Grace For The Journey

  When was the last time you felt like the apostle Peter and thought you knew better than the Lord in a particular area of life?  Have you ever given a refined rebuke or correction to the Almighty?

The Bible tells us in Matthew 16:22, “Then Peter took Him [Jesus] aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘Far from You, Lord: this shall not happen to You!’”

If you pause for a moment and think about your average day, you just might be surprised at how many times you say, “Never, Lord!”  And I think . . .

The area we all struggle the most is in the area of grace.

The words of 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness,” often convict me of my pride and arrogance in thinking . . .

That I can find someone, or, something

Other than Jesus to meet my needs,

Lift my spirits, and heal and encourage my hurting heart.

• We say “NEVER” to God’s grace when we look for our purpose in our profession.
• We say “NEVER” to God’s grace when we look for our significance in our success.
• We say “NEVER” to God’s grace when we look for our meaning in our ministry.
• We say “NEVER” to God’s grace when we look for our approval in our accomplishments.

God’s grace is sufficient to . . .

Save us,

Guide us,

Govern us,

And

Grow us into the person God is calling us to be.

His power is made perfect in our weakness, and it is God’s perfect plan to work through imperfect and weak people, providing all the purpose, significance, meaning, and approval we could possibly hope for or even imagine.

Far too often we say, “Never, Lord!” when it comes to acknowledging that His grace is totally sufficient for our salvation.

• To His mercy we want to add our merit.
• To His grace we want to add our goodness and good works.
• To His finished work we want to add our feeble works.

Our sinful, human nature simply will not receive

The completed work of our Savior on the cross;

We look for every imaginable way to supplement it.

Or, when we can receive the grace that is sufficient for our salvation we say, “Never, Lord!” to that same grace that sanctifies us as well.  Deep down we believe that the only way we will grow in our faith is by the spiritual sweat of our own brow.  We believe God will bless us when we do good and curse us when we do less than good.  We even go as far as to believe that God is angry with us and seeks to exact His pound of flesh when we step out of line and mess things up.

Let us never say “Never, Lord!” to the truths of the Gospel, because we simply cannot understand the greatness of our God.  May we say, “Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!” to every Gospel truth and simply trust in His every Word.  May our Lord gently rebuke us, correct us, and exhort us until we rest in the reality of our completed redemption until that day we are received into glory.

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.”