In need of Grace

I was reading tonight @ aholyexperience.com and one phrase caught my eye "Grace always asks if you want more." Oh, yes Lord, I want more--because I need more of Your grace! And the following is just a glimpse of why I need His grace. 

I was discussing tonight with a friend how speaking the truth about who Jesus is and what He has done for us is a necessary part of sharing the gospel. How this really is a gospel of the Word and without spoken, or written word much about who He is would fail to be expressed. 

The  sad irony is that earlier this same night I almost opened my mouth to testify of my Lord's amazing grace in my workplace this summer and I didn't. Either because of fear of what the hearer might think, or second guessing myself because "surely they wouldn't understand," or perhaps not wanting to make them feel uncomfortable--- I spoke empty words instead. These excuses seem pretty paltry in comparison with the importance of the issue at hand--eternal life with Jesus Christ or eternal death without Him. May I never lose sight of that again!

And so Lord Jesus, I need Your grace

I cannot, in my own strength, run this race

Forgive me for the times I fail

Help me Lord to walk Your trail

Jesus Lord please fix my eyes

Keep me pressing for the prize

May I run thus unashamed

Bringing all glory to Your name!

Called & Qualified

I was reading Exodus this morning and I came to the unique narrative about the men who were equipped to do the work of building the tabernacle. 
I was struck by the first part of verse 2: "See, I have called by name..." Here are these seemingly previously unknown men, who have never been mentioned before and will never be mentioned again as far as I know, and the LORD God, the Creator of the universe, steps in and says "I have called by name..." What an awesome thing! And how amazing to know that He has also called me by name!
The LORD goes on to say in the next few verses that He has filled them with the Spirit of God, He has gifted them with ability and intelligence, knowledge and craftsmanship. I love that--He not only called them; He qualified them. 

After reading that this morning I was reminded of it again as we read 1 Corinthians chapter 1 at Bible Study tonight. Paul starts out by reminding the Corinthians of their calling: "Called to be saints...and called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our LORD." And in between those two callings he reminds them of their equipping that by the grace of God they are "enriched in Him in all speech and all knowledge,"not lacking in any gift,"guiltless in the day of Jesus Christ." 

All of this is mine in Christ Jesus and it blows my mind. I know that I am a rotten sinner. I worry and fret. I get angry. I gossip. I am grumpy. I forget to look out for the interests of others. I forget to pray. I speak harshly. I judge too quickly. I fail to show mercy.

BUT.... GOD is FAITHFUL!!

Amazing grace is shown to me. I am a saint. I am in fellowship with Jesus Christ. I am equipped to serve by the grace of God. I am qualified to serve by that same grace. What an amazing God we serve!

God still speaks

It is amazing to see how God still speaks into our lives through His word!
Yesterday I was wrestling with a difficult situation--not one that I have any control over but something that deeply burdened my heart nonetheless. I was angry and frustrated--seemingly just at the situation, but ultimately I realized that I was angry with God for allowing things to be as they are.
I went to chapel for our weekly prayer and Bible study and I hardly heard a thing that the speaker said except for two verses from 2 Chronicles 20.

The people of Israel are up against a hard situation and they cry out to the Lord "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You." And the Lord responds--"You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD."

In my own life with this difficult situation--I do not know what to do---I am incredibly frustrated as a health care professional to feel like my hands are tied. The reality is that I am in the same position as the children of Israel, not just in this situation, but in all areas of my life. I am not wise or knowledgeable apart from the Lord and so I must look to Him.

And I love the Lord's answer--"You will not need to fight." This took all the anger right out of my heart--He will fight for me. He only asks that I hold my position--which from the previous verse is a simple one--with my eyes on Him!

What a mighty God we serve!

Cloudy Day

   This morning as I drove to work I was struck by the amazing beauty of the sun rising and breaking through the clouds. I think that the sunrise is actually more beautiful on those days when there are clouds to shine through. You can disagree but it started me thinking about the purpose of the cloud in scripture. The cloud is often used as the covering of the glory of the Lord. In our modern world we often think of clouds in connection with trials and difficulties. It struck me that when the sun breaks through the clouds the beauty is more breathtaking than the beauty of a cloudless day. And likewise when the Son of Glory shines through the trials of our lives the beauty is more beautiful, more deep and rich, than the beauty of a life without the refining fire of trials.

beautiful music

I was driven to tears Sunday morning as we sang this hymn, Unbounded Grace. It is one of my favorites, and especially lately as I learn to rely on His grace each day.

"Unbounded Grace it reached to me, when hope was gone from view. In my despair, Christ came to me, as He alone could do.

"Grace was for me the only way, my guilt could find relief; My destiny was changed that day, I reached out in belief.

"God's grace does not on me depend; 'tis God who is my Stay; His love is offered without end, He walks with me each day."

 by John Walvoord, & Don Wyrtzen

Thank you Lord--Your grace is sufficient for me.

Having begun by the Spirit

I was reading today in Galatians and I was struck by Paul's barrage of questions at the beginning of chapter 3--the middle question hit me the most "Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh(v3).?" 

This question sums up the struggle of living in daily grace. Having trusted in the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ and depending on His great grace to rescue me from sin and death, why do I persist in trying to "earn" His pleasure?

I have often said that as Protestant believers one of the great traps that we fall into is saying that we are good little Protestants and acting like good little Catholics. By this I mean that we often forget the completeness of our salvation and our continual dependency on grace and instead seek to please the Lord by some efforts of our own.

The most difficult aspect of this struggle is that from the outside no one may be able to see the difference. The one who lives under the law and the one who lives according to grace may do all the same things--the difference is the attitude of the heart.

The one who depends on the law is consumed with "getting it right," and can often be consumed with guilt and fear when faced with the reality of his or her own insufficiency and failure. This person is trying to make it on his or her own. This is the person to whom Paul says, " Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?"

By contrast the believer who lives according to grace is depending on the leading and strength of the Spirit. They are familiar with the throne of grace and turn there to find grace and forgiveness for their sin and shortcomings.

We have been saved by grace alone and we  must live in the reality of this grace. When asked several years ago what the most precious thing about my salvation was I responded "That His grace never ends--the miracle of my salvation is that my Lord saved me knowing full well that I would do most of my sinning after I was saved."

Living according to the law after being saved by grace is nothing short of pride,; the sin of saying that I can somehow do anything on my own when in truth I am dependent on the Lord Jesus for my very breath.

Living according to grace is the abundant life that the Lord Jesus promised us. It is the life free from guilt and fear. It is the life that is Spirit-led and Spirit-filled. It is the life free from anxiety and distress. It is the life lived in humble worship of the One who is alone worthy of all that we are!

Lord may we live according to the grace that HAS been given to us! Thank you Lord for this indescribable gift.

Why run?

"Why run from whatever God is giving?" 

Ann Voskamp, www.aholyexperience.com 

Sometimes I find myself doing just that...  the situation is too hard or things are turning out differently than I had planned..
And when I run away from God's gifts for my day I am like the Levite and the priest who passed the wounded man by. To busy to be inconvenienced  too calloused to care, too self-focused to really see what God has given me today. 

I want to see the measure of my days with new eyes. To let go of my control and yield to Him. To thank Him for ALL gifts...because as someone wrote once--- "We should not look at the gift and say, 'it is good and therefore it must be from God,' rather we should look at the gift and say 'it is from God and so it must be good.'" There is great acceptance and great peace in recognizing that all we have is a gift from the Good Giver. " 

"Be thankful in all circumstances for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18