Grace

Hebrews 10:26, “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,”

1 John 3:8, “the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.”

Grace is one of those spiritual truths that, like all spiritual truths swings out of the middle of God’s will, plan, and purpose to the left as justification for all manner of behavior, and to the right as bearing too little importance as it relates to sin. But grace as the unmerited, undeserved favor of God is an essential component in Christian salvation. As well, this grace does not end at the moment of salvation. Grace is there from before our existence into eternity allowing Christ's blood to atone for ALL of our sins past, present, and future.

Yet even though we are already forgiven of future sins, it does not allow us to go about “willfully” sinning. Grace is not an entitlement to “practice” greed, lust, gluttony, laziness, anger, pride, or envy. That does not mean that when we as Christians, when we are on a path pursuing Christ stumble and fall that we fall under condemnation. Because there is no condemnation in Christ. Grace is what allows us to fall into sin, to pick ourselves up, and to once again approach the throne of God.

Let’s face it. We are sinners. Every human being ever born sins, and it is impossible for us to stop sinning in some facet. If it were possible for a human to stop sinning, then God would have no need to send Christ. Instead stop sinning would be the standard, but it is not. Christ is the standard, and that is grace. I believe what God is saying is that there is a difference between the Christian who pursues Christ and falls from time to time, even daily; and the person who is a Christian in name only. A person that in their heart uses their faith as a stepping stool perhaps, or club membership, but that continues in the life and lifestyle they had prior to encountering and choosing to follow Christ. The Christian must struggle, must strive against the world in their heart, and if there is this struggle then there is also the assurance of grace.

Why must men make lists of sin? Jesus when questioned about the commandments and which is greatest said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all you mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Hello? Who is not guilty of violating this every day of their life. You say you love God with all your heart, soul, and mind but I promise you that if you will become aware of His presence, that and that alone will show you how incompletely you are loving Him and what is your heart stands between you and God. Love you neighbor as yourself? Just drive in Houston traffic for a few minutes and see if that’s true. And yet men make lists of sins to condemn others with. List and doctrine like drinking, music, movies, tv. Folks there is a much bigger sin we are all guilty of… failing to love as Christ loved. This is no something learned in church, this is experienced in relationship to Him. This understanding of your own sin is a consequence of being aware of His presence. Of practicing His presence. 

So we depend on this grace, knowing we are going to sin, but all the while striving to know Christ, and to allow Him to move in us. And this is the key between sin and grace… the key is Jesus.

We have got to be aware of His presence. In this awareness the sin falls to the side. If we will not focus on sin, and focus on Christ the sin will take care of itself through the Holy Spirit. Relationship with Jesus will change your character inch by inch. Struggles of yesterday will fade painlessly, and today’s struggles will be as new as the image He presents of Himself today. We come to Christ and discover what today’s, this week's, this year’s surrender is to be. And patiently He accompanies us on the path. But we must rely on grace to keep coming to Him even in our failures.

If you are in Christ, walking the path of surrender to perfect love, then you are not of the devil.  You are not “practicing” sin when you stumble. You are simply being human. Stop thinking in terms of tomorrow, and start thinking in terms of today. Christ came to destroy the works of the devil, and that is done, complete, finished, not tomorrow, not after Armageddon, but right here, right now. Armageddon is the beginning of Satan’s judgment as the battle is already won. Sin and death were defeated when Christ rose from the dead. The kingdom of God is not to come… it is here inside of you for those who are in Christ. Allow grace to allow you to be aware of it. Stop condemning yourselves and others and go to God.

Jesus did not come condemning the sinner. He dined with the sinner, He forgave the sinner, He had compassion for the sinner, He healed the sinner. But Jesus did condemn the religious, the Pharisees. He condemned the group that held everyone accountable to a list, yet in their heart had no relationship with God. Their god was the list of sins. Will we be like the Pharisees and join the choruses calling for the adulterer to be stoned, or will we join Jesus and draw in the sand waiting for the judges, the jury, and the executioners to walk away in their own judgment of themselves. 

Thieving Devil

Mark 4:15, "...immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which is sown in them."

Is there anyone of us immune from having the revelation God grants stolen, or at least attacked by the devil. Certainly I am not. If fact, I could not go 24 hours in the revelation of practicing the presence of God without being made acutely aware why continuously seeking the face of God is not only impractical, but that the world, and those people in it, unintentionally have no interest in making this practice easy.

Practicing the presence of God in solitude is not difficult at all, but in the presence of people it becomes a whole other proposition all together, unless those people are around for the same intent. For me this is no insignificant event, but the whole challenge can me compared to being cut off in traffic immediately following church. That sudden abrupt disturbance of the peace associated with practicing the presence of God.

The disturbance, in whatever form, can produce a negative reaction. This reaction compounds this dis-joining by producing self-loathing and guilt. The guilt from reacting negatively to the cares of the world then causes us to not seek to reconnect to the presence of God at the point we became so easily distracted.

But grace. Grace, what a beautiful word. The unmerited, unearned, favor of God that allows us to boldly approach Him high on His throne. Grace is what allows the humble man (or woman) to come back to that place of practiced presence. It was grace that allowed us to approach in the first place, and grace that allows every time after. I am weak, I am so easily distracted, but God I rely on your grace to be welcomed back again into your presence. And perhaps next time the storm waves won't so easily cause be to be distracted from the beauty of Your Face. But if they do, I know your grace will be available again after I fall.

Sufficient Grace

Get Off Your High Horse by Tanya Cooper

2 Corinthians 12:9, "And He said to me, ' My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.' Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me."

Grace: unmerited favor, the state of kindness and favor towards someone.

What a simple term, and yet difficult concept to wrap your arms around. As I continue in my own personal struggles and find myself in a place of complaining, from a hundred directions God says to me, "My grace is sufficient." And yet I still question it. I question how can God's unearned favor pay a utility bill, let alone a mortgage? And yet Paul shows us the power of God's grace with his very life. Ship wrecked, snake bit, tortured, imprisoned, left for dead, with a constant thorn in his flesh; somehow Paul not only heard but came to understand God's grace is sufficient, it is enough.

And then I read this from Ron McDonald as posted in Jim Spivey's blog this morning, "Midlife is a tough time, for when faced with the heavy load of society's view of our 'inevitable decline towards death,' we encounter some tough questions.  The answers -- or the responses -- are to be found in getting off our high horse and accepting the fact that our success or recognition or happiness is not what connects us to the grace of God.  Instead, we walk with God when we humbly prostrate ourselves before Him, letting go of our petty complaints and competitive games, and the crazy insistence on life being on our terms (which only ensures our instant and lingering death), fully accepting the guidance of the God who accepts us just as we are and provides everything we will ever need to live forever, starting now."

So off my high horse, and enough with my petty complaints, if even to only a few. Back to shameless surrender and trusting in God's guidance, and hopefully experiencing and understanding His sufficient grace.

Will the day ever end?

Romans 7:24, "Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?"

2 Corinthians 12:10 & 12, "Therefore I am well content with weakness... with distresses... with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong...And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

Ever have one of those days that you just wanted to end? Where you wished you could just go to bed and wake up to something completely different? Better yet, did you ever look at someone and wonder how they never have those days?

Well here is what I know. Those people who you think don't have those days... they do. Everyone has those days, so if you think someone has a secret to avoiding them then you are wrong, or they are a liar.

My death coach (inside joke) Jim Spivey turned me onto the movie The Kid. In it Bruce Willis (Russ) meets himself at the age of 8. Russ is a very successful forty something Image Consultant. The 8 year old Russ has come through time crashing into the 40yr old Russ' life creating havoc. Eventually the kid is found asking him, "do I ever get anything right?" Russ walks his younger version through high-school, college, grad school, working his butt off to get to be a "high powered, affluent, chick magnet." But the kid doesn't see this image. He sees him as a "dogless, chickless, guy... with a twitch." The kid version eventually says, "I get what you do... I mean I do... you help people lie about who they really are so that they can pretend to be someone else."

It is a huge awakening for Russ to see himself as he really is. He has been slapped in the face with being the number one victim of his own profession. He is the biggest consumer of what he sells. He believes his own press clippings even though he knows he manufactured them himself.

What does this have to do with bad days?

Bad days are the 8 year old version of ourselves slapping us in the face telling us we are not Mr or Mrs Perfect. That we are mostly lies, pretending to be something we are not. They are there for us to question ourselves. And in questioning ourselves, we then have a choice to find the truth in Christ, or go deeper into the lie. Russ & the Kid later encounter the older version of themselves and surprised that they "are not a looser." But they are not a looser until after they allow the past to stop shaping them. In spiritual terms there is a death to the past. There is a death to ego, and then what God has planned is allowed to come out. Russ was exhausted by his bad day and in response opened up to other possibilities of life. He let go, and that was the opening God needed.

So here I am... still wallowing in my bad day. Still trying to embrace the feelings. They are my feelings. They are here for a purpose. But I am doing something different in light of the above. I am going to soak in them. I am going to explore these ugly feelings. I am not here to reject them. I am not here to pacify them, overcome them, ignore them, or turn them off. Perhaps I am not here to even understand them. And yet, to even write these words brings a sense of peace.

I am running into myself so to speak. Not withdrawing or introverting... but taking a good hard look at the truth. The 45 year old version of myself says I am a rock solid, man of God, moving mountains with faith, and teaching mankind to do the same. The 8 year old version says, I am a scared child, powerless to stop or change anything. The feelings... the bad day if you will, is knowing the 8 year old version is right.

It's ok to be powerless, to be vulnerable, to be afraid... it's the truth. It is in this weakness that God is strong. Stop in those feelings. Explore them, search them, because you will find the presence of God hid there.