Lavished with Grace

“He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself,
according to the kind intention of His will,
 to the praise of the glory of His grace,
 which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

 In Him we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.
Ephesians 1:5-8a

Because of the kind intention of His will, God adopted you!  Not because of your great talents, your amazing beauty, or your usefulness to Him, but just because He is kind and He chose you!  You are His son or daughter to the praise of the glory of His grace.  In other words, you are His and your adoption shows us the glory of God’s grace.  In that we, and others, should praise God. And He did it freely!  Without payment due!  Nothing is owed!  Not your works, not your being good – nothing!

 It was all accomplished through the Beloved, Jesus, the first born son, the sacrifice. It is through His blood that we are able to be not only adopted, but made righteous and holy.  What’s really cool, is that we did not merely squeak by!  But rather, God accepted us according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.  When I think of something being lavished, I think of butter being very liberally spread upon a piece of bread. (I know that’s weird, but oh well!)  When I lavish butter on bread, I do not scrape some of it off, or check to make sure that it is barely covered. No!  I put as much as possible on it until it stands up in the middle and is spread from edge to edge, then I lavish jelly on top of that!  That is God’s grace to you -  piled high, fully covering, and then some more on top of that!

Praise Him and worship Him.  He is your God and He is good!

Freedom

 I read through Galatians this morning and am again just astounded at God’s grace!  We can do nothing to earn our salvation, lose our salvation, or to further our position with God.  We are already at the top of the pile, His sons and daughters, the apple of his eye, and His delight!  Just because we are His!  He may not always be happy with what we do or the way we behave, but He is always our Daddy!

“…so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” Gal. 4:5

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free….” 5:1

Mixed in with all these great verses on our freedom are verses about our behavior: “But I say walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” 5:16.  These verses are clues to our living a contented life here on earth, growing in our relationship with God, and being prepared for what God has for us in eternity.  They are not about “Do this or else…(death, disowning, etc…)” 

We are free through our faith in the sacrifice of Jesus.  We are adopted into the Kingdom.  Done deal! “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law…so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
Gal. 3:1, 3, 13,14.

Upon the cross, Jesus said, “It is finished.” His sacrificed sealed the bargain.  Our salvation is not Jesus and… (church attendance, perfect behavior, good deeds, being lovely, etc…).  It is just Jesus. Period.

Psalms then reminds us to “Walk at liberty.”  In other words, you are free!  Act like it!  Freedom is joy and love and peace and contentment and wanting to have a friendship with the one that set us free!  Rejoice!  Sing!  Praise!  And walk as if it is true!

 

Forgiveness

I found this verse as I was reading and praying about forgiving someone of a very hurtful debt that accumulated over many years and through many circumstances.  I have chosen to forgive and am laying it at the feet of Jesus, but I also know that it will be a battle for me to love this person with the love of Christ because I want to protect my own heart.  Oh yeah!  It’s not my own heart – I gave it to Jesus.  He can protect it or if it gets stomped on again, he can heal it.  Most of all, I want this person to experience all of God and what joy he has for her.  I don’t want Satan to get her heart or mine because of my unforgiveness.  Now if my emotions will just line up, I will be good to go!  God is able – one step at a time.

I know that this verse is spoken of by Paul, not by Jesus.  But the connection of forgiveness and not allowing Satan to take advantage is poignant.

“To this end I also wrote,

so that I might put you to the test,
whether you are obedient in all things. 
But one whom you forgive anything, I forgive also;
for indeed what I have forgiven, If I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ,
so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.”
2 Corinthians 3:9-11

I do not want bitterness to get the upperhand in my heart.  I know bitter old women, and I don’t want to be one!  So, Satan will not get the glory in this one, I choose to lay it at the cross.  I pray that if you have unforgiveness towards anyone for any reason, that you , too, will trust that person and your heart to Jesus and let Him care for you.

 

Knowing God

“My son, if you will receive my words
And treasure my commandments within you,
Make your ear attentive to wisdom,
Incline your heart to understanding;
For if you cry for discernment,
Lift your voice for understanding;
If you seek her as silver
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
Then you will discern the fear of the Lord
 And discover the knowledge of God.”
Proverbs 2:1-5

That’s a pretty good if-then statement!  If you will listen, receive, treasure God’s commandments, hear wisdom, be pliable to understand, seek wisdom, THEN you will discern the fear of the Lord (the beginning of wisdom) and discover the knowledge of God. 

These are all active verbs.  In other words, we are to be about doing them consistently and constantly – with diligence and purpose.  We do this through reading God’s word and praying for the Holy Spirit to teach us.  It means time with God.  It means trust and reliance and sincere searching.  Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find, knock, and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)  Notice that even in this verse, the verbs are active.  You must be about asking, seeking, and knocking.

I was in a Sunday school class with older ladies one day and expected to be sitting among mature Christians who knew their Bibles and had spent much time with God.  I was surprised to realize that I knew a whole lot more Bible than they did, and that most were really babies in their faith walk with Jesus even though most had been Christians for 30 years of more.  I began to pray and ask God “Why?”.  As I listened and asked questions it became very clear to me that these women had not spent time seeking and searching.  Their time had been spent on careers, raising their children, and getting more stuff.  There is nothing wrong with a career or raising of children or having stuff, but if that is what you spend the majority of your time on to the exclusion of being in God’s word and prayer, then you will not grow in grace, mercy, knowledge, wisdom, joy, love, etc…

If – Then.

 

Our Rewards

As children of the King, when we stand before the judgment seat, we will be reminded that God has already judged us and through the blood of Jesus, we are righteous.  The Bible says that as we are at the White Throne Judgment, we will receive crowns.  What are these crowns?  There are five mentioned in the New Testament. 

The Crown of Life:
James 1:12 says, "Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him."

The Unfading Crown of Glory:
1 Peter 5:1-4 says, "Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness...And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory."

The Crown of Righteousness:
2 Timothy 4:7-8 says, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing."

The Imperishable Crown:
1 Corinthians 9:25 says, "Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things.  They then do it to receive a perishable wreath (crown), but we an imperishable."  Thus a crown to those who live a disciplined life of self-control.

The Crown of Exultation:
1 Thessalonians 2:19-20 says, "For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation?  Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?  For you are our glory and joy."  The ones which you have led to salvation and those which you disciple are your crown of exultation.  This crown is for those who joyously expressed their faith.

Which crowns will you receive that you might lay them at the feet of Jesus in worship and honor?

God Keeps His Promises

I ran across a gem today in Joshua:

“Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel  failed;

all came to pass.”
Joshua 21:45

This was stated after Israel took the land and entered in with peace.  It wasn’t until later, when they began to worship false gods, that God had to deal with them with judgment according to the blessings and curses that He laid out for them in Deuteronomy.  God was faithful!  God was good and true.  The God of the Old Testament was a compassionate God.  He wants to bless His children; we just have to obey in order to receive those blessings! 

This verse is in the past, but as God forms a track record of faithfulness, it is a nugget that we can add to the list.  Just as God was faithful to the nation of Israel then, He will keep His promises to His children today.  We are grafted into, adopted into the nation of Israel.  The promises are ours as well.  In the New Testament though the promises are for heaven and eternity, whereas in the Old Testament the promises were for the physical land.  Both Testaments show God’s desire to have a relationship with His children.  Through the blood of sacrifice of Jesus, that relationship is possible. 

Keep your eyes on Jesus, walk with God, know God through the word and through His creation and trust in His promises even in the tough times.  He promised us that we would have persecutions and trouble in this world.  That is why we are encouraged to persevere, look to God, pray for grace, and look for His coming.  He is faithful and true.  Wait for your reward, it is coming…for all of eternity!

 

Hearing God

“Teach me to do Your will,
For You are my God;
Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
For the sake of Your name, O Lord, revive me.
In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.
And in Your lovingkindness, cut off my enemies
And destroy all those who afflict my soul,
For I am Your servant.”
Psalm 143:10-12

“For I am your servant.”  Servants don’t get to decide what to do or when to do it.  They hear and obey.  Immediate obedience.  Hear and do.  Are you listening?  Are you quick to respond?  Are you honoring God as your Master and  not other people or things?  He is trustworthy and true.  His good Spirit will lead you on level ground.

Learning to hear is something that you have to pursue with diligence.  Even if you have the slightest idea that a thought or action is from God, respond to it.  God will honor your faithfulness.  Line up your life with the word and be reading it because God often talks to us through His word.  Listen to other Godly people for counsel, God will talk through them also.  But mostly, be in a relationship with God, walking with Him daily through prayer and praise.  Be practicing the presence of God throughout each day in every task.  He will speak when He has something for you to do.  If you are not hearing from God then keep walking in the way of the word and being faithful.  He will let you know if He needs you!