Tag Archives: grace

October 22

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Luke 17:20-18:14; John 7:1-52

Jesus is becoming more and more clear about his purpose on earth. In Luke 17:21 he spells out the following:

…the kingdom of God is within you.

He goes on to tell them the Son of Man will suffer and be rejected by “this generation”. Yet the people still expected that material kingdom.

For centuries, tradition looked forward to the Messiah who would sit on a throne after conquering Israel’s enemies. They were in no way ready to give up on that dream.

Even Jesus’ brothers didn’t get it. They may have believed Jesus could be that conqueror because they tried to push him into showing himself to the world ( John 7:1-5). And wouldn’t the flesh and blood brothers of the king have positions of royalty in the new government? They may have believed that, but John tells us they did not believe IN Jesus.

Jesus went so far as to tell his followers that where he is going they won’t find him. His disciples thought maybe he was talking about Greece. Again, they weren’t ready to give up on their hope of a material kingdom.

This subject is not over. It will be repeated and reinforced many times throughout the New Testament. My question is: Are you a citizen of the Kingdom of God? Have you bowed before him, accepted Jesus as your Savior, and made him King of your heart? Do you live your life with the knowledge that relationships, trials, successes, sin and disease, are temporary and bound to life on earth? 

Jesus said the kingdom of God is within us. It’s a spiritual kingdom with God himself on the throne. You are invited to be a part of this glorious kingdom and walk with God in this life and live with him forever when this life is over. If Jesus is Lord of your life, I rejoice with you. If you haven’t as yet confessed your sins and accepted his grace, becoming a citizen of the kingdom of God, I am praying that you’ll do that today. 

Your Majesty, we bow before your throne today as citizens of your kingdom. Thank you for Jesus who gives us access to your throne room, who went before us to prepare a place for us, and who wants to welcome each of us home when this life is over. May all who read this blog today know you as Savior, may we realize the joy of sins forgiven, the strength you provide for the challenges of life, and the assurance of eternity with you. You are Lord. You are our King. And you reign forever and ever. Amen.

September 23

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Psalms 146, 147; Nehemiah 7:73-9:37

Are we so different from the ancient Jews? Isn’t it true that when things are going well for us, our families are well, our jobs are good, when we are healthy and able to pay the bills, we tend to drift away from God? But at the first sign of trouble we hit our knees and go to him for help. It’s not that we don’t love him. It’s that we must think we need him less in good times.

Did you read Nehemiah 9:27&28 today and feel a twinge of guilt as you recognized yourself in Israel’s experience? Remembering the disobedience of their forefathers they prayed:

So you handed them over to their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies. But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.

Time after time.

And that’s been my experience. No matter how many times I return to the Lord after drifting away or after blatantly disobeying him, he delivers me. When I confess my sin, he is faithful and just to forgive my sin and cleanse me from all unrighteousness… time after time.

Oh that I would learn to choose obedience every day, no matter how comfortable my life becomes. Oh that I would love him like he deserves to be loved every day, in good times and in bad.

Father, I thank you for grace. I thank you for your faithfulness, your forgiveness, your great love. Forgive me when I drift, when I disobey, when I become so comfortable I neglect my relationship with you. May I cherish my relationship with you and nourish it every day by reading your Word and praying. May you find me faithfully serving you today regardless of life’s circumstances. And once again I want to thank you for forgiving me when I ask you to… time after time.

September 5

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Ezekiel 2:21-70; Nehemiah 7:26-73

Today’s portion of scripture includes a list of people who traveled to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. And we read that list two times. It was very important that all the families were represented.

Did you notice that the list also includes over 600 people who came to Jerusalem but couldn’t prove they were descendants of Israel? These people no doubt came with good hearts and intentions. But because they couldn’t produce the right paper-work, they were kept separate. Even if they claimed to be priests, they still weren’t permitted to eat the sacred food until they had gone through the proper channels.

It reminds me that there will be people with good hearts and intentions who will go to hell. They will stand before God on that day only to hear him say -“I never knew you”. I can’t think of anything more frightening.

You might think that’s unfair. But Jesus made it clear when he said, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life and NO ONE goes to the Father except through me. It doesn’t say you can’t get to the Father unless you are a good person.

It would be unfair of God to make that rule and not provide a way. So Jesus died that WHOEVER believes in him will have eternal life. 

The wages of sin is death. If you sin, you pay with your life. The Bible says we all have sinned, have fallen short of God’s standards. No one is exempt. And we all deserve hell.

Jesus’ death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead has paid the debt in full. But it’s not a blanket provision. There are conditions to receiving it. It’s not church attendance, it’s not clean living, it’s not kindness or helpfulness.

It’s saying “yes”. It’s recognizing our sinful state and asking God to forgive us, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It’s accepting Jesus as the only way to the Father. It’s saying “yes” to his offer of grace.

Don’t think you are good enough without that personal encounter with Christ. You aren’t and you never will be.

Dear God in Heaven, may we grasp the urgency in your message today. May we realize the truth and run to you for your forgiveness. May we accept your provision of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Then may we live lives that honor you and draw others to you, too. Thank you for grace, for the cross, for your dear Son, and the presence of your Holy Spirit in us when we accept you for our own.

July 23

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Isaiah 66:1-24; 2 Kings 21:1-26, 22:1-2; Psalm 82; 2 Chronicles 33:1-25, 34:3

Is it possible for someone to be too sinful for God to forgive? Look at the life of King Mannaseh. During the first years of his reign he undid everything his father Hezekiah had done. He worshiped Baal, consulted mediums, even sacrificed his own son. He turned the temple of the Lord into a place of false worship and encouraged the Jewish people to worship the gods of other nations.

His was a blatant act of disobedience and disrespect toward the God his father had served. But in 2 Chronicles 33 we find out Mannaseh repented. He humbled himself before the Lord and God forgave him.

King Mannaseh spent the rest of his life trying to undo the damage he had done. He worked hard to restore the nation as God’s blessed people.

So the answer to my question is – no. There is nothing you or I have done that God can’t forgive. The vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives. Praise the Lord!

Sometimes we might hold back from serving the Lord because of a sin we committed in our past. We convince ourselves that what we did was so awful we don’t deserve to be forgiven. And you know what?

We’re right to think that!

That’s the definition of grace – receiving what we don’t deserved. Grace that is greater than all our sin. 

If a past sin is holding you back because you think God can’t forgive you, think again. Go to him. Humble yourself. Ask him to forgive you. Repent. Forgiveness is yours for the taking because Jesus has already paid the price for that sin. It’s up to you to accept it for your own.

Don’t let Satan’s lies prevent you from receiving what God is offering you today. Remember, God has seen it all. Nothing you say will surprise him. He’s anxious to hear you tell him you’re sorry for what you did so he can wash you with the blood of Jesus.

Yes, even you.

January 7

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Job 8-10

Job looks at his life and knows he is a good man as far as men go. Yet when he looks at his life in light of what he knows about God he is broken. Circumstances aside, he knows he is guilty before a Holy God. Job pleads for someone to stand in the gap.

“If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both, someone to remove God’s rod from me so that his terror would frighten me no more. Then I would speak up without fear of him. But as it now stands with me, I cannot.” (9:32-35)

Job cries out for Jesus without knowing his name. As a follower of Christ I have a great High Priest, a Mediator, One who goes to the Father on my behalf. One who presents me faultless before the throne and invites me to come boldly.

It’s not that I have a free pass. In fact, the cost of my access to Almighty God was so high I couldn’t pay it. But Jesus did. Jesus stands with one hand on my shoulder and the other on the Father’s. And all I had to do to receive this incredible privilege was to accept his grace, knowing He paid what I could not.

January 6

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Job 4-7

I kind of like Job’s friends. They heard their friend was in trouble and they went to him. I don’t know how far they traveled but I know they didn’t catch a flight or take the turnpike. Going to Job was probably not an easy thing to do. But they went because their friend was hurting.

When they saw how much agony Job was in they just sat with him. For seven days and nights! They sat without trying to fix Job or make him feel better. Talk about support, sensitivity, love. These guys had it all.

But then they opened their mouths. I’m sure they meant well. And some of what they said is true. But they would have been more helpful if they had remained silent.

Eliphaz starts off by suggesting Job’s troubles were a result of sin in Job’s life. (He didn’t know about the conversation between Satan and God which started the whole thing) Eliphaz believes Job is being punished for some horrible deed he has committed. After all, he says… Who, being innocent has ever perished? Were the upright ever destroyed?

Um… yes. Babies die. People are killed for proclaiming Christ. Bad things happen in a sinful world to both good people and bad.

Here’s the other thing. We all deserve to be punished. There is no one righteous… not even one. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. If God treated sin with disease, death, and tragedy there wouldn’t be anyone alive today.

But God longs to treat sin with grace. He took on himself the punishment for sin and offers forgiveness to anyone who asks. There are consequences for sin in this lifetime, of course. Whether it’s weeds growing in a garden, broken marriages resulting from infidelity, diseased livers from abusing alcohol, and everything in between, sin has devastating results. I worked for a principal who often talked about ‘natural, logical consequences’. If you put your hand in a fire you will get burned. If you don’t do your homework you will fail. If you jump off a cliff you will get hurt.

What God wants us to know is that He is not up there with a zapper, waiting for us to mess up so He can inflict harm. He wants us to know He is a loving God who is rooting for us to do the right thing. He doesn’t take any joy in seeing us suffer the natural, logical consequences for disobeying Him.

There are no guarantees that if you are good, good things will happen. There is no promise that if someone is unfair to you, something bad will happen to them. There is, however, a guarantee that no matter what happens in this life, God is standing next to us, ready and willing to help us get through it. God wants us to see Him, not the situation. He wants us to experience His strength when we have none of our own.

Thank you, Lord for grace. For forgiveness. For your love and care. And even when things in this life go wrong, may we trust you. Give us the ability to use our life experiences to proclaim Christ. May the choices we make today honor You and enable us to live healthy productive lives for Jesus’ sake.