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You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Psalm 23:5
Imagine for a moment that life is one large banquet and you are an honored guest. As you seat yourself with the others at the table you notice something rather odd. The placards at each setting have words on them. You naturally assume that the words are the names of the person seated there, but on closer inspection you realize that isn’t true at all.
The person across from you has a placard that reads ‘caught in adultery’. The person down the table from you three places has one that says ‘addicted to alcohol’. Another says ‘victim of financial ruin due to poor choices.’ And on the list goes. It suddenly dawns on you that you have no idea what your placard says. You read it. Your first impulse is to hide the words, but then the room is filled with a wonderful aroma.
You look for the source of this wonderful scent and your eyes are immediately drawn to a white robed figure making his way around the table. He stops at each place and anoints the person’s head with oil. Soothing, wonderful smelling oil that changes each person it touches. With each anointing the recipient’s face glows. Partially from the soothing effects of the oil. Partially from the joy that seems to flood that person’s soul.
Then you notice another oddity. As each person is anointed, the words on their placard mysteriously change. The descriptions of the person’s failings are replaced by a single word: GRACE!
In essence that is the word picture the Psalmist has for each of us. To be anointed with oil was a custom of honor and distinction in Bible times. Honored guests were anointed with oil and as a result the room was filled with a wonderful fragrance for all to enjoy, and the person anointed felt within himself the soothing, healing effects of the oil on his hot, dusty head and face.
Each of us comes to the ‘table’ of life with robes that are tarnished by the daily struggles we face. Before us is a placard with words that describe the struggles of our lives: worry, anger, disbelief, immorality, judgmental spirit, murder, abuse, gluttony…and more. Yet if you are a Christ-follower, those words are replaced when the master comes to anoint you with the oil of his forgiveness, his love and his mercy.
That’s grace. Grace is living with the anointing of Jesus in our lives. None of us deserves it. We don’t deserve to be in the same house as the banquet much less sitting at the table. Yet because of his sacrifice for us, we are treated as honored guests. Feel the soothing effect of the oil on your head and face as it removes the guilt of past mistakes. Smell the fragrance of forgiveness. Enjoy the euphoria of his grace as it permeates those darkest corners of your soul.
Not only does his anointing remove the stains of your past. His promises to you are so numerous that your cup will overflow with his blessings.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus. I’m reminded once more of the rich blessings I have because of you. I am so unworthy of your love. So undeserving of your forgiveness. I’ve failed you. I’ve hurt others. Worst of all, there are so many ways I’ve failed myself. Please forgive me for the times I’ve not listened to you. Anoint me with the oil of your grace so that I will be a pleasing aroma to you and those around me. In your name I pray, Amen.
Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? Romans 2:4 (NLT)
Everyone likes to be right. Everyone likes to be in the popular crowd, the winning team, the champions. When the Apostle Paul wrote to the book of Romans, his readers were mostly made up of Jewish people who laid most of their spiritual integrity on the fact that they were the people of God. This status gave them great pride.
The problem was, according to Paul, they were basing their position on the wrong thing! There were some Jewish believers that thought themselves a step above other believers because of their Jewish heritage. Paul tells them to step back and take another look at what got them where they were. Paul reminds them that the only reason for their position of faith was God’s goodness. It had absolutely nothing to do with their religious tradition.
The message is the same for us today. Everyday we are bombarded with horrific stories of how people treat one another. Even within so-called Christian circles there are people who place their entire identity on their religious tradition, the number of ‘spiritual activities’ they participate in, the music they listen to, or even the version of the Bible they read.
Our position in Christ has nothing to do with anything we have done, either good or bad. If your past is full of addictions, poor choices, or dysfunctional relationships and you have found forgiveness in Christ, you are no different than the squeaky-clean person who has grown up in the church or hasn’t been involved in all sort so sordid activities.
God doesn’t base His love for us on a background check. He bases it solely on who Jesus is and what He did on the cross for you. There is no grading system among Christ-followers in God’s eyes. His love, forgiveness and power isn’t given according to whether you are more, or less worthy than the next person. All are equal in his economy regardless of race, gender, or denominational background. God loves you regardless of all the bad or good things you have done.
None of us are any better or worse than the next person, in God’s eyes. Don’t let others judge you on the basis of your past. Don’t judge others on what you see on the outside. Learn their story before you judge their character. Consider how good God has been to you before judging how other people are. Unconditional love for others is based on the fact that the God of the Universe loves us all the same regardless of our past.
PRAYER: Father God, I thank and praise you for the fact that even though you know how rebellious and stupid I can be, you still love me dearly. Thank you for choosing to love me in spite of myself. Forgive me of my past and empower me by your Holy Spirit to live in close relationship to you. Help me to live unaffected by those who judge me wrongly. Keep me from judging others on the basis of what I see. In Jesus name, Amen.
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12
It seems like it is getting harder and harder to really take a stand for Jesus. There are so many voices in society that tell us that the Bible isn’t relevant or that there are lots of ways to get to heaven. Truth, along with right and wrong, have become subject to one’s own interpretation. What’s right for you may not be right for me.
The voices of tolerance tell us that we need to be sensitive to those who have different beliefs because ‘we are all God’s children and he reaches out to us in many ways. To preach one way is right and one way is wrong is simply spreading hate.
We shouldn’t be surprised at the attacks leveled at our faith in Jesus. These attacks have been going on since Jesus walked on earth and they will continue until He comes again to take those of us who are His follower’s home.
When Paul wrote to Timothy is was as a loving father or teacher would write to a much loved son or student. He knew his time was short. He also knew that as Timothy grew older and more experienced in ministry he would encounter more and more resistance to the message of love and forgiveness through Jesus.
He tells Timothy that he must ‘Fight the good fight of faith’. The actual wording for this admonition in the original languages is to “Agonize the good agony.” In other words, the Christian life will be full of agony! For some of us this agony is an internal struggle. We may look squeaky clean and spiritual on the outside. We do all the right things, go to church, sing the songs and say the right words. But inside we struggle with addictions, fear, worry or thoughts we know are not pleasing to God. We can hide our struggles from others by ‘doing all the right things’ even though we still lose the inner battles of our hearts.
For others of us, following Christ can be an external struggle. Maybe you smoke and want to quit but can’t. Maybe it’s an addiction to chemicals. Maybe it’s anger and rage. It could be overeating. There is a whole list of things that we struggle with that are evident because try as we might, we can’t hide them.
Paul says to fight! Don’t give up. Know that God understands your weakness. He knows your heart and that you are trying to follow Him. He is more than willing to come along side you and help you have the strength to endure the battle. He doesn’t want you to give up on yourself. He can’t help you if you give up on Him.
Don’t give up on yourself. Don’t give up on God. Jesus is THE way to truth and to life. He alone can help you with whatever fight is ahead of you.
PRAYER: Holy God, you know the battle the rages in my life right now. I struggle with some things that I’m able to hide (so far) from others. I struggle with other things that are very evident to everyone I meet. Some days I don’t like me and I doubt you. I feel the battle is too much for me. Please help me to remember that you are by my side and understand my weakness. Help me to fight the good fight with you by my side. Empower me with your Holy Spirit to live free from the things that try to hinder me. Amen.
I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. Psalm 34:1
I received a phone call one day from the wife of a friend of mine. ‘Jerry’ had gone into the hospital the day before for tests. He was already considered disabled as a result of an illness that kept him from working. He’d lost his job, was forced to sell all of his ‘toys’ and now his wife was back in the workplace. The doctor’s report wasn’t good. It was determined that the disease had progressed to the point where he wouldn’t be able to take care of the kids while his wife was at work.
After talking with Jerry’s wife for a bit I decided to make the trip down to the hospital. On the way down I was praying for Jerry and his family, wondering what it would be like to have lost everything, thinking of how lucky I was to not be in his position. I also prayed for wisdom to be able to say the right things to lift my dear friend’s spirits during this most trying of times.
The walk down the hallway to his room was excruciating. I looked inside and saw him still connected to all sorts of tubes and wires and my heart sank. “Lord, help me know what to say,” I whispered under my breath as I entered the room.
Everything changed once Jerry I entered that hospital room…everything in my attitude that is. We sat and talked for nearly 45 minutes. During that time Jerry did most of the talking. He talked about how fortunate he was to have Jesus in his life. He talked about how wonderful his wife was. He bragged about how well his kids were doing in school. With my help he showed me a verse he’d read the day before and how it had blessed him. There was little said about the doctors, the tubes, the disease or his future. None of that mattered to Jerry. Jesus would take care of that.
I left the room wondering what had just happened! I was supposed to be the one to encourage, yet I was encouraged by the very person who should have been down. I was spoken to in a real way that day. The passage Jerry had shown me was Psalm 34. Psalm 34 was written by someone else who was in dire circumstances: King David.
When David wrote this Psalm he was running for his life from King Saul. He’d taken refuge in enemy territory and acted insane to save his life. He was humiliated, homeless; he’d been betrayed and felt completely alone. Still, in the midst of his despair he was able to praise his God.
The reason David was able to sing praises in his despair is because he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that no matter where he was, no matter what had happened in his life, no matter what lay ahead of him, God was with him to guide, provide and protect.
What struggles are you facing today? Is your past haunting you? Have you been betrayed or rejected? Do you have health, relational or financial concerns? Remember what Jerry and David remembered. In our times of deepest need we need only look to Jesus for comfort and strength. Trusting in Jesus doesn’t take away the pain of life, but it does give us strength and wisdom to move on.
PRAYER: Holy God. I thank You for the promise that you will be with me in every situation. I praise you because you know better than anyone else my pain, sorrow, frustration and fears. I ask that you would strengthen me to move on in life. Help me to put life in perspective so that I can be an encouragement to others regardless of my own circumstances. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 