Grace of God

What does grace mean to you? How do you define grace? Do you think of grace as the opportunity to pay a bill a few days late without penalty? Do you define grace as unmerited favor? Have you considered the many things that come through the grace of God?

Banks or loan companies may grant a grace period for making the payment on a loan. Utility companies may also provide a few days grace to make a payment without penalty. Grace shown to someone, understanding rash statements when they are under duress.

God’s grace is much bigger than we often think. It is by his grace that we have oxygen to breath and are given one more day. It is by his grace that we can walk, talk, think, and eat. Everyday needs to experience life. Yet we often do not think of them as being gifts by God’s grace. We take them for granted. We make the assumption we will continue to have all of them.

The Apostle Paul lists both basic human actions and spiritual gifts given to us by God’s grace. He starts by stating we have been enriched in every way by God’s grace. The word “every” is like the word “all”—it encompasses our entire human existence and ability. Paul specifically calls out our ability to speak and knowledge we gain. He gives an example of speaking in the testimony of Christ and how it strengthens us.

Paul continues by speaking of spiritual gifts. He says the church in Corinth was not lacking in any gift. In other words, the church body had been given every spiritual gift they needed to accomplish God’s plan for them. This is why we often hear that each local church has been given the spiritual gifts they need to accomplish God’s plan. We are not to squander those gifts but put them to work, working alongside God to accomplish our mission.

I pray we all open our minds to God’s grace being much bigger than we think. I pray we recognize God’s grace in our daily living. I pray each one of us use our gifts to work alongside God. God’s grace is huge. See God’s grace daily. Use your gifts to work with God.

1 Corinthians 1:4-7 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind—just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you—so that you are not lacking in any gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Greetings

Have you ever needed to give a speech to an organization or a gathering of people you don’t know? Have you spoken at a conference? How did you address your audience? Was it a formal address? Did it feel awkward? Did you model it after Paul’s opening to his letters?

Public speaking can be a challenge for many of us. If you are an introvert, it can be downright scary to speak to a large group. If you are an extrovert, it can still be a challenge to stay focused and ensure your speech is coherent, well thought out, and well received. Yet, it can be overcome.

The Apostle Paul spoke to many people in many different locations. Today, we might call him a traveling preacher or evangelist, though he sometimes stayed in one place for a couple years. In his letters to the churches, he uses a formal greeting. Perhaps he did so for the benefit of those who may not know him. Perhaps he wanted them to remember who he was so the letter was given credibility.

Though we don’t write letters much anymore, we can still include a greeting of peace to those we meet and in our emails. In some churches, time is taken to pass the peace of Christ to one another. This models Paul’s greetings to the churches he wrote to. It may seem silly to some, but it is an acknowledgement that we have God living within us as the Holy Spirit and that we desire God to bless those we greet.

Blessing others with the grace and peace of Christ is always a good thing to do. It may not be the stylish thing to do, but if we do it from the heart, the other person will be blessed. A greeting of grace and peace can soften the most hardened person and get the conversation started with a good attitude.

I pray we all choose to greet others with grace and peace. I pray we greet large groups with the peace of Christ. I pray each one of us knows we carry the grace and peace of God in us by the Holy Spirit. Pass along the peace of Christ. Greet others with peace. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak through you.

1 Corinthians 1:2-3 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Flowing Love

What does sacrifice mean to you? Does it mean giving up chocolate? Does it mean skipping a meal so your children can eat? Does it mean forgoing purchasing new clothes for yourself so you can pay your electric bill? What does offering yourself to serve others mean to you?

Sacrificing for our children comes natural to many of us. We are willing to give up our creature comforts and even our needs so they can have what they need. However, when it comes to serving others, especially people we don’t know, we become less enthusiastic.

Many Christians and non-Christians alike have been taught that we are to sacrifice for God. That is a partial truth and depends on the specific type of sacrifice. For example, God does not expect us to continue animal sacrifices. I’m sure we can all agree on that. He does expect us to give up our old ways and follow his commands, which is a form of sacrificing. Yet, he also knows that doesn’t come naturally and will require us to work on it for most, if not all, of our lives.

As we choose to serve him, we also must choose to serve others. Let’s be brutally honest about that service. Donating money to a charity is not serving others. That’s not to say donating money is a bad thing. But we cannot continue to foolishly think that donating money and having no interaction with people is serving others.

Serving others requires us to interact with them personally. It is volunteering to serve meals in a soup kitchen, handing a coat to a homeless person, or visiting people in the hospital or nursing home. It can be as simple as providing an encouraging word to someone we know who is experiencing a difficult time.

No, god does not want our “dutiful” sacrifices nor our financial or material offering made from a sense of requirement. He wants our hearts to be given to him and his love to flow through us. From that love, we readily desire to serve him by serving others, blessing them with what God has blessed us with.

I pray we all know that God does not desire our sacrifices. I pray we give God our whole heart. I pray each one of us will accept God’s love and let his love flow through us in the form of serving others. God does not want your sacrifices. Give God your heart. Accept God’s love. Let God’s love flow through you.

Psalm 40:6

Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, 

but you have given me an open ear. 

Burnt offering and sin offering 

you have not required.

Pulled From the Pit

Have you experienced the feeling of helplessness? Have you felt like there was nowhere you could turn for help? Have you been desperate? Have you been deeply depressed? Who did you turn to? Did you receive the help you needed? Are you securely on solid ground now?

We all go through difficult times. Some are more difficult than others. The especially difficult times can break us entirely. We can become depressed and experience significant health issues. We may become desperate, and out of desperation resort to things we normally would not consider.

It is in these difficult times we need solid ground. We need someone we can depend on. We need to trust someone. We need faith in God. The Psalmist states that he waited patiently, which can be extremely challenging to do when going through difficult times. He cried out to God, who heard his cry.

Just as God lifted the Psalmist out of the pit, he can lift us out of our desperate situation. God can remove the heavy fog we feel we are walking through. God can lead us along the right path, bringing us out of the depths of depression, and setting us back on solid ground. It is not a question of whether God can, but will we trust him?

The trust we need in God to follow him during difficult times is built beforehand. We must learn to trust God when things are going well. We must understand how awesome God is and develop our faith in him each day. By building our faith, when those difficult times come, we can trust that when we cry out, he will listen. Our faith and God’s direction will set us on solid ground.

I pray we all seek to build our faith each day. I pray we recognize how awesome God is. I pray each one of us will trust God during difficult times and follow his direction back to solid ground. Build your faith. Know God is awesome. Trust God to lead you. Follow God’s guidance.

Psalm 40:1-2

I waited patiently for the Lord;

he inclined to me and heard my cry. 

He drew me up from the desolate pit, 

out of the miry bog, 

and set my feet upon a rock, 

making my steps secure.

Fulfill All Righteousness

What are you willing to do so that you do the right thing? Are you willing to give up your preferences? Are you willing to do something that appears to have no value? What if it seems so small as to be insignificant? Will you do it to do the right thing?

Most of us want to do the right thing. We often speak about doing the right thing and tell our children to do the right thing. Yet, there are times when we simply cannot bring ourselves to do it. It may be a small thing or far too big for us to take on the challenge.

Jesus did something that He did not need to do…on the face of it. After all, John was baptizing people for repentance and forgiveness. Jesus is the only One to walk this earth without sinning. So, we might surmise that He had no need of being baptized by John. Yet, Jesus stated it should be done to fulfill all righteousness.

What is the righteousness Jesus is fulfilling? First, He is obeying the Father’s will. Second, He is identifying with the very people He came to save. He is filling to the full His mission on earth by doing the right thing to start His ministry. He first does what He will later command His disciples to do.

In Jesus’ baptism, we see the Trinity revealed. The Son is being baptized. The Father states he loves the Son and is well pleased with Him. The Spirit descends on the Son as He comes up out of the water. Though we may not fully understand every detail of what happens in the spiritual realm, we can be sure that God is in the midst of baptism.

I pray we all know that Jesus fulfilled all righteousness. I pray we see the Father, Son, and Holy spirit in baptism. I pray each one of us remember and reflect on the meaning of our baptism. Jesus fulfilled all righteousness. Reflect on your baptism. Remember the significance of it.

Matthew 3:15: But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.

A Good Parent

It can be difficult being a child growing up in today’s world. Parents attention is being sought by so many things—jobs, cooking meals, home maintenance, family gatherings, and recreation. Children are being bombarded by schoolwork, social media, extracurricular activities, and friends.

Today’s children are growing up in an extremely fast-paced world. They are constantly on the go. Their brains are constantly active, if not their bodies. When that is coupled with their parents constantly being on the go, the children are left wanting—wanting love and recognition.

When Jesus was baptized, there were several things in play simultaneously. He had chosen to obey God. The Holy Spirit descended on Him. God the Father recognized Him before the witnesses observing His baptism by stating He was God’s Son, that He was his beloved, and that he was well pleased with Him. It was a simple act, yet very profound.

Jesus set the example of obedience. But God the Father set the example of being a good parent. Recognizing our children for choosing the do the right thing is important. Praising them for doing so is important. Telling your children you are proud of their choices can be life altering. And most important of all, letting your children know they are loved is required of a good parent.

As parents, we must start doing these things at a very early age, as early as when the child is one year old. We cannot stop doing it, even when we are in our eighties and they are in their fifties or sixties. For a child, no matter their age, continues to seek parental approval and affection. We can follow the example of the Father recognizing and approving the Son.

I pray we all choose to follow the example of the Father. I pray we choose to be good parents. I pray each one of us will praise our children’s good decisions and let them know we love them. Follow God’s example. Be a good parent. Praise your children. Let your children know you love them.

Matthew 3:17 And a voice from the heavens said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

Believe the Eyewitness

Do you believe eyewitnesses? Do you want others to believe you as a witness? Have you ever testified that something is true? Did people believe you? Were you upset when they did not? Has people not believing you changed how you decide to believe eyewitnesses?

Being a witness may sound official, daunting, or taxing. Yet, we all are witnesses to many things every day. We see people. We see their actions and behavior and hear them speak. Our challenge is whether we speak the truth about what happened or alter it or exaggerate it.

Witnesses are called to the stand in a court of law. They are sworn to tell the truth. Though that does not always keep them from lying. Yet, their testimony is taken into account in judging a case. But testifying in court is not the only means of testifying. If we take a moment to think about it, any time we are telling others about an event that happened, we are testifying.

We hear others give their testimony as well. We choose to believe them or not based on who they are, what the event is, and based on our past experience. We apply that same logic to the eyewitnesses speaking in the Bible. We decide to believe them or not. We first grant the eyewitness some level of trustworthiness. We then decide if their testimony is true based on how outrageous it sounds. To hear that someone was raised from the dead sounds preposterous based on our own experience. Yet we are told by eyewitnesses it is true.

The Apostle Peter was an eyewitness. He spent three years with Jesus, listening to His teaching, observing the miracles, seeing Him die on the cross, and seeing Him after He rose from the dead. His testimony may sound like science fiction to us. Yet, Peter knew it to be true. We must choose to believe him or not. We must choose to believe in the Divine or not. If we believe, are to spread that message to others.

I pray we realize we must decide to believe or not. I pray we trust Peter’s eyewitness account. I pray each one of us will believe the facts about Jesus and tell others about His amazing life. Make the choice to believe. Believe eyewitnesses of Jesus. Tell others about Jesus.

Acts 10:39-41 “We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.”

No Partiality

Do you show favoritism? Do you know someone (or many someone’s) who does? Have you been the beneficiary of favoritism? Would you like for everyone to be treated equally? Who would decide what is equal? How do you account for diversity of personalities, skills, and physical traits?

We become upset when someone is shown favoritism, unless we are the favorite. We want everyone to be treated equal but have no one who can ensure the treatment is equal. Our human limitations keep us from seeing the entire picture, not allowing us to judge equality accurately.

Our inadequacies in seeing and understanding everything and everyone has been the reason for us to create a plethora of laws to account for the diversity in our world. And it seems as though with every law, there are exceptions. With more exceptions than laws, it becomes a very murky situation for us to navigate. We find ourselves being opposed by someone who has a different perspective.

On the other hand, God accepts everyone who accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior. He shows no partiality. Not only does God accept them but desires that everyone will follow his Son. If God is willing to accept everyone who desires to follow Jesus, shouldn’t we? If we desire to follow Jesus, we should desire to follow His two greatest commands—we should love God and love our neighbor. Jesus has set the example for us to follow. If we want to follow Him, we should His example.

I pray we all desire to give up partiality. I pray we choose to follow Jesus’ example. I pray each one of us choose to love God and love our neighbor, treating everyone equally as best we can. Stop showing favoritism. Follow Jesus’ example. Love God. Love neighbor. Treat everyone equally.

Acts 10:34-35 Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every people anyone who fears him and practices righteousness is acceptable to him.”

Believe In the Divine

What level of control do you give God? How much do you trust him? Do you believe he is all-powerful? Do you believe he is in control? Is God sitting on the throne of your heart? Have you counted the blessings he has given you? Will you turn everything over to him?

Trusting in God has become very challenging for us. Why? We have taken the attitude of “seeing is believing.” If we cannot see something with our eyes, we don’t believe it. We have become cynical and untrusting of everyone. We have stopped believing in the supernatural.

We sometimes look back through history, especially those who lived hundreds or thousands of years ago and believe them to be superstitious. In many ways, they were. Yet, when we look at the people who followed God, we see they were not superstitious but believed in the supernatural, the divine. They understood there was a divine being in control of the cosmos. They knew there was a grander plan, and they sought to be part of it. They asked the Divine to bless them.

We, too, can believe in the supernatural. We, too, can trust in the Devine. But first, we must acknowledge that he is on the throne. Not just some mythical throne in heaven but the throne of our hearts. When we give up sitting on our own throne and bow down to God, who sits on THE throne, we are set free from the worries of this world. Our eyes are opened. We see God at work. We understand that God is in control.

I pray we all step off our own throne. I pray we acknowledge God is on THE throne and he is in control. I pray each one of us believe in the supernatural, the Divine who can bless us with peace. Step off the throne. Acknowledge God is on THE throne. Believe in the supernatural. Believe in the Divine.

Psalm 29:10-11

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; 

the Lord sits enthroned as king forever. 

May the Lord give strength to his people! 

May the Lord bless his people with peace!

Prophecy Fulfilled Again

Prophecy can be challenging to discern. We may wonder if it had been fulfilled, will be fulfilled in the near future, or if it will be filled in the far distant future. When we look at Isaiah, some of his prophecies fits all three. His prophecies sometimes applied multiple times.

Isaiah 42 applies at least twice. It has been fulfilled by Jesus when He walked the earth. It will be fulfilled by Him again when He returns. Isaiah also weaves the prophecy in such a way that some of a prophecy is fulfilled at one time while another piece of it is fulfilled later.

Yesterday we saw Isaiah 42:1 point to both the baptism of Jesus and His final reign. In today’s passage, we see the prophecy of Jesus not crying out or lifting His voice up against Hie accusers prior to heading to the cross. He did not come to damage anything or anyone but to heal and save. Again His justice will be served when He returns.

Though Jesus fulfilled the calming, healing, and saving portion of the prophecy, He will fulfill it again when He returns. When His kingdom is fully consummated at the end of time, this prophecy will be fulfilled. This is why we often hear preachers, teachers, and theologians stating we live in the already but not yet.

What do we do with such prophecies? We take heart in them. We allow them to boost our trust and confidence in Jesus. We know He has fulfilled them once and we trust He will fulfill them again. These prophecies comfort us, grant us peace, and help us keep our eyes on Jesus in a chaotic and corrupt world. We know He is in control and will fulfill the prophecy when God determines the time is right.

I pray we all put our trust in Jesus. I pray the prophecies of Isaiah build our confidence and trust in Jesus. I pray each one of us are comforted by prophecy and accept the peace that comes from knowing God is in control. Trust Jesus. Be confident in Jesus. Be comforted by Jesus. Accept the peace that can only come from Jesus.

Isaiah 42:2-3

He will not cry out or lift up his voice 

or make it heard in the street; 

a bruised reed he will not break, 

and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; 

he will faithfully bring forth justice.