Grace For The Journey

  Yesterday we began a four day learning adventure into God’s Word looking at what God wants us to know and do when go through times of suffering and difficulty.  We began to look at 1 Peter 1:6-9 and discover from these verses the biblical way of dealing with suffering . . .

The biblical way is not to deny the pain or grief from suffering,

But at the same time

To experience genuine joy in the Lord as you go through suffering

I stated that the above way seems like a contradiction.  How can you experience joy while you are going through pain and suffering?

God’s Word can help us come to a balanced understanding of this truth.

We looked at the Principle of suffering in yesterday’s blog.

We saw that Peter, in writing to suffering Christians, tells his readers that they are to “greatly rejoice” in suffering, while they at the same time that they are “grieved” or “distressed” by various trials (1 Peter 1:6).  We discovered that when he wrote about this truth . . .

He is not denying the distress – the word “trials” means “grief” or “pain.”

But neither is he discarding the genuine joy that a

Christian can experience in the midst of the pain

If he has the right perspective.

Peter himself had felt it.  After being flogged and warned to speak no further in the name of Jesus, he and the other apostles “went on their way … rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name” (Acts 5:41).

That is dealing with suffering in God’s way!

In our text, Peter tells us how to have it:

Trials do not have to ruin us …

God can use the trial …

To refine us, if we are surrendered.

In today’s blog we will look at . . .

The Purpose of trials – God allows trials in our lives to refine their faith.

The word “that” in verse 7 points to the purpose of the various trials of verse 6:

That our faith might be tested or refined, like gold,

To remove the dross so that at

The coming of Christ there will

Be praise, honor, and glory.

Peter contrasts faith with gold.  He contrasts it in that faith is more precious than gold because gold is perishable, but faith is not.  Gold won’t gain heaven, but faith will.  All the gold in the world is worthless the instant you die and stand before God.  Only faith in Jesus Christ will do in that day.

Peter compares faith with gold in that both are refined by fire.  The word “tested has the nuance “of testing with a view to approval.”

God does not test our faith to make it fail,

But to burn off the dross and leave the pure gold.

He does this by putting us in the furnace of affliction

Where we are forced to trust Him in ways

We never would apart from such trials.

There is such a thing as false faith that does fail.  In the parable of the sower, Jesus said that in the shallow, rocky soil, the seed sprouted, but when the sun came out, it withered and died because it had no root.  He explained that this refers to those who first receive the word with joy, but when affliction or persecution arises because of the Word, they fall away, thus showing that their faith was not genuine (Mark 4:5-6, 16-17).

But genuine faith will grow stronger, not weaker, through trials.

As the great hymn, “How Firm a Foundation” puts it, “The flame will not hurt thee, I only design, thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.”  Martin Luther, in his Commentary on Peter and Jude [Kregel], pp. 39-40) said that if he had not been attacked as strongly as he had been, he would never have come to the place of certainty or to the full development on the doctrines of faith as he did.  All of us could identify with him, in that the Lord uses the attacks against us to strengthen our understanding of the basic truths of the gospel which are under attack in our day.

George Muller, a great man of faith, housed, clothed, and fed over 2,000 orphans at a time simply by faith and prayer.  He refused to tell potential donors of the needs of the work, even when directly asked, but instead would take the needs to God in prayer.  He went through times of severe trial.  For one seven-year period, he seldom had funds for more than three days’ needs for the orphans, and often the need was met on the very day, sometimes at the exact moment the children sat down to eat. Muller wrote, “The Lord gives faith, for the very purpose of trying it for the glory of His own name, and for the good of him who has it; and, by the very trial of our faith, we not only obtain blessing to our own souls, by becoming the better acquainted with God, if we hold fast our confidence in Him, but our faith is also, by the exercise, strengthened: and so it comes, that, if we walk with God in any measure of uprightness of heart, the trials of faith will be greater and greater” (A. T. Pierson, George Muller of Bristol [Revell], p. 439).

As we look to Christ and His salvation, and lean on Him as we go through times of great trials and suffering, God will be with us, His grace will be sufficient for us, and we can experience His supernatural joy.  Tomorrow we will look at the perspective in suffering.

This is God Word … This is Grace for your 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

  Over the next four days I would like us to look into God’s Word, specifically in 1 Peter 1:6-9, and see what He says to us about a very important subject.  One of the areas we battle in is the sorrowful and suffering times of life.  Today we will look at the Principle of suffering.

There is a lot of confusion today among Christians about how we’re supposed to deal with suffering . . .

Some say that if we suffer it’s because we lack faith. The foundational teaching in the Word Of faith movement is the “force” of faith.  Proponents believe they can use words to manipulate the faith-force, and thus actually create what they believe Scripture promises (health, wealth, etc.).  Laws supposedly governing the faith-force are said to operate independently of God’s sovereign will — God Himself being subject to the “laws” of faith.   We’re supposed to claim healing by faith and deny all negative thoughts.  This is clearly unbiblical, yet it persists.

Others say that Christians must go through suffering, but they’re supposed to do it with a smile on their face.  They quote clichés such as, “He is much better off now,” “the Lord must have needed him more,” “It won’t be long until you see him again,” etc. and throw in verses like, “Rejoice always … In everything give thanks” (1 Thessalonians 5:16, 18).  This approach to suffering leads to hypocrisy and emotional problems, in my opinion.  People put on the phony smile and mouth clichés but inside they’re hurting and not praising the Lord. They’re denying the grief and pain that are really there.  It is neither a biblical nor emotionally healthy approach to suffering.

In reacting against that approach, some say that we need to express how we feel. To help us work through all the stages of grief, we’re told to vent all our anger, rage, and bitterness.  If we don’t feel it, we’re in denial.  People are even encouraged to express their anger at God, with the assurance that “He can take it.  Tell Him how ticked off at Him you really are.”  We’re told that if we don’t do this, we’ll create emotional problems for ourselves.

I would argue that none of these are biblical or emotionally healthy ways to deal with suffering.

The biblical way is not to deny the pain or grief from suffering,

But at the same time

To have genuine joy in the Lord as you go through suffering

That seems like a contradictory statement.  How can you experience joy while you are going through pain and suffering?

God’s Word can help us come to a balanced understanding of this truth.  The Bible states plainly in Hebrews 12:11, “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”  Paul was led by the Holy Spirit to speak of his own experience through trials as being “sorrowful yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10).  He modeled it many times, but perhaps nowhere as clearly as when he and Silas sang praises to God at midnight from the Philippian jail, as their backs were laid open from the illegal scourging they had received (Acts 16:25).

When Peter, in writing to suffering Christians, tells his readers that they are to greatly rejoice in suffering, while they at the same time that they are distressed by various trials (1 Peter 1:6).

He is not denying the distress – the word “trials” means “grief” or “pain.”

But neither is he discarding the genuine joy that a

Christian can experience in the midst of the pain

if he has the right perspective.

Peter himself had felt it.  After being flogged and warned to speak no further in the name of Jesus, he and the other apostles “went on their way … rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name” (Acts 5:41).

That is dealing with suffering in God’s way!

In our text, Peter tells us how to have it:

Trials do not have to ruin us …

God can use the trial …

To refine us, if we are surrendered.

We can have joy even as we go through the suffering by looking to Him and His salvation.  So, let’s look at what God wants to teach us about “how to deal with suffering” in 1 Peter 1::6-9.  Today we will look at …

The Principle of Suffering …

Below are some Bible truths that help us stand on a solid foundation in the midst of suffering and hardship.  They are precious promises from the Word of God that we can stand upon during times of suffering and heartache.

John 16:33, “In the world you have tribulation.”

Acts 14:22, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”

Hebrews 5:8, “Although He (Jesus) was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.”

Hebrews 12:6,8 – “For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives … If you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.”

2 Timothy 3:12, “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

1 Peter 4:12, “Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you.”

On one occasion while Jesus was still on this earth, Peter had said to Him, “Lord, we have left everything and followed You. What then will there be for us?” (Matthew 19:27). Jesus replied that anyone who left everything and followed Him would receive back in this life a hundred times as much as he gives up – houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, farms.  That is tremendous … what a wonderful outcome!  The health and wealth crowd jump all over this statement.  Who wouldn’t sign up for such a program?  But, then in the same breath, Jesus added, “… along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life” (Mark 10:30).

Trials, persecutions, hardships for Jesus’ sake are part of life in this fallen world.  Sure, there are untold blessings now, as Jesus makes clear.  Sure, it is a truly abundant life (John 10:10). But, the abundance is often the deep, abiding joy of salvation we feel while going through times of suffering.  Trials are the mark of Jesus’ special love.  No one loved by Him is exempt.

But, why?  That’s what we always ask, isn’t it?  Why does God take us through trials?  We will answer that in tomorrow’s blog.

This is God Word … This is Grace for your 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

  What battles have you been fighting in lately?  What battles are just ahead, around the corner, and over the horizon that you will be fighting?  One thing is certain: every believer fights battles.  The problem is not that we face battles; the problem is that we face far too many of them in our own strength.  We have forgotten what the Bible teaches about battles . . .

The Battle Is The Lord’s

Here are just a few verses from God’s Word that make it perfectly clear that our God is the One who is to be fighting our battles if we are ever going to gain victory over them.

“Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid.  Stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today.  For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.  The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.’” (Exodus 14:13-14)

“The LORD has driven out from before you great and strong nations; but as for you, no one has been able to stand against you to this day.  One man of you shall chase a thousand, for the LORD your God is He who fights for you, as He promised you.” (Joshua 23:9-10)

“Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD, does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give you into our hands.” (1 Samuel 17:47)

Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there.  Our God will fight for us.” (Nehemiah 4:20)

“Through God we will do valiantly, for it is He who shall tread down our enemies.”  (Psalm 60:12)

“Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6)

“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ . . .” (2 Corinthians 2:14)

There are many stories in the Bible of God fighting for His people and winning for them the victory.  There is Moses and the Red Sea.  There is Gideon and his 300 fighting men.  One of the best stories of God fighting for His people – in His way and with His weapons – is found in the story of Joshua.  Joshua was leading the Israelite army against the Amorite army.  Before the battle began, God said to His servant Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hand; not a man of them shall stand before you.” (Joshua 10:8).

God is in the business of fighting for His people and delights in delivering them from what, to the watching world, look like insurmountable odds.  In the middle of Joshua’s battle against the Amorite kings, God sent a “holy” hailstorm to do for His people what only God can do for them, “The hail killed more of the enemy than the Israelites killed with the sword” (Joshua 10:11).  Hail is a conquering weapon for the people of God when it is in the hand of a Holy God.

This should lead us to conclude . . . “If God is for us . . . who cares who is against us!”

• When you are wronged, let God make it right.
• When you are wounded, let God make you whole.
• When you are put down, let God lift you up.

Whatever it is you are up against, you are not up against it alone.

God is not only with you,

He is the One who is fighting for you.

What “Heavenly provision” is God ready to send your way if you will but let Him fight your battles for you?

• The “Heavenly provision” of hope
• The “Heavenly provision” of patience
• The “Heavenly provision” of forgiveness
• The “Heavenly provision” of vision
• The “Heavenly provision” of godly counsel
• The “Heavenly provision” of a Barnabas to encourage you
• The “Heavenly provision” of endurance

Funny thing about “Heavenly provision” in the hand of a Holy God fighting for His “highly favored” holy people:

It will do more for you than you could ever do for yourself!

If the battle is the Lord’s, the victory is the Lord’s . . . so rest in that truth.

God counsels us in Isaiah 41:10, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

This is God Word … This is Grace for your 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

  Far too many in the church today are locked behind the bars of countless self-constructed prisons because of one simple reason:

They have forgotten the truth of their current position in Christ.

When you forget who you are positionally (a child of the Most High God), it becomes impossible to live out your faith practically.

The Bible says in Galatians 4:31-5:1, “So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free. Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”

The apostle Paul said that we have been released from prison: “For freedom Christ has set us free.”  Our Lord Himself said that He had been sent from heaven “[T]o proclaim liberty to the captives . . . to set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18).

Jesus has set us free from the law as a means for salvation.

In other words, we no longer have to go on trying to save ourselves.

Jesus has already accomplished this for us in His perfect obedience

To the will of the Father in both His life and death.

Our relationship (position) with Jesus

Has unlocked the prison doors

Leading to a life of freedom, faithfulness, and joy

. . . If we would but walk through the open door!

Because Jesus performed perfectly on our behalf, we no longer have to spend our lives running on the performance treadmill, seeking God’s approval, affection, and blessing.

We already have these because of our position in Jesus.

Understanding our positional truth

Frees us from our performance prisons.

Now imagine a slave who has been set free after having spent his entire life behind bars . . .

• Freedom would be uncomfortable.
• Freedom would be unnatural.
• Freedom would be unnerving.
• Freedom would be, well, unbelievable.

When prisoners are set free, they need to develop the capacity for their freedom and that is only accomplished by believing, NOT by doing.

The Bible says in Romans 6:11, “Likewise you also, recokon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In this context the word “count (or consider)” does not imply something to do, but rather, something to believe.  Paul says what we believe is more important than what we do.  We need to believe the truth of our position in Christ – that we are dead to both the power and the penalty of sin.  You see, the harder we work at making ourselves free – DO, DO, DO! – the more bound we become.

Our position in Christ means we are no longer slaves to the ruling power of indwelling sin.  Because of what Jesus had done for us, sin is no longer our master . . . Jesus is!  And with Jesus as our new Master, we have been given the power to live out practically what we are positionally (Romans 8:13).

William Romaine said it well: “No sin can be crucified either in heart or life, unless it be first pardoned in conscience, because there will be want of faith to receive the strength of Jesus, by whom alone it can be crucified.  If it be not mortified in its guilt, it cannot be subdued in its power.”

If you don’t believe you are dead to sin’s guilt, you cannot trust Christ for the strength to subdue its power in your life!  And if you cannot trust Christ for the strength to subdue sin’s power in your life, you will forever remain locked behind prison bars, chained by guilt and gripped by sin.

Only the Gospel sets captives free to live a life of unimaginable

Freedom, faithfulness, and joy for the glory of God and the good of others!

This is God Word … This is Grace for your 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 Nehemiah 9:23-24, “…and You brought them into the land that You had told their fathers to enter and possess. So the descendants went in and possessed the land, and You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land…”

These two verses contain both good news and sad news.  Upon first glance, we might even pass by them without even stopping to ponder what is being said.  This seems like a mere recounting of Israel’s history concerning the land which God had pledged to them.  It provides a great testimony in that we are being told . . .

That there was a generation who received from the good hand of God

All of the inheritance which was promised to them

And they went in and possessed the land.

As they walked in faith into their inheritance,

God took care of all their needs and defeated all of their opposition.

They simply took Him at His word, and they received a bountiful harvest because of that.  Life became an adventure, an experience of the good graces of the Father, and a fulfillment of His promises to them.  They believed Him . . . They obeyed Him . . . they received from Him all that He desired to give them.

Yet, notice the seemingly innocuous phrase, “the land that You had told their fathers to enter and possess.”

Did you catch what is recorded there?

God had promised the generation before them the very same things.

God had promised that generation the land,

The defeat of their enemies,

The consistent supply of resources,

And the resulting blessing which would be theirs through trusting and obeying Him.

But they let fear win the day.

They listened to ten leaders who only saw the challenge and not the reward. They listened to and followed leaders who served a very small God, and they ignored Caleb and Joshua who lived with a different spirit than the other ten leaders (Numbers 13:26-14:3).

That previous generation would not walk into the place of fullness.

They chose, in their own wisdom, the path of least resistance.  They avoided the fight.  They discounted the need for sacrifice. Their timidity took away their triumph.  This generation completely missed the will of God for their lives and consequently died after four decades of wandering in the wilderness.

This is what happens when a generation does not move Into what God has designed to do for them.

I love my children and think upon the future of their generation every day.  I love them, but I do not wish to ever become aware that they inherited something which I forfeited.

I want them to be blessed through me, not around me, or instead of me.

Our generation is being offered the same inheritance that all of the generations of God’s people have been offered.  It is the Father’s good pleasure to give His people the Kingdom (Luke 12:32) – I cannot and will not reduce that massive statement from Jesus down to a pocket-sized promise which fits neatly in my shirt.  God will do a great work in any generation that . . .

Will seek Him,

Wait for Him,

Trust Him,

Seek to honor Him,

And obey Him.

Truthfully, He will do that for every individual within that generation, so there is no need for any of us to wait for the rest of our generation to get with the program.  The people in Israel who came after the faithless generation actually received the promises which were made to the generation before them.  They believed, they trusted, they had learned what it meant to not rest in God’s promises and then, when their time came, they went in and received the fullness of their inheritance.  I pray you will choose to do the same.

Sadly, in our day we hear more and more news reports of stabbings, bombings, and conflict.  Murderous marauders with hate in their hearts lift their blades and detonate their bombs; Malicious money-grabbers with greed in their hearts take advantage of the naive, poor, and helpless; those who have rejected God seek to live their lives without Him resulting in chaos, corruption, and collapse of foundations needed for an orderly society; and the self-righteous religious folks focus on a social gospel rather than a saving gospel.

Our country was directed toward God for many decades.  Our situation today is desperate because we have demanded that God and His Word exit the scene of our national landscape, because we have loved darkness more than light, there is little evidence, or even concern about integrity, honesty, truthfulness, or transparency in our news media, government, and society today.  Today, fake news gets more press coverage than real news.  We live in a society where life is becoming less and less sacred and have elevated the worship of the creature above the worship of the Creator.

I am deeply concerned that God is granting this nation what she has demanded.

We have told God that we wish to be left alone, that we do not want to live our lives anchored to God’s Word and will.  God seems to be complying with our ignorant insistence.  If so, He has surely acted justly and we have no platform for legitimate protest.  We in America are as guilty as a people can be . . .

But there is a remedy . . .

There is hope in the promises and power of God!

May we, as God’s people in this generation . . .

Submit to His way,

Seek His Word,

Stand on His Word,

And share His Word in their daily lives.

Our enemies have entered our shores with demonic cries of “Allahu Akbar!”, as they serve a god of death and destruction with bloody blades and blasting bombs.  We have torn God’s protective hedge with our sin, and the enemy has breached the provision of our safety which we long presumed would remain here.  We have sinned.  We rejected His authority and asked Him to leave us alone.  If there is any hope, this generation must cry out God . . .

“Return to us!

Remember Your promises to us.  

Revive Your work in the midst of the years.

Regard our dependence and honor our prayers.”

He was willing to do this when Abraham interceded for Lot – may our prayer be that He will do it for our own nation as we also cry to Him for forgiveness and mercy?  Abraham asked Him in that day, “Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” We ask that same question.  We dig down deep to find that fountain of mercy and grace which we know still flows for all who will get low enough to taste it.  It is not our own worth that we lift up before God, it is His everlasting mercy and grace that is our hope.

Friends, these are not days for the faint of heart.  This is not a time for ease-addicts within the Church.  We stand at the threshold of powerful Kingdom advances and God is summoning us to take our eyes off the obstacles and to fixate on His gloriously good character and His proven promises.  He is inviting us into holy adventure with Him.  I promise that, if you continue to follow Him, He will stretch you so far out of your current comfort zone that you will look back one day and be embarrassed that you ever thought that this was as far as you could go with Him.

God is asking us to stand up, step forth and fight for the renown and honor of His Son’s holy name.  He will provide all that you need.  He already knows how and when to do away with your opposition.  He has resources for you – both spiritual and material – that you will not know anything about until you step out in faith toward the place of His promise.

This is His desire for our generation, and we have less time today than we did yesterday.  He is offering this generation a powerful move of the Spirit which will result in powerful advance by the Church.  What more do we require from Him? What more must He offer to us?

This is God Word … This is Grace for your 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

  Do you where the last invitation in the Bible is found?  It is found, as you might expect, in the last book in the Bible.  The Bible says in Revelation 22:16-17, “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come.  Whoever desires, let him take of the water of life freely.”  This invitation is similar the invitation of God in Isaiah 55:1-3, “Ho! Everyoe who thrists, Come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat.  Yes come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.  Why do you spend money for  what is not read. And your wages for what does not satisfy?  Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.  Incline your ear, and come to Me, hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you – the sure mercies of David.”

Oh, what comfort, hope, and fulfillment can be found in both of these invitations.  But the real focus of these two invitations is that God knows the vital importance of receiving this invitation that He issues it one last time in the last chapter of the last Book of the Bible.  His heart’s desire it that all of us . . .

“COME!”

Are you thirsty?

“COME,”

And

Quench your thirst with the water of life.

And notice the qualifications set forth for those who are to come: “… him who thirsts!” Here we find our Lord Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, offering living water to replace . . .

• The bitter water of our broken lives.
• The bitter water of selfish ambition.
• The bitter water of self-righteousness.
• The bitter water of self-centeredness.
• The bitter water of sin and self-rule.

To be sure, this world offers water that spills out from broken cisterns, but it will never –never – deliver what it promises.  We are always left thirstier than when we started and totally unsatisfied.

We learn the hard way how life will turn out when we drink from any other well except Jesus.  Our Lord explained this in His conversation with the woman at the well in John 4:13-14, “Everyone who drinks [from this well] will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The God of love and life invites all who thirst to drink our fill from the Fount of every blessing.  Do you thirst . . .

• For truth? Come and discover it from the Scriptures – the Word of life!
• For peace? Come and receive it from the Prince of Peace!
• For forgiveness? Come and receive it from the Fount of Forgiveness!
• For unconditional love? Come and enjoy it from the Well of Limitless Love!

Only Jesus can quench your every thirst.

Remember, the Bible promises that those who “hunger and thirst after righteousness will be filled” (Matthew 5:6).

One last thought: Do you recall the cost of all the bitter water you have sipped on over the years?  They were costly, right?  You paid in ruined relationships, regret and guilt from bad choices, a shipwrecked and shattered life, and separation from God.

Well, the Good News is . . .

This glorious invitation

To drink in the water of life

Comes without cost!

There is nothing you must do – nothing you can do – to “earn” the opportunity to drink from the living waters.  That cost was borne by Him who paid in full the staggering cost of sin for all those who acknowledge there sin, turn from that sin, and trust in His atoning work on their behalf on the cross and the empty tomb, and ask Him to forgive your sin and be your Savior and Lord.

The desire of God’s heart resounds in the last command of the Bible.

Come!  Come and drink!  Come and drink freely and fully!

Won’t you respond to God’s invitation?

This is God Word … This is Grace for your 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

Ever been there?  Maybe most of us fear hitting rock-bottom because we somehow became convinced it is the one place in the world where God does not exist.  Most everyone has a scenario where they don’t let their minds travel.  This scenario is the ugliest, scariest, and most intimidating place that your mind can conceive.  It is the thing you dread the most. Your rock-bottom is shaped differently than mine, and ours both hold a different aroma than the person you rode next to in morning traffic last week.  We are convinced that we can handle just about anything which might come our way in life … but not that.  That one thing, rock-bottom, we are convinced, would likely be the end of us if it ever came to pass.

I have a word of encouragement today that will help all of us when we have, or we feel like, we have hit rock-bottom.  The Bible says in Psalm 27:5, “For He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble; He will conceal me under the cover of His tent; He will lift me high upon a rock.”

For a Scriptural point of view, the bottom line about the rock-bottom is that God is the Rock you will find when you bottom out.  Fear breeds avoidance.  We do not wish to allow our minds to play out the worst case scenarios that distress our spirit.  We live on the unconfronted side of all the “What If’s?” that threaten us.

• What if I am not healed?  
• What if my marriage does not make it?  
• What if I never find a mate?  
• What if I lose my job?
• What if I never get out of debt?
• What if I miss my life-purpose?

All of us could add to this frightful list.  Chances are that you are like most of us and push out the thought as quickly as it enters into your mind.  We are quite good at that.  Yet, because we too often handle our greatest fears in this manner, they continue to haunt us from season to season and year to year.  We never really go there. I want us to go there today and see that we can find some real and lasting help.  What if our own personal nightmare scenario became our reality?

Our response to that unpleasant possibility is for us to acknowledge that our Father would be there when it occurred, and that all of who He is and what He has promised would still be true for us and still active on our behalf.

• We will still be the objects of His love.
• He will not leave us in the cold, isolating, and overwhelming uncertainty that we sense when the worst moment finds us.
• He will not be weakened at all, though we will acutely sense our own limitations in that hour.
• He will preserve the most important things and He would supply everything then which we currently lack now.

One of the reasons that those scenarios seem terrifying to us at times is because we aren’t equipped today for them.  We are not equipped with the truth and power needed to bring us through those difficult times.  What we need to remember is that God will have instant grace-resources for us to draw upon in the moments and hours of need, but likely, not before that moment actually arrives (2 Corinthians 12:9).  This is one reason people marvel at how we can press on through circumstances that would do them in if we were in our shoes.  When we go through “rock-bottom” experiences we need to remember that we have been supplied the necessary grace.

Our lives are prepared for and preserved in the occasion by God Himself.\

He knows and grants us what we need when life brings us to a crash landing.

The sum of the matter

Is that

The only thing that is promised

To us

On a permanent basis is

The unchanging presence, power, and provisions of God.

“Rock-bottom” experiences serve to reveal whether that promise from Him of His faithful presence, power, and provision . . .

Is enough for us.

Most of us want more than that, if we are being honest.  We really want God plus immunity from that one thing that strikes high anxiety in our hearts.

Because of what the Bible teaches about God we do not need to spend another day in dread.

Do not avoid the “What If?” that haunts you.

But, don’t stop there.

For the followers of Jesus Christ there

Is a “Well, Then…” to every “What If?”

That “Well, then…”

Is the assurance that God will absolutely see you through,

No matter what your what-if is.

He will see be there when it comes to pass.  He will be so close to you.  He’s not going anywhere without you.  As a matter of fact, you will experience a nearness to Him like you have never experienced before.  You will learn more about His faithfulness, His compassion, His love, His power, His wisdom, and His devotion to you.  You will also learn what it means to endure like Jesus did, to abide like Jesus did, to wait like Jesus did and then to pray in courage like Jesus did, “Nevertheless, not my will but Your will be done, Father.”  “Rock bottom” is where we are formed to be most like Jesus who suffered before He triumphed.

If we let God be our Rock when we hit “rock bottom,” this is what occurs when we go through “rock-bottom” experiences . . .

Temporary things fade off, and then everlasting elements come to stay.

 In the end, your rock-bottom experience will be permanently exchanged for a glorifying testimony of the Almighty grace, goodness, and greatness.

Your testimony will be . . .

God is there for me and God is able to see me through.

So, even during “rock-bottom” experiences, we press on in calm assurance that nothing in life can usher us out of the presence of the One who has pledged Himself to us forever.

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 is a song that has these words in it, “Just to think of the cross move me now.”  Today, I am in a contemplative mood.  My mind keeps thinking about this power truth – Because of the work of Christ upon the cross, I find my rest and cause of rejoicing in Him.  I want to us today’s blog to share my thoughts about Jesus’ work upon the cross.

One of the final sayings of Jesus is recorded in Luke 23:34, “Then said Jesus, ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.’”   Man’s worst moment had arrived.  Roman spikes had been driven through the hands and feet of Jesus Christ, pinning Him to a terrible fate.  A near-naked spectacle hung before human eyes that ranged from the raging to the reverent … the Lamb of God was being slain.  All around our Lord were the hateful, vicious attitudes and words which penetrated as deeply as the thorns and nails that drew His blood . . .

• Two thieves who hung nearby railed upon Him.
• Blind religious leaders with hatred on their lips spat venom in His direction.
• Pagan soldiers laughed in their ignorance as they prepared to roll dice for His clothing. It was all in a day’s work for them, and they had no comprehension of what they were doing.

The cup of wrath had been poured out and it would be consumed by the Savior.

The wages of sin was revealed to be death –

Death in a manner like never before experienced on earth.

God was dying for man.

It is in the context of unspeakable suffering that the Lord Jesus Christ continues His ministry for those He came to save.  As the blood poured out from Him, so did His ministry as our Great High Priest.  He not only lives to make intercession for us, He did so in the hours of His death, never drawing back from His commitment to provide redemption and forgiveness that characterized His earthly life.  What He saw from His suspended view, above earth and below the heavens, were men who operated in ignorance concerning the enormity of what they were doing.  They understood their actions, but were pathetically blind to the ensuing consequences.

• The religious leaders should have known better, but in their minds they were killing a trouble-making maverick – a heretic and blasphemer – who dishonored the traditions of their fathers and meddled with their system of faith.
• Those present among “the crowd” were more foolish than they were vicious; they were swept up in the passion of the mob and cried aloud for His death as their minds denied them the ability to recall all that Christ had done for them.
• The soldiers were nothing more than blind loyalists who earned their money by executing criminals. This one named Jesus was little more than a beaten and bloodied man who had obviously crossed the line with Rome and had to pay the price.  They pounded in the spikes with little more than a grunt and a growl, waiting to clock out for the day to go home and embrace their wives and children.

Jesus Christ looked upon all of these and allowed for the moment

To be shrouded in mercy rather than vengeance.

He prayed for their forgiveness.

It should be no wonder that the Lord Jesus spoke this statement first upon the cross. He had taught those who pursued Him to pray for their enemies, and now He reveals that this had been no shallow, spiritual quip.  He had washed the feet of Judas, tolerated the intentions of the Pharisees, and poured oil and wine into the deep wounds of notorious sinners.  His whole ministry had been shaped for this hour and there was not a trace of thought that He would draw back now.

This was the hour for which the incarnation had been provided.

Each spotless day before the eyes of His Father had been lived so that this hour’s sacrifice would be sufficient.  It was no mere formality that Christ endured the cross, despising the shame … the Bible says there was great joy set before Him, and a portion of that joy was tethered to His desire to provide for forgiveness on behalf of those who would believe.

What He spoke on the cross echoes for all of eternity in the recesses of the souls of the redeemed – “forgive them, forgive them, forgive them.”  It cannot be said of us that we have sinned in ignorance, for we fully know what we do when we do it.  We are not as these in Luke 23 who failed to comprehend the magnitude of their transgressions.  Our sins and consequent guilt are heightened because we are an informed people.  We are enlightened to the depths of our departure from God, yet we transgress still the same. Even if we were ignorant, we could never claim to be innocent.  The whole of humanity has populated the abyss of sin, and we require Heaven’s royal reach of grace to bring us out alive.

The fingers of forgiveness secure us as the arm of omnipotence lifts us upward, until the threat is left far below and cannot touch us any further.  His eyes as a flame of fire look upon us and declare our comprehensive forgiveness to last for eternity.  He justifies us and frees us.

Jesus Christ was speared so that we might be saved.

Jesus Christ was pierced in order that you might be pardoned.

Jesus Christ died that I would be delivered.

“Father, forgive them…” is the first cry from Calvary, and I have heard it deep within my own soul.  His mercy and grace have refashioned me from pitiful ignorance to positional innocence.  It is not that I have never had the guilt … it is that my record has been expunged by the Judge Himself.  There is nobody higher than He who can bring lasting charges.  Through the blood of Jesus Christ the payment has been granted and the prisoner is now a son.  This is the work of Jesus Christ on the cross and it has not diminished in its ability to save.

I’m going to abide in this joyful thought

Because there is not another place which brings greater rest to our souls.

Forgiven!  Forgiven!  Forgiven!

In this is all my rest.

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 would like to share a word of encouragement with you today that can lift you above every wave of challenge that is rolling your way.  It comes from the inspired pen of the apostle Paul: “In Him (Christ) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, Who is the head of all principality and power.”  (Colossians 2:9-10)

Take some time to consider this remarkable passage.  Paul says that all the fullness of God – the sovereign Lord of all the universe, the Maker of heaven and earth and the seas and all that is in them – all of His fullness is in Christ and that those who have placed their trust in Christ’s atoning death on their behalf have been given this fullness!

Now, I don’t claim to know the depth of this fullness, nor would I be foolish enough to believe I (or any human being) would be able to understand it; but whatever its depth, it is ours to dive into and draw strength from.

HIS FULLNESS . . . IS OUR FULLNESS!

Now, we must not to think this biblical truth means that we have been made like “little gods” who possess the attributes that only God Himself possesses, attributes such as omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence.  We are still finite, fallible human beings.  John Calvin explained it this way: “Having been given this fullness in Christ does not mean that the perfection of Christ is transfused into us, but that there are in Him resources from which we may be filled, that nothing be wanting in us.”

In other words, in our union with Christ we have been given everything we need for living the life God has called us to live.

HIS FULLNESS . . . IS OUR FULLNESS!

As children of Adam, we come into this world empty – spiritually bankrupt.  We are born rebels on the run from God; we have no interest in the things of God until we are given the life of Christ – a gift we receive from God by grace through faith.

Because of what God in Christ has done for us, you and I have been granted to “be partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4), and we now have available to us everything we need to be what God is calling us to be.  All that Jesus is – and He is EVERYTHING – we have available to us.

• His wisdom . . . our guidance
• His peace . . . our comfort
• His presence . . . our consolation
• His power . . . our provision
• His faithfulness . . . our confidence
• His cross . . . our victory
• His resurrection . . . our life
• His love . . . our security

Let us drink fully and freely from our Fount of Every Blessing, rejoicing in the truth that

HIS FULLNESS . . . IS OUR FULLNESS.

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

Everyone wants to know the secret to making lasting change.  Most people belief that the secret is willpower . . .

Until they discover that their “will” power

Really has no lasting power!

The Bible makes it crystal clear that the “how” of lasting change will only come through the “why” of lasting change.  In other words, the why is the how!

Yes, it is true, our willpower can initiate change, but it is only temporary.  Most of us have discovered this truth by watching our new years’ resolutions – “This year I’m going to eat right, exercise more, read the Bible more, stop this or that bad habit, pray more, serve more” and so on – falter and fade away.

The reason, of course, is that . . .

Only when the Spirit of God changes

The hearts of Christian believers

Will we ever realize lasting change.

It all comes down to the difference between temporary behavior modification and lasting heart transformation.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:14, “The love of Christ compels us.”

Lasting change will only come through a compelling love for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Love for Christ,

Not personal power,

Will propel us

Into the powerful reality

Of a changed life.

When a compelling love for God inspires us to engage in spiritual warfare against the evil and godless forces that want to defeat us and destroy us, only through a passion for Christ and the presence and power of the Holy Spirit will temporary change perseveres and becomes lasting change.  We resist the temptations to sin simply because an understanding of the love of Christ compels us to turn toward God and away from sin.

• Why forgive completely?  Because the love of Christ compels us!
• Why serve faithfully?  Because the love of Christ compels us!
• Why give generously?  Because the love of Christ compels us!
• Why love unconditionally?  Because the love of Christ compels us!
• Why obey Christ completely?  Because the love of Christ compels us!
• Why seek to honor God in all that we do?  Because the love of Christ compels us!

Bryan Chapell wrote in Holiness By Grace, “A love for God made vital and vigorous by sensing deeply His compassion toward us is the primary means that enables believers to resist Satan.”

The love, mercy, and compassion of Christ is always,

And in every way,

The only compelling why behind every lasting how.

So . . . how is Christ’s love compelling you lately?  If you honestly answered, “Not as much as I’d like,” perhaps you need a clearer vision of Mt. Calvary, where Jesus took your place on the old rugged cross.  If there is no greater love than to lay your life down for someone else, then we need look no further than the cross to keep before us the only WHY we will ever need to be what God is calling us to be.

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.”