Many are failing the grace of God, forsaking their diligent looking, and allowing for a troubling root of bitterness to develop, defiling many. This is written in Hebrews 12:15. Yes a lot of believers are spineless, but David was not. In 2 Samuel 12:20 it says “Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshiped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.” The verse above culminates a former lusting; a wandering eye in a time of weakness, and an affair. Then, it was followed by a denial, a woman’s pregnancy, a panic by all, and a husband’s murder. Not done yet, we see a cover up, a chastening by God, a rude awakening by David and acknowledgement of sin; his repentance followed that,…
Tag: <span>grace</span>
Some members in particular are given, a joint that supplies, to breathe life into our corner of the body, and invigorate our group. These folks carry not a man’s energy, which can intimidate, but a quickening that removes intimidation. These don’t ask us to perform or do things, they instead perform the things concerning us. They effortlessly serve us, sometimes unknowingly. These inspirers spread grace, the God quality, through their weakened humanity. They not only know Christ but Christ interacts with us through them. They are full of grace and truth. This kind has been with the Savior, their face shines reflecting His presence, and the glory of grace is praised in them. They have an eternal weight of glory in their soul through trials and temptations, mostly hidden sufferings. They have wept for their circle oft, their family daily. They have encompassed themselves in God’s songs of deliverance; they…
Grace cannot act where there is either desert or ability. Grace does not help-it is absolute, it does it all. All thoughts below originate with William Newell A life without grace will lead us to wrongdoing — either through the short skirt of shamelessness or the long skirt of controlling self and others. Both encourage sin, one by giving it up, the other by holding it back. Grace is vital for people who kill their neighbor, but also for the finger pointing busy-body across the street — or anybody else for that matter. First, grace is God acting freely. Is your life happy with letting God do anything He wants? Has your whimpering manipulated God, or your bizarre flip-out? Can your smug religious works move Him? Not this God. He “doeth whatsoever He will in the army of heaven.” Do you have a sense of privilege?…
Life began on the first day of the week; on that, of all days first, when the sinless Savior died. It came out of Him, a fountain erupted, and swept the plains, valleys and hills till the life-effect sprouted buddings and blooms tall and broad. Bitter waters turned sweet and an ax head swam home to shore. A great net retrieved fish till net-burst, then waters came out of a person’s belly. A man stood up and walked right on the waters; which same waters make glad the city of God. Devils rankled the waters and a storm erupted, heads got washed; then calm resisted so feet got a good washing later. The waters headed north, over the mountains; an ark-boat buoyed, one and only to be seen. Men came out of that time capsule and water became wine at a wedding, many a year later. Yes, showers of blessing drenched the vines and men…
Before the throne of God above, I have a strong and perfect plea, a great High Priest, whose name is love, who ever lives and pleads for me, my name is graven on His hands, my name is written on His heart, I know that while in heaven He stands, no tongue can bid me thence depart, no tongue can bid me thence depart. Selah “When Satan tempts me to despair, and tells me of the guilt within, upward I look and see Him there, who made an end to all my sin, because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free, for God the Just is satisfied, to look on Him and pardon me, to look on Him and pardon me.” The song continues. David feared to bring the ark of God into the city of David, having watched as that Holy Presence smote…
“The Lord cannot fully bless a man until He has first conquered him.” —The call to nearness enables the resistance of worldly temptation.” A.W. Tozer We surrender when conquered, we yield when broken, we capitulate when exhausted; we “cease from our own works.” Ironically, a faith begins here, and also a hope, and also love. As the project stalemates we find contentment with the Project Manager. His presence defines our new beginning; He-in-us becomes hope-of-glory. His nature in us describes love. Oddly enough, finding Him and losing me arrive simultaneously. My dreams dash, my visions smash, my passivity or enterprise collapses and burns. Will breaks now and resolve , conscience bears hampering , and emotions lose care. Rational explanations wanting, we concede. As children we wrestled with my Dad for fun. He would pin us down and cry out, “give up?” We would squirm only to be pinned again. “Give up?” Finally, we got tired, pinned us…
For many people, an excuse is better than an achievement because an achievement, no matter how great, leaves you having to prove yourself again in the future; but an excuse can last for life. Eric Hoffer A great statement and wise observation, it grabs us because the folly of human nature often exposes itself so loudly. Hoffer above describes a person who thinks wrongly, but why? We can call him or her a legalistic thinker, because they view life as a proving, a measuring up to a standard, a trying to please or appease a serious onlooker who holds their fate. It’s no shock to us that this law-beaten type of individual must turn their mind toward evasion tactics and ploys of excuse making. Their life is drudgery. They stay with a project for a while and try it on. They wait for the prospect of fulfillment —on their own…
“The transgression of the wicked says within my heart, there is no fear of God before their eyes.” This is Psalm 36, verse two. So, something that others do has something to say in my heart? Yes, the heart moves and absorbs movement, processing thoughts, feelings, conscience, etc. We guard the processor vigilantly, entrusting it to God, this is Proverbs 23:26. See, we have a brand-new heart, but what became of the old heart? That heart has the capability to resurface in our experience if my new heart is not safe-guarded. To avert this re-rise we put our bodies on an altar, set apart, and fellowship in a discernment of his will and purpose which correlates to my new heart. See? Now, with this new heart we have many sanctified functions: one of these is to distinguish all people and circumstances. Let me give you an example; when operating in…
Storage bins: they hold stuff. They serve best when dry, unbroken. Where many accumulate, markings identify each…maybe they are color-coded or tagged. These bins survive in protected cargo space. I worked a small warehouse once, primarily because I lacked production side skills. My job was to label and categorize things previously “hit and miss.” In my case, this meant putting steel with steel, or copper with copper. Sometimes I put red with reds, and yellow with yellows. I took boxes of arbitrary screws or nails and sorted them, marked them, and placed them in individual jars on shelves. I threw out a lot of useless junk. Indexing and making things readily accessible to the production engineers started saving time on their projects. I so enjoyed the job. An outside business evaluater complimented my work, and encouraged me about how vital it was to the company. Nevertheless, she said, most employers…
People who understand grace also understand the meaning of the cross. It’s vital for the application of grace to personal situations. “Grace embrace” and “cross” require a commitment, and that “surrender” leaves self behind and moves Father-bound. Jesus cried out from His cross, “Father, into Thy hands I commit my Spirit.” Likewise, we commit our works unto the Lord toward established thoughts, in Proverbs 16:3. When we commit our way unto Him, the way comes to pass. (Psalms 37:4-6). We commit the keeping of our soul unto Him. He keeps it. In Romans 6, Paul showed us a bunch of facts to memorize, namely: we were (at salvation) baptized (immersed) into Christ and His death; two-we were buried with Him because of this saturation; three-since Christ was raised, we could walk in a new life; and four-we were joined to Him in perfect equivalence to His death and resurrection. See, united to Him…