Grace For The Journey

  The online dictionary tells us that “perspective” is simply a way of thinking about something; perspective is a sensible way of judging how good, how bad, how important or unimportant something is in comparison with other things.  With this in mind, let me share something very important with you today:

HOW YOU SEE YOUR LIFE . . . SHAPES IT!

If you see your life as little more than something that you simply need to get through, your life will be shaped by that view.  If Wednesday is “Hump Day” and you “Thank God It’s Friday,” your life will never rise above the level of simply “making a living,” or “longing for the day you can retire.”  There are those people who see life like a “card game,” where you simply “Play the hand you’re dealt.”  And then there are those who ride a “see-saw,” where life is a rhythm of up and down.

So . . . what is your perspective on life?  What would be the “life metaphor” that best describes the life you are currently living right now?  A child of the Most High God is to see life from His perspective, and God’s Word tells us that life is both a gift and a trust.

A GIFT: God’s gift to you is the life He has given you.  Every breath you take and every beat of your heart is a gift from God.  Your gift back to God is how you live life out before His face (“Coram deo”).  What do you have that you have not been given?  Your personality and passions . . . your intelligence and intuition . . . your dreams and desires . . . your talents and treasures . . . your opportunities and obstacles . . . everything is a gift from God, meant for you to steward for His glory and the good of others.  So the first perspective is that LIFE IS A GIFT! 

A TRUST: From the beginning in the Garden, God entrusted the care of creation to His image-bearers, Adam and Eve.  God created them to care for everything, and in spite of their horrific fall into sin, this role has never been rescinded.

We have been made by God for God,

And we are to live a life that expands

His kingdom, not our own.

When we are working to expand

Our own little kingdom,

We shrink the size of our lives

Down to the size of our lives.

That is not the life God

Has created us to live!

We are to be living for something

That will live on long after we are gone,

And that will only happen

When we are living for God.

So, the second perspective is that LIFE IS A TRUST!

When your perspective on life is God’s perspective – that life is both a gift and a trust – you will begin to think and act like a steward of everything you have been given.  You will seek to grow the kingdom of God through everything you do.  Time and time again, Jesus used beautiful stories to illustrate our responsibility to live for the glory of God and the good of others!

When we are living this kind of life,

Everything matters.

Every job has eternal value when we are working for God.  Every recreation and enjoyable activity has eternal value when we engage in it for God’s glory.  Everything we do has eternal implications when we are living in the light of eternity. With this kind of perspective, progress is assured as we glorify God and bless others, advancing toward our eternal 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.”