Grace For The Journey

  Many people live with a truncated view of the Gospel; that is, they believe they are saved by grace but must keep working to maintain their salvation by the spiritual sweat of their own brow.  They never fully embrace the fact that their acceptance is assured.

How about you?  Do you know that your acceptance is assured, regardless of the circumstances you find yourself in today?

The Bible says in Ephesians 1:6, “. . . To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.”  All those who are saved by grace through faith are accepted in the Beloved.  Notice that the Bible does not say your acceptance is based on anything you do – not on your merit; not on your good works; not on your righteous living.

No, your acceptance is based solely on Christ,

Who has accepted you

“To the praise of the glory of His grace.”

And once you have been accepted, you cannot be unaccepted!  In spite of repeated foolishness, countless failures, and prayerless faithlessness, Jesus has totally accepted you.  In spite of self-rule, self-absorption, and self-protection, Jesus has totally accepted you.  He has declared in John 6:37, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.”

Think about that for a moment!  Jesus knows you fully and completely – every sin, spot, wrinkle, and blemish – and yet, because we accept His redeeming upon the cross and through the resurrection, He has fully accepted you . . . forever!

That’s because His acceptance is based

Solely on everything He did on your behalf.

He lived the perfect life.  He died the sacrificial death.  He paid the ultimate price for your eternal redemption with His own precious blood.  He didn’t wait for you to get your act together or clean yourself up.  He didn’t demand that you join a church or head out to the mission field.  He accepted you when you were smack dab in the middle of the denial of Peter, the doubting of Thomas, and the death-march of Saul.

The Bible says in Romans 5:8, “God demonstrates His love for us in that while we still sinners, Christ died for us.”  Only the truths of the Gospel can enlarge our view of the Almighty’s acceptance.

And that brings me to a second point I pray you will take away from today’s blog.  If you have been eternally, unconditionally accepted in the Beloved, then you are to  ̶

“… Receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.”  (Romans 15:7)

Because of the acceptance that we have received as a free gift (Romans 3:24), we should be accepting of others all the time.

Once again, we must rely on the truths of the Gospel.

God in Christ has accepted us, completely and fully, “while we were still sinners.”

Keeping this amazing truth in constant view

Will enable us to rise above the limitations of our perspective and prejudices.

It will empower us to move beyond our insecurities

And our tendency to personalize everything

So that we can remember that we have been accepted in Christ . . .

And therefore we are to accept one another!

To be sure, we accept without compromising the truths of Scripture.  Yes, we need to keep in mind what is essential to the Gospel and what is not essential to the Gospel.   We do not accept sinful behavior, because God does not condone sin.  But because God accepts the sinner, we too are called and commanded by God to accept the sinner.

Remember the fact that God is not finished with us yet, and that means He is not finished with others either!

Only a clear view of the Gospel will give us a correct view of our calling

To accept others, just as we have been accepted by Jesus.

And as we continue to work through these ideas, let us remember that Romans 15:7 tell us this is to be done “in order to bring praise to God.”  Our acceptance assured must lead us to accepting others . . . not to bring praise to us but to give praise to the glory of God’s grace!

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

  Is there anyone reading my blog today who doesn’t understand that sin is bad?  We all know by way of personal experience that sin is bad.  And the death of Jesus Christ upon the cross reveals to us how appalling sin is in the sight of God.  But is that all there is to say?  Do we know just how bad sin really is?

If we simply think of sin as a violation of some set of rules and regulations, our view of sin is not high enough.  Impure thoughts, improper actions, and inappropriate words all come under the heading of sinful behavior, but to see sin as simply missing the mark of our moral code does not go deep enough.  To leave sin there is to leave it in the shallow end of the flowing river of life.

King David refused to do this.  After his adulterous encounter with Bathsheba and the subsequent murder of her husband, David confessed to the Lord, “Against You, You only, have I sinned.” (Psalm 51:4)

David rightly saw his sin as something far greater

Than rebellion against a set of commands

And more grievous than missing the mark of society’s more code.

He saw his sin reaching all the way to God –

Where it always reaches,

Because sin at its deepest level

Is a violation against God.

To be sure, David knew he had sinned against Bathsheba and her husband and, as king, David had sinned against all the people of Israel.

He rightly understood the nature of his sins as

Damaging countless horizontal relationships.

The most important violation his sin had committed

Was the one against his vertical relationship with God.

What makes sin so exceedingly sinful is that it is ultimately willful rebellion against a loving, merciful, and sinless God.

It is only when we keep this fact in view –

That our sin is a personal affront to and against God

– That we will seriously set our hearts against our sins.

Knowing that our sin is ultimately directed against God is the fuel we need to fight against our tendency to keep sinning against others.  Perhaps, in some twisted way, we may believe someone “deserves” the sinful treatment we are delivering to them.  But we can never regard God in that way!

This is part of what I mean when I say we must remind ourselves of the Gospel every day.  God’s glorious Good News tells us that “God demonstrates His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).  Do we really want to continue to sin and thus thumb our nose at the Savior who left heaven’s throne to take up our cross?

It is only the power of the Gospel that will help us fight against the darkness of our sinful nature that still lives within us.  We can never justify any wrongdoing against the perfect love and the perfect righteousness of God.

Joseph understood the sinfulness of sin and provided us with one of the best examples in all of Scripture to fight against sin when he asked, “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9).

Joseph was sold into slavery and taken down to Egypt.  Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials and the captain of the guard, bought him as a slave.  Joseph proved himself worthy and was elevated into a position of leadership and authority.  When Potiphar’s wife repeatedly tried to seduce him, Joseph flatly refused.

Remember that it was Joseph’s own brothers who had coldly contemplated killing him before they sold him into slavery.  He was far from his home and likely never to see his father or brothers ever again.  At some level, he could have very well have been thinking that God had abandoned him.  Whatever he might have wondered during those first awful days of realizing he was the property of another man, Joseph never forgot God’s love.  He refused a moment of pleasure with Potiphar’s wife because he refused to sin against his God.

Trusting in God in spite of his circumstances kept Joseph doing the right thing when the wrong thing would have been so easy to do.

And that is what we need to do too!

Trust God and keep His amazing love and grace before our eyes always.

Keeping the sinfulness of sin in view will go a long way toward helping us say what Joseph said . . . before we have to confess what David did.

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

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

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

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

Grace For The Journey

  In one of my seminary classes the discussion turned to the question, “What makes a good work good?”  After much discussion and study of the Word of God, we concluded that the answer is – God.  Later on I read a book by the eighteenth-century pastor and author Abraham Booth in which he provided one of the best definitions I have ever seen when it comes to good works.   He says,

“To constitute a work truly good,

It must be done from a right principle

(The love of God),

Performed by a right rule

(Will of God contained in the Scriptures),

And

Intended for a right end

(The glory of God).”

The world is full of people doing “good things” that help many people.

• The hungry are fed.
• The naked are clothed.
• The homeless are given shelter.

Yet, even though a work benefits another, it is not truly good unless it is being done for the glory of God.  It is a Godward motivation that makes a work good, a work rooted in the love of Christ.

The Bible says in 1 Chronicles 29:9, “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve Him with whole-hearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts.”

When we are doing good works in an attempt to broker God’s favor and secure His blessing, there is no “good” in that work at all.  The work has become all about us rather than God.  It is living under the umbrella of legalism: working (serving) to gain favor or avoid consequences.  Regardless of how “good” a work might be in the eyes of the watching world, when it is done from a legalistic motive, it is void of anything good, because it becomes all about the one doing the work rather than the One it is to be done for.

Only the truths of the Gospel can free us from self-serving motives and move us to serve our God out of a heart that overflows with thanksgiving for the promised blessings already received through grace.  The more deeply we grasp the truths of the Gospel, the more deeply we are able to serve God out of a loving heart that beats to expand God’s kingdom . . . rather than our own.

When we are working to expand the kingdom of God,

Every work we do is a good work.

Every work matters at this level of living, because our hearts have been oriented away from self and toward our Savior.  Now when the hungry are fed it is a good work. When the naked are clothed it is a good work. When the homeless are given shelter it is a good work. Everything is a good work when God is in it and the heart behind the work is doing it out of a grateful response to the grace of God that has been poured out in the past and promised in the future.

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

What comes to mind when you read the phrase “growing in grace”?  Most Christians immediately think of growing in Christ-like character and displaying the fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).  And most Christians would likely add that “growing in grace” further consists of consistent participation in the disciplines of grace: Bible study, prayer, church attendance, service, Christian fellowship, and so on.  These answers have great merit, and we all desire to see these actions and character traits increasing in our own lives and the lives of our Christian brothers and sisters.

The Bible says in 2 Peter 3:18, :But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  To Him be glory both now and forever.  Amen.”  Growing in grace happens as God works out His salvation that we receive when we turn from our sin and accept Jesus as Savior and Lord.  The Bible says it this way in 1 Peter 5:10, “But the God of all grace, who has called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered awhile, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you.”

There is something more fundamental that lies behind all of this visible growth;

“Growing in grace” is growing in our understanding of the truths of the Gospel.

• We grow in our understanding of the sinfulness of man.
• We grow in our understanding of the holiness of God.
• We grow in our understanding of the price Jesus Christ paid on the cross for our forgiveness and redemption.

As our understanding of the working of God’s grace in our lives grows, the Bible teaches that we are growing in grace.

What we believe about the transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is far more important than how we behave.  Remember

. . . the Pharisees were always on their best behavior

When it came to obeying the Law of Moses . . .

Yet, that did not “score points” for them with God; instead, they were confronted by the wrath of Jesus.  The Bible records Jesus response in Matthew 23:27, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” He thundered.  “You are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.”

The Pharisees imagined that they were made righteous by what they did;

But the truth is that we are declared righteous because of what we believe.

As we walk further in and deeper in our understanding of our own spiritual bankruptcy and fallen condition, the more we find ourselves growing in grace.  Growing in grace is understanding the fact that we are sinners by nature and by habit.  And as we comprehend our awful moral bankruptcy, we are drawn more fully into our understanding of the unearned and undeserved mercy, favor, and blessing of God.  This is what it means at the deepest level when we are said to be growing in grace: when we have a deeper appreciation for His amazing grace!

So . . . how much have you grown in grace over the past few weeks, months, and years?  As our understanding of the Gospel grows, our motivation for new obedience also grows.  The more we rejoice in what Jesus has done for us in the past and promises to do for us in the future, the more we are motivated to walk by faith and not by sight, living in gratitude and thanksgiving.

This mindset is crystallized by Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthians.  The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 7:1, “Having, therefore, these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from al filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

This is life.

This is liberty.

This is growing in grace!

Paul is telling us that growing in grace

Is growing in our understanding, gratitude and reverence for God.

Simply because God is who He is, He is worthy of our praise and obedience.  Let me ask you a question: when you meditate on who God is with all that He has done for us in the past and all that He has promised to do in the future, could there be any greater motivation for doing what God has called us to do?  I think not!

When the grace of the Gospel has seized us, we are motivated purely out of a sense of reverence and thanksgiving.  We are not driven by what we hope to receive from God, but rather because of all that we already have received in promises fulfilled and those which will be fulfilled in the future.  God has never broken a promise in the past and He will not break any of them in the future either.   The Bible reminds us in 1 Samuel 15:29, “And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent.  For He is not a man, that He should repent.”  And this is the greatest motivation the world has ever known to live a life that is pleasing in His sight.

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 word “apologetics” is derived from the Greek word apologia, which means “to give an answer or make a defense.”  In seminary I took classes in apologetics, which were designed to prepare the student to provide a defense of the Christian faith.  The ground we covered was far-reaching, including the person and work of Jesus Christ, the reliability of Scripture, biblical evidence in history and archeology, answering objections, and refuting various cults.

We are called by God to be able to give an apologia for our faith.

The Bible says in 1 Peter 3:15, “In your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you . . .”

Since coming to faith in Christ as a young boy, God has been gracious to renew my mind through the truths of the Gospel and equip me to make a defense for my faith.  But I have learned over the years that beyond everything that can be learned from seminary training in apologetics, there is one thing God in Christ gives to every one of His children to use in defending their faith:

LOVE!

Love is the final apologetic.

When an unbelieving world sees us loving in radical and unconditional ways, they need no other apologia for proving Christianity.

Love is the final apologetic of the reality of the Gospel.

It convinces those who are touched by it that the Christian faith is as real as it is remarkable. When fallen, broken, and hurting people are loved in radical and unconditional ways by other fallen, broken, and hurting people who have been saved by grace, they begin to believe that God the Father sent God the Son to die on a cross for their sins, so that they might have eternal life.

By sharing with everyone the love we have been given in Christ,

Regardless of the cost or circumstance,

We display a Gospel that is as attractive as it is attracting.

It slays suspicion … destroys doubts … and unravels unbelief.  It conquers the heart that beats for the self and the will that is oriented inward.  It draws people away from self-protection, which opens the doorway leading to self-surrender.

Love is the final apologetic

Because love is the greatest of all gifts.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13:13, “Now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

So . . . how well have you been defending the faith lately?

What kind of Gospel have you been putting on display for the watching world?

How attractive is your God?  How loving?  The more deeply we understand the truths of the Gospel, the better apologists we become.  Whenever you need another quick “class” or “lesson” on apologetics, saturate your heart with what has come to be known as “The Love Chapter” in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13.

God’s love for us is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).  That means you cannot cast a shadow over His love for you, no matter what you do.  Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ (Romans 8:38-39).

Blood-bought and eternally His,

Let us defend our faith daily with a love that

Lifts others up and

Leads them to our Savior!

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

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

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

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

 

Grace For The Journey

If the title of today’s blog is true, and it is, then why serve God at all?  Why should we attempt to do any good deeds, from serving in the church nursery, teaching a small group Bible Study Class, feeding the hungry, to building an orphanage or a hospital?  The answer is really simple . . .

God doesn’t need your good works;

But your neighbor does.

Let’s spend some time looking into this idea . . .

First, we need to see that our good works really aren’t all that good.  The Bible says in Isaiah 64:6, “We have all become like one who is unclean and all our good works are like filthy rags.”

The Bible also says in Romans 3:10-12, “As it is written: ‘there is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God.  They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.’”

All that we are and do is influenced with mixed motives, selfish ambition, and our sin-stained hearts.

Second, we need to see living the Christian faith as an outward expression of an inward reality.  Because God in Christ has reached down to us to save us and change us, we are to respond by reaching up to God and out to others.

Jesus says in John 15:12-17, “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.  You are My friends if you do what I command you.  No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heart from My Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give it to you.  These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”

Thirdly, we need to see our good works as an opportunity to put on display the glory of the Gospel by reflecting the character of the One who saved us.

The Bible says in Acts 10:38, “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power.  He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”

Our neighbors need to see an accurate picture of the God whom we love and serve.  This is best done when our faith has hands and feet.  It is a supernatural result of the work of God’s grace in our lives after we accept Jesus by faith.

The more we know, and are conformed to our Lord Jesus Christ,

The more we will look like Him.

 When we deliver good works for

The glory of God and the good of others,

We make our God attractive to the watching world.

One final point: we don’t perform good works in order to gain our acceptance from God.  The Bible says in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” 

We go about doing good because we are already accepted;

And in our completely unconditional acceptance,

Our good works become the fruit of our faith.

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 going to try to capture the meaning of the psalmist, who describes the greatness of God as something no one can fathom.  The Bible says in Psalm 145:1-3, “I will exalt You, my God. O King; and I will bless Your name forever and ever.  Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever.  Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable (no one can fathom).”

A fathom is a unit of length equal to 6 feet, used principally in the measurement and specification of marine depths.  To be “fathomless” is to be too deep to be measured; to be bottomless.  Think about that for a moment.  The depth of the greatness of our God is beyond measurement.  It is, in a word, fathomless!

• His holiness . . . fathomless
• His glory . . . fathomless
• His love . . . fathomless
• His mercy . . . fathomless
• His grace . . . fathomless
• His goodness . . . fathomless
• His kindness . . . fathomless
• His forgiveness . . . fathomless
• His forbearance . . . fathomless

Of course, we could go on forever.  The fathomless Father who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9) has given us a fathomless faith.

Faith in Christ is a bottomless sea of unimaginable joy,

One that we need only to dip our toes into each day to be swallowed up by it.

Imagine diving in with wholehearted abandon and the fathomless joy that should be the confession of our lives.

If we would dare to do such a thing:

Everyone who knew us would know we know Jesus;

Everyone who lived with us would know we live with Jesus;

Everyone who worked with us would know we work for Jesus.

Faith in Christ has called us into a fathomless future where our hearts beat to tell His story and our lives are poured out for His glory.  Someone has said that “the future is so bright, you gotta wear shades!”

The care of our Lord for every aspect of our lives is so immeasurable

That nothing we do is insignificant to Him.

• No labor is menial when it is done for Jesus.
• No act of kindness goes unnoticed.
• No ministry of mercy is ignored.

If the number of hairs on your head matters to God so much that He actually counts them (Matthew 10:30), then surely there is nothing you can do for Him that doesn’t matter, regardless of how inconsequential it might seem to you.

The fathomless greatness of our God should get us out of bed each day, rejoicing over the privilege we have in knowing and serving so great a God.  Who can measure the depth of the love that has been showered upon us by the One who took our place on that cross?  Shall we return it lukewarm, served up with half our heart?  God forbid!

Whether we find ourselves journeying through sun-filled days or storm-filled nights,

May our lament be that we have not loved Him enough,

No matter how hard we have tried to convince ourselves

That we have done so with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Thank God for the fathomless faithfulness of our Lord . . . even when our faithfulness is only six inches deep!

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

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

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

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

Grace For The Journey

When your mind is not focused on anything in particular, where does it go?  What do you find yourself thinking about?  Because God is renewing our minds, which in turn enlarges our hearts and ultimately bends our will to align with His, we should be able to say that our minds turn (more often than not) to God.  To be sure, from time to time our minds drift on to the mudflats of life and we think what we ought not to be thinking.  But as the Gospel becomes more real in our lives, our minds begin to dwell more and more frequently into Gospel gardens.

The Bible says in Philippians 4:8-9, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”

The great musician Franz Joseph Haydn of the classical period understood this exhortation and lived it out because of his faith in Christ.  When asked why his church music was so cheerful, Haydn replied, “When I think upon God, my heart is so full of joy that the notes dance and leap, as it were, from my pen, and since God has given me a cheerful heart I will serve Him with a cheerful spirit.”  Haydn’s joy was rooted in God; the more he thought about God, the more joyful was his experience in life.  Haydn knew what to think about . . . and His name is Jesus Christ.

How often we should be able to say to others, “When I think upon God, my heart overflows with thanksgiving for all He has done for me.”  The challenge for all of us is we do just the opposite of what Paul instructs us to do.

• We think about whatever is wrong, what is defiled and unlovely.
• We reflect on what we don’t have rather than what we do have.
• We focus on what we have done wrong rather than what He has done right.

This is precisely where the devil wants to direct our thoughts – toward that which is false and fleshly, rather than toward Him who is true and triune.

But this is not what God wants for you!  And Paul confirms it with another inspired instruction from the Word of God: “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”  (Colossians 3:2)

When we set our minds on things above, we won’t be pulled down by things below.

• Regardless of how strong the storm winds blow, we remain upright and on course.
• Regardless of how hot the fiery furnace of affliction flares, we are unharmed.
• Regardless of how deep the current of corruption surges, we are unmoved.

When we think about the things of God,

We are strengthening our minds to rise

Above the challenges of daily living.

Sure, the fight is fierce and the battle rages.  But we already have the strength we need to become more than conquerors (Romans 8:37) . . .  we have that strength in Jesus.

We need only to focus our attention more and more on Him,

And we will be less and less affected

By whatever is going on around us.

The next time you catch yourself doing the opposite of what Paul instructs you in Philippians 4:8-9, pause and reflect on the finished work of Christ.  He has already won the victory over whatever trial or temptation you are facing.  Paul said, “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).  The more time we spend thinking about the victory Jesus has already won for us on the cross, the more we will live like victors rather than victims.  Think about these things . . . won’t you?  Then you will be able to say with the hymn writer:

Oh, Victory in Jesus, my Savior forever
He sought me and he bought me with His redeeming blood
He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him
He plunged me to Victory, beneath the cleansing flood.

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

  That statement is hard to imagine in the culture we live in today, isn’t it?  The wisdom of the world tells us that there is nothing better than the life we are currently living.  How did the old commercial say it?  “Fellas, it just doesn’t get any better than this.”  With the belief that this life is all there is, we are told to eat, drink, be merry, and “grab for all the gusto” on this side of the grave, because there is nothing on the other side.

Well, the wisdom of the Word declares

That the world’s wisdom is folly,

Because there is something on the other side of the grave.

There is a judgment . . . there is a heaven . . . there is a hell . . .

And there is something infinitely better than this life and what it has to offer!

The Bible says in Psalm 63:3, “Your lovingkindness is better than life.”

What would it take for you to be able to say what King David said in this psalm . . . and mean it?  Is there anything you are holding on to more tightly than Jesus?  Is there anything you have right now that if you lost it, your life would be turned upside down?

Only the truths of the Gospel can ravish us to such an extent that we are ready, willing, and able to forsake everything this life has to offer for the One who has given to us everything we have.

Only the truths of the Gospel can convince us that

Only God can satisfy us – fully, finally, and forever.

The author of The Pilgrims Progress knew this truth and lived it out at great cost.  For more than 12 years, English Christian writer and preacher, John Bunyan, was imprisoned while his second wife Elizabeth cared for their six children.  His crime for which he was put in chains: preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ without state sanction.  On a number of occasions the magistrate would have let him go if he had promised to stop preaching.  But he would not.  John said he would remain in prison until the moss grew on his eyelids rather than fail to do what the Almighty had commanded him to do.  He said that parting from his dear wife and children, “has often been to me in this place as the pulling of the flesh from my bones.”  This was especially true with regard to his eldest daughter who was blind and was given to him through his first wife who had died.

For John Bunyan, there was something indeed better than life:

The loving-kindness of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

• He chose the loving-kindness of his God over his freedom.
• He chose the loving-kindness of his God over being with his family.
• He chose the loving-kindness of his God in spite of intense persecution and prison.
• He refused to deny his God, though to do so would have brought him great worldly benefit.

It’s hard for us, living in this day and age, to imagine living with that kind of personal peace and security in the midst of such persecution.  But here was a man so sold-out for Christ that the confession of his life proclaimed that it was better to live in the love of God than to live with his wife and children!

Only the love of God can satisfy your deepest longings.

Only the loving-kindness of God can

Answer your prayers,

Solve your problems,

And

Overcome your obstacles.

It is only when we want the presence of God more than anything else in life that we will be able to hold loosely everything we have at present . . . because we are looking forward to all that has been promised us in the future.

Because the best is yet to come, what we have now is only a shadow of what is to come.  Our greatest joy, our deepest affection, and our highest love in this life pales in comparison to what awaits us when we get home and stand in the presence of the One whose loving-kindness truly is better than life.

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

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

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

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

Grace For The Journey

  Yesterday was Father’s Day.  Across America, we celebrate Father’s Day in June.  For some, the word father is painful or even meaningless.  Yet, it is a sacred trust and responsibility to be a father.  The Lord Jesus was radical in referring to the Almighty God as Father.  Therefore, I pray today’s blog will be an encouragement to earthly fathers, as well as point all of us to our eternal Father.

In the entire Old Testament over thousands of years, God is only referred to as Father seven times.  Jesus referred to God as Father seven times in Matthew 6 alone.  In His life and in the gospels, He talked about God being our Father over 150 times.  He taught us about how God wants to relate to each and every one of us.

The Bible is full of wonderful truths about our heavenly Father.  May your heart be instructed and encouraged as you read the following verses:

1 John 3:1 – “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”

Psalm 103:13 – “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.”

John 16:27 – “The Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.”

1 Corinthians 8:6 – “There is one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live.”

2 Corinthians 1:3, 4 – “The Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction.”

With the above verses as a backdrop, let’s consider these biblical truths . . .

God is a CARING and COMPASSIONATE FATHER.

Jesus’ example of prayer in Matthew 6 is a beautiful picture of God – He is compassionate, loving, gracious, and He cares about you.

In fact . . .

He loves you more than you will ever know!

He loves you more than you will be able to experience!

You can’t even understand how much God loves you because your brain isn’t big enough to handle it.

The Bible tells us in Psalm 103:13, “As a father pities (has compassion) on his children, so the Lord pities (has compassion) on those who fear Him.”  The Bible tells us in Matthew 6:26, “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are yo not of more value than they?” 

God is caring.

God is compassionate.

God is a CONSISTENT FATHER.

He’s always dependable – entirely consistent in who He is.  God is worthy of our trust.

You can count on Him every time.

He never lets you down.

The Bible says in James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”

The truth is, earthly fathers are unpredictable.  God is always consistently loving, gracious, kind, merciful, and understanding.  God is never moody.  God never has a bad day.

God is a COMPETENT FATHER.

He can handle any problem you give Him.  Nothing is beyond His ability.  Nothing is beyond His resources. The Bible says in Luke 1:37, “For with God nothing is impossible.”  Did you hear that?  Nothing is impossible.  He can handle it all because He is competent.

May the earthly fathers in our churches and communities be strengthened as they seek to know and live for their eternal Father.

To God be the glory … Great things He had done!

 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.”