Today was not necessarily a day where I wanted to just shout out great my God is. Yet, when I opened up my Bible to read this morning, that is exactly what I had right in front of my face: "Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of His name, give to Him glorious praise! Say to God, How awesome are your deeds!" (Psalm 66:1, 2). Not my first thoughts in the midst of losing Grandpa and everything else.
And yet, I can do nothing less. In every single way, God has proven faithful. Even in death, birth, debt, frustrations, everything, He has remained gloriously faithful to His name and His steadfast love. In every single way, I have experienced how awesome His deeds are: it is only by His grace that I knew the most amazing Grandpa ever, it is by His grace that I have a precious family He uses to provide His love and comfort, it is by His grace that I have a husband He allows me to rest in, who takes care of even the smallest detail so I don't have to, it is by His grace that I have a beautiful baby Selah Rae inside me to serve as a reminder that even as life passes away, He makes all things new, and it is only by His precious, beautiful, peculiar grace that I might even be chosen as His child, set free completely by the work of His spirit to love and to walk in the same grace He has poured out upon me. Yeah, without a doubt I have to join in with the psalmist and shout out the glory of His name. With all my heart I cry out, "Come and see what God has done: He is awesome in His deeds toward the children of man!" (Psalm 66:5) In every single way, it is true.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
grace that is enough
"I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in Him..." (1 Corinthians 1:4)
Far too often I forget my absolute need for the grace. I am far too easily convinced that there is within me something that could be enough, that could work hard enough or strive long enough to produce in me a work of righteousness, to sustain me. The truth is, there is nothing within me that has any hope of being good, any hope of love, any hope of right-ness. I am, at my very best, completely and utterly incapable.
Not a very encouraging thought, as long as I keep trying to be enough within myself. But, that is where the beauty of the Lord's grace comes in.
Grace is His work in those He has made His children: first in His work to save us some our absolute depravity, and then to continually sanctify and refine us to be like He is. It is His grace that sustains us, even in our weakness. It is His grace that moves us, pushes us, and grows in us His love and goodness. In every way, we are called to rely upon that grace as our only hope. I love these words that so carefully show our absolute need for Him: "Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation...Ascribe power to God, whose majesty is over Israel, and whose power is in the skies. Awesome is God from His sanctuary; the God of Israel--He is the one who gives power and strength to His people. Blessed be God!" (Psalm 68:18, 34, 35).
Far too often I forget my absolute need for the grace. I am far too easily convinced that there is within me something that could be enough, that could work hard enough or strive long enough to produce in me a work of righteousness, to sustain me. The truth is, there is nothing within me that has any hope of being good, any hope of love, any hope of right-ness. I am, at my very best, completely and utterly incapable.
Not a very encouraging thought, as long as I keep trying to be enough within myself. But, that is where the beauty of the Lord's grace comes in.
Grace is His work in those He has made His children: first in His work to save us some our absolute depravity, and then to continually sanctify and refine us to be like He is. It is His grace that sustains us, even in our weakness. It is His grace that moves us, pushes us, and grows in us His love and goodness. In every way, we are called to rely upon that grace as our only hope. I love these words that so carefully show our absolute need for Him: "Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation...Ascribe power to God, whose majesty is over Israel, and whose power is in the skies. Awesome is God from His sanctuary; the God of Israel--He is the one who gives power and strength to His people. Blessed be God!" (Psalm 68:18, 34, 35).
Thursday, July 15, 2010
...for freedom...
It's been an incredibly long time since I've been on this thing...but I heard a story yesterday that I thought I just had to share.
The story is of a man in the late 1700s who worked in the office of a local factory. Times were hard for his family, and they needed money to pay off some debt, so he began to embezzle funds from the owner. Of course, he was caught and put in prison. Prison for him was a little different than it is today: he was placed in chains, and kept in a dark room with little light or fresh air.
He should have been released within a year, at most maybe two. But because of some political turnover at the time, he was actually forgotten about for the next 12 years. During that time, his wife begged and pleaded for his release. Finally, it was granted, and after 12 years, this man was set free from his prison cell. What happened next was incredible.
Standing in the light for the first time, he blinked cautiously and looked around him. He took one, then two steps toward his wife, who stood before him in tears and joy, and then, he stopped. Turning slowly, he walked back into the prison and down the stairs back into his cell, where he put his chains back on. His wife, friends, and family were in absolute shock, and pleaded with him to enter into the freedom he had been granted. Doctors finally decided that he had been in prison so long that his mind now knew nothing else.
Heartbreaking, isn't it?? What's even more heartbreaking is that I made it all up. There really never was such a man...at least not one that I know of. But what gets me is how often my life portrays that very image. In Galatians, Paul writes, "...we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son...to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!' So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God." (4: 3-7)
Just like this man, I am incredibly guilty before my God. Nothing within me is good enough to deserve His love, peace, and righteousness. Just like this man, I am completely imprisoned, bound to myself, to these things that keep me from Him. But there is hope. Paul goes on to say that it is "for freedom that Christ has set us free." (5:1)
Free. I am completely set free, from all of it: my sin, myself, my false expectations, everything that drives me and yet never fully satisfies. My freedom is found only in His life, death, and resurrection.
But, if I refuse to walk in it, I am just like a prisoner who picks back up his chains, refusing to walk in the freedom he has been granted. I pray today, that if you truly are a child of God, you might live in the freedom for which He has set you free.
The story is of a man in the late 1700s who worked in the office of a local factory. Times were hard for his family, and they needed money to pay off some debt, so he began to embezzle funds from the owner. Of course, he was caught and put in prison. Prison for him was a little different than it is today: he was placed in chains, and kept in a dark room with little light or fresh air.
He should have been released within a year, at most maybe two. But because of some political turnover at the time, he was actually forgotten about for the next 12 years. During that time, his wife begged and pleaded for his release. Finally, it was granted, and after 12 years, this man was set free from his prison cell. What happened next was incredible.
Standing in the light for the first time, he blinked cautiously and looked around him. He took one, then two steps toward his wife, who stood before him in tears and joy, and then, he stopped. Turning slowly, he walked back into the prison and down the stairs back into his cell, where he put his chains back on. His wife, friends, and family were in absolute shock, and pleaded with him to enter into the freedom he had been granted. Doctors finally decided that he had been in prison so long that his mind now knew nothing else.
Heartbreaking, isn't it?? What's even more heartbreaking is that I made it all up. There really never was such a man...at least not one that I know of. But what gets me is how often my life portrays that very image. In Galatians, Paul writes, "...we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son...to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!' So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God." (4: 3-7)
Just like this man, I am incredibly guilty before my God. Nothing within me is good enough to deserve His love, peace, and righteousness. Just like this man, I am completely imprisoned, bound to myself, to these things that keep me from Him. But there is hope. Paul goes on to say that it is "for freedom that Christ has set us free." (5:1)
Free. I am completely set free, from all of it: my sin, myself, my false expectations, everything that drives me and yet never fully satisfies. My freedom is found only in His life, death, and resurrection.
But, if I refuse to walk in it, I am just like a prisoner who picks back up his chains, refusing to walk in the freedom he has been granted. I pray today, that if you truly are a child of God, you might live in the freedom for which He has set you free.
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