Walk By Faith, Not By Sight

Have you ever tried to “figure out” God’s will for you? In my life I’ve had issues with jobs, with churches I’ve attended, with relationships with people and countless other issues in which I’ve sought God about what to do or what not to do. Something I’ve slowly learned to trust in, and to rest in, is that God Himself knows the plans He has for me and He knows that He created me in Christ Jesus for good works that He Himself prepared in advance for me to walk in! (Eph. 2:10). Since I, on the other hand, don’t know all His plans for me, my default position must be one of trusting in Him and resting in His sufficiency. Sometimes I see parts of the puzzle and sometimes I’ve gotten a glimpse of how some of the pieces fit, but overall I can’t see the big picture. We walk by faith, not by sight.

“By faith,” the writer of Hebrews says, “we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” He says we understand “that” God did all these things. He doesn’t say we understand “how” God did all these things. By faith we understand “that” God has a plan for us but we, with our limited human vision (compared to God’s omniscience), almost never know the full plan or “how” it’s all going to work out. If you’ve walked with God even for a short time, you’ve probably discovered that it hardly ever works out in the way you thought it would! No matter how intentional or careful you were with the steps you took, God intentionally took you in a whole ‘nother direction! During the process you may have wanted to curse Him, but afterwards you have nothing but thanksgiving to offer!

“Not knowing” can be frustrating, and sometimes I start to get worried about how things are going to work out. But yet I have a hard time picturing God running around all nervous and frantic, worrying about how things are going to turn out! God’s will and His plans are accomplished because He is God. Billions of people have roamed planet earth, and if each one has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, that is an awful lot of sin that you would think would stand in the way of God’s holy plans! We have all kinds of opposing ideas, varying motives, and varying religious and political views, not to mention all the sin and evil in the world. But can you point me to a place in the Bible where God has anxiety about whether or not His plans will be fulfilled?! Ephesians 6 tells us that the true struggle is against principalities, powers, and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Colossians 1 says that God Himself created all of these principalities and powers, and Colossians 2 says that with the Cross He Himself made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them!

As for sin, the Bible says that God “made Him who knew no sin (Jesus) to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” God dealt with the sin problem Himself. He dealt with it fully and completely and left nothing undone. “How” did God become a man? “How” did sinless Jesus become sin for us? “How” did sinful man become the righteousness of God? “How” does a Holy God fulfill His plans in the midst of such chaos? If we were to take a look at our individual lives - all the decisions, all the mistakes, all the weaknesses, all the falling short of the glory of God – and multiply that by all the people who have ever lived, it would be quite astounding to see just what God has had to deal with! And He did deal with it. He took care of it completely and sufficiently on a cross.

If He can put the sin of the world upon Christ, and exchange our own sin for righteousness, by nothing we’ve done but entirely by His own work, then it might not be too hard to see that He Himself can work all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. I said, “that” He can. “How,” however, I don’t know! I take it by faith. Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Heb. 11:1). This is “how” we walk the walk – not with human wisdom or sight, but by trusting in the grace of God and the very life of Jesus working in and through us. God isn’t a mere spectator in our lives. He is our all in all.

Close To God

Not long ago I was digging through some old teaching tapes I had stored in a box, and I ended up listening to one in which the speaker commented on an ad he saw in a magazine selling Christian music tapes. In this ad was a picture of mountain, alongside a picture of the Christian tapes. The caption read something like, “Which will bring you closer to God?”

“Now wait a minute,” he said with more than a slight tinge of sarcasm and facetiousness. “I thought that JESUS came 2,000 years ago to bring us close to God! And you’re saying that now we can bypass all that just by listening to a tape?!?!” Although I’ve always valued how Christian music helps people feel connected with God, I fully get the point - that it’s not music that brings us close to God, nor does anything bring us close to God except Jesus Himself. Ephesians 2:13 says that in Christ Jesus we have been brought near to God. I don’t think we need to spend our time trying to figure out how to get close to Jesus. Rather through the person of Jesus Christ we have been brought close to God. It’s a done deal!

That said, there’s a paradox of sorts in regards to our closeness with God. James says “draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” So on the one hand we are as close to God as we’ll ever be. We’re never “not close” to God, because He lives in us and is one spirit with us. But the paradox is that even though we’re already close to Him, He still wants us to “draw near” to Him. This is one thing that I think is so wonderful about God. He has given us, as a gift, complete access to Him and oneness with Him by nothing we’ve ever done to deserve it, but rather through the sacrifice of Jesus. Yet He doesn’t force this closeness upon us in experiential form. He allows us to get to know Him and understand the closeness we already have with Him by our “drawing near” to Him.

But I really do think that being confident about the first part of the paradox is essential to living in the second part. Unless we are fully assured that it’s solely by Jesus’ blood that we have closeness with God, we may have a hard time “drawing near.” If we somehow think that drawing near to God is contingent upon how well we’ve performed, or if we think that our failures and weaknesses keep Him from allowing us to be near Him, then we may live the rest of our lives afraid to do what He longs for us to do! But if, instead of trying to figure out how to get close to Jesus, we live with the constant mindset that “in Him we (literally) live and move and have our being,” and that in Christ we are (already) close to God, then we will have confidence in “drawing near” experientially. And not only that, but we will also realize that our presenting ourselves to him as “a living sacrifice” is an act of His grace working in us, rather than something we try to conjure up through our own holiness.

Sometimes instead of letting my weaknesses be an opportunity for God’s strength, I subconsciously turn them into an opportunity for self-pity and self-condemnation. The condemnation for our sins is a weight that Jesus bore on our behalf. If we begin to try to bear that weight ourselves, we not only lose the joy of the salvation that He gave us freely, but in a sense we’re telling God that Jesus’ blood wasn’t good enough. There are times when I slip into that mode in which I try to get “close” to God through my own attempts at godly living and through trying to cheerlead my soul into becoming a “better” Christian. But since that always fails, what I try to do is to constantly remind myself of all that Jesus has sufficiently accomplished for me. This brings me back to trusting in His grace and strength.

Here are just a few examples of what Jesus accomplished for us by His blood. We have been purchased with His blood (Act 20:28). We have peace with God through His blood (Col 1:20). We have been sanctified with His blood (Heb 13:12). We have been justified by His blood (Rom 5:9). We have been redeemed by His blood (Col 1:14). By His blood, we have the forgiveness of sins (Eph 1:7). We have been cleansed and purified, and our sins are taken away by His blood (Heb 9:22-28). And finally, “we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus” (Heb 10:19) – with or without Christian music!

Voice From Home

"Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you. I've called your name. You're mine. When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you... When you're between a rock and a hard place, it won't be a dead end - because I am GOD, your personal God, The Holy of Israel, your Savior. I paid a huge price for you… That's how much you mean to me! That's how much I love you!” (Isaiah 43:1-4, The Message)

Around the time the “Voice From Home” CD from Christian group FFH was released, I heard lead singer Jeromy Deibler explaining the album’s concept during a radio interview. He said it’s basically the opposite of a worship album. Not that FFH is by any means down on worshiping God (!), but the gist I got from the interview is that we have such a focus on telling God how great He is and on performing for Him (which sometimes results in the perception that our identity in Christ results from what we do rather than the other way around), that we’ve hardly paid any attention to HIS loving voice toward us, and to what great things HE has to say to us and about us!

Rather than lyrics that sing praises to God and speak highly of Him (which again, is not meant to take away at all from us worshiping our Creator and Redeemer), this album contains lyrics that were derived from Bible verses that speak God’s voice to us – how He highly values us! His voice is not condemning. It’s not harsh. It’s not full of bitterness or anger. His voice speaks to each one of us as those crowned with glory and honor, just as the Son is crowned. We are in Christ, and He is in us, and the Father has the same relationship with us, His children, which He has with the Son (“the firstborn among many brothers” – Rom 8:29), all because of grace. The CD insert says of God’s voice, “It’s the voice of a Father, the first Father. It’s the voice of a friend, a true friend. It’s the voice of a lover, a faithful lover. It’s a voice from home, our eternal home.”

We call the Bible “God’s love letter.” Indeed it is! We may sometimes feel unworthy of His love, but that doesn’t keep Him from loving us anyway! He loved us “while we were still sinners” (Rom 5:8), and He loves us now as redeemed and justified saints (even when we are sometimes led astray by self-righteousness and sin).

As we await the return of Jesus, we can find some more words of comfort and reassurance in the promise He makes to John, “Surely I am coming quickly.” (Rev 22:20). John’s immediate response to that promise contains somewhat of a yearning and eagerness that perhaps we can all relate to: “Even so, COME, LORD JESUS!” But as eager as we may be and as much as we may long for the time when we’ll cash in these old earth suits and “meet the Lord in the air” and “always be with the Lord" (1 Thes. 4:17), I would bet my life that Someone else is even more excited and is longing and looking forward to it with even more joy and passion than we could ever imagine!

Keep it Simple

Just as I am, without one plea; But that Thy blood was shed for me.And that Thou bidst me come to Thee; O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

How many people have come to Jesus through the simple message of God’s love and grace, such as is found in the words of the hymn above! The message of Christ is very simple – believe in the Lamb of God. If we hear someone say, “I’m a pretty good person, I’ll make it to heaven” or “I’ve sinned too much, I’m too rotten of a person,” we’re quick to point out that it’s not about how good we are or how much we’ve sinned, but it’s simply about faith in Christ, and about God being completely satisfied with His sacrifice.

We bring people to Jesus with no strings attached. “Just believe.” Now I don’t know about you, but sometimes I think we start losing the simplicity of the message right after a person comes to Christ! It’s like, “Now we’ve got ‘em! Time to get out the ol’ list and sock it to ‘em!” “Read your Bible every day.” “Pray for an hour a day.” “Make sure you’re in church three times a week or whenever the doors are open.” “Give, work, serve, stop sinning.” “Get out there and witness.” “Make sure you do this.” “Make sure you don’t do that.”

We can easily trust the Spirit to lead a person to saving-faith, but we’re often too scared to keep trusting that the same faith is what keeps us standing for the rest of our lives! I plead guilty to thinking like this all too often! What happened to “It’s all about Jesus and what He’s done for you?” We quickly turn it into a list of “what we’re supposed to do for Him.”

Jesus was asked a question by people who perhaps thought that knowing God wasn’t as simple as He was making it out to be. They asked Jesus, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus’ reply was so simple that even today we have a hard time believing it! “This is the work of God,” Jesus said, “that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

If you’ve ever found that the Christian life is just too hard or complicated, or if you simply need something fresh to contemplate or dwell upon, think about that for a while! Stay there, and don’t be tempted to change Jesus’ answer to fit in with today’s Christian rat race. God had some comforting words for the weary through the Psalmist: “Cease striving (be still) and know that I am God.”

Rest, relax, lighten up! Remember Jesus’ words that “you did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit – fruit that lasts.” He had just finished saying that “he who believes in Me will not only do what I’m doing but even greater things.” Here at the Vineyard, you will see a lot of this fruit! Consider the possibility that this bearing of fruit comes not from people who are struggling to follow some divine “to do” list, but rather from people who are simply resting in Jesus, who said, “He who abides in Me (simply by faith), and I in him, bears much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing.” “This is the work of God… Believe.”

God, You’ve given us Your very life, through the Holy Spirit, to be joined inseparably with our very lives. We remain with Christ, and Christ with us, through faith and not by our own efforts. Jesus is not “first” in our lives – Jesus IS our life! Our lives are now “Christ in us.” We’ve turned the burden of living our lives over to the Vine and the Vinedresser. It’s You who has begun a good work in us and it’s You who will be faithful to bring that work to completion! You’ve made us complete in Christ. It’s all about Jesus. Help us to keep it that simple!

Let Your Freedom Ring!

Bang the Drum - Let Your Freedom Ring! So goes the short and sweet chorus of a song by a band that some Heartland Vineyarders are very familiar with. Some of you are friends or relatives of the members of early 90’s rock/metal band Fighter. I was pleasantly surprised while rereading the liner notes of the 1992 ‘Bang the Drum’ album to see several kudos go out to the Heartland Vineyard church and various pastors and members. I had read the liner notes way back when, but at the time I had never even heard of the church!

I don’t even remember how it came into my hands, but ‘Bang the Drum’ was one of my first tastes of Christian music. Being a lover of all kinds of music, I hope it says something that this album has always been a highlight in my music collection. As one who was well on his way to climbing the corporate ladder of legalistic Christianity (Rick Elias once sang rather cheekily, “he’s a company man, he works for God Incorporated”), I’m very thankful when I think about how music like this has met me right where I’ve been, especially when it comes to breaking free from religious “bondage” and gaining true freedom in Christ. After all, “it is for freedom that Christ has set us free!” (Gal. 5:1). With the theme of “let your freedom ring,” I thought July would be a cool time to remember some “Bang the Drum” lyrics, and how they still speak today about the wonderful freedom that we have in Christ.

My eyes are getting misty as these lyrics remind me of my own past: “I lived inside your legalistic prison cell… Too many years I sat behind your bars of doubt that held the fear and bondage in and joy of freedom out.” There were so many rules to keep up with and no matter what I did, I was constantly doubting if I was doing enough and if it would ever be good enough. Some of this fear was due to my own ignorance, and I think some resulted from the fiery spiritual breath blazing down my back from spiritual leaders who had great spiritual expectations from those who they actually didn’t think were spiritual enough so they always had to keep their spiritual whips a-crackin’! (Sadly, I even carried my own custom-made spiritual whip. After all, I wasn’t the only one who needed to be kept in line!)

“You taught me well to cross my T’s and dot my I’s. What looked so good to men would soon begin my own demise. I worked to keep my record straight but all I learned was how to hate my life.” I could’ve written those lyrics myself! How about you? Have you ever walked that man-made, religious-rules-based tightrope, and felt the heavy burden of condemnation and guilt when you just couldn’t keep up the act? It’s not a fun place to be, and it’s not the reason why Jesus paid the price of His blood for us! It’s no way to live.

So we cry out for freedom. “I heard the drums of liberty, and grace revealed the key that left no doubt. SO LET ME OUT!” It took me a while to tune into the drums of liberty. I had always thought “the rules” were what it was all about, and I therefore didn’t understand that that’s what actually kept me locked away from Christ’s freedom! I kept thinking that some day all my ‘trying’ would cause me to achieve this spiritual level where I’d be able to walk the line without falling – and I’d finally be free. Of course “some day” never arrived! Meanwhile, God kept banging His liberty drum, through songs and through other people and ministries, and eventually I found the key of grace, which changed everything.

The song ends with a triumphant celebration of freedom: “I live in liberty in light of what I saw. This covenant that Jesus made, you turned into a law. That law was there to show my need but he who God sets free is free indeed!” It can be tempting to view the New Covenant as nothing more than a refurbished or “new and improved” Old Covenant, or to try and mix the two covenants and call it “Christianity.” But the Shadow is not the same as the Substance (see Col. 2:11-23). The “Old” brought death and condemnation and simply pointed out our need for what only the “New” could truly give – Life, and real Freedom through the Savior (see 2 Cor. 3:4-18). It’s written that “the Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” So Bang the Drum – Let Your Freedom Ring!

Jars of Clay

The message of the gospel is called a treasure in 2nd Corinthians, being described as “the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” We received this precious treasure as a free gift from God when He “made His light shine in our hearts” (2nd Cor. 4:6) to help us comprehend the sufficient, once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus for the sin of the world.
What’s curious about this treasure is that, instead of the strongest and the most elaborate security system that we could imagine God coming up with, He actually chose containers that are very weak and fragile to keep this treasure! Of all places, the gospel treasure is kept in… unadorned clay jars. 2 Cor. 4:7 says “we have this treasure in jars of clay.” God’s treasure is in YOU and ME!

I don’t know about you, but I can certainly vouch for this weak clay jar thing! I know that in and of myself I’m fragile, I crack, I’m insecure and I can fall apart easily. If you can relate, keep reading. If you can’t relate, then you’ve probably reached some lofty spiritual plateau that I can never dream of reaching! I mean, is there really some grand army of former clay jars out there who through hard, meticulous work have turned themselves into amazing bulletproof, leakproof, strong and sturdy chests, fit for such a treasure? If so, “I’ll have what they’re having!” Hat’s off, eh. But let’s get back to reality. We’re clay jars.

So WHY would God, in His infinite wisdom, keep such a valuable treasure in containers that He knows are weak??? It’s not as if He doesn’t remember that He made us from the dust of the earth. When I think that God chose such weak vessels for the ministry of the “unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph 3:8), it just doesn’t seem to make much sense! That is, until I consider His intentions. After we’re told that this treasure is in jars of clay, 2 Cor. 4:7 goes on to tell us why: “To show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”

Do you ever feel like you’re weak or inadequate to live the Christian life or to do what God has called you to do? Then you’re in the right place for God to do some powerful things! Really now, is God counting on YOU to be strong, or is He perhaps waiting for you to stop being so strong and independent and to stop trying to prove yourself to Him so that He can show that the power to accomplish His purposes in your life and in the world is found in Him and Him alone? Acts 17:25 tells us that “He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.”

As I thought about that one day I looked all around at creation, especially at some people such as myself, and I thought “God created all of this - easily. AS IF He is really dependent upon ME!” Before heading to the battlefield to defeat Goliath, David exclaimed how it would be done. He said, "The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine" (1 Sam 17:37). David didn’t face the giant in his own name, nor in the name of his five smooth stones or the sling he carried. “I come to you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”
As we go about the business of the Kingdom, facing giants, serving each other and walking in the “good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them,” I’m thankful that there is something far more powerful at work in us than the “human hands” of weak, cracked pots!

The Sufficiency of Grace

Can you believe it? I actually used to think God’s grace was a part of the Christian life! I thought of it as one of those many topics in the Christian life like obedience, good works, wisdom, devotion, ministry, forgiveness, holiness, giving, discipleship, and so on and so forth. Grace, to me, was a subject worth visiting now and then, especially when I’d messed up pretty bad. But I no longer think of grace as a “part” of the Christian life.

Rather than one topic of many, I believe grace is the ESSENCE of the whole Christian life! Do we really think we’re adequate to live any moment of our life in Christ apart from grace? I love reminding others (and being reminded myself) that we’re saved and “justified freely” by His grace. I have no problem sitting and soaking in that good news for hours on end! But what if the application of grace went even farther than forgiveness and knowing we’ll go to heaven? In the past I’ve been thankful for God’s grace, but it was basically kept “on the shelf” until I thought I needed it (when I sinned). The Bible does more than simply hint at a complete necessity for grace in the 24/7 living of the Christian life.

For example, when it comes to spiritual gifts Paul tells us that we’re each gifted differently “according to the grace given us.” In speaking of his own spiritual growth and ministry Paul writes, “by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain, but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” Elsewhere he testifies, “I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power.”

Was Paul saying, “I put forth my best effort and grace covered the rest?” To me it seems more like, “Every single thing I did was solely the result of grace working in me.” “This is our boast,” he affirms, “our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God's grace.” Paul’s boast in his accomplishments wasn’t really a boast in his accomplishments! It was a testimony to the power of grace. His devotion to his call, his understanding of the gospel, his abundant labor in the Lord, his servanthood, his persistence, his humility, his… you name it, wasn’t sustained for a moment by his own strength, striving or abilities.

Rather than a “strong Christian,” I see Paul reckoning himself as a weak person with complete dependence upon grace. Can you relate? I can! Paul even went so far as to say “I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” The more we yield to grace, the more Paul’s additional testimony and confession of “when I am weak, then I am strong” makes sense! Words like these demonstrate the 180 degree turnaround from his former trust in his fleshly strengths that he recalls (and deems as DUNG!) in Philippians 3. Trying to stir up the flesh in order to make a good outward showing was off limits to Paul. All arrows point inwardly to the Spirit of God who dwells in us and to His grace that powerfully works in us. Paul’s exhortations for the body of Christ are infused with phrases like “according to the Spirit,” “by the power of the Spirit,” “through Christ,” “Christ in you” and countless mentions of grace. What else, besides yielding to grace, can enable us with power for Christian living!

I’ve sometimes been known as the “grace” guy. There goes Joel with that grace stuff again! I guess I just can’t see how the Christian life can bear any fruit apart from full submission to the grace of God. To do Kingdom work, I believe we must all be “grace” people! By His grace, God embellishes us with His own beauty. His life is inextricably woven into ours. His grace is the source of our life, our being and ultimately our actions. This is something we can rest in. As we take the focus off ourselves and turn to trusting in His grace we can be assured that rather than passivity our lives will be fully animated by Him – in His way and in His timing! The Lord Himself described the fullness of the power of His grace: “Sufficient.”

(Verses quoted: Rom 3:24, Rom 12:6, 1 Cor 15:10, Eph 3:7, 2 Cor 1:12, 2 Cor 12:9-10)

Scrubbing the Outside of the Cup

"Woe to you, Pharisees, and you religious leaders - hypocrites! You are so careful to polish the outside of the cup, but the inside is foul with extortion and greed. Blind Pharisees! First cleanse the inside of the cup, and then the whole cup will be clean.” (Matt 23:25-26)

Jesus had some strong words for those who appeared to have it all together on the outside - those who looked clean and shiny - but yet remained filthy on the inside. He didn’t seem too happy with the unbelieving, self-righteous, sanctimonious religious zealots. “You blind guides!” he said. “You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.” “You are like whitewashed tombs.” These people “appear beautiful outwardly.” They make a big deal out of minor issues that “bug” them. “Waiter, there’s a gnat in my soup!” But the huge fuss over small unclean insects keeps them oblivious to the huge chunks of unclean meat right under their noses, on the ends of their forks. Pious masquerades and blindness go hand in hand.

Unlike the unbelieving, unclean Pharisees, we believers have been washed clean by the blood of Jesus. But we tend to forget that! Because of this, I think it’s very possible for religious piety to blind us in ways that keep us scrubbing and polishing the outside of our cups rather than living out of the reality of the life of Jesus inside us. We forget that God has made us new creations (2 Cor. 5:17, Gal 6:15) and that old things have passed away and all things have become new. We forget that “in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision (relying on outward religion) has any value” and that what really matters is that we truly are new creations! We end up trying to perform the deeds of the Christian life externally – thinking we’re kept clean by our outward attempts at righteousness - rather than living from the reality of the cleanness and power of the life of Jesus on the inside.

During the first few years after I began a serious walk with Jesus, I walked around with a huge smile on my face ALL the time. I wish I could say it was because I was so very happy and joyful. Oh, I had some joy and happiness, but yet I always struggled in my attempts at “Christian living.” I kept up the facade because I wanted my non-Christian friends to see what they could have and I wanted my Christian friends see me as a joyful, victorious Christian! But eventually the gnats began to swarm and I coughed up one too many camel fur balls. My pious plastic smile and outer shell cracked and broke into bits.

I’m thankful for that. I’m thankful that I came to the end of myself, so to speak. I ended up being faced with a decision. In my mind I pictured myself standing on the edge of a cliff. Behind me was a life of outward religion, based upon self-effort. It was basically a life of faking it so I could appear polished and shiny in front of God and man. I couldn’t see over the cliff. It was an unseen mystery. But the soft voice of my Father was telling me that grace resided in abundance just over the edge. He wanted me to take the plunge into a life in which I was dependent upon God and God alone. He wanted me to leave the difficult, self-reliant life of religion behind and step off into the wild world of trusting in the Unseen.

I was a bit scared and hesitant. I worried that giving myself over to grace would cause me to turn to a life of licentiousness or passivity. But the nudge of the Spirit overcame my fears. I took the plunge. Where would I land? Would I end up crashing into the ground? Here’s what happened: I jumped feet first but it turned into a dive - straight into the restful arms of a loving Father who promises to carry me, hold me, guide me and keep standing strong in His wild kingdom. A life of grace really is a wild, adventurous life! You never know what will happen next. And your righteousness – is not your own. Your sustenance – is not dependent upon YOU! Keeping myself shiny on the outside had been a daunting task! My life changed from “do my best and let God do the rest” to “in HIM we live and move and have our being” (Acts 10:27). No longer asking God to “bless my efforts,” I decided to take Paul at his word when he said, “I labored more abundantly… YET NOT I, but the grace of God which was with me!” (I Cor 15:10) Good works didn’t cease - only their source.

Knowing God's Love

“Don't try to understand me, just love me” is what the bumper sticker said which my mom had posted on the refrigerator. In my younger years I often wrestled with those words, thinking to myself, “I don't understand why someone wouldn't want to be understood.” Later I got married and caught some of the wisdom as I came to realize that some people are IMPOSSIBLE to understand so you have no choice but to love them! Now wait - I'm just being facetious! My wife and I both understand that we don't always understand each other. And after almost 10 years of marriage we've realized... it's ok!

Not that we can't “try” to understand each other. Sometimes, after looking at things from the other's point of view, the lights go on and we see something in each other's way of doing things which suddenly makes sense! But what about the rest of the time, when no matter how hard you try to wrap your head around someone else's style and reasoning and ways of doing things, you just don't “get” them? Proverbs 10:12 says that love covers all sins. Could love also be a good covering for a lack of understanding as well?! After all, the “love chapter” in the Bible (I Cor. 13) tells me that love is patient, love doesn't insist on its own way, love is not provoked, love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

None of us, of course, loves another human being perfectly in those ways. However… since I consistently fail to perfectly understand others and since I often feel misunderstood myself, I think it's worth taking a deeper look into this “love” thing! After all, the way of love does yield more peaceable results, doesn’t it? Yes, it's wonderful when we get each other, but it seems that love goes so much deeper and travels so much farther.

Yet - how can we overcome the imperfections in our human-to-human love. One question I've found myself asking God a lot over the years is “how do I love others in the way that you love me?” It would take another 100 articles just to skim the surface of how I've tried and failed at loving even those closest to me, never mind the ones I haven't wanted to get close to! Perhaps, to find the key to love it would be good to hear from someone who has walked closely with Jesus and would have unique insight into God’s love. John, who was known as “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” wrote these ever-so-revealing words about the source of our love for God and for others: We love Him because He first loved us (I John 4:19).

If we do not first know the love God has for us – which words cannot describe nearly completely enough (although we can catch a glimpse of the light in the crack of the door by understanding that His love for us has absolutely no conditions whatsoever) - then how can we even begin to think that we can truly love Him or anyone else? Human “love” can often be selfish and conditional. We’ll sometimes reach out in “love” to others, not because we're such great people but because we ourselves desire love and acceptance from others. At times we may love selectively, such as when we feel like it or when we think someone is deserving of it! Or we’ll withhold love if we feel somebody doesn’t measure up. The game has been played since the beginning.

If we want to move from the realm of conditional, needy love to unconditional, giving love, what other way is there than to get to know the only One with truly unconditional, sacrificial, perfect love? The One who “is” love. I so very much want to love God and love others in the same way that God loves, but I believe we must first know and experience God's unconditional love before we can begin to express it. This doesn’t happen overnight! But one practical way to grow in this might be to read and dwell on various Bible verses which speak of God’s unconditional love and which speak of what He has done for us on our behalf without us deserving it. In other words, don’t just read about it, but spend some time “abiding” in it. Also, think of how different your life would be without His love. Bathe yourself in the love of God! Spend time simply being loved by God. Soak it in!

Part of the Family

2 Peter 3:18 Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Four days after I was born I arrived in the home of my foster parents. Four months later my foster parents adopted me! Announcements were sent out which declared my name and my full part in this new family.

Time went on, and I did some “growing.” I grew physically, and I grew in my knowledge and understanding of the ways and values of my family. At times, I walked in accordance with those ways but at other times I went in other directions. Let’s just say that my name appeared on the Honor Roll every semester during high school, but it also had many appearances in the local newspaper due to some of my less-than-honorable actions.

During those years my actions seemed to change with the wind, and even I couldn’t predict what my actions would be from day to day. Would I walk in line with the family values I’d been taught or would I go in another direction? Yet through all my changes there is one thing which never changed - one constant thing which I could always rely on. It’s something I never doubted, not even once. No matter what I did, for better or for worse, I always knew that I remained part of the family.

My parents taught me many values, and although they taught me those values for my own good and they always hoped I would walk according to those values, there was something even more important to them than keeping me in line with those values. The fact that I was their son always superseded whatever I did which was contrary to their ways.
Galatians 4:5-7 says that God sent Jesus to redeem us so that we could be adopted as His children. And because we are His children – part of His family - God put the Spirit of Jesus into our hearts. The Spirit of Jesus dwelling in us enables us to be fully personal with God, calling Him “Abba, Father.” We freely relate to Him as a Daddy who dearly loves and accepts His children.

During my unpredictable and “immature” years (my wife would question if those years ever really ended), my parents were faithful to me even though I was disobedient and rebellious at times. They remained faithful to make sure I knew I was their son and they remained faithful to forgive all my misdeeds. No “debt” was ever left hanging over my head. All of this was because of their love for me. I always knew I was fully accepted in the family. When I was walking in the wrong way, Mom was still Mom and Dad was still Dad.

This one constant thing in my life – the love of my parents – is what kept me from questioning my part in the family. It’s also what made me want to please them all the more. When I saw my name in the paper for unlawful behavior I would laugh about it with my friends but deep inside I hated how it made my family look. Yet I can never remember a time when my parents hung my guilt and shame over me. The seeds they planted in my life and the water with which they watered the seeds was always in the form of love.

Over the years I’ve grown in my understanding of God’s unchanging and unconditional love for me. I’ve grown in my understanding of all that the sacrifice of Jesus means. As I continue to grow (my wife is right - I’m by no means anywhere close to having “arrived”) one thing keeps becoming more and more clear to me all the time. Feelings of guilt and shame never draw me closer to my Father. My growth in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has been a result of the constant love and faithfulness of God. His faithfulness always wins over my unfaithfulness. That makes me want to love Him all the more. The life of Jesus in us is what gives us the ability to grow experientially in what we already are – full-fledged, fully accepted children in the family of God.

The Weakness of the Law

Isn’t it just great that the first thing they make you do at the doctor is to step on that wonderful scale - with that nice little chart which shows you what your weight should be! My doctor’s scale lies to me. The only time it’s ever honest is after I’ve fasted for 7 days. Which really means it’s never truthful because I can barely even last 7 minutes on a fast! And why do they call it a “fast” when it takes so long! But this isn’t about fasting. This is about that dirty, rotten, filthy, stinking, lying scale and that fault-finding little chart!

Ok, I’ll admit it. You’ve caught me in a huge, nasty case of denial. I at least want to thank you for speaking the truth in love. When I come to my senses and face reality, I see that in fact the scale doesn’t lie, but rather it tells me the perfect truth about myself. And although I don’t like the reality of the truth, it’s nevertheless the truth!

So, I’ve acknowledged my problem. But how do I get to where the chart tells me to be? What if I memorize the chart, and meditate upon it? Will that help me get there? What if I ask the scale to please help me fix my problem? Sounds silly, I know. What good, then, are the scale and the chart??? They insist that I need to change the shape my body is in, yet they offer me no help and no power whatsoever to assist in that endeavor! The “good” that they have done is that they have pointed out my problem. But even though the numbers may motivate me for a short time to do what is right, after all is said and done a scale and a chart simply can’t cure my weakness for fried chicken, Cheetos and my couch!

In many ways God’s perfect, holy law has the same purpose and effect as the scale and chart. Like the weight chart, the law shows me the perfect standard of how I’m supposed to live. But when I stand on the “scale” and measure myself up next to the law, it only shows me how far I’ve strayed from the standard. The law tells me the perfect truth about myself - but yet it has no power to help me do anything it requires of me!

I suppose I could try to memorize all the commandments and meditate upon them. I may be motivated to do what is right, for a time. Maybe even 7 minutes. But there is always something which will keep standing in the way of this sought-after victorious lifestyle, if indeed it’s left to me and my knowledge of the law. My flesh is weak, so no matter how much I’ve meditated upon what is right and what is wrong, the law is ultimately of no use to me when it comes to actually controlling my fleshly desires! I know I’m not alone. We’ve all known how to behave, but yet we’ve gone the opposite way many times! So where do we find the power for victory? The victory comes when we turn from the thing which God purposed to point out our problem to the PERSON God sent as THE cure for the problem:

Rom 8:2-3 …through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the LAW COULD NOT DO in that it was weakened through the flesh GOD DID by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh…

What good then, is the law? The good is that it showed me my problem – that I was a sinner - just as a scale can show me I have a problem. But just as a scale can’t fix my problem, neither can the law. The law’s weakness is that it lacks any power whatsoever to cure my own weakness. Good News: What the knowledge of good and evil (the law) could not do for us, God did for us by sending Jesus! The power to live a godly life is not found in self-effort, but rather in ditching self-effort and placing our confidence in Jesus Himself living in and through us! Whenever I catch myself trying to measure up to God’s holy standard through my own efforts to keep His rules – I repent and turn to Jesus! As I understand scripture, victory is a gift to be received, not a goal to be achieved.

1 Cor 15:56-57 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, WHO GIVES US THE VICTORY through our Lord Jesus Christ! (See also Galatians 3).