In 3 John 9-10, he states . . .

“I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.”  (3 John 9-10)

So Diotrephes . . .

• Loves to be first
• Will have nothing to do with church authority
• Gossips maliciously
• Refuses to welcome the brothers
• Hinders others from welcoming the brothers
• Puts them out of the church

WOW!  Being chronicled by name in sacred Scripture with this kind of life testimony leaves a lot to be desired.  A whole lot!

Now, you and I don’t know what was going on in the heart of Diotrephes that made him dislike, distrust, and disrupt the apostle’s ministry.  But it would serve us well to pause and see where our story intersects with his story.  Why?  Because, like Diotrephes, we are all sinners – both by nature and habit.  Given the right (or wrong) environment and circumstances, we all might do some of the very same things.  After all, which one of us does not love to be first?

The only cure for such a carnal chronicle is the Gospel.  The Gospel truths enlarge our view of Jesus. As He increases in our lives, we begin to decrease.  We no longer are driven by our need of being first. We rest in the Gospel truth that many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first (Matthew 19:30).  We no longer feel the need of wagging our gossiping tongues in the direction of others, putting others down to lift ourselves up.  We learn what Paul learned about being content because he knew he had everything he needed because he had Jesus (Philippians 4:11-13).

So . . . if someone were chronicling your life, what would you hope would be said about you? What if a researcher interviewed those closest to you . . . what do you think they might say about you? Well, if there is a difference between your answer to the first question and your answer to the second, you still have time to do something about it!

Check out the life testimony of a woman who is identified only as “Peter’s mother-in-law.”

“When Jesus came into Peter’s house, He saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on Him.”  (Matthew 8:14-15)

What a wonderful thing to have written about Peter’s mother-in-law, especially in light of the plethora of mother-in-law jokes circulating today! Peter’s mother-in-law moved from sickness to service – from fever to faithfulness.  Clearly, Jesus was on the throne of her life and her heart beat to bless Him.

May this be the testimony of our lives . . . and the chronicle that appears if our name is ever recorded in someone’s book.

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.”