You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘second chances’ tag.
Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom. Praise him forever! Psalms 111:10
I’m not a builder, but my limited knowledge of knowing the process of building tells me that the foundation is, perhaps the most important part of the building. Without a proper foundation, the rest of the building will not withstand the rigors of the environment in which it exists.
The stronger the foundation, the stronger the building. The deeper the foundation, the taller the building. That’s why builders are very meticulous and making sure the foundation is laid well.
In our spiritual lives, our foundation begins with the growing knowledge of God. When we begin the process of relationships here on earth, we don’t reveal everything about ourselves to the other person. There are things we may want to hold back out of fear, shame, or guilt.
That’s not how God operates. From the very beginning, he reveals himself. Little by little, he shows us his greatness, his power, his love, and his forgiveness. The more we grow our relationship with God, the more he grant us wisdom. The deeper we grow in relationship to God the more we grow to understand his heart.
The more we obey him in the tough times, the more he gives us strength to endure. Everything in a successful life, begins with a foundation built on faith and trust in the power and love of God.
Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world. 1 Peter 2:12
Years ago I had two girls that attended the youth group I led. One of the girls came from a great Christian home and the other came from a home was full of hate and anger. The girl from the stable home, I’ll call her Jill, was best friends with Mary (also not her real name).
Jill’s parents shared with me their concern with this friendship. Mary had a temper and quite often, in a fit of rage would say things hurtful to Jill and, on a couple occasions, actually hit her. Mom & dad wanted this friendship to end for the safety of their daughter and came to me to see if I could help.
I agreed to talk with Jill. What she said to me has stuck with me all these years, Jill said, “Mary doesn’t have a single friend in the whole school. If I’m not her friend she has no body. Jesus was the friend of many who hated him. I need to be a friend to Mary.”
The story has a positive ending thankfully. Through Jill’s patient endurance and the prayer of many, eventually Mary found Jesus. She’s been married for many years in a Christ-filled home thanks to the patient and positive influence of one person who refused to give up on her.
We can’t always choose whose life God calls us to be a positive influence in. We are never called to put ourselves in danger. Yet through wisdom, patience and prayer we can see even the hardest heart softened by the Holy Spirit.
Be careful not to get sucked into the negativity of a toxic relationship. Yet, at the same time, don’t be afraid to trust the Holy Spirit to change lives through you!
The godly give good advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray. Proverbs 12:26
In his book “When to Walk Away: Finding Freedom from Toxic People”, Gary Thomas talks about the power and danger of toxic relationships. Toxic people can destroy relationships and steal our freedom to be all we could be.
Toxic people can be found in the church and sometimes spread their toxicity ‘in the name of Jesus’ love’. Stories abound of people who stray from God because of toxic people who came into their lives and drew them away to a life totally foreign to what their upbringing taught them.
I have a friend who nearly lost his family because of his drinking. He was on the way to being an alcoholic when his wife walked out with his two daughters.
As we spent time talking about the situation he shared with me that he’d go into a bar with his friends with no intention of drinking, but once there, he was coerced by his friends to have ‘just one’, which unfortunately led to many.
Thankfully, he made the choices he needed to save his family. He chose to avoid the bar crowd and focus on more wholesome friendships. He and his wife are back together and are in the process of healing.
Am I saying we should only have ‘Christian friends’? Of course not! Jesus hung out with the socially outcast more than the ‘spiritually secure’. Yet, through the power of the Holy Spirit we need to be open to sharing our faith in a gentle way and get our strength from relationships that celebrate Jesus.
Influencers can be negative or positive. Choose to follow the positive, Christ centered influencers!
Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. Romans 5:2
For those of us who grew up in the church we have no doubt memorized or at least heard sermons on the beauty and grace promised in Romans 5:1, ”Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.“
All of grace is shown in that one verse. There are so many times though, that we tend to focus on one great truth and miss an even greater truth in the context of that verse.
While Romans 5:1 looks back at what Jesus did for us and what we have as a result, a greater nugget of truth may be found in the very next verse.
Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, we have the privilege of sharing in God’s glory. God’s Glory is a difficult concept to define or comprehend in our human minds. John Piper says, “So, here is an attempt at a definition: the glory of God is the infinite beauty and greatness of God’s manifold perfections.”
This verse is so full of implications. First of all, because of Jesus and God’s Holy Spirit indwelling us, we are able to get a fuller grasp of how truly great our God is. As we grow closer to Him, we stand in awe of Him. We are His Temple, His dwelling place. Like some grand architect, we stand as a testament to His greatness. God communicates his greatness through us because we are His image-bearers.
But wait, there’s more! While we can’t fully grasp that in our human minds, (face it, I don’t do well at reflecting God’s glory most if not all the time) we have the promise that the glory of God is a promise we claim now and cash in in eternity.
Spend some time thinking of the Glory of God. Think about His power, about the intricacies of nature, the beauty of a sunset or sunrise. The wonder of life itself. How can you reflect that glory today through the power of His indwelling Holy Spirit?
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 