Tag: Grace

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The Next Right Thing

Daily Reading

Exodus 4-6

Daily Thought

Moses, after hiding in Midian for forty years, hears God speak from a burning bush, obeys God, and returns to Egypt to speak against the Pharaoh on behalf of the nation of Israel. Along the way, something strange occurs: “At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it and said, ‘Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!’ So he let him alone” (Exodus 4:24-26). God threatens Moses with death right after he commissioned him to go to Egypt. What’s that all about?

It is about keeping a covenant. God promised Abraham he would be a great nation and established a sign of circumcision securing that covenant (see Genesis 17:9-14). Delivering the Israelites from slavery to Egypt was part of God keeping his promise, but Moses, God’s chosen leader, had broken covenant. It seems Zipporah, his wife, was repulsed by the very idea of circumcision and Moses had accommodated his wife rather than do what was right. Moses messed up, he did the wrong thing and God’s judgment made that clear. He could not do the wrong thing and, at the same time, lead Israel to God’s promised land. But then comes grace. Zipporah did wrong, but then she did right. She circumcised her son and restored the covenant, and Moses lived.

Following God, you will mess up sometimes, like Moses and Zipporah. You will not always do the right thing, but after you do the wrong thing, you now have the opportunity to do the next right thing. Following God is not always doing the right thing, but doing the next right thing.

Daily Prayer

Mighty God, thank You for salvation and grace and Your goodness. You saved me from bondage of my own making, my sin. Thank You, as well, for Your righteousness and holiness. Saved by grace, may I live for You. May I hunger and thirst for Your righteousness. May I live rightly. 

I should not cheapen Your grace by taking advantage of it. Instead, I shall each day wake up and see the day before me as a gift from You, and delight in it. I shall remember that I am Your workmanship, made to do good works, that others will praise You. I shall love You fully, and live out Your love to this world. Help me do that, God!

Amen

Daily Question

Which is more effective in keeping you from sin, God’s goodness or God’s judgment?

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Undeserving

Daily Reading

Genesis 27-29

Daily Thought

Jacob was the conniving son of his mother and she conspired with him to deceive his family. He stole his brother’s birthright, then his Father’s blessing, and was on the run because big brother Esau was mad. Jacob was alone. He “left Beersheba and went toward Haran, and he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set” (Genesis 28:10). He was somewhere, but who knows where, and he laid his head on a rock and fell asleep and “he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it” (Genesis 28:12). You do not have to go to someplace special to meet God. You only need your eyes opened. Jacob was in the middle of nowhere and it was exactly the right place for God was there with him. 

“Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it’” (Genesis 28:16). God used Jacob’s circumstances, bad circumstances of Jacob’s own making, to bring Jacob to “this place,” and he came to Jacob, not because Jacob deserved God’s attention, but because he was now desperate for God’s attention. It is the common course of man and woman that we must be brought down before we can be lifted up, and it is the love of God for us that he meets us in a certain place.

What if God only paid attention to us when we deserved it?

Daily Prayer

God of heaven, thank You for looking down on me, even when I am not looking up.  You saved me before I knew I needed rescuing. I was spiritually asleep and You showed up, but not really. You were always there. It is me that became awakened to Your presence.

Now, my Lord, I know that You are in me, that You have numbered my days and created me for a purpose, for good works that glorify Your name. I commit each day to You, because by Your grace, I am a child of the Almighty.

Amen

Daily Question

What are some of the “places” where God met you and got your attention?

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Sodom and Springer

Daily Reading

Genesis 19-21

Daily Thought

Genesis 19–what a chapter! The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are a carnival of perversity. The depraved men of Sodom clamor for sex with two men/angels staying in Lot’s home. Lot offers his daughters instead. Are you kidding me! Sodom’s time is up. Their sin has eclipsed the height of God’s patience. The time of God’s mercy is over as he destroys the cities, yet God’s grace endures and Lot and his family are rescued before the downpour of fire and brimstone. Astonishingly though, as the cities smolder in the distance, Lot’s unrepentant daughters get their dad drunk and take turns sleeping with him. Both end up pregnant.

This is akin to trash TV at its worst, “The Jerry Springer Show” of the 1980’s and 90’s. Mr. Springer was asked if it was difficult to find his outlandish guests. “Are you kidding?” he laughed. “They are in every neighborhood in America. Yours too.” He’s right, of course. Millions of people watched Jerry’s show. Look at our entertainment, our websites, our video games, our politics, or look at the daily news headlines, and we are what we watch. Lot’s wife looked back with a longing desire. She loved the lifestyle, and we do, too. What’s wrong with this world? In the words of G.K. Chesterton, “I am.” We all are.

And still God’s grace endures. Jesus took our sins, like those of Sodom and Springer, and mine, and made them his own. He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:5). He took what I deserve. That’s mercy. Then he gives me his righteousness. That’s grace. He became like me so that I can become like him. That’s love.

Daily Prayer

My Lord and Savior God, Your love is overwhelming. You love me and I am not worthy of it. You love me anyway. Thank you for that, and thank you, as well, for hating sin. I need to hate sin more. What it does to me, what it has done to Your creation. I look forward to Your coming Kingdom when sin is removed, when holiness is the way of the world, when Jesus reigns. Turn my longings toward You, my desires toward Your ways.

Amen

Daily Question

When have you experienced God’s grace in your life?

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The Grilled Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

Daily Reading

Hebrews 1-6

Daily Thought

“For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt” (Hebrews 6:4-6). This passage describes lovers of legalism who nibble at the edges of grace, but the freedom frightens them. The problem with grace is it requires absolutely nothing from us. It offends the pride of the religious who insist on contributing to their own salvation. One sacrifice is not enough for their sin, so they go back to the safety of rules and religion, do’s and don’ts. 

Lovers of religion who delight in legalism harken back to the Law of Moses which taught the Israelites to offer repeated sacrifices for every sin, but Jesus offers one sacrifice, himself, and “we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). The writer of Hebrews compares the new to the old, the cross of Christ to the Law of Moses, and it is not even close, “Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses” (Hebrews 3:3). 

Ask any kid, “What is the best sandwich ever made?” It is Peanut Butter and Jelly, no competition. Unless you met a kid from my youth group, a kid who was served my wife’s Grilled Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich. I run into these kids, 5, 10, 20 years after graduating. You know what they remember? The Grilled Peanut Butter and Jelly. They liked the old PB&J, but they had tasted the new. One kid summed it up: there’s no going back.

There are not enough rules to cover all my sins, but one sacrifice did. It is no longer what we must do to be forgiven, but what Christ has done to save us, once for all forever. This is the grace of God and once you bite deeply into grace, you will never again be satisfied by the Law. There is no going back.

Daily Prayer

God, You are so good. To be welcomed into Your family, to experience Your warmth and love, to understand what life is all about, to really live, what more could I ever want? (The answer is nothing more. You are above and beyond my deepest desires.)

Thank You for the blessings of heaven, of Your Kingdom. There is a better life than the one this world offers. Your Kingdom come, Your will be done. I look forward to the day when Your Son reigns over the heavens and the earth in perfect peace and righteousness. There is nothing better, not even close.

Amen

Daily Question

Have you accepted God’s forgiveness if you have not forgiven yourself?

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Free to Choose

Daily Reading

1Corinthians 5-8

Daily Thought

Once a Muslim, now a Christian, he was attending the men’s breakfast, and we were inviting him to enjoy the bacon. “You know, as a Christian, you are freed from all those food restrictions and you can eat bacon or ham or whatever you like?”

He understood, “Yes, I know. I know I am free to eat, but I am also free not to eat it. I go home to my family in Egypt once a year, and when I come up to my father’s door, the first question he will ask me is, ‘Have those infidels taught you to eat the filthy hog meat yet?’ If I say to him, ‘Yes, father,’ I will be banished from that home and have no further witness in it. But if I say, as I have always said, ‘No, father, no pork has ever passed my lips,’ then I have admittance to the family circle and I am free to tell them of the joy I have found in Jesus Christ. Therefore I am free to eat, and I am free not to eat. I choose no bacon”

There are some things more important than knowledge. “’Knowledge’ puffs up, but love builds up” (1Corinthians 8:1). He knows he is free to eat whatever he wants, and what he wants is for his family to know Jesus.

Daily Thought

My God, You saved me. Not because I was good. Not because I was worth saving. You saved me because You loved me. What an amazing love, too, because I did not love You. I was not good, nor was I godly, and yet You went to death for my life. Now, because of Your goodness, I am becoming like You. 

May I love others, as well, sacrificing my wants for their needs. Make my deepest desire be to do what is good for others. May the choices I make help others choose Jesus.

Amen

Daily Question

What are some things you are free to do, but you choose not to, for the sake of your witness to others?

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Grace Is Stronger

Daily Reading

Luke 19-20

Daily Thought

Given a choice between riches and God, the man clung to his wealth, and Jesus observed, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:25). The disciples were shocked because in their mind, rich people could do anything. Except let go of their riches, explained Jesus, which made it impossible for them to follow God, “but what is impossible with man is possible with God” (Luke 18:27). Along came Zacchaeus, “a chief tax collector and rich” (Luke 19:2)–just the guy to show what God can do. 

Zacchaeus, in name Jewish, served Rome instead, collecting taxes for Caesar. This earned him the hatred of his people, but he favored money more than friends. Little wonder the crowd did not part to let the short guy up front, so Zacchaeus was forced to climb a tree if he would see Jesus. When Jesus stopped under the tree and looked up, Zacchaeus must have feared the worst–the holy man would call out the sinner, but instead, Jesus invited himself to dinner, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today” (Luke 19:5). It was not a request, but a necessity, not for  Jesus’ sake, but for Zacchaeus’. The crowd grumbled that Jesus would “be the guest of a man who is a sinner” (Luke 19:7), and the sinner opened the door and let him in. Greed may have its grip on the heart of Zacchaeus, but grace is stronger. Grace is the power of God to do in Zacchaeus what he would never do on his own. “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold” (Luke 19:8). God did the impossible and the rich man let go of his riches.

Daily Prayer

Father God, You are good and Your ways are good for me. I choose to follow You, to stay on the path You put before me. Made in Your image, I desire to look like You again. Thank You for Your Son, who showed me what You look like. Thank You for Your Spirit who day-by-day transforms me into Your likeness.

May my life be a reflection of You, so that I can say to others, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” To Your glory!

Amen

Daily Question

What does God compete with most for your heart?

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God’s Love Never Ends

Daily Reading

Joel 1-3

Daily Thought

God’s promise to Israel had two parts. If you obey, God will shower you with blessing, 

“If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.” ~Leviticus 26:3-4

If you disobey, judgment. 

“But if you will not listen to me…  then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache.” `Leviticus 26:14, 16

We like the first part. 

The book of Joel begins with the second. 

What the cutting locust left,
the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
the hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
the destroying locust has eaten. ~Joel 1:4

Locust, locust, and more locust follows disobedience, disobedience, and more disobedience. God was patient, but Israel’s disobedience persisted and then came the locust. Israel had tested God’s patience, over and over, until it ran out. 

Now, God says, test my love. 

“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. ~Joel 2:12-13

Beware, God’s patience has its limit. Ah, but be glad, his love does not. 

Daily Prayer

Righteous God, You have given me Your commandments, not as a burden, rather, they are a blessing. They give life and show me the way to live. Even the littlest commandment. Every Word You speak, God, is valuable and true. May I learn Your Word and keep it in my heart, so that it will guide my steps. 

You are a gracious and compassionate God. Thank You for so great a salvation through Your Son, Jesus Christ.

Amen

Daily Question

How difficult is it for you to bless people who don’t deserve it?

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The Grilled Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

Daily Reading

Hebrews 1-6

Daily Thought

“For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt” (Hebrews 6:4-6). This passage describes lovers of legalism who nibble at the edges of grace, but the freedom frightens them. The problem with grace is it requires absolutely nothing from us. It offends the pride of the religious who insist on contributing to their own salvation. One sacrifice is not enough for their sin, so they go back to the safety of rules and religion, do’s and don’ts. 

Lovers of religion who delight in legalism harken back to the Law of Moses which taught the Israelites to offer repeated sacrifices for every sin, but Jesus offered one sacrifice, himself, and “we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). The writer of Hebrews compares the new to the old, the cross of Christ to the Law of Moses, and it is not even close, “Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses” (Hebrews 3:3). 

Ask any kid, “What is the best sandwich ever made?” It is Peanut Butter and Jelly, no competition. Unless you met a kid from my youth group, a kid who was served my wife’s Grilled Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich. I run into these kids, 5, 10, 20 years after graduating. You know what they talk about? The Grilled Peanut Butter and Jelly. They liked the old PB&J, but once they tasted the new, there was no going back.

It is no longer what we must do to be forgiven, but what Christ has done to save us, once for all forever. This is the grace of God and once you bite deeply into grace, you will never again be satisfied by the Law. There is no going back.

Daily Prayer

God, You are so good. To be welcomed into Your family, to experience Your warmth and love, to understand what life is all about, to really live, what more could I ever want? (The answer is nothing more. You are above and beyond my deepest desires.)

Thank You for the blessings of heaven, of Your Kingdom. There is a better life than the one this world offers. Your Kingdom come, Your will be done. I look forward to the day when Your Son reigns over the heavens and the earth in perfect peace and righteousness. There is nothing better, not even close.

Amen

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A Free Gift

Daily Reading

2Corinthians 10-13

Daily Thought

Paul has a paternal relationship with the Corinthians, he is dad and they are his children, and parents provide for their kids, not the other way around, “for children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children” (2Corinthians 12:14). Jack’s mom came downstairs to start breakfast one morning and found a bill from her twelve-year-old son on the kitchen counter: mowing the lawn – $6; drying the dishes – $1; raking leaves – $6; cleaning garage – $7; total owed – $20. She smiled and made his breakfast. That afternoon, Jack came home from school and found next to a plate of cookies, an envelope with a twenty dollar bill inside and a note from his mom: washing clothes – nothing; vacuuming room – nothing; cooking meals – nothing; driving everywhere – nothing; baking cookies – nothing. Love, Mom.

This is the heart of Paul, “I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls” (2Corinthians 12:15), love with no strings attached. Any price tag attached to love devalues it.

Daily Prayer

I thank You, God, for Your grace, for the righteousness that comes from Your Son, for the power that comes through Your Spirit. You love is worth everything, but the cost of love is borne by the lover, and that is You, “for God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.”

Sometimes I get the idea that I have something to offer You, something You need. I should remember, and I shall remember, that everything I am is because of You. Everything I do, may it give You pleasure and bring You glory. And everything You have given me, may I share it freely, because it cost me nothing and You everything.

Amen

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Grace Is Stronger

Daily Reading

Luke 19-20

Daily Thought

Given a choice between riches and God, the man clung to his wealth, and Jesus observed, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:25). The disciples were shocked because in their mind, rich people could do anything. Except let go of their riches, explained Jesus, which made it impossible for them to follow God, “but what is impossible with man is possible with God” (Luke 18:27). Along came Zacchaeus, “a chief tax collector and rich” (Luke 19:2), just the guy to show what God can do. 

Zacchaeus, in name Jewish, served Rome instead, collecting taxes for Caesar. This earned him the hatred of his people, but he favored money more than friends. Little wonder the crowd did not part to let the short guy up front, so Zacchaeus was forced to climb a tree if he would see Jesus. When Jesus stopped under the tree and looked up, Zacchaeus must have feared the worst–the holy man would call out the sinner, but instead, Jesus invited himself to dinner, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today” (Luke 19:5). It was not a request, but a necessity, not for  Jesus’ sake, but for Zacchaeus’. The crowd grumbled that Jesus would “be the guest of a man who is a sinner” (Luke 19:7), and the sinner opened the door and let him in. Greed may have its grip on the heart of Zacchaeus, but grace is stronger. Grace is the power of God to do in Zacchaeus what he would never do on his own. “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold” (Luke 19:8). God did the impossible and the rich man let go of his riches.

Daily Prayer

Father God, You are good and Your ways are good for me. I choose to follow You, to stay on the path You put before me. Made in Your image, I desire to look like You again. Thank You for Your Son, who showed me what You look like. Thank You for Your Spirit who day-by-day transforms me into Your likeness.

May my life be a reflection of You, so that I can say to others, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” To Your glory!

Amen