Grace

 Grace. 

Its something so undeserving. We can not work for grace for it is given as a gift. It is something God gives freely. It was given when Jesus poured out His life for us. When we say we do not deserve grace. That our sins are too great. We are saying that Jesus' death was in vain. That His death was not good enough, that His death was not great enough to cover our sins. 

"By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace

 toward me was not in vain..." 

-1 Corinthians 15:10

Paul, a man who persecuted that church, who killed many because of their belief in God. This man, received God's grace. He knew how horrible his sin was. Paul was aware that out of all men he was the most unworthy. But Paul clung onto God's free gift of grace. He humbled himself and laid down his sins before God. 

 “ 'Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!'

 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: 'Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.'

 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?' Then I said, 'Here I am! Send me.' ”

Isaiah 6:5-8

Isaiah, before God saw how unclean he was. But his lips were then touched by a burning coal,and the seraphim said to him after that his guilt was taken away, and his sin atoned for.

It is interesting to see how it was said his guilt was taken away. Many of us believe in God, we know our sins were taken away but we sense this heavy guilt that weighs us down. 

Isaiah not only had his sins atoned for but his guilt removed.

Then after that, when God asked who would go for Him... Isaiah did not take the grace given to him in vain.. but he proclaimed "Here I am Lord, send me!"

God takes our sins away, His grace given to us as a gift. 

Neither Paul or Isaiah saw this grace and said "No Lord, I am too unclean, my sin is too great!" 

But they took hold of this grace and ran with it. 

They both positioned themselves for service,saying, 

"Here I am Lord, send me!"

"Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect...Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

- Phil. 3:12-14

Paul did not consider himself perfect, even after receiving grace. But what grace allowed him to do was forgetting the past, and straining toward the future. To live a life worthy of the gospel. 

We too can receive the same grace of God. Our sins are not too great. We can be cleansed and forgiven, and our guilt removed.

 We too can say,

"Here I am Lord, send me!"

"...though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow;

though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."

-Isaiah 1:18

The Honest Lie

Revelations 12:10

"Now have come the salvation and the power

and the kingdom of our God, 

and the authority of his Messiah.

For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,

who accuses them before our God day and night,

has been hurled down."

Today you may feel it, the whisper of the accuser. The one who takes you aside and tells you the honest lie... 

"you can't do it."

Some of you may wonder what "honest lie" means. It does sound kind of contradicting. Let me explain. 

Have you ever asked someone "honestly, what do you think?" Hoping for a truthful answer?

Well, the enemy is that. He makes himself out to be your truthful friend. The one who gives it to you straight. But yet he is only telling you partial truths. 

You see the enemy leaves out the honest truth of salvation. The cross. The blood of Christ that was spilled because of our sin. 

See, Christ knows we are sinners too. Jesus knows how horrible our sin is, and He knows we may never get it right. BUT He had a plan. Because He knows us and loves us, He died. He gave us the power of salvation. So that by the Spirit of God in us, we have the power to conquer sin, to live a life for Christ.

The enemy will always give it to us straight, always bring us our ugly flaws. But he always stops short. BUT God, He keeps going, He agrees with the enemy that we have done wrong and have sinned, but He also reminds us that He has payed for that sin. He has given us the power of salvation so that the accuser may be shut down and that we may dwell with Christ forever.

Never allow the lie of the enemy to be the "truth" in your life, but allow the power of salvation to be the hope you hold onto. 

Prayer

           "Read your Bible, pray every day and you grow, grow, grow" is a little song my mom taught me when I was a child. Pray everyday and your grow; simple, yet its one of the hardest things for most Christians to have as a continuous lifestyle. 1 Thes. 5:17 says, "pray without ceasing". Take it to the next level, not just every day but all day. How consistent is my prayer life? How consistent is your prayer life? How does prayer help us grow? Why should we pray?

           Prayer is more powerful than we tend to consider. Prayer opens doors we thought were impossible to open. Prayer builds an intimacy with Christ that cannot be obtained any other way. Prayer allows you to intercede (to plead on behalf of someone).  Prayer is simply communication with God. 

            God, the King of Heaven and o f earth is the same God in whose presence the seraphim "...cease to say, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.' ” (Rev. 4:8). That same God wants to hear our prayers, wants to be in constant communication with us. He wants to hear our mourning, repentance, praise and even wants us to ask for blessing and miracles. That same God hears it all and answers! It may not always to be the answer we want to hear, or it may not come in accord with our timing, but whenever and however He answers- He does answer. 

            He has answered prayers throughout history. He answered Abraham's prayer for a son, the Israelites prayer for freedom, David's prayer for forgiveness and He will answer your prayers as well. There is nothing you need to do, no extra spiritual religious act in order for God to hear and answer your prayers. All you have to do is make your requests known to God. (Phil. 4:6) All you have to do is ask and you shall receive (Matt. 21:22). If you need a listening ear all you need to do is "call upon me and come pray to me and I will listen to you" (Jer. 29:12). David, a murderer and an adulterer, called out to God, God heard him, answered him and later called him a man after His own heart. That gives me so much hope, that even in my worst sins, I can still cry out to God - still pray to Him, He hears me, and I can be after His own heart.

             When we pray our spirit becomes united with the Spirit of God, and when we don't have a continuous prayer life our spirits aren't intertwine as they should be. God wants us to pray in order for us to get to know Him in a more intimate way. To know His thoughts, His heart, His knowledge and wisdom, to know Him! In return, although He already knows us (Psalm 139:1-4), He allows us to pray to communicate our feelings and hidden thoughts to Him.

              "The more we pray the more we sense out need to pray and the more we sense our need to pray, the more we want to pray" (Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire). We need to place ourselves in situations where we daily need to pray. We need to always be interceding for those around us. The more we surround ourselves in environments where we need to be on our knees, the more we are on our knees, the more we get to know God and His heart and become one with God. 

              "For everyone who asks receives" (Matt. 7:8). How do sinners, mere humans, get what we ask for when we don't deserve anything but death? Because of God's love and salvation we become God's children; He becomes our Father. Jesus' example in how to pray opens with "Our Father, in heaven..."(Matt. 6:9). He wants us to continually identify ourselves as His children, and Him as our Father. Just like a daughter can ask her father for ice cream when she does nothing to deserve it, we can come bodily before our heavenly Father and ask. That doesn't mean we get out ice cream, it may not be the right time, or healthy for us, BUT most times God wants to shower down blessings on us. Jabez had the same boldness. "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my border..." (1 Chronicles 4:9). 

              To pray, we need to come boldly, we need to have faith that God hears us, we need to keep it continuous in order to stay intimately close and united with God's Spirit. "Read your Bible, pray every day and you grow, grow, grow" - simple. So let us simply get on our knees and see how God communicates with us, hears us, and answers us. 

All Glory To God

                  I wish I could say I have given all the glory to God in all that I have done. But to be honest, I have lived a life of craving praise and recognition. I would tell people "give the credit to God" but there was a part of me that would get puffed up in pride. It sounds ugly, unchristian of me but it's the truth. 

      When I read this verse the words "whatsoever" and "all" stand out. 

Whatsoever. ANYTHING. Anything I do. Whatsoever I do. If I am in public or in the privacy of my own room, whatever I do I need to give the glory to God. I need to live the same way regardless of my location.

All. EVERYTHING. I can not do something and take partial credit. I can not acknowledge God verbally but in my heart take the glory. Let me ask you... which is better? A verbal "to God be the glory" or an inward "to me be the glory" ? 

Oswald Chambers in "My Upmost for His Highest" says, "It's one thing to go through a crisis grandly, yet quite another to go through every day glorifying God when there is no witness, no limelight, and no one paying even the remotest attention to us...
We tend to set up success in Christian work as our purpose, but our purpose should be to display the glory to God in human life, to live a life 'hidden with Christ in God' " (Nov. 16)

 "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God" - Colossians 3:3

His Cry

It was the way He cried, as He was on His knees praying out to His Father. His tears poured out from the depth of His heart. "O, Father take this cup from me!" He shouted in anguish. As He prayed His sweat turned to blood. A taste of what was to come. As the blood fell from His crown, He knew He would experience the sting of death. He surrendered the cup to His Father, saying "not my will, but Yours be done" He let go. He let God take Him to the darkest point of  His short life. He surrendered His will for that of His Fathers. He died a harsh and brutal death so we may have a taste of life. So we may know what it means to live. For it says we were dead, but now we are alive in Christ. It took death to bring us life. Each day as I inhale, I can be grateful that Jesus exhaled His last breath for me. That He laid down His will in that garden, even though He knew what was to come. Because of Christ I am living, not just physically, but I am spiritually alive. I am able to now remove my hands from my will, from my desires in order to take the cup God has given me. Now I am a living sacrifice. Daily dying for the sake of Christ. For I cry out in the darkness, pleading my case before God. But I know I can surrender my will because I had a perfect example who did the same. Now I can cry out, "not my will, but Yours be done."

As I sit in the library at my school, here at Valley Forge Christian College, I begin watching different people studying for their majors. Each one is pursuing a dream, or better yet, their calling. As I continue to look around, I see each individual intensely studying, reading or writing, and its all for one common goal, to expend the Kingdom of Heaven.

Each one made some sort of sacrifice to be here; maybe it was a job, a carrier, money or just their time in order to learn different ways of spreading the Gospel. Some study to become counselors, pastors, teachers or missionaries; some are studying music, graphic design or media. Although each person is studying different majors, they are having the same mission, to spread the love of God to the lost and hurting.

It is amazing to see what faith can motivate individuals to do. Not just Christians, but also people around the world. If you think about it everyone has faith, something they believe in. From a Muslim to an Atheist, each one searches for evidence of something not seen. Even if it’s history, it’s the trust of human writings.

They fight for and trust this belief, along with Christians. Faith is something no one can prove, or it wouldn’t be faith. We are trusting in a god or God to be whom they or He says to be.

Everything is based off of some kind of faith; each one of us molds our worldview according to that faith. Movies, music, politics all portray the worldview of its author, and that worldview is founded on their faith.

People are created in God’s image and He has placed a human longing in each of us to search for Him. Although many people have and are searching, they come across false teachers that present a different god to worship. As this new faith is formed, a new religion begins. A group rises and they start spreading what they know or believe to be true. Each group, each religion that forms starts to try to persuade others to their faith. Sometimes their religion demands war in order to remove all non-believers. Some religions want world peace and will do whatever it takes to make that happen. Some believe in nothing at all. They believe there is no god, yet it still is a form of faith, they believe in something they cannot prove.

As Christians, we have a lot to go up against. For we know that our faith in God is thee only way to salvation, to freedom. But just like us, many believe their faith is the only way. They too have put time and money and some even sacrifice their own lives for the sake of their god.

Let us, as Christians not be foolish and come of as arrogant, but let us be compassionate. Ready to listen to others, yet with a firm foundation in Christ so we are not easily swayed. Let us be prepared in and out of season. Let us study the Word of God so we may not stumble and fall into the beliefs of false teachers. But finally, let us “go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

Trusting Your Trainer

Trainers, hated and loved by many. Trainers push you past what you thought was your limit. Think about that. Many times we evaluate our lives and place limits on ourselves. We can only go this far, we are only capable of this much. We say so many times "O' I can't do that!" limited by our view of ourselves. This is when a trainer comes into play. They know the body better than we do, they study and know the actual limits. They tell us to keep on running, but our body is saying stop, but it actually is our mind reminding us about our personal limits. They know when it becomes dangerous for our health, again, they know our body and how it functions, it's their job, They know that pushing us is not going to injure us, but increase our strength.

God is our trainer. He knows us, He knows our actual limits. He knows what we can handle. He places us in situations that won't kill us, won't injure us (spiritually) but will increase our strength. He knows that we place limits on ourselves. We continually tell the Trainer, "umm...just to let you know, I cannot do what you asked... I am not able to, not equipped to.... (fill in your personal excuse). " We trust our limits and not God's. God is training us, He is working out our salvation. He knows when to stop, when to rest, and when to keep on going. As we obey, we become equipped. "to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of
Christ may be built up" -Eph. 4:12





When we are out of shape,working out, with the trainer coaching us- pushing us...we tend to stay focused on our pain. This does not help in any way. I noticed one day when running, that if I stayed focus on something (other than my pain) I would run better and longer. Once I stopped focusing on the one thing, if I noticed a person next to me running faster, or looked at my watch to see how long I was running... I would all the sudden noticed how my legs were hurting, I would breathe faster... My heart would race and in that moment I would quit running. Let's say I had a trainer next to me, saying not to stop... Keep on going. Honestly I think I would cry. I would argue with him, tell him I am too tired. I would start doubting my trainer, trusting my own knowledge and not his. I would wonder if he even cares about my pain, does he notice I am hurting?


God wants us to keep on going. Pushing past our pain, focused on our goal, focused on Him. That is why it says not to look to the right or to the left, but to stay focus on the price. Once we start comparing ourselves to others, once we focus on how long we have been in a circumstance, we loose our focus on God. We begin to complain, we notice our pain, we notice how tired we are. God cares for us. Again He knows our true limit. He does this to increase our faith, increase our strength. Do not doubt your Trainer. He knows what He is doing. He is working you out for your benefit and for His kingdom. At the end you will see the change in your life. But do not think that you just need to work out. Make sure you are feeding yourself the best food, get into the Word not the world. Have a diet. You may be able to run a couple miles, but if you feed your body the wrong food, you will not see changes. Keep on running the race marked out for you. Listen and trust in your Trainer. Eat right. And you will see that you are in God's perfect will.


"Father knows our circumstances, and if we will stay focused on Him, instead of our circumstances, we will grow spiritually-just as 'the lilies of the field.' " - Oswald Chambers, Matt. 6:28