The Gift of Grace

Grace.

The whole of christianity could be wrapped up in that one word, that one little word, that speaks so much to God.  About who He is and about how we were made to be and how our relationship with Him was meant to be.

We are reunited in Him by grace, through faith alone, in the gift of His son Jesus.  Through the sacrifice on the cross, the death and the resurrection.  The promise of salvation given.

Grace.

A gift that is offered without fail.  One we can choose to accept, whether with gratitude or grudgingly.  It is offered freely still.  Because of the love of the Father for his children.

A gift, as christians, that we so often take for granted, one that we love to talk about and sing its praises.  It's like a warm fuzzy for the soul.  It's the feel good part of Christianity.  Something everyone wants.

Grace.

Were it not for grace we would die in our sin and suffer the fate of our actions.  And there's the rub, the flip side of the coin, the reason we need grace, the reason we long for it, the reason our souls ache. The fall of mankind.

Sin.

The reason we fall to our knees.  The reason we seek forgiveness.  At least we are supposed too.  What's forgiveness for without repentance?  To turn away from our sin.  But really, why do we only give lip service to the idea,  when our actions tell a different story?

Even in grace God calls for our obedience, while he does not condemn us like the woman at the well He tells us "go and sin no more".

Like children we rebel at being told we ought not do a thing, even when it is for our benefit to obey.  To protect us from harm, to keep us safe, to make us free.

Sin.

We like to forget about that part, we make excuses for our less than stellar behavior.  "Everybody else is doing it.",  "A little can't hurt.",  "Where's the harm in it?",  "I just want to have a little fun."  "I can't help it."  Whatever "it" may be.  Justifying "it" any way we can.  We do it to make us feel better about ourselves.  Deception.  "A little white lie never hurts anybody." After all, "God made me this way."

Isn't that making God, who knows no sin, responsible for it?  We are wretched creatures.  We have taken this beautiful creation and condemned it to hell.

Sin.

We say things like, "What does it matter?"  "I'm not hurting any one." We are forgetting about ourselves.  We are hurting ourselves.  Our souls ache.

But do we repent?  Not hardly, it seems we would rather seek solace in a bottle, or a needle, or someone else's bed.  "If it feels good, do it." the world tells us.  We try to find some other way to soothe the ache in our souls.

But there is only one way.  And we know it and we know what that is and we know how to get it.

Repent.

Admitting our need for repentance and forgiveness means admitting that we are less than we think we ought to be.  Admitting that we are wrong. Admitting we need a savior.

Why are we so reluctant?  Why do we enslave our souls to resentment and bitterness?

Freedom is at our fingertips, we need only ask in faith believing.  Freedom from our sin.  Freedom to forgive and be forgiven.  Freedom to live a grace filled life.  Faithful.

Faith.

To ask is to humble ourselves.  To ask is a choice we make to choose freedom over enslavement.  To turn from our ways.

It is to free ourselves, to let go of the past hurts and resentments, regardless of the actions of others.

We ask for Gods unmerited favor.

Grace.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, 

and that not of yourselves; 

it is the gift of God."

Ephesians 2:8

For more faith stories visit Michelle at Graceful.

Hosanna!

It is a tradition at our church on Sunday's for all the children to congregate up at the front of the sanctuary for a mini sermon before they are dismissed to sunday school.

Today was no exception.

But today . . . well today they came down the aisle waving palm leaves and shouting Hosanna and the whole congregation joined in adding their voices and shouting "Hosanna, hosanna in the highest!" I would be lying if I said that I wasn't moved by the display of joyful adoration at the re-inactment of the coming of the Messiah into "Jerusalem". But behind my moist eyes and wet lashes hid a jumbled up mess of conflicting emotions.

I long for the coming of Christ but would I shout with joy at the coming of my savior or would I mock the sacrifice? Do I live what I believe? Or am I all talk and no action? My actions most days would contradict my words. I get impatient with my kids, frustrated with my husband, petty with my siblings and selfish with my time.

Then today I see Jesus, I see him enter triumphant into Jerusalem. I see him accused, put on trial, condemned and crucified.

And I am convicted.

Luke 23:32-46 tells us something about this most shameful of Roman executions. Jesus hung on that cross between two others likewise condemned. He was robbed of his dignity, three times mocked, three times told to save himself.

Hanging from the cross in the midst of suffering Jesus offers grace and salvation, compassion and forgiveness.

I am renewed.

My hope is in the Lord.

::

Last Sunday after service the gentleman sitting in the pew in front of me was someone whom I had not seen for a while, a long ago acquaintance of mine and my dads. After a polite exchange of the usual small talk he tells me how he is reminded upon seeing me about his visit to see my dad when he was in the hospital. He had gone to pray with him and for him. But instead of him praying for my dad, my dad prayed for him and how that really blessed him, that here was his friend on the edge of eternity praying with sincerity and conviction that God would bless someone else. In the midst of his suffering my dad offered grace and compassion.

We shared a tear and a hug.

Sometimes God gives you an example of what it means to follow Him.

I am touched by his words and my soul is warmed.

My hope is in the Lord.

Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

While I live I will praise the Lord;

I will sing praises to my God

while I have my being.

Psalm 146:1-2

"Who Do You Say That I Am?"

Jesus asks this question of his disciples in Luke 9:20 and it has been in the scripture readings for the last two Sunday's and has started me thinking.

Thinking about what the answer to that question is, thinking about how his disciples answered the question and about how we answer that question.  Thinking about the impact of that answer and our response to it and how it will affect the way we live our lives.  If we answer as Peter did in verse 20, you are "the Christ of God" we are then asked to follow him.  Do I follow Jesus?  Do I even really know who is he?  I would certainly answer as Peter did.  But can I ever really know him?  I have spent most of my lifetime trying and I am not going to give up, no matter how hard it is.  I believe the relationship is worth the effort.

Not everyone would answer as Peter does, some call Jesus a great teacher, some say a prophet, some say a charlatan.  It seems to me the answer to this question is the crux of how Christianity was founded.  If we do not understand who he is and what his purpose was in coming to this earth we are truly lost.  If we pretend that his sacrifice on the cross was unnecessary or that he was not raised from the dead, then what do we gain in following him.  We would be following a facsimile of him, one of our own making, one that would lead us nowhere, one that would have us laboring for salvation by works rather than "faith alone".  I heartily agree with C.S. Lewis who so eloquently addresses this issue in Mere Christianity.  If you have never read the book I would encourage you to do so.  I also think that if you are struggling with your "religion" and wondering about whether or not to go to church or to leave one church for another, the question you should be asking of the church is "Who do you say Jesus is?"  The church that answers as Peter did would be a good place to start.  Once we find our way we can then strive to follow him.  Jesus himself says in John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me."

Am I willing to "take up my cross" and follow him? Am I willing to suffer for my belief in who Jesus is?  I would like to think so, but really how can my "suffering" if you will, even compare to what others see elsewhere in the world, especially Christians in Asia and the middle east.  Yet I see daily how our religious freedoms are being eroded.  One hardly dares express an opinion about religion or morality for fear of being called intolerant, ignorant or a bigot, even when we speak the truth in love, we are shouted at, laughed at and belittled for our words.  I also know that I can never suffer as Jesus himself did.  Have you ever seen The Passion?  No movie before or since has ever depicted the suffering of Christ as it does.  I sobbed and sobbed uncontrollably and had to look away more than once, it was excruciating to watch.

I have also been convicted of my lack of faith and failing to follow Jesus, in every way, in every day and I struggle to find the right balance, to be in the world but not of the world.  Asking myself how that is done with truth, grace and dignity?  And admiring those who seem to be living in that balance.  Living for Christ is a lesson that takes a lifetime to learn and I'm still learning.  Sometimes I despair at the burden of teaching my children this lesson, but really I know that they must come to faith on their own.

So I am asking you today who do you say Jesus is?  Can you answer he is "the Christ of God"?  If not I would urge you to start seeking out the truth, find a church home,  talk to a pastor, pray with a friend, read your bible, do whatever it takes and live the life God intended for you.

I'm linked up today, click button for more lessons.

Something Borrowed, Something Blue

We attended the wedding of my nephew a week ago last Sunday and the minister said some things that really got me thinking about love, life and relationships. It was a very lovely wedding and traditional in the sense that you heard and saw what you would expect to at any wedding. The bride was radiant and gorgeous and with joyful tears she walked down the aisle. The groom beamed with pride and adoration at her coming.  At long last hands clasped in solidarity.

The minister talked about faith and fellowship, not only towards each other but to God and within their respective families. Reminding us all that when we marry we are forming new boundaries. Boundaries that now include our spouse but that will also inevitably be exclusive to the marriage partnership and rightly so. When we create such deep emotional, physical and spiritual ties with another we are vulnerable to one another and that creates an intimacy that touches every part of our lives, of our very beings. And we are bound to hold that vulnerability and intimacy faithful, to give each other our trust, a trust that should never be broken.

We are asked to seek God's grace and wisdom to guide and sustain us in our relationships with each other and with the newlyweds. To be mindful of those boundaries.

The minister also spoke on Paul's admonition in Ephesians 5:21-22, 25. Which is oftentimes controversial because we have a tendency to misunderstand his words and to take them out of context. I am reminded of what I have heard before that we are to listen to what is being said to us and not to use what is being said to another as a cudgel. Those words are not for us, we need to pay attention to those words that are! Each party must "be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ"! Did you catch that, "subject to one another", the admonition is not mutually exclusive but inclusive to both parties. This connection, this commitment to one another must be inclusive to succeed and echoes the words of Christ who said that no greater love exists than that which moves a friend to lay down his life for another.

Love is a beautiful thing, it is also hard work and can sometimes come at great personal cost but man is it worth it! No greater love have we seen or will we ever see than that of our Lord himself for us. It is humbling and convicting and makes my so called sacrifices pale in comparison.

The bride and groom did not get the sunset on the beach wedding that they had hoped for, but I'm sure they didn't really mind and as they stood under the arbor pledging their love and lives to each other with the sea breeze rustling through the dangling chimes reflecting the light like a thousand stars and clinking like champagne glasses in a toast, we didn't mind either. At least the rain held off until we got inside for the reception.

"Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother 

and be joined to his wife and they shall become one flesh".

Genesis 2:24

I'm linked up today.

First Stone

My son broke a rock.  I know he broke the rock because he very sweetly came to me and told me about it, apologizing as he offered it to me along with the broken piece in his hands.

A rock that I had told him a dozen or more times to leave alone.

I got really upset.  I ranted and raved and told him how upset I was not only because he broke the rock but also for his disobedience.  I even started to cry.  As the tears streamed down my face in my angry rant, he too started to cry.

This was not just any rock mind you, but a rock that belonged to my father, one that sat on his desk.  He used it as a paper weight and as a reminder.  Its one of the very few mementos that I have in my possession that were among his things.  A rock he had picked up on one of his many road trips through the desert.  A rock on which he had written the words "1st Stone".

The irony of the words printed on that rock are not lost on me.

As I sat there looking through tears at that rock and at my sons confused tear stained face I was caught up short in how ridiculous it all was.  It's just a rock for crying out loud.  The issue wasn't about a broken rock, but of obedience.  I was caught up short by my own disobedience towards my heavenly Father.  How many times have I broken something, my word, a promise, or a command?  How many times have I come to the throne of grace in repentance, seeking forgiveness?  Not once has He scolded me as I scolded my son, but rather extended a nail pierced hand and freed me from my shame.

In the gospel of John 8:1-12,  Jesus faces a mob that is eager to stone to death a women who has been caught in adultery and in verse 7 he says "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first."  A reminder for us not to judge others when there is sin in our own lives that needs to be dealt with.  However the lesson for me this day is what happens next.  As the crowd disperses the women is left standing alone with Jesus and he asks her "Where are your accusers?  Has no one condemned you?"  When she answers "No one, Lord. "  His reply is "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."

He has given the woman hope.  Hope for a new life.  Hope for salvation.  Hope to live a life freed from sin and the assurance of forgiveness.

He has given me hope.

" . . . He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."

John 8:12

So I dried my eyes and those of my son and as I embraced him, I asked for his forgiveness and offered him mine, telling him that everything was going to be alright and that he was more important to me than a broken rock and that I loved him so very much, no matter what.

I'm linked up today with Michelle at Graceful.  Click here for more lessons.