Grace For The Journey

  Today is the second part of my exposition of Ephesians 5:15-20: “Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Yesterday, I discussed why we are to redeem the time; today I’ll offer some suggestions for . . .

How To Redeem The Time

The Bible makes it clear that the only way we can redeem the time is to understand what God has put us here to do.  Jesus explained His mission succinctly: “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).  Jesus knew what He was here to do and He didn’t let anything distract or deter Him from doing it.

So the first step in redeeming the time is in knowing what your time is to be used for.  We don’t want to find ourselves like Alice in Wonderland, who came to a crossroad and paused to ask the Cheshire Cat which way she should go.  The Cat asks Alice where she is going. “I don’t much care where,” Alice says. “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” the Cat sagely observes.

We must recognize that it always matters to God which way we go.  He knows the abundant life will only be experienced when we live in the center of His will for our lives.   If we don’t take time to understand God’s plan for our lives, we will always fit into somebody else’s plan.

Here are three keys to redeeming the time; the acronym R.P.M. will help you recall them.

KEY # 1 Rhythm – Redemption has its own rhythm of confession and forgiveness. We have our own rhythms: some of us are early birds and some are night owls.  Some wake to an alarm clock; others to an opportunity clock.  Some wake up with a cheery, “Good Morning, Lord!” while others groan, “Good Lord! It’s morning?”  I am have an early bird rhythm.  Knowing when I work best allows me to do my best work.

KEY # 2 Prioritize – The most important things to do in life may not always be the most urgent.  Many people feel that their  job may should have top priority, but it will never be as developing your faith and investing in your family.

Jesus used the Sermon on the Mount to sharpen our focus: “Where your treasure is, there you heart will also be” (Matthew 6:21).  So . . . where is your treasure?  If you aren’t sure, take some time to examine how you use your discretionary time and money.  What we spend our “extra” money on after all the necessities are paid for and how we use our “free” time are inarguable identifiers of what we consider priorities and where are treasure is.

KEY #3 MODEL – Model the Master, who always redeemed the time.  Jesus was never at the mercy of the strongest wind that was blowing at the moment.  Nowhere in the Bible can we find Jesus hurrying to get things done.  He never had too much on His plate.  If your plate is full to over-flowing, you can be certain that God was not holding the serving spoon!

Here are a few examples of modeling the Master:

Prayer – Mark 1:35, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed.”

Bible Intake – Matthew 4:4, “Jesus answered, ‘It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 

Corporate Worship – Luke 4:16, “He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom.”

Service – John 13:4-6, “[Jesus] got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash Hs disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him.”

 Rest – Mark 6:31, “Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, He said to them, ‘Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’”

Community – Matthew 12:49-50, “Pointing to His disciples, [Jesus] said, “Here are My mother and My brothers. For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

Solomon, the Wise Preacher put it best: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).  When we find our rhythm, get clear on our priorities, and model our Master, we will, by God’s grace, see a return on our investment of time that will echo in eternity.

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 the first part of a two-part blog on “redeeming the time,” based on the Scripture passage in Ephesians 5:15-20:

“Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Why Redeem The Time?

The obvious reason “why” is simply because God tells us to redeem the time.

Every second of our lives is a gift from God.

Our gift back to Him is in how we choose to live it.

In the Ephesians passage above, Paul tells us to be careful how we live so we can “make the most of every opportunity” that God gives to us.  Let’s take a look at one suggested summary of the activities that fill a typical lifespan of 70 years:

Sleep                           23 years                                  32.9%

Work                           16 years                                   22.8%

TV                                 8 years                                   11.4%

Eating                           6 years                                     8.6%

Travel                           6 years                                     8.6%

Leisure                      4.5 years                                     6.5%

Illness                           4 years                                     5.7%

Dressing                       2 years                                     2.8%

Religion                     0.5 years                                     0.7%

Total                           70 years                                    100%

Jonathan Edwards preached a sermon titled “The Preciousness of Time,” in which he said, “Things are precious in proportion to their importance, or to the degree wherein they concern our welfare.  Being uncertain of its continuance – knowing how little of it remains, whether years, months, weeks, days or hours – we ought to see the preciousness of time.”

When you look at the numbers in the table above in light of what the Bible teaches, religion is not that precious to the average individual.  How is it with you?

Funny thing about time: there is no inherent value in it until it is invested.  If we invest our time on stuff that truly doesn’t matter, we end up living a life that truly doesn’t matter.  But when we invest our time on things that have eternal value, we end up living a life of eternal value.  I’ve learned the hard way that the greatest time waster in the world is doing something God doesn’t want me to do . . . and having to clean up the mess afterwards!

The Bible teaches that time is a gift from God; it also teaches that we are stewards of it . . . not owners.  Each week God gives us 168 hours to use any way we choose.  The wise person is described in Scripture as one who redeems those hours by investing them in the advancement of the kingdom of God in every area of life.  We are to advance the kingdom of God in our homes with our families, at work with our co-workers, in our communities with our neighbors, and in our recreation with our friends.  Everything we do is to be done for the glory of God … that will only happen when we are in some way advancing His kingdom in this world.

We are His ambassadors on mission to redeem our time for the advancement of the cause of our King.  What we need to remember is if we don’t order our time someone else will do it for us.  The problem with that is that they might want us to be filling our time in ways that might not be what God wants for us.  We must live as the psalmist instructs: “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).  We do not want to live as the person Pascal describes: “The last thing one knows is what to put first.”

The choice is clear for the Christian.  Jesus Christ is to be our first priority in every aspect of our lives.  We are to live coram Deo – that is, “before the face of God.”  Living before the face of God means living under His authority and living for His glory moment by moment.  And it is the truths of the Gospel that free us to live this way – not in order to gain His favor, but because we already have it, thanks to the finished work of our Savior King.

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

  There are many questions in life which the answer matters not at all.  Here are a few examples:

• Why do “fat chance” and “slim chance” mean the same thing?
• Why are there Interstates in Hawaii?
• Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

However, there are questions that we simply cannot afford to misunderstand or ignore!  Our answer to these questions will determine our destiny … it is a matter of life and death.  Here are a few examples:

• “How then can man be righteous before God?” (Job 25:4)
• “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”  (Luke 18:18)
• “What must I do to be saved?”  (Acts 16:30)

Let me just deal with Job’s question today.  I will answer his question by addressing several other questions that help us answer it.

(1) What is justification?

The Bible teaches that justification is being accounted righteous, even though we are not, through the redemptive work of Christ (Romans 4:20-25 – “He (Abraham) did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory ot God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.  And there ‘it was accounted 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 offenses, and was raised because of our justification.”)  When brought into a justified state we are treated as if we were altogether righteous.  We don’t get this righteousness from ourselves or any excellence in our human nature.  We must be accounted righteous, and justified before God, by other merits than our own.

It is to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that we are indebted!

(2) How is a person not justified?

• Not by repentance …
• Not by amendment of life …
• Not by our sincerity …
• Not by any works whatever of our own.

The Bible tells us in Romans 8:32-34, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?  Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect?  It is God who justifies.  Who is he who condemns?  It is Christ who died, and further more is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.”

(3) How then can a person be justified?

We are accounted righteous before God only through the life and work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by faith, and not for our own works or merits.  The Bible says in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, now of works, lest any man should boast.” And, the Bible says again in Titus 3:5, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit?

(4) Why does faith alone, faith without works, justify us?

Because faith is the only medium by which we can receive Christ.  The Bible says in Romans 5:1, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

(5) Why can a man not be justified any other way?

• It is God’s determination that “no flesh shall glory in His sight.”
• God has determined that His Son alone shall be exalted in the justification of a sinner.
• It is God’s determination to magnify His name and Word above all the philosophy and traditions of men.
• It is a merciful God’s gracious determination to afford grounds of the most abundant pardon to the humbled and believing sinner.

That is why the above questions are so all-important.

It is good be in good standing our brethren,

To have good character and witness before our fellow men;

But to be right with God is a point on which only Christ can provide.

Justification through faith in Christ alone satisfies two difficult realities that each person is faced with:

1. The extreme holiness of God.

The text says that there is not in any of the shining orbs of heaven, there is not to God the beauty that we see. So it is also with respect to moral excellency and spiritual perfection. Characters that we call shining actions that we count pure, exalted, are not in His eyes what they are in ours. In the Book of Job it is said God “charges His angels with folly,” and “the heavens are not clean in His sight.” How can man be justified before that God who is so pure, so holy, so requiring – Who sees dimness in the moon, imperfection in the stars, and folly in His saints?

2. The extreme unholiness of man.

This speaks of man’s miserable baseness and corruption. Man is here called a “worm.” It is the very picture for weakness and helplessness. But look at the place where the worm is found – the dunghill.  Look at its vile habits and propensities. It is the emblem of spiritual baseness and corruption.  Man is spiritually vile in the sight of the most holy God.

Put the two statements of the text together you are confronted with a very stark reality.

God so holy that the very moon and stars have no glory in His eyes.

Man so polluted with sin that he is totally unable appease or approach such a holy God.

Then, how can man be justified with God?  There is only way in which so difficult a question can be answered – The Gospel supplies it.  In Christ alone is the question entirely satisfied.  The answer is – by coming to Jesus; by casting our whole soul upon the Savior’s life and works; by ceasing from that hopeless work of endeavoring “to establish our own righteousness,” and by submitting ourselves wholeheartedly to that which Christ has wrought for us.  Are we doing this?  Are we making Christ the “Lord our Righteousness,” by looking only unto Him for recommendation in the sight of God?

Looking to any object other than God for happiness and fulfillment is looking for salvation in what someone has called “an inadequate functional savior.”  And we need to all realize: everyone is looking to some sort of functional savior(s), until they meet Jesus Christ.

Take a moment to prayerfully consider what some of your “functional saviors” might be.  Here is a quick self-examination.

I am preoccupied with _________________________.

I would be happy if I could only get _______________.

I would be absolutely shattered if I lost ____________.

When I daydream, my mind goes to _______________.

I get my sense of significance from ________________.

I get up early for ________________ and stay up late for ________________.

The greatest love in my life is  ____________.

The Bible presents to us many examples of people looking to “functional saviors.”  Zacchaeus had his money, Peter his fishing, and Paul his religion . . . until they met Jesus and He changed them all from the inside out.  Jesus reoriented their lives with the truth of the Gospel, a truth that would be clearly demonstrated in changed lives that all the world could see.

So . . . what is your answer to these most important questions?  Paul and Silas answered it this way: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your house” (Acts 16:31).  Peter explained, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

You see, functional saviors can never do for us what only Jesus can do.

You have been created by God, for God, and . . .

You will never be able to get from created things

What only the Creator can give you.

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

  Jesus promised in John 10:10 that we could “Have live and have it more abundantly.”  Who doesn’t yearn to live a fulfilling and satisfied life infused with contentment and joy?  Bookstore shelves are filled with thousands of books such as, Starting Your Best Life Now: A Guide for New Adventures and Stages on Your Journey, Your Best Life Now: Your Personal Code for Living a Better, Happier, and More Successful Life, Better Than Good: Creating a Life You Can’t Wait to Live, and The Life You Always Wanted.  But the problem is, as we all know, many times life has a way of not turning out like we hoped or turning out different than we wanted.  How can we capture this abundant life Jesus promised and experience life at its best?

God’s Word provides the answer.

Only when we regulate our lives according to God’s priorities and learn to focus on Jesus will we begin to realize what Jesus meant by the promise of John 10:10.

Now, before we talk about the abundant life God wants to give each of us, there is something everyone must understand and experience before He gives us abundant life,

His greatest concern is that we have eternal life.

The Bible says in John 3:15, “… Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  The only way to have eternal life is through faith in Christ as personal Savior.  There is no other way, name, nor are there any religions where by anyone can be saved.

All believers have eternal life, but not all believers have abundant life.

You are living beneath your privileges and position if you are a believer and not enjoying the abundant life.

When the Bible tells us that we are to live our lives abundantly it is not talking about what some people may think.  Some think, to have the abundant life means:

• Having a really good paying job.
• Having a normal family.
• Having a nice home.
• Having a vacation home
• Insert whatever else one would say that determines the abundant life. (By world standards these might be …)

All these maybe good to have but they in themselves do not impart the abundant life Jesus is talking about.  There are Christians who have none of these things, but they know how to live the abundant life.

For life to be abundant it must have abundant resources, and the only unlimited resources for life are in the person Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

In John 15 verse 1 Jesus says that He is “the True Vine.”  Then down in verses 4 and 5 Jesus continues with these words, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

To possess this abundant life, the believer must abide in Christ Jesus.  You may say, “That abundant life is for preachers, Sunday school teachers, and other leaders….but I don’t seem to be able to live it.”  The abundant life is not just for a few, it is God’s norm for the Christian life.  It is spiritual life in depth, and without it, the Christian life becomes fruitless and meaningless.

If you are not living the abundant life, you will soon yield to the fleshly life around you.

The fleshly life is circumstance-controlled.

The abundant life is Holy Spirit-controlled.

The fleshly Christian’s life leads to defeat.

The abundant life leads to victory in Christ over sin.

Man seems to know everything about life except how to live it abundantly.  You may ask; “If the abundant life is God’s norm for every Christian, then how do I get the abundant life?”  The Bible tells us in Romans 6: 10-13, “For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.  Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”

To have the abundant life it must be a “Yielded life.”  How do we yield our life to God? By faith we yield control of our lives to Christ and His Lordship in our lives.  So then, why do most Christians live beneath the privilege of living the abundant life?  It is a choice; we can yield to God by faith and live the abundant life or we can yield to sin’s temptations and endure a defeated life.

The abundant life is choosing God’s best for our lives by focusing on Jesus, being faithful to Him, growing spiritually, worshiping and witnessing with confidence, and being more consistent in our Christian walk.  All we have is this one life to get it right.  As Christians, we’re on our way to heaven.  Wouldn’t it be a shame not to live life abundantly and enjoy the journey?

The life that Jesus purchased on the cross is abundant life in more ways than one.  To be sure, it is abundant because it gives us everything we need for eternal life.  But it is also abundant because it gives us everything we need for everyday life.  The problem comes in when we choose to live a life smaller than the one Jesus paid for with His own precious blood.  Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.  I came that they may have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

Now the “thief” is very crafty in executing his plan in destroying life.  It really doesn’t look like destruction at all.  In fact, on the surface it looks pretty good.  It is a life that is lived with the greatest goal of personal happiness.  We want our home to be loving, our health to be good, and our harvest to be plentiful.  And what is wrong with that you ask?  On the surface there is nothing wrong with wanting a loving home, good health, and a plentiful harvest.  These are good gifts that God is often pleased to give to His people.  But when these gifts are our greatest goals we are living lives that are smaller and narrower than they were ever meant to be.  You see . . .

Jesus didn’t die on the cross to make you happy;

He died on the cross to make you His.

And in making you His you may find your home troubled, your health tested, and your harvest threatened.  When Jesus says in verse 10, “I came that they may have life and have it more abundantly,” he means, “I came that they might know Me and the power of the resurrection in the daily lives, have peace with God, have the peace of God which passes all understanding, and have joy unspeakable and full of glory.”  In short, the abundant life is experiencing and enjoying life as God designed and desires it.

Abundant life is not about having stuff.

It’s about having peace, having joy, and having God.

So what kind of life have you been living lately?

Have you been living in pursuit of your happiness or His holiness?

You were not blood-bought to accomplish your goals and meet your needs, but to yearn after and yield to the Most High God and living to expand the cause of His kingdom.  It is being driven to get up early and stay up late to know better, to love deeper, and to serve more faithfully the One who has promised to never leave you nor forsake you. Now that is abundant life … that is true satisfaction, fulfillment, and happiness in both life and death.

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

  I’m sure there are some of you who read that title and immediately thought of the rock band that became popular during the turbulent 1960s.  This group of musicians was famous for their wholehearted celebration of the San Francisco drug culture and hedonistic lifestyle.  Several of them died as a direct result of that deadly embrace. Trust me when I say that today’s blog has nothing to do with that notion of “The Grateful Dead,” but rather with the life of those who have placed their trust in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on their behalf.

The Bible says in Colossians 2:13, “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, havig forgiven you all trespasses.”  Where should those who were once dead and are now alive (Colossians 2:13) be found?

There can be only one place:

Communing with Jesus.

Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.  Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor.  Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with Him. (John 12:1-2)

When Jesus arrived at the home of Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead, we see the beating heart of a man who had been raised from death to life, sitting among those who were enjoying a meal with Jesus – drinking in His presence and listening to His every word.  How inappropriate and ungrateful would it have been for Lazarus to be found anywhere else – except by the side of His Savior?

Beloved, we too were dead at one time.  We were dead to the things of God.  We were dead to the spiritual life.  We were dead to the Savior Himself.  We were dead and buried, our souls putrefying in the grave of our trespasses and sins . . . and then Jesus called us forth from the dark, terrible tomb that held us in the grip of death and damnation.  It was Jesus who removed our graveclothes of sin and corruption and draped the rich robe of His righteousness on our shoulders.  It was Jesus who brought us near when we were far away (Ephesians 2:13).

The Bible says in Psalm 116:3-6,8-9, “The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow.  Then I called on the name of the Lord: “O Lord, save me!”  The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.  The Lord protects the simple-hearted; when I was in great need, he saved me.  You, O Lord, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living.”

Can we, His adopted children, whom He saved from an awful eternity of separation from God, be satisfied living at a distance from Him?  God forbid it!  We, the “grateful dead,” must not live at a distance from our Savior.  Lazarus set a wonderful example for all of us who have been brought forth from the grave.  The grateful dead who have been raised to new life in Christ live lives that reflect their gratitude.  They seek first the kingdom of heaven, knowing that everything else necessary for a life of godliness will be given to them (Matthew 6:33).

The grateful dead seek to live that new life in . . .

• Bible study
• Prayer
• Church attendance
• Service
• Giving
• Surrendering in dependence and obedience in our homes, our workplaces, and in our communities

Lazarus could never imagine not sitting at the table of our Lord.  Can you?

One last thought: If it has been a while since you have communed with Christ, fear not! Your place at the table has not been taken away or given to someone else.  It is simply sitting empty, and Everlasting Love is eagerly waiting to embrace you when you return.

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 change I would like us to think about in today’s blog is not the change you might have in your pockets, or that’s lying around on the dresser, or in your car.  I’m talking about the change takes place every moment of every day.  And after changing diapers for four babies in our home, I have come to the profound conclusion that the only person who really likes change is a wet baby!

Every aspect of our lives is in a constant state of change . . . whether we like it or not. No matter who you are, or where you live, or what level of education you have completed, your life is a maze of twisting, turning changes . . . that may be for the better or the worse.  Our bodies are in a constant state of change.  Someone has said that we are all dying at the rate of 60 minutes an hour.  We lose hair.  We gain weight.  We need more energy and less stress.  Life is a constant challenge of change, and none of us can do anything about it.

But there is one thing in our lives that remains constant and unchanging.

The Bible says in Hebrews 18:3, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

The immutability of God (that is, His eternally unchanging nature) is a comfort to the Christian.  Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever.  The Bible says in 1 Samuel 15:29, “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.”  And in James 1:17 the Bible says that Jesus is “… the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”

Now, that certainly does not mean that God is predictable or manageable!  He bursts into our lives at times when we least expect Him to show up.  And there are those times when we cry out to Him, but He seems to be silent.  But through it all, we can count on Him and trust in Him, because He does not change!

Now, inasmuch as we are in a constant state of change, nothing happens to us by accident or due to some random roll of the dice.  This may come as a surprise to some, but there is no such thing as “good luck” or “bad luck.”  Change has no sovereignty over our lives; only God is sovereign.   The Bible tells us in Daniel 5:23b, “God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways,” and in Matthew 10:27 we are told that not so much as a bird falls to the ground apart from His knowledge and will (Matthew 10:27).

God is seated on the throne, ruling over all the universe and sovereign over everything that happens, including all the changes we go through.  And the one change that we welcome most of all is the change that is being wrought in us by the Holy Spirit – who, if He is indwelling us by virtue of faith in Jesus Christ, is conforming us into the likeness of Christ.  Sometimes that change is painful, at other times it is disruptive.  Often it is utterly imperceptible to us.  But always it is for our good and the glory of God.

The work of the Gospel in our lives is the work of getting more of Jesus into us and more of us out.  As change in our lives is making us decrease and depend more and more on God, Jesus is increasing in our lives and anchoring us more firmly on the Rock of life.  As John the Baptist said, “He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30).  Change is a good thing for the Christian, because it always passes through the nail-scarred hands of the Unchanging One.

A fitting close today comes from an unknown author: “Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.”

So . . . what do you choose today?

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 Luke 9:23, “Then [Jesus] said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.’”

There is a great deal of confusion today about what sort of cross it is that disciples of Christ have been instructed to carry.  Many Christians have turned the cross of Christ into something it was never meant to be.  You’ll hear them say, “That’s my cross to bear.”  They seem to believe that some unpleasant situation or disagreeable person is a burden they must learn to live with . . . to “grin and bear it.” 

Our Lord, however, was laying emphasis to His teaching that the cross He was calling His disciples to take up is a cross of self-denial, self-sacrifice, and ultimately self-death.  In taking up the cross of Christ, we die to self and live for the glory of God and the good of others.

Here are two examples of what this cross we should carry is not. It is not:

THE COMFORTABLE CROSS, which is really no burden to bear at all, because we are actively pursuing the good life rather than the godly life.  Our shoulders are so thickly padded with the stuff of life and the things of this world that we can barely feel this cross.  David Goetz offered this sharp admonition: “Too much of the good life ends up being toxic, deforming us spiritually.”  Those who carry the comfortable cross attend church regularly and even offer their time, talent, and treasure . . . just as long as it doesn’t take them out of their comfort zones.

THE CONVENIENT CROSS is carried only when it is convenient.  As long as carrying our cross does not disturb our comfortable and neatly ordered lives, we are perfectly willing to carry it.  But as soon as the cross interferes with our agenda, we put it down.  When the cross disrupts our plans, we put it down.

The apostle Paul wanted nothing to do with a comfortable or convenient cross.  He knew who he was and where he came from.  He knew what Jesus had redeemed him from, and his only desire in this life was to be like His Savior.

The Holy Spirit led him to provide this powerful testimony in Philippians 3:8-10, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, 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 . . . “

When you know who you are (a great sinner) and where you came from (the pit of hell), you can begin to understand what Jesus has redeemed you from.  At this level of living, you desire above all else to please and glorify your Savior by carrying a Christ-centered cross.  This cross looks like death to the watching world, but it is actually the only way to real life on both sides of the grave.

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

“Woe” is a wonderful word when it is rightly used.  But, sadly, we have learned how to use this word in ways that only weaken us:

• “Woe is me . . . I failed the test!”
• “Woe is me . . . I didn’t make the team!”
• “Woe is me . . . I didn’t get asked to the prom!”
• “Woe is me . . . I didn’t get accepted to the college I wanted!”
• “Woe is me . . . I don’t like my job!”
• “Woe is me . . . I lost my job!”
• “Woe is me . . . I have too much month left at the end of the money!”
• “Woe is me . . . I’m showing signs of aging!”
• “Woe is me . . . !”

You finish the last one.  We have become experts at holding “pity-parties” and living under the shadow of the tree of “woe” when life doesn’t go according to our plan.

But this is not what God wants for you!  The Bible shows us a way to keep from wasting the witness of our woes.  It says in 1 Corinthians 9:16, “Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.”

There is a “woe” that is not wasted!  All of the woes mentioned in the bullet points above are focused on self and circumstances, but Paul’s woe was focused on Christ and our calling as Christians.  The apostle had devoted his life to preaching the gospel and was ready to cast an oracle of woe upon himself if he did not do what God had called and equipped him to do.  Now, that is a “woe” that was not wasted!

I want to caution those of you who may be thinking something like, “Well, that’s fine for Paul, but I am not called to preach the Gospel like he was.”  To be sure, most of us will never travel to other countries, risking great peril on land and sea to preach the Word, as the great apostle Paul did.  But every one of us is called to be a conduit of the Gospel, regardless of our station in life. From the boardroom to the locker room to the classroom to the family room, every Christian has been called to preach the Gospel, with our lips and our lives.  And woe to us when we do not!

So . . . how are you doing at making the message of your Master the story of your life?

We are to be so taken by the truths of the Gospel

That these truths take over our lives.

At this level of living, we won’t waste our “woes” on anything other than Jesus!

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.”

 

When it comes to your Christian witness to the watching world, would you say it should be classified as “light” or “blight?”  Light is something that makes things visible and affords illumination.  Blight, on the other hand, is something that impairs or destroys the luster of something.

Grace For The Journey

  The following story, makes it clear how human beings will do anything and everything possible to avoid the reality of death, pain, and suffering.

It happened a number of years ago on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles.  We were all enjoying a happy trip, since most of the passengers were returning from cruises.  They had their trinkets in their hands, tans on their faces, and great memories to share when they arrived home.  And then the lady in the aisle next to my seat died.  Everybody got real quiet while the flight attendants asked if there were a doctor on the flight.  Two or three came forward, and while they did their best to save her, she still died.  The pilot landed the plane in Dallas and directed his passengers to disembark while the corpse was taken from the plane to a waiting hearse.  Then we all reboarded the plane for the remainder of our flight to Los Angeles. The crowd had changed into a somber bunch. Most people try to avoid death and all thoughts of it.  But to be honest, it is hard to do that while encased in an aluminum tube cruising at 34,000 feet.  There just isn’t anyplace to run.  I approached one of the flight attendants.  “I’m a clergyman,” I said, “and deal with death a lot.  If you would like me to help, please feel free to ask.”  “Thanks for your offer, Reverend,” she said, smiling, “but we’re going to give the passengers free drinks.”

Can you believe that?  If you can get them drunk enough, they won’t have to deal with the reality of death!  I fear that Christians sometimes do that too.  Only we don’t use alcohol; we use religious clichés, false theology, and Christian denial.

Wow!  Let’s give people alcohol instead of a faith that can make sense of the reality of pain, suffering, and death, and even provide hope and encouragement!

There was a time in this world when there was no pain, suffering, or death – but Adam and Eve changed all that.  Created by God for God, the first man and woman opted to remove God from the center of their lives and disobeyed the one and only “Thou shalt not . . .” He had given them.  By engaging in that horrific act of disobedience, our first parents plunged all of creation into a sickening downward spiral that leads to the pit of hell.  And that is why there is pain, suffering, and death in this world.

To be sure, the world is broken and so are all the people in it . . . including you and me!  But God did not leave us to live in damaged despair; He sent His beloved Son on a rescue mission to make everything that is broken whole again; all that is evil will one day be made righteous; every crooked thing will be made straight!

But before Jesus returns and finishes what He started in making all things new, we will all face the dark reality of pain, suffering, and death.  We can pretend it doesn’t exist; we may try to inoculate ourselves from it or anesthetize ourselves to it, but this will not shelter us from ugly reality.  I am sure that the hearse waiting to take the dead woman off the plane didn’t have luggage racks on it.  Do you know why?  Because she wasn’t coming back!

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15:22,23, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.  But each one in his own order: Christ the first fruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.”

I don’t know the spiritual condition of the woman who died on that plane, but if she was not in Christ, she is suffering unimaginable torment in hell today.  When we are in Christ, we can face pain, sorrow, and death with the confident assurance that God is working all of it for our good and His glory.  When death comes for us, in the instant we are absent from our body, we shall be present with our Lord – forevermore!

Make no mistake, we will all come face-to-face with pain, sorrow, and death.  These are fires through which we all must pass.  But for the Christian believer, these trials will be vastly different from what is experienced by the unbeliever.  Only the Gospel will free us, when facing pain, sorrow, and death, to say:

“You keep the free drinks; I’ll keep my faith in Jesus!”

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.”