Saved by Grace

What is it you crave? What are you seeking with all you’ve got? Is it the craving of worldly possessions? Is it the desires and thoughts of today’s culture? Do you seek to be one of the “in crowd?” Do you know there is something far better available to you?

We all have cravings, desires, and wants. We all fall prey to the latest craze at some point in our lives. It may be the latest fashion our favorite movie star is sporting. It may be those horrendously expensive sunglasses our favorite sports star wears. It may be the popularity our classmates or colleagues appear to have.

Chasing after those things can be destructive. They can keep us from the better things in life. But even if we fall prey to chasing those things, when we realize it and determine to turn our focus back on God, he forgives us. Isn’t that amazing? Who of us is willing to forgive a close friend or family member who has ignored us for a period of time when they return their focus to us? We may find it hard even if they have a very legitimate reason, such as a very sick member of their family. We may think, even if we won’t speak it, they could have at least called!

On the other hand, God does forgive us. His grace is without limits. His mercy is extended to us immediately. We don’t deserve it, but He does it anyway. Why? Because He loves us more than we can fully understand. He loves more than a child loves a new puppy. He loves us more than a mother loves her children.

His grace and mercy save us from destruction. They pull us out of the ditches we find ourselves in. They lift us up onto wings like eagles (Isaiah 40:31). They pull us from the grips of death and give us life. It is God’s love, grace, and mercy that saves us from ourselves, this world, and Satan. We should thank Him every moment of every day.

I pray we all return our focus to God. I pray we see His wondrous grace and mercy at work in our lives. I pray we feel the amazing love He has for us at all times. See God’s grace at work. See the mercy He extends to you. Feel His love. Give thanks to God. Focus on Him.

Ephesians 2:4-5 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

Realistic Life

What is your plan for life? Are you planning a good paying professional career? Are you working a good paying job? Are you looking for a job that allows for more time off? Would you prefer to win the lottery and have no need to work anymore?

We know we need to work to be able to provide for our families. We know some jobs pay more than others. We know there is a range of benefits offered for different types of jobs and companies. But some chase after the quick buck rather than working for it.

There are schemes that promise to make us wealthy with little work on our part. They can be tempting to try. But notice what the writer of Proverbs tells us. Chasing after those get rich quick schemes will leave us high and dry.

This proverb also teaches us not to chase after fantasies. That does not mean we cannot pursue doing well or chase our dreams. It does mean we are to look at those dreams with a bit of realism. What are the odds we will play professional baseball? What are the odds we will be a world-renowned singer? What are the odds we will be the CEO of a fortune five hundred company?

The proverb suggests a realistic view of living in this world. It reminds us we must work to live a comfortable life. The proverb does not promise riches but does promise we won’t need to worry about where our next meal will come from. Many of us live this way. However, there are many who do not.

God will provide for those of us who follow His path for us. That pathway may not be the one we fantasize about, but it is one we can be thankful for. To find that path is to find peace, joy, and contentment. We find it when we seek God first and rely on His guidance for our lives.

I pray we all seek the path God has prepared for us. I pray we forgo chasing after fantasies. I pray each one of us seeks the right job for the right reasons for our life. Trust God to lead you. Seek His guidance. Be prepared to work. Live the abundant life. 

Proverbs 28:19

Those who work their land will have abundant food,

but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty.

Honor Your Parents

What is your relationship with your parents? Is it one of respect? Is it a strained relationship? Have you spent time putting yourself in their shoes? Do you attempt to see through their eyes? Are you willing to honor them as God has commanded?

We see varying relationships between children and parents. Some are very good. Others are not good at all. Many reasons are given for those that are not good. Some justified, some not. Some are strained because of selfishness, self-pity, and obstinance.

God commands us to honor our father and mother. There are circumstances which can make that very difficult. We know there are some parents who are addicted to drugs or alcohol. Some parents are abusive. God does not expect you to remain in dangerous situations. However, He has called us to love and forgive as He has done. No, that is not easy to do in all situations. It may require years to be able to love and forgive, depending on the situation and our relationship with God.

On the other hand, we also see relationships that appear to be very good, yet children behave disrespectful toward their parents. In many cases, they don’t even realize it. We can put the blame on society. We can blame today’s culture. But what does that say about us? It says we have strayed far from God and His desires for our lives.

God did not randomly command children to honor their parents. Nor did He randomly tell parents to love and care for their children. The family unit is precious to God. After all, God has adopted each of us into His family. Honoring our father and mother is an act of worship to God. In honoring them, we honor Him.

I pray we all honor God. I pray we honor our father and mother as God has commanded. I pray each one of us will determine to toss aside societal norms to obey God’s commands. Honor God. Honor your parents. Love your children. Hold the family in high esteem. Obey God’s commands.

Matthew 15:3-7a Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites!”

We All Fall Down

Do you ever feel as though you are being hunted? Have you had someone who is looking to take you down? Are there people who want to destroy you? What have you done in response? Have you trusted the One who has your best at heart?

We have all likely felt as though there was someone who wanted to see us upended. There has been someone who wanted to see us fail. Perhaps we have even had someone who did all they could to bring us down or destroy us.

It is highly unlikely any of us have had someone out to kill us. Yet, it is not much consolation to think we are not being hunted down to be killed when we believe someone wants to cause us financial ruin. Anytime we feel as though someone is after us, constantly looking over our shoulder, we feel anxious. We worry and play the “what if” game, often thinking about the worst.

Jesus knew what was coming. He knew who they were after when they came to the garden. But notice what happened. When He asked who they wanted, they gave His name. When He told them He was who they were looking for, they fell to the ground. Why? The Greek word Jesus used means “I am.” We typically translate it as “I am he” in our English Bibles. Jesus’ response claimed that He was God. It is one of several “I am” statements He made in the gospels.

How does this affect us when we are being chased down or someone is seeking to bring us harm? We can take comfort in knowing we serve the One who has overcome death. We can find comfort knowing we have a reward for holding onto our faith. We may experience trouble in this life, but we can continue to look forward to an eternity of bliss. We know that all will fall down at His name sooner or later.

I pray we all find comfort in knowing we have an eternal reward. I pray we hold onto to our faith in Jesus. I pray each one of us reaches out to God when we feel we are being threatened. Find comfort in Jesus. Hold onto your faith. Look forward to your reward. Know Jesus for who He is.

John 18:4-6 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”

“Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.

“I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

Facing Difficulty

How do you react when you face a serious challenge? Who do you reach out to when you are being overwhelmed? Where do you turn when the going gets tough? Do you have someone you can turn to when you need it?

We all go through tough times at varying points in our lives. There will be times of sorrow. We will face tough challenges. We all experience the loss of loved ones. Some of us will face being unceremoniously released from a job. Relationships are ended.

When we face those times of difficulty or challenge, we need someone we can trust to help us through them. We need a special family member, friend, counselor, and advocate. There is such a person we can trust at all times.

Jesus set the perfect example for us. When He was facing a false arrest, fake trial, mockery, being spit on, being flogged, and ultimately crucified; He went to the Father in prayer. He sought God’s assistance, but willingly submitted to God’s will. And because He submitted to God’s will, He gained the ultimate crown.

When facing difficulties, it is not easy to pray as Jesus did. It is not easy to ask God for what we desire, but say, “Your will be done.” But God promises to reward us for submitting to Him. He rewards us with more than we can imagine and far more than we deserve.

In addition to the long-term reward, God gives us the strength to overcome the difficulty we are facing. He provides a way for us to not only survive the challenge but become stronger from the experience. And it is all available to us when we trust Him and pray to Him.

I pray we all go to God in our times of difficulty. I pray we make our desires known but submit to God’s will. I pray each of us spend time in prayer with God daily, both preparing for tough time and during tough times. Trust God. Turn to God in difficult times. Make your desires known. Submit to God’s will. Know that God is always with you.

Matthew 26:36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”

Bear Good Fruit

Do you think of yourself as being a good person? Would you like to be a better person? How do you define a good person? What if you could receive guidance and help in becoming a better person? Would you accept it?

Most of us want to be better than we are. We want others to view us as being a good person. We like the idea of people pointing at us and stating we are good and do good things for other people, even if we don’t enjoy public attention.

Some of us wrestle with bad attitudes or behavior. For some, it is due to having bad experiences in family life, school, or at work. We have allowed our surroundings to negatively influence us. How can we combat the negative influences?

God has provided us with the perfect Helper—the Holy Spirit. As we listen to the Holy Spirit and follow His guidance, we become the better person we want to be, and the person God wants us to be.

The Holy Spirit is God within us. That may be a bit hard to imagine. How can God be in us? He indwells us with His Spirit as promised by Jesus (John 14:16, 26). He is sent to help us, teach us, and remind us of Jesus’ teaching and who He is. He guides us on the path God wants us to follow and that God loves us, which is why He has saved us.

As the Holy Spirit helps us, He produces fruit through us. We reap many rewards by listening to and following His guidance. We become a person others want to be around. Others will begin to ask us questions about how we can stay positive. This gives us an opportunity to tell them about Jesus and how He has worked in our lives, which may result in others coming into the kingdom of God.

I pray we all desire to be better people. I pray we listen to and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I pray each one of us allow the Holy Spirit to produce fruit through us. Listen to the Holy Spirit. Follow His guidance. Be a better person. Be someone others long to be like. Tell others how Jesus has worked in your life. Encourage others to come into the kingdom of God.

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

God’s Gift

Have you done something to receive a gift or prize? Was the gift a lasting gift, one that you were able to use or enjoy for many years? Did you pass the gift on to others? Do you know there is a gift you can receive that will last for your entire life?

We may receive hundreds of small gifts throughout our lives. Some gifts are given to us by people who love us. Other gifts we may call rewards, which are given to us for performing a task. We may call them prizes.

When we are given a gift, prize, or reward for doing something well, we feel a sense of achievement. We may also feel as though we deserve the reward. Receiving rewards or prizes can make us feel good about ourselves, even thinking more highly of ourselves than we should.

God has a gift waiting for us that we do not deserve but can receive by doing something that is both simple and difficult. The difficulty comes with repenting. Being truly sorrowful for our sins and desiring to make a change can be very challenging. We have become accustomed to our behavior and doing what we want. But to receive the gift God has for us, we must accept Jesus as our Savior and desire to make the positive change.

We might call this having a change of heart. And it is. The gift of the Holy Spirit is a gift that will last our lifetime. He comes to take up residence inside us. This is what is meant by God always being with us. He will provide us guidance and direction if we will listen. He will change us from the inside out. No, our physical appearance won’t change, per se. But we will become more attractive to others as our attitude changes for the better and we smile more.

I pray we all decide to have a change of heart. I pray we accept Jesus as our Savior. I pray each one of us will accept the gift of the Holy Spirit and allow Him to start changing us for the better. Repent of your sins. Accept Jesus as Savior. Receive the Holy Spirit. Begin the positive change.

Acts 2:38-39 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

The Root

Have you ever cut down a tree? Do you know a tree will grow back if the roots are healthy? How do you stop a tree from growing back? How do you stop bad behavior? How do you keep people from being bad people?

The answer to all these questions lies in the roots. You must go to the root of the bad behavior to stop it. You must go to the root (or heart) of people to stop them from becoming bad people. You must destroy the root to keep a tree from coming back.

Why is the root so important? It is the root that draws nourishment from the soil. It pulls in the water and minerals from the soil to feed the trunk, to cause branches to grow, to cause leaves to sprout or blossoms to bloom. The root is the key.

It is the same for people. To make a change for the good, the bad root must be expelled. To keep a good person from turning bad, the person must continue to be fed good. When talking about people, their heart is the same as the root. Regardless of what we call it, it is where changes must be made and where good must be planted.

In today’s passage, John the Baptist is giving fair warning to the religious elite of Jewish religion that the root is about to be cut, which means they are about to fall from God’s grace. Why? They are not producing fruit—the fruit God wants them to produce.

Have we fallen into dormancy? Are we producing fruit for God? If not, we may find ourselves in the same situation the Pharisees and Sadducees found themselves in. However, we have been given fair warning and have the opportunity to change, just as they had. Taking John’s warning to heart (or root) is the best choice we can make.

Producing fruit is something God looks for. That doesn’t mean we are required to bring ten people into God’s kingdom. It does mean we are to represent His Son as an ambassador. We are to be a positive influence on those we encounter. We are to be the light of Jesus.

I pray we take John’s warning to heart. I pray we are good ambassadors for God. I pray we show the light of Jesus to everyone we meet. Be a good ambassador for God. Be the light of Jesus. Bear fruit for God. Do not risk being cut off at the root.

Matthew 3:10 “The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

The Fig Tree

Do you hear people speak idioms and sometimes wonder what they mean? Have you heard people use metaphors and not understand the point they were trying to make? Do you wonder why Jesus did some of the things He did?

We use a wide variety of sayings that mean something other than the words that constitute the saying. Some of them are widely spread while others are local only. Still, others may be unique to a specific group or organization. Yet, those who belong to the group or local area understand them.

We may also use metaphors to get a point across. They are often used in a teaching environment. A metaphor can be used to relate a process or procedure or a moral standard by using something familiar to the student.

Sometimes, an idiom is also a metaphor. For instance, if I were to say, “When you get bucked off a horse, you need to pick yourself up and get back on.” We understand it to mean when we fail, we must try again. It can apply to riding a bicycle, taking a test, or performing a task at work. We understand it encourages resilience, persistence, and eventual success.

In today’s passage, Jesus does something that doesn’t appear to make sense on the surface. He causes a fig tree to wither because it is not bearing fruit. Though He doesn’t explain it, we can gather its meaning by looking back at Isaiah 5 and Jeremiah 8. In both instances, the writer is prophesying what God will do in the future to Israel due to their disobedience.

How does this apply to us? If we are not bearing fruit, we will wither and die, just like the fig tree. Now, this doesn’t necessarily apply to us as individuals, though it could. However, the prophecy was for a large group. Might I suggest we can apply this metaphor to our churches, communities, and nation? Bearing good fruit for the kingdom of God is one task God has put before us. He is looking for the fruit He expects.

I pray we all seek to be productive members of God’s church. I pray we seek to contribute to His cause. I pray each one of us seek to bear good fruit for Jesus. Be productive. Produce good fruit. Seek God’s will. Know that God expects us to bear fruit.

Matthew 21:18-19 Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.

Change of Heart

What does it mean to repent? Do you know? Have you done so? Do you want to repent? Have you found it hard to repent? Are you afraid God is upset at you for needing to repent repeatedly?

Repent is a word we don’t use often in our daily discussions. But just because we don’t use the term doesn’t mean we don’t speak of it. Listen closely to the discussion you have with your family or co-workers and see if you don’t hear repentance being spoken of at least once per day.

The basic Greek interpretation of metanoeo is to change your mind. Jesus and the apostles generally used it to refer to having a change of heart and turning back to God. John the Baptist uses it in the same way in today’s passage. How often do our discussions include saying one person or another needs to make a change for the better?

Yes, we talk about repentance without realizing it. Yet, our world lacks the actual execution of it. In fact, we hear people talking about someone else who needs to change, yet they won’t make the change themselves.

To repent can be difficult for us, but only because we don’t like giving up our desires for someone else’s. Our culture has trained us to think we deserve to have our wants. It has taught us to win at all costs. We have been brainwashed into thinking we are right solely because we think we are right.

Repenting, having a change of heart, turning to God is a choice. It is a choice that brings freedom—true freedom. Our burdens of guilt are lifted. We realize we are free to worship God wherever we are. It opens the communication between us and God. We see God at work in places we didn’t before.

I pray we all decide to turn back to God. I pray we give up our desires for His. I pray each one of us will choose to repent and be free in Jesus Christ. Have a change of heart. Change your mind. Turn to God. Ask for forgiveness. Be free of your burdens. See God at work.

Matthew 3:1-2 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”