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But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. Romans 6:22
Harry was your stereo-typical bachelor. He lived alone in a modest home. His yard was seldom mowed. If Christmas decorations were put up, they were put up on December 24 and taken down sometime in July, if they were taken down at all. Harry wasn’t necessarily a slob. He just had better things to do than clean house. So his house was usually dusty and cluttered. He’d wash dishes when he ran out of them. But Harry was happy with this life, for the most part.
Then, Harry met Sally. (No not the movie by the same name!) The more Harry hung out with Sally the more things began to change. The changes were subtle at first. He would shower and shave every day. The clothes he wore were more in tune with the requirements of the social police. He was even known to dust the house and wash dishes on a more regular basis. Not only was his lawn mowed weekly, he even made a few lame attempts at planting some flowers.
What happened to Harry? Was it because Sally nagged him? Nope. Did Sally come over every day to make sure he was dressed appropriately? Not a chance. Did the neighbors complain about the lawn? Well, actually yes, but that wasn’t what motivated him to clean it up.
What was it then the caused the change? One simple word: LOVE. Yep. That’s it. Love. The closer Harry grew to Sally, the more he saw life in a different perspective. He didn’t change because he had to. He didn’t change because it was the only way Sally would hang out with him. Harry changed because he had a new perspective on life. One other thing happened with the change. Harry felt better about himself. He realized that one reason he stayed away from home is because the place bothered him as much as it did his neighbors. Harry had no desire to let his life get stuck in the same rut as it did before Sally came along.
The story of Harry and Sally is a very simple example of what should happen in the life of a person when they decide to say ‘yes’ to Jesus. The change within comes because we are tired of the way we are living and want to change. The closer we walk to Jesus, the more we see areas in our lives we need to clean up. Oh sure there are days when we regress. There are some areas that we may struggle with for a long time. But we earnestly want to see a difference in our lives.
One of the things I struggle with the most in the area of Grace is how easy it is to take the issue of sin lightly. We don’t even like to talk about sin anymore. It’s too negative. Too harsh. Too unbending.
Fact of the matter is, sin of any sort hinders our relationship with Jesus. Does he hate us? NO! Will we lose our salvation? I don’t believe we will. Will our relationship with God and others suffer? Definitely.
Too often we as Christ-followers take the issue of sin too lightly. Believe me, I’m just as guilty or more so than most on this point. We want to change but it comes hard. We may give up and rationalize. “At least I’m not as bad as (the name of a bigger sinner than you). Or, “Thank Jesus I’m forgiven. I’ll just have to confess when I get home.” Until we fully realize the effects sin has on our relationship with God change will not happen.
Don’t let yourself get tricked by the enemy into taking sin lightly. Let the Spirit of God work in you to show you areas that need change. Trust him to direct you. Don’t beat yourself up for failing. Confess that sin and try again.
PRAYER: Father God. I confess that too often I’d rather compare myself with others worse off than I am than to deal with the issues in my own life. Help me to take sin seriously. Empower me to want to change and protect me from the lies Satan tries to feed me to keep me defeated. In Jesus name, Amen.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. 1 Peter 3:18
The Leper probably thought Jesus came to heal for, as a result of Jesus’ touch he was not only physically healed but he was able to go home to family and friends.
The woman caught in adultery probably thought Jesus came to forgive those, like her, who had failed miserably in life and found themselves in a place they never thought they’d be.
To the parents who were forced to interrupt the funeral of their little child, he no doubt came to raise the dead and restore hope to families who have suffered the loss of a child.
To those who were in bondage to a ruthless religion set on performance and rules, it must have seemed like he came to rescue them from the irrelevant and oppressive system of guilt, shame and fear.
Obviously in one sense all those people and thousands more had good reason to think that. Their hope was restored. Their emotions were healed. Their bodies, once racked with pain were healed. But, that’s not why Jesus came. Jesus Christ came for one purpose and one purpose only. Oh, sure, he gave us a glimpse of what God was like. He showed us the power of a loving Father and the emptiness of religion gone irrelevant. But Jesus came to die. That was his sole purpose in coming.
The manger. The teachings. The miracles. All valuable lessons. But if he hadn’t died for our sins all of that would have been wasted. If he hadn’t risen from the dead, none of us would have the hope of eternity with him waiting for us.
Now, you say, there are many people who have died for a cause. It’s being done on a daily basis. Many who give their lives to rescue others and help others ‘in the line of duty. You’d be right of course. But all of those people who die for a cause are still dead.
Jesus separates himself from them for two major reasons. One he was without sin himself. Jesus Christ, the son of the living God was completely innocent of any wrong doing. Secondly, unlike the others, Jesus lives! He defeated death so that you can have eternal life with him.
That’s grace! There is nothing you can do to earn it. Nothing you can do to keep it. All he asks in return is that you love him and show him that love by living for him. Jesus’ only reason for living was to die so that my only reason for living is to live for him.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, Thank you for the examples you gave here on earth of love, healing, mercy and compassion. I praise you for your willingness to die for me even though, in my rebellion, I continue to do things I know I shouldn’t do. Empower me with your Holy Spirit to show you my love by living a life set-apart from the fickle morals of our society. In your precious and holy name, Amen.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28
As Jesus traveled along the dusty paths and streets of Israel he met many people from many walks of life. Some, like the woman at the well who had been divorced five times and the woman caught in adultery were struggled with emotional issues, feeling the guilt, shame and embarrassment of failure.
Others had more physical issues. The blind, the lame, the leprous suffered daily in a world of pain and darkness. Socially outcast and physically in pain they lived a life of pain and misery.
Then there were those who marveled at his teaching. For their entire lives they had been held captive by a religion which offered no hope. Strict rules and empty hope were just another irrelevant part of the journey they called life. It was a religion built on guilt, shame and fear.
Then Jesus came along. He offered rest to those who struggled with relationships. Don’t think for a minute that kids didn’t rebel back then. Pornography and lust were different then, but not non-existent. Feelings of failure and desperation were just as real then as they are today in your life.
One would think that the people who saw the miracles would follow. You’d expect that every person healed and all their families would give up everything to become his disciples. Some did. Most didn’t. In fact the very people he offered rest to from their physical and emotional trials were the ones who shouted ‘Crucify Him!’
Seems outlandish doesn’t it? Then again, maybe not. Over 2000 years later we are still doing the same thing. Jesus offers us hope. He offers us emotional healing. When he doesn’t offer physical healing he offers us strength to endure the pain. But people still seek religion over relationship; rules over freedom; death (spiritually due to sin) over life.
There is no religion on earth that offers us the things that Jesus does through a relationship with him. All he asks is that he be the only source of your praise, worship and love. Friends will mislead you. Religion will use you. Only Jesus gives you rest.
The hard truth is, as in any love relationship, you can’t experience the total joy Jesus offers without total commitment. Darkness has no place with light. Sin has no place in the life of a Christ-follower. Can you be forgiven? Yes. Can you live comfortably (physically)? Sometimes. But you won’t experience the total joy and peace Jesus offers until you come to him, only him, for rest.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I confess to you that there are so many times I seek pleasure, peace and comfort from things and people rather than you. My focus shifts from the eternal to the temporal. I want, so I go after it even if I know it will hurt my relationship with you. Forgive me for my refusal to sell-out to you completely. Empower me by you Holy Spirit to live completely for you. In your name I pray, Amen.
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10
A storm moves through in the middle of the night. The windows shake from the wind. The yard is as light as mid-day from frequent lightning. On one particular crash of thunder small feet are heard running down the hall. As if with one motion she snuggles in securely between her mom and dad. ‘Safe from the storm’ she soon falls back asleep completely oblivious to the raging storm outside.
What was it that drove the little one to the arms of her father and mother? Were they able to save her from the storm? Should a tornado have wiped out the neighborhood would she have been spared because she was in their arms? The storm certainly didn’t let up. It wasn’t any quieter in their room.
What drove her to the arms of her parents was the calm assurance in her mind that safety rested there. In the arms of her father the lightning became a nothing more than a light show. The sounds of the wind, rain and thunder became music to lull her to sleep. The storm could be weathered just fine when she was in the arms of her father.
When we rest in the arms of our Heavenly Father there is calmness in the storm. He is God. He is holy. The word ‘Holy’ is a word that means set a part. One notch above the rest of the world. Unaffected by circumstances.
Because he is a holy God, the things that frighten me have no effect on him. The things that pull me down won’t contain him or change his focus or actions.
When I fail it affects how I view myself. It affects how I react to other people. It changes my outlook on life. Small problems seem bigger. Mole hills become mountains. But when I fail it doesn’t affect how God views me. Not with Jesus by my side.
When I struggle with sin I feel hopeless and defeated. But with God there is no such thing as hopeless. Defeat isn’t in his vocabulary. When life takes different turns for me and I don’t understand how I got in the situation I’m in, I get confused and discouraged. God never gets discouraged, never gets sidetracked, never gets distracted by simple, mortal earthly things. He is on a higher plain which is unaffected by humans.
I can’t control everything that comes my way. I can’t change decisions that I’ve made in the past that haunt me now. I can’t see the future so that my choices today will guarantee my comfort or safety. I can’t control everything that comes my way…but my God can.
PRAYER: Holy Father. As the storms of life swirl around me today there will be times when fear grips me like an iron fist. Times when confusion clouds my ability to choose wisely. Times when I want to lash out rather than listen. Empower me by your Spirit during these times to be still. Even though life may be loud around me, help me to be still in your arms of safety and love. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. John 9:31
Imagine how you would feel if the person you loved more than anything else in the world would only say the same lines every day to you. The responses were predictable, rehearsed and said largely in a monotone. Some days there would be NO conversation at all. Some times there would be new words but only if there were some crisis or your cherished one wanted something from you. Would you look forward to spending time talking with that person?
Suppose you caught your child with his hand in the cookie jar. As you reprimand him/her for taking a cookie you get an apology. But as you listen to the apology your child continues to eat the cookie…and take another one! Would you consider his words as sincere?
What if you were sitting talking at a coffee shop with a dear friend who you hadn’t seen in years. You are trying to listen to what your friend has to say but the subject line seems to change without warning. Thoughts are left unfinished and on occasion your friend simply stops talking as though they have run out of things to say. Once or twice you were sure they had even dozed off! To make things worse, you aren’t allowed to even say a word and when you tried you know you weren’t heard!
I’m guessing, in the first instance you would question the reality of the person’s love for you. In the second instance the apology of the cookie-munching thief would be meaningless. The coffee shop talk? Frustrating to say the least.
Now think of those same three scenes and change characters. Imagine that it’s God that is listening to the words of his loved one. It’s you that rehearses your canned conversation on a daily basis. And while you are apologizing for your mistakes (cookie-snatching) you make no effort to change your actions.
Then there is the scene in the coffee shop. Do you think that if God were sitting across the table listening to your chatter he’d come to a point where he’d realize he didn’t need to be there? That you could carry on this conversation without him…or anyone else for that matter?
Take time to listen to your prayers. If God were visible would your pray differently? Would your words have more meaning? Would your worship be more and your requests be less? Would you listen for his response more and complain about your life less?
Meaningful, effective prayer comes when we look at it as conversation and not a one-way discourse. Your heavenly Father is passionate about you. Let that sink in for a moment. He’s a passionate lover who smiles every time he sees you. His heart skips a beat when he hears your voice. His attention hangs on every word from your mouth.
But often our prayers are rote and trite phrases. We forget that even though he wants to hear us, sin can hinder any prayer that isn’t bathed in heart-felt, sincere confession. We don’t give him the time to speak to us.
Spend some time learning to converse with God, not deluge him with dead words. Spend time learning about him, reading his word, listening for his voice. Time spend with your lover is time spent on the eternal. He longs to hear from you.
PRAYER: Father God. I’m convicted as I realize that I’m so often guilty of offering meaningless chatter rather than conversation with you. Help me to pray with the realization that you are in the room beside me, sitting across the table from me, earnestly wanting to hear from me. Forgive me for the sin that keeps us apart. Empower me with your Spirit to grow in relationship with you through conversational prayer. In Jesus name, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 