Grace is Knocking at Your Door

Ephesians 2:8, 9 - For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

    In these two verses I believe that we are given a pattern of the way that we have received and how we can continue to receive from God. By grace through faith is the pattern. Grace made salvation available and faith made salvation attainable. Grace provided the answer and faith appropriated it. It is not of myself, it is the gift of God. What is the gift of God? I believe that all of it is a gift; the salvation, the grace and the faith. None of this was of my own doing, I did not have grace or faith or salvation within me. It was given to me by a gracious act of God. It is not of works. It is not a result of man’s energy or action. Man cannot attain this on his own, it must be given and it must be received. Grace gives, faith receives. Obviously, the grace is not of ourselves. The word grace indicates that another person chose to act a certain way toward us. It is grace; God’s choice to love and to provide the solution regardless of our attitude toward him. For grace to be genuine grace it cannot be manipulated or coerced, it must be freely given. Grace is God’s attitude toward us, it is his stance and posture. He has the ultimate Father’s heart, always thinking of his children. Faith also, is a gracious gift enabling us to believe and to receive from him. Without faith I am not able to appropriate what has been provided. Grace offers, faith accepts. Grace delivers the goods, faith signs for it. Grace deposits into the bank, faith withdraws from it. Grace ensures that oxygen is available, faith breathes it in. By grace through faith.  Grace made salvation available two thousand years ago when you and I were not here. Quite obviously then, it is not of works. 

    Remember that we said that this is a pattern for our continued walk with God. Salvation is the all-inclusive word that gathers into itself all that God intended for us. Healing, deliverance, rescue, safety, preservation and soundness are all included. So we could say it like this; by grace are you healed through faith and that grace, that faith and that healing is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. By grace are you rescued through faith. By grace are you delivered through faith. We don't earn a single thing, it is all a gift. God’s grace is so big and so vast that he has provided everything and anything that we may need to live a full, productive and satisfying life. It has been made available for you and I; go ahead and receive. By grace through faith. Thank you, Jesus!

Are We Bridge-Burners or Bridge-Builders?

Luke 23:34 - Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.

        ‘Father forgive them’ - This is one of the precious Seven Words from the Cross, spoken by Jesus under intense suffering. There is a vast body of literature that has been written and preached, over the centuries, on these sayings and oh, how rich the literature is. Some have said that Jesus still had things that He must say before He died, so He preached them from the most sacred of all pulpits; the pulpit of the Cross. Even while He is undergoing the worst type of torture and pain known to man, Jesus is thinking of others. Love is ever thinking of others, never of itself. Truly Jesus’ life portrayed the ultimate selfless Man. Save yourself, one of the thieves said, but it could never be, He didn’t come to save Himself, He came to save others. He came to save us, to save you, and to save me. He is still looking to His Father, the source of love and forgiveness. Father, forgive them. That is why you sent me, to forgive, to see mankind released from their sin.    

         Forgiveness is the bridge between the Father and ‘them’, please build that bridge, Father. Release the prisoners and unlock the shackles that have bound them. It has been said that forgiveness is like setting the prisoner free and then realizing that the prisoner was you. Father, release them, free them, liberate them, and let them cross that bridge. All forgiveness ultimately comes from the Father. We would not truly know forgiveness if it weren’t for the Father. The Father is the one who created us and He is the one who remains committed to us regardless of our stance toward Him. Do not hold this against them; they do not understand what they are doing. The vast majority of people are crowd influenced and driven. Most of the people in this crowd were simply caught up in the frenzy and emotions of the moment; they did not understand what was really happening behind the scenes, so to speak. Paul tells us that ‘if the princes of this world had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory’. The Jewish leaders did not know. Pilate and Herod did not know. The crowd did not know and the soldiers did not know. None of them truly knew the significance of this event. God, however, knew exactly what was happening and he knew that in order for forgiveness to become available to all, there must be a sacrifice. Jesus was the lamb of God who would bear away the sin of the world by accepting the weight of other people’s choices. That’s what forgiveness does; it doesn’t do away with the wrong done, but it releases people from their self-imposed chains. 

         Unforgiveness burns the bridge over which we, ourselves, may one day need to cross. Let’s not be bridge burners but instead be bridge builders. Father, we look to you for the love and the grace to continue to forgive ourselves and others.

What is Your Name?

Luke 8:30 – And Jesus asked him saying, What is your name?

                 In this account we have the story of the man we refer to as ‘The Madman of Gadara’. Most of the teaching that we have heard highlights that Jesus addressed the devil by asking, ‘What is your name?’ However, G. Campbell Morgan pointed out that perhaps Jesus was actually asking the man his name. I find this thought to be very instructive. 

          Think of the condition of this poor, tormented man; demon-possessed, self-destructive, running naked in the cemetery, no life to speak of, anguished, no rest, no peace, no friendships. I am sure that whatever family he had would have been driven away long ago. He is frantic and distressed, but Jesus attempts to rescue him by getting him to remember his name. ‘Don’t you remember who you are? You were born into a family and your parents lovingly named you. You had purpose, dreams, aspirations and friends. Don’t you remember? You laughed and played together with the friends of your youth, you fell in love with a beautiful girl. You learned a trade and worked hard providing for your new family. What is your name? That’s who you are. You are not this raving and tormented lunatic. You are not this violent madman. No! You are a person. You are a man, created in the image of God, created to walk with dignity and purpose. You were destined to engage in society and contribute to others' success. What is your name? It is still your name, it still exists, it may have slipped out of your memory but your name has survived. It’s your name, not someone else’s. It is yours, it belongs to you. You matter. You are missed. You are important. You have a place in this life. You are a person with a name, and you are connected relationally to significant people’. 

          What about us? Have we forgotten who we are? Have we forgotten our name? Has life’s challenges blurred the memory of our identity and our value? We are living in the days of identity theft and it is time to take back our true name. The world has tried to define us and re-name us but our Heavenly Father has named us. We are named by God as his children and we must never forget who we are. What is your name?

Do You Have Your Will in Place?

Luke 22:42 - Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

o   It would appear that Jesus is facing the most difficult hour of his life. We have never seen him in this state before. He is on his knees and struggling under the crushing weight and realization of what is ahead. I am sure that Jesus was not only struggling over the terrible torture and pain of the crucifixion, as horrific as that would be, as much as He was struggling over the appalling thought of bearing the sin of the world and thus driving himself away from His Father. He had enjoyed a very intimate relationship with his Father God all during the days of his life, and now, at this darkest hour, it is the Father that He calls out to. Father, if you are willing. Jesus appeals to the tenderness of his Father and, for a split second of time, asked for this ordeal to pass. He knew that there was no other way but, Jesus, the man, in this heavy moment identified with all men, he identified with the tendency to take another route to the throne, to sidestep the cross, and to avoid the hardships of life. This nightmare of a test is described by Jesus as a cup that He must drink. For all of His days the only cup He knew was the cup of joy and fellowship with God, the cup that runs over with blessing and goodness. Now he must drink a different cup, a cup of the darkest and most hideous thing known to mankind; the cup of that poison that separated Adam from the sweetest of friendships, the cup of sin. An eternity seems to hang in the balance as Jesus reels beneath the burden of the plan of God. Angels are, no doubt, hushed as they wait and watch in anticipation. We can imagine them saying, What will this man do? How will he choose? Thousands of years ago, in another garden, a man chose his own way over God’s way and thus broke the heart of the Father God, and started a destructive chain reaction of sin and death. How would this Last Adam choose? It seems that He is asking for exemption from the will of God, he is asking for special treatment. Oh no! This can’t be. Wait. Hold on, the angels say, He is about to speak again. Nevertheless. What did He say? Nevertheless. Hallelujah! He said nevertheless! Oh! How thankful we should be for that one word; nevertheless. All of eternity hinged on that history-making word. Not my will, not my choice or my determination, but what you determine, Father. Your will, your choice, what you determine is the best way and the only way. George Mueller once wrote, ‘When we forsake the ways of the Lord during the hour of trial, the food for faith will be lost’. Jesus chose God’s way and thus his faith was nourished and He was strengthened to press onward and to boldly face the Cross and to drink the cup of His destiny. Thank God for Jesus! What an example to all of us who struggle in our own ‘Gethsemane’, wanting our own way, attempting to avoid the inevitable challenges and hardships of life. I believe that we can also pray that prayer along with Jesus, ‘Not my will, Father, but your will be done’. As we bend our will to His will, Heaven’s strength will come flowing in and we can arise and walk into the day and into our destiny.

Does God Really Notice the Small Things?

Luke 21:18 - But there shall not an hair of your head perish

o   The context of this verse is the persecution and the murder of Christians. Jesus had just finished saying that some of you they shall put to death, and then he goes on to say that not a hair of your head shall perish. God’s concept and understanding of perishing must be different than ours. When he says not even one strand of hair will perish, then to him, no matter what comes, even death, that strand of hair still exists. I guess in the light of quantum physics and sub-atomic particles then we might be able to say that the hair does indeed still exist. In God’s view of things that physical part of you is still there. The resurrection of the physical body bears this out. The body could be in the grave for thousands of years completely decomposed, and yet when God says ‘be resurrected’, all the particles of the body will come back together to be joined and revived with life. Not a hair on the head of that body has perished. Of course he is using hair as an illustration of the smallest part that they could see, he might say if he were speaking to us today that not one cell or molecule of your body shall perish. It might have left this physical realm and naturally speaking has perished but it has not ceased to exist from God’s perspective. Whoever believes in Jesus shall not perish but have everlasting life. That word ‘shall not perish’ goes right through and pervades our entire being, spirit, soul and body, not one aspect of my being shall ever perish. It is such a powerful thought to understand that God cares for the tiniest things. He cares about that one hair, so to speak. He is a God of amazing detail; he is a master designer that values every minute part of his creation. Truly, if we were to say it right, there are no miniscule matters with God. If he created it, then it matters, it cannot be small. The God of the Universe has created every aspect of me and every characteristic of my personality and life and therefore it teems with significance. He is the Creator who has created every facet of my make-up. Just as a manufacturer creates each part with a purpose, so every part in me has particular purpose. Do not believe the lie that insists on your life being meaningless and without eternal purpose and destiny. No! You don’t have to search for significance because by virtue of your existence you already are infinitely significant. Not one hair of your head shall perish!

Can We See the Invisible?

2Cor. 4:18 - While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

o   This verse describes the daily battle. We live in the world of sense but we know that this world of sense is not the highest reality. Paul encourages us to ‘look’ at the things which are not seen. So, there are things which are seen, they are obvious and clearly revealed to the senses. We see them, we hear them, we can touch them, and they exist in a world of time and sense. The five senses are amazing gifts given to us by God to interact with our world. Everything we know comes through those five senses. We saw it, we heard it, and we gained knowledge by using our senses. But Paul says there is a world outside of time and sense, there are things unseen. We are to ‘look’ at the invisible things. What are those things which are not seen? They are eternal realities. Because we live in this world it is very easy to walk through this life without realizing or prioritizing the next life. One way to look at things which are not seen is to believe that they exist and to plan accordingly. The life of faith is not based on the things which are seen, or things which are revealed to the senses. The faith life is based on the things which are not seen, or things which are not revealed to the senses. There is a striking contrast between things seen and things unseen, things temporary and things eternal. If it is seen it is temporary. Everything we see is temporary, it is but for a moment or a season, it will not last forever. Everything we do not see is eternal, it will endure through all time and it will last forever. So the important question is, what are we looking at? Are we constantly looking at the visible world and directing our lives by it? Or are we constantly looking at the invisible world and basing our decisions on it? Jesus described two men that built houses by their attitude toward the Word of God. The wise man built his house on a rock solid foundation by hearing the Word and acting on it and living by it. He ‘looked’ at things which are not seen. The foolish man built his house on a shifting foundation by ignoring the importance of the Word of God and not having a daily priority of practicing what he heard. Both houses probably looked similar for a time. It wasn’t until the storms came that the true nature and strength of the foundation was discovered. The house is the thing which is seen, the foundation is the thing which is not seen. The thing which is seen is subject to the elements and thus to change, the thing which is not seen is hidden below the surface and established upon a rock so it is unmovable regardless of what comes. Let’s focus on the unseen and build an eternally secure house!

Is There Such a Thing as Friendly Fire?

2Cor. 2:11 - Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

o   We are in a war and this war has a very real enemy. Even the word satan means adversary or opponent. It is so easy to walk through this life forgetting that there is an invisible battle going on all around us. One preacher has encouraged us to remember that this world is a battleground not a playground. The reality is that we are in a fight and this fight has actual casualties. Satan, our enemy, seeks an advantage over us. Isn’t that what armies do? They seek the most strategic places and try to get the high ground, or the best vantage point where an all-out assault can be made. We cannot be ignorant of how our enemy works. He has methods of operation and tactics of warfare which we must be informed of. Paul says do not be unaware of his devices. In these recent days, when Canadian soldiers have been stationed in various Middle Eastern places, we hear a lot about IEDs, which are Improvised Explosive Devices. These devices are usually hidden, and the unsuspecting and inalert soldier can easily trigger the explosion. We must not be ignorant, uninformed or unaware of this tactic of the enemy. The context of Paul’s writing speaks of unforgiveness. We must forgive or our opponent will gain the advantage and overpower us. Talk about an explosive device; the longer unforgiveness sits hidden and invisible, the more serious the damage can be. If we are not both diligent and vigilant, we can easily allow bitter feelings to enter and linger in our hearts. The fact is, while our warfare is with satan, we almost always battle with each other. If we can be divided and distracted from the actual fight, or if we unwittingly turn our weapons on each other, then our foe has already done his work. Be alert! Be aware! Be awake! We have a malicious and dangerous opponent whose one aim is to kill and destroy anything that resembles God and reminds him of what he has lost and what he will never regain. We are hated and hunted. Let’s not do the hating and hunting on behalf of our enemy, there’s certainly nothing friendly about that fire.

Eyes Wide Shut?

Luke 24:31 - And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight

    I remember a season in my life when my eyes were opened to a whole new and exciting world of faith. I was 18 years old and had just graduated from High School; my life was in chaos because of all my poor choices. It was during a couple of months’ time that I found myself regularly thinking of Jesus and who He was. It seemed that everywhere I looked, even when I didn’t want to, I saw signs that pointed me to Him. Little signs that became undeniable to me. My eyes were being opened. This is something that God wants to do for all people. Their eyes are not opened and they cannot see Him. Scripture tells us that the ‘god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers’. Are your eyes open? Or are your eyes closed? When their eyes were opened, it says that they knew Him. 

          Have you noticed how easy it is to walk through this life with our physical eyes open but not really seeing anything or anyone? With technology being so prevalent in our culture, this troubling lack of sight is growing steadily worse. How many times have you driven to work only to get there and not remember the drive because your mind was so preoccupied and cluttered with things? It is actually quite scary when you think of it. The truth is, when it comes to our physical eye, we do not see with the eye, we see in our minds. The eye is simply the organ, the tool that is used to project the image on to our minds. That’s why we say things like, ‘I can see it in my minds’ eye’. That is also why you can be looking for an object in your kitchen or in your garage and it can be right in front of you but you do not see it, because you have a preconceived idea and image in your mind of what it looks like and what it lies next to. The image that you already have formed in your mind clouds the actual sight of your eyes. Your eyes are not truly open. 
         
          The disciples were in the very presence of Jesus but until He opened their eyes they did not know Him, they did not recognize Him. The most recent image that they had of Jesus was of a man who had been brutally tortured by being crucified and put to death. They saw Him die. They saw Him buried. This is what their eyes literally saw; it was very graphically embedded into their minds. So, when something new presented itself, they could not see it, their eyes were not open. 
      
          Thank God He opened their eyes. He gave them a different picture and image to focus on. Once their eyes were opened it says that they knew Him and then he vanished out of their sight. The opening of their eyes and the recognition of their Lord gave them a powerfully vivid image to rely upon. They would need it. They were the original pioneers of faith. They would be the ones to first proclaim, to an unbelieving and mocking world, the resurrection of Jesus. After their eyes were opened, they were able to have a very close relationship with the Lord. They knew Him. This is the Hebrew way of describing an intimate encounter of the closest kind. ‘Adam knew his wife and she conceived’. This knowledge of Him is not book knowledge, it is heart knowledge, it is not organized knowledge, it is organic knowledge, like the branch knowing the tree, the tree knowing the roots and the roots knowing the soil, it is interconnected, vital knowledge. If our eyes are not opened we cannot have this type of knowledge. 

          Shortly after their eyes were opened it says that He vanished out of their sight. Their eyes were opened, they saw Him and now, suddenly, they could not see Him, He had vanished out of their sight. They saw Him, they rejoiced, they communed with Him and then He quickly departed. I see a pattern of life here in this verse. When our spiritual eyes are first opened there is newness and a freshness of life and joy. We have entered a brand new world. We have discovered a wide vista of glorious opportunity. We have met Jesus. We now know Him. It is so fulfilling to know Him. It is what we have been created for; to know Him. Usually, not long after our initial encounter and introduction to Jesus, we are introduced to another reality, that of the test of faith. He seemingly vanishes out of our sight. Where did He go? Why did He leave? Can He hear me? Does He see me? Now is the test. Can we walk by faith and not by sight? Can we trust God in the dark? Do we understand that this life and our circumstances are not the only reality and that they are not the strongest reality? He has simply vanished out of our sight, He has not actually vanished. Like the Sun going behind a dark cloud; it has not actually disappeared; the Sun is always shining. It is all a matter of perspective. 
      
          I once read the back of a businessman's card that said, "If you meet me and forget me, you've lost nothing, but if you meet Jesus and forget Jesus, you've lost everything". Let’s make sure that our eyes are open and, having opened eyes, let’s take the opportunity and get to know Him better because the circumstances of life have a way of clouding our vision of Him, Do not be discouraged, friends, He will never leave you nor forsake you. There is another type of sight that will guide us, a sight more reliable than our natural eyes; that of God-given insight.

A Trust Fund or A Fund of Trust?

2Cor. 3:4 - And such trust have we through Christ toward God

o   Trust is the life-blood of all relationships. Every relationship we have is built or destroyed on whether or not we can trust one another. I don’t trust things, I trust people. If I trust this chair to hold me up, I really do not trust the chair but, the people who made it. If I trust my car to get me to work, again, I am not actually trusting the car but, the people I bought it from. Without trust there is complete uncertainty and insecurity. Trust is something we can have. If I have something then it is in my hands, I hold it and it is at my disposal. I have trust at my disposal; I can use it at will. If I have trust then I must be the steward of trust, it is in my hands but I am responsible to use it appropriately. Even though it is under my choice, that trust is through Christ. I don’t have trust just because I qualify more than the next person, no, I have trust through Christ. Through is the channel word, it describes the avenue by which something is brought to me. Trust is transported and delivered to me through the vehicle of Christ. Without Christ I could not have this trust. He is the Anointed One, the Savior-King and He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father but through the channel of the person of Christ. He created the road for our trust to reach God. This trust that we have is like the built-in DNA of a Pacific Salmon drawn and compelled back to its spawning source, back to its origins. Trust is given to us through our relationship with Jesus and it draws us back to the Father. The purpose of our trust is not simply to accomplish more for God, important as that may be, the purpose of this gift of trust is to bring us face to face with the Father. He is our origin. He is the Father of spirits and our trust pulls us onward and upward until at last we are in His arms. He is so very trustworthy. He is worthy of our trust. You can trust Him right now, no matter what you may be facing, place your trust in God. Trust Him in the dark. Trust Him in the light. Trust Him in the hard times. Trust Him in the good times. You, through Christ, can trust in the absolute certainty of God, our Father. To trust is to entrust yourself and your life and all that is so dear to you into the hands of God. Let go of the uncertain and unreliable things of this life and grab hold of the trust that has been given to you. Wrap the rope of trust around you, entrust yourself to its strength and let God pull you in.