The Practice of the Presence of God

Greetings!

This past weekend the men at my church got away on a "Men's Recon"  to a couple cabins in the Pocono Mountains to spend time in quiet contemplation with God.  In doing so we read Brother Lawrence's classic work, "The Practice of the Presence of God."  It was revitalizing time.   I had my own copy of the book which I bought many years ago, so I brought it with me - fragile as it is from being loaned out and read so many times. Over the years I have copied quotes into the many blank pages and spaces in it.  So today I wanted to share some of those quotes with you.  And if you have just a moment, let me know which one(s) hit home the most. Enjoy.

"Whatever we are doing, even if we are reading the Word or praying, we should stop for a few minutes -- as often as possible -- to praise God from the depths of our hearts, to enjoy Him there in secret. Since you believe that God is always with you no matter what you may be doing, why shouldn't you stop for a while to adore Him, to praise Him, to petition Him, to offer Him your heart, and to thank Him?"

Brother Lawrence

"There is nothing but God's grace. We walk upon it. We breathe it. We live by it and we die in it."

Robert Louis Stevenson

"You have no strength but what God gives you, and you can have all the strength that God can give." 

Andrew Murray

"Wonder is the basis of worship."

Thomas Carlyle

"Faith is not an effort, a striving, a ceaseless seeking, as so many earnest souls suppose, but rather, a letting go, an abandonment, an abiding rest in God that nothing, not even the soul's shortcomings can disturb." 

Unknown

"God never asks us to give up anything unless He intends to replace it with something better."

George Mueller

"He who would not die for Jesus will never truly live for Jesus; for to earnestly live for Him requires dying daily to the self-will that we may do His will."

"God insists that we ask, not because He needs to know our situation, but because we need the spiritual discipline of asking."

Catherine Marshall

"When God wants to do His great works, He trains somebody to be quiet enough and little enough, then uses that person."

Hudson Taylor

"Enter into the inner chamber of your mind, shut out all things except God and whatever might aid you in seeking God, and having barred the door of your inner chamber, seek Him." 

St. Anselm of Canterbury

"God creates out of nothing. Therefore, until a man is nothing, God can make nothing out of him." 

Martin Luther

"Joy is not happiness as much as it is gladness; it is the ecstasy of eternity in a soul that has made peace with God and is ready to do His will."

Unknown

"Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation."

Elton Trueblood

"Be patient with each other, there are no shortcuts to spirituality. The growing of fruit takes time."

Unknown

"The greatness of a man is not measured by his power or ability, but by the measure of his surrender to God."

Unknown

"The person who insists on seeing with perfect clarity before he follows Christ in the way, will never obey God's call to walk by faith. To Abraham God said, 'Leave your country and your people and your father's household, and go to the place I will (that is, in the future, far down the road) show you." 

"When, as a husband or wife, you are confronted with a very difficult choice, do what is best for your spouse and your children and God will honor it." 

"If you'd ever really gotten inside the mind of Jesus, ever had a single taste of His burning love, considerations of your own loss or gain would mean nothing."

Thomas A'Kempis

"It is possible to give without loving, but it is impossible to love without giving."

Richard Braumstein

"Though we do not have our Lord Jesus with us in bodily presence, we have our neighbor, who, for the ends of love and loving service, is as good as our Lord Himself."

Teresa of Avila

"To do so no more is the best repentance."

Martin Luther

"No one gives himself freely and willingly to God's service unless, having tasted His Fatherly love, he is drawn to love and worship Him in return." 

John Calvin

In His Service, Pastor Jeff

The Sensate Culture

Greetings All!

     Today I struggled long and hard to know what "thought" to post.  So many books, so little time to read through them all!  But I finally settled on this one from Harold O. J. Brown's book "The Sensate Culture."   It was published in 1996 and has to do with the three stages nearly every major culture passes through as it moves from it's initial rise to power to eventual collapse.  Having read it in 1996, and just skimming it's pages once again today, I realized it is not only full comprehensive research, and wise insight, but is also rather prophetic -- since what he predicted 20 years ago has come into fuller measure today.

     After taking a class with him, I must tell you he is one of the most intelligent people I ever learned from (with John Frame, in my opinion, coming in a close second).  I say that because I want you to know he knows his subject well.  He is well-studied, knows history, gives attention to detail, and sees things from a somewhat non-biased (since no one is unbiased) big-picture perspective -- and combines it with an incisive understanding of culture and human nature. I highly recommend the reading of his book (if you truly care to gain an understanding of where we are at culturally speaking, and why so much upheaval is taking place). That's why I share this little taste of what his book has to offer. Enjoy.

     "Sorokin (in his book Social and Cultural Dynamics) identified three distinct phases through which cultures pass: 1.) Ideational - This is where a culture is willing to sacrifice pleasures and immediate goals for the sake of higher principles. Self-denial, asceticism, and martyrdom are natural behaviors from the ideational point of view.   2.) Idealistic - This is a compromise stage between Ideational and Sensate, where spiritual truths and values are still rated above all others, but it appreciates the realities and values of the sensory world and does not treat them as meaningless or non-existent.  3.) Sensate - At this point, the culture tends to be interested only in those things (usually material in nature) that affect the senses. It seeks the imposing, the impressive, the voluptuous and it encourages self-indulgence... No apology is made for encouraging people to squander their resources on self-indulgence...

     The great democracies of the ancient world (e.g., Athens and the Roman Republic) arose during an idealistic culture and did not survive the shift to sensate culture. Democracy requires self-discipline and self-control on the part of the masses -- qualities that are derided and destroyed by sensate culture...  Our present sensate culture [the phase the U.S. is in right now] increasingly lacks one of the most important conditions for a vibrant democratic government, namely, moral responsibility and integrity on the part of the majority of the citizens. Democratic institutions necessarily presuppose that people will govern themselves in many areas of life, but this is precisely what is discouraged and impeded by the sensate attitude of "eat, drink and be merry."  The idea that there are certain eternal or divine principles of justice that most people will respect without compulsion (which is characteristic in both the ideational and idealistic cultures) disappears in a sensate culture where people are interested only in things that give pleasure, avert pain, and provide immediate gratification.  When people do not have ideals and principles that move them to act without compulsion for the good of all, no government functions smoothly or well.  In the sensate phase of society, it is extremely difficult to maintain faith in the moral legitimacy of government, whether monarchical or democratic....

     Democracy presupposes a consensus of values or widespread agreement concerning what constitutes the morally good and desirable life. These are features of an integrated culture, but they become lost as a culture disintegrates in a transition phase. Consequently, one can predict with certainty that the democracy that we in the West profess to value is doomed to die if the sensate phase continues without any fundamental reorientation. When any form of government functions well, without the need to resort to extensive compulsion (by force), it is a sign that the citizens it governs have an adequate degree of personal responsibility and integrity. In an overripe sensate culture, governing a large multitude of people becomes progressively more difficult no matter what the political system, whether monarchy or democracy, oligarchy or dictatorship, because people interested only in that which gratifies their own senses find it next to impossible to act spontaneously and without compulsion, for the benefit of the community...

     In his inaugural address in 1961, President Kennedy made an appeal to the remnants of the idealistic mentality among the American people: "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." Unfortunately for the Kennedy's hopes, the remnant was not hardy enough to accomplish what he expected of it, for the culture was already too sensate, and the influence of the mass media and mass communication was rapidly exterminating virtually every memory of earlier idealistic attitudes...  Events of history -- "historical accidents" so to speak (ie: the murders of John Kennedy and his brother Robert, Vietnam, segregation, and the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., just to name a few) - have all contributed to the increasingly acute crisis of democratic theory in Western society, although its fundamental causes lie in the nature of the sensate culture itself, not in historic incidents, however dramatic...

When a sensate culture is wealthy and luxurious, as Western culture now is, it becomes increasingly difficult to motivate people to exert the self-denial and effort necessary to overcome dangers and avoid economic catastrophes...  It is difficult for the population of a democratic society in a late sensate culture to generate its own moral sense, or build the morale necessary to produce endurance under difficult and trying conditions. In such a culture, Jesus' words, "not to be served but to serve" (Matthew 20:28) strike most people as pure foolishness. Idealistic societies prize service; sensate societies cherish gain... As the sensate mentality becomes more pervasive, democratic politicians are forced to become nothing but demagogues, flattering the people and offering them easier and easier acquisition of more and more material goods and pleasures, as the Roman emperors provided the plebs with bread and circuses."

     This is not a political rant.  I don't belong to any party.  Nor do I indulge in politics.  I never bring them into the pulpit because I have never seen governmental systems as the answer to the human problem. I tend to follow Jesus on this and leave what is Caesar's to Caesar.  In fact, that's what impressed me about Prof. Brown -- after an entire course with him, I had no idea of his political affiliation, be it Democrat, Republican, or any other party (if he even belonged to one).  In fact, his general attitude seemed to be the one I espouse: That the Gospel of Jesus Christ was too radical to be held captive to any humanly devised political system or party.  That's about as political as I get!

     No, this "thought" is about the rise, and eventual demise, of any culture.  What brought it to prominence, and what will eventually lead to its downfall.  And I offer it to you simply as wise thoughts to consider, as well as soul-food to guide you in your prayers. Because cultural collapse, as our increasingly recurring glimpses have shown us, is a matter worthy of our earnest intercession.

In His Service, Pastor Jeff   

Streams in the Desert - Morning and Evening

Greetings All!

     About three weeks ago I was feeling rather dry spiritually speaking. So I headed to a nearby bargain outlet to see if they had any good devotionals. They did. Two of them.  One was "The Gift of Jesus," and the other the one I will quote from today called, "Streams in the Desert - Morning and Evening" by L. B. Cowman.  It's an old classic, but it has been edited and updated in modern language by James Reimann, and expanded to two devotional entries per day --  bringing it to 670 devotional readings and just about 900 pages.

     

     

     L. B. (Lettie Burd) Cowman was a tireless Christian worker.  Born on March 3, 1870, she met her future husband, Charles Cowman, when she was 13 years of age, and married him six years later, on June 8, 1889. On February 1, 1901, the Cowmans left the United States to work as missionaries in Japan. The work in Japan grew and by 1903 two Bible Training Institutes had opened in Japan. These schools held classes during the day, and in the evening hosted evangelical services open to the public. Dozens flooded in nightly to hear the Gospel.  At this time they (along with two other co-workers) started the OMS (Oriental Missionary Society). 

     Although they were making huge strides in their goals, Charles was not satisfied.  This led to the start of the Great Village Campaign in 1913.  His goal was for every person in Japan to hear the Gospel within the next five years. Teams of missionaries went to every town, village, and home throughout Japan, proclaiming the Gospel and distributing Bibles. When Charles’ health took a turn downward in 1917, he and Lettie were forced to return to America, they received news through the O.M.S. Standard in January 1918 that the Great Village Campaign was complete. About 60 million Japanese had heard the Gospel, with teams covering 161,000 square miles of the country.  Charles’ health continued to decline, and as he suffered in pain Lettie also suffered, watching her husband slowly fade away. Yet it was during this time her best-selling devotional book, Streams in the Desert, was conceived. In September of 1924 Charles died. Their co-worker took over as president of OMS and died in 1928.  It was then that Lettie took over the presidency of the OMS and held that position until 1949.

     Just as Charles felt such a strong calling to proclaim the Gospel to every individual in Japan, Lettie felt a similar call to distribute the Gospel to ALL nations. They had already been to Japan, Korea, and China, so they began to make plans to go to India, Africa, South America, Europe -- all the nations of the earth.  In Europe, they expanded into countries such as Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, and Czechoslovakia, a crusade which marked one of the last great evangelistic efforts in Europe before Nazi Germany took control.  In Africa, Egypt was a country for which Lettie felt a great burden. In December 1941, a crusade began in Mexico, and over the course of five years, the total evangelical church membership there doubled.  In 1943, the OMS entered South America, something Lettie never dreamed would happen. The right doors opened, and a Bible Training Institute began that year in Medellín, Colombia.  She became ill in 1957 and died on Easter Sunday, April 17, 1960, at the ripe old age of 90. This selection is her devotion for the evening of July 19. Enjoy

     Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me? (John 18:11)

     "To “drink the cup” was a greater thing than calming the seas or raising the dead. The prophets and apostles could do amazing miracles, but they did not always do the will of God and thereby suffered as a result. To do God's will when you know it will bring suffering is still the highest form of faith and the most glorious Christian achievement. 

     Having your brightest aspirations as a young person forever crushed; bearing burdens daily that are always difficult and never seeing relief; finding yourself worn down by poverty while simply desiring to do good for others and provide a comfortable living for those you love; being shackled by an incurable physical disability; being completely alone, separated from all those you love, to face the traumas of life alone --  

yet in all these, still being able to say through such a difficult school of discipline, “Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” --  this is faith at its highest, and spiritual success at its crowning point.

     Great faith is exhibited not so much in doing as in suffering (Charles Parkhurst).

     In order to have a sympathetic God, we must have a suffering Savior, for true sympathy comes from understanding another person’s hurt by suffering the same affliction. Therefore we cannot help others who suffer without paying a price ourselves because afflictions are the cost we pay for our ability to sympathize. Those who wish to help others must first suffer. If we wish to rescue others, we must be willing to face the cross; experiencing the greatest happiness in life through ministering to others is impossible without drinking the cup Jesus drank and without submitting to the baptism He endured. The most comforting of David’s psalms were squeezed from his life by suffering, and if Paul had not been given “a thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor.12:7 KJV), we would have missed much of the heartbeat of tenderness that resonates through so many of his letters.

     If you have surrendered yourself to Christ, your present circumstances that seem to be pressing so hard against you are the perfect tool in the Father’s hand to chisel you into shape for eternity. So trust Him and never push away the instrument He is using, or you will miss the result of His work in your life.

Strange and difficult indeed,

We may find it,

But the blessing that we need

Is behind it.

The school of suffering graduates exceptional scholars."

     Hebrews chapter 11 is "Faith's Hall of Fame."  Listed in it are people who by faith did all sorts of miracles, persevered against immense temptation in remaining true to God, and won all sorts of life's battles. Yet after going through a long list of overcomers, the tone changes in v. 35a, and instead of speaking of those who, "conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised, shutting the mouths of lions, quenching the fury of the flames, escaping the edge of the sword, and seeing their weakness turned to strength, routing foreign armies," we find others who did not gain deliverance or "victory" as we would often tend to describe it. 

     These others did not escape by faith but were, "tortured and refused to be released so they might gain a better resurrection."   They, "faced jeers and flogging, were chained and put in prison, stoned, sawn in two, and put to death by the sword.  They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted, and mistreated..."

     Yet interestingly, it is not the first group, but this last group -- the sufferers of abuse, poverty, torture, and death for their faith -- of whom the author writes: "The world was not worthy of them."  The others are commended are commended for their faith, but the people in this second group (those who suffered abuse, severe poverty or destitution, and often torture until death) are said to be, "those of whom the world is not worthy."  To use the words from Lettie's entry: "Great faith is exhibited not so much in doing as in suffering...  The school of suffering graduates exceptional scholars." 

In His Service, Pastor Jeff

Solitude is the furnace of transformation

Greetings All,

     Today's "thought" is about the need for times of solitude in our lives. In our busy society, where our schedules tend to dictate nearly every moment, it becomes difficult to carve out times for solitude. Yet (and I do know I speak as an introvert) they are necessary for our spiritual formation.
     I once worked in a wilderness program up in Northern Canada dealing with inner city Chicago teens. It was rugged. One of the exercises was to drop the teens off on a small deserted Island in the middle of a huge lake, for three days, with very minimal supplies. They would need to build their own shelter, find their own food, etc.  I would check in on the boys daily (morning and evening). After they had gone the entire three days, I returned by canoe to pick up each teen. Most did well, but one boy in particular simply could not bear the three days of silence, alone time, and the complete lack of the things he normally used to distract himself from himself and the thoughts that would run through his head. What the author calls, the "confusing ideas, disturbing images, wild fantasies, and weird associations that jump about in one's mind like monkeys in banana tree," when we enter into solitude.  Normally he was able to block them out with music, activities, conversations, and such, but not this time.

     This thought comes to you from a book I have looked back to often since purchasing it in seminary way back in 1982.  It's called, "The Way of the Heart" by Henri Nouwen.  In a society that places very little value on the traditions of Christian contemplation, Christ-focused meditation, or purposefully prolonged times of prayerful solitude, his words act as a good counter-balance.  He shares some of the benefits of such disciplines, so I won't.  Yet I must say that when I have set aside such times, I have benefited greatly from them.  One seven day long stint in the Dominican Republic (combined with fasting) helped guide me into my future calling, and another seven day stint (with the support of my very gracious wife Nancy who realized my need to get away and be with God) saved me from leaving the pastorate back in 1992.  Enjoy.

The Furnace of Transformation

     "Solitude is the furnace of transformation. Without solitude we remain victims of our society and continue to be entangled in the illusions of the false self. Jesus himself entered into this furnace in the wilderness. There he was tempted with the three compulsions of the world: to be relevant (“turn stones into loaves”), to be spectacular (“throw yourself down”), and to be powerful (” I will give you all these kingdoms”). There he affirmed God as the only source of his identity (“You must worship the Lord your God and serve him alone”). Solitude is the place of the great struggle and the great encounter – the struggle against the compulsions of the false self, and the encounter with the loving God who offers himself as the substance of the new self.

     This might sound rather forbidding. It might even evoke images of medieval ascetical pursuits from which Luther and Calvin have happily saved us. But once we have given these fantasies their due and let them wander off, we will see that we are dealing here with that holy place where ministry and spirituality embrace each other. It is the place called solitude... We say to each other that we need some solitude in our lives. What we really are thinking of, however, is a time and a place for ourselves in which we are not bothered by other people, can think our own thoughts, express our own complaints, and do our own thing, whatever it may be. For us, solitude most often means privacy… In short, we think of solitude as a place where we gather new strength to continue the ongoing competition in life… [Yet] solitude is not a private therapeutic place. Rather, it is the place of conversion, the place where the old self dies and the new self is born, the place where the emergence of the new man and the new woman occurs…

     In solitude I get rid of my scaffolding. I have no friends to talk with, no telephone calls to make, no meetings to attend, no music to entertain, no books to distract, just me – naked, vulnerable, weak, sinful, deprived, broken – nothing. It is this nothingness that I have to face in my solitude, a nothingness so dreadful that everything in me wants to run to my friends, my work, and my distractions, so that I can forget my nothingness and make myself believe that I am worth something. But that is not all. As soon as I decide to stay in my solitude, confusing ideas, disturbing images, wild fantasies, and weird associations jump about in my mind like monkeys in banana tree. Anger and greed begin to show their ugly faces. I give long and hostile speeches to my enemies and dream lustful dreams in which I am wealthy, influential, and very attractive – or poor, ugly, and in need of immediate consolation. Thus, I try again to run from the dark abyss of my nothingness and restore my false self in all its vainglory.

     [Yet] the task is to persevere in my solitude, to stay in my cell until all my seductive visitors get tired of pounding on my door and leave me alone… The struggle is real because the danger is real. It is the danger of living the whole of our life as one long defense against the reality of our condition, one restless effort to convince ourselves of our virtuousness. Yet Jesus “did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13). That is the struggle. It is the struggle to die to the false self. But this struggle is far, far beyond our own strength. Anyone who wants to fight his demons with his own weapons is a fool. The wisdom of the desert fathers is that the confrontation with our own frightening nothingness forces us to surrender ourselves totally and unconditionally to the Lord Jesus Christ. Alone, we cannot face “the mystery of iniquity” with impunity. Only Christ can overcome the powers of evil. Only in and through him can we survive the trials of our solitude… Only in the context of the great encounter with Jesus Christ himself can a real authentic struggle take place…

     We enter into solitude first of all to meet our Lord and to be with him and him alone. Our primary task in solitude, therefore, is not to pay undue attention to the many faces which assail us, but to keep the eyes of our mind and heart on him who is our divine Savior. Only in the context of grace can we face our sin; only in the place of healing do we dare to show our wounds; only with a single-minded attention to Christ can we give up our clinging fears and face our own true nature. As we come to realize that it is not we who live, but Christ who lives in us, that he is our true self, we can slowly let our compulsions melt away and begin to experience the freedom of the children of God."

     As with all things we read, merely being brought to think of the things spoken of is not enough. One benefits most by putting such suggestions into practice. As with the Word of God, it is the doers who receive the greatest benefit. I can believe with all my heart that exercise is good for the body, but if I don't get out and actually do it, it benefits me little.  Will you do a half day?  A day?  A few days? No phone, no Facebook, not Twitter, no texts, no movies, no magazines... just you and God alone in a forced time of solitude. There are few I've spoken with who have done it, who have not testified to the benefit of the time spent having to confront their compulsions, needs, insecurities, brokenness, and nothingness. For in confronting their own insignificance, they (like myself) have found it reinforces their dependence upon God and can bring us face to face with Jesus.

     With prayers that you will seriously consider this lost Christian discipline and schedule forced times of solitude,  Pastor Jeff

The Discipline of Grace

Greetings All!

Today's thought comes to you from Jerry Bridges and is found in his superb book, "The Discipline of Grace."
     What's the theme of the book?  How grace and the effort required to live a life of holiness are not incompatible. He shows how grace does not negate the need for effort, but actually empowers it and makes godly effort possible. Grace is not the need to do "nothing," but the God-implanted and God-sustained motivation and power to do what God would have us do! As Paul wrote in I Corinthians 15:10 where he compares himself to the other apostles: "By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect.  No, I worked harder than the all, yet not I but the grace of God that was with me."  Grace, Paul assures us, empowers and sustains effort.  It is undeserved power and divinely given assistance that enables us to do what God wills. It's an unearned and undeserved inner urge, compulsion, strength, and assistance which comes from God and apart from which "we can do nothing" (John 15:5). 
     If you don't have a copy of this book, or have not read it, you have missed out on a real gem.  For he clears up what is for many the seemingly unsolvable paradox between grace and effort, usually caused by a wrong understanding of grace, or the place of grace in the process of our growth in godliness.  The following excerpt is only one step in that process which he elaborates on in the rest of the book. Enjoy.

Good Day Bad Day

     "Grace and the personal discipline required to pursue holiness... are not opposed to one another. In fact, they go hand in hand. An understanding of how grace and personal, vigorous effort work together is essential for a life-long pursuit of holiness. Yet many believers do not understand what it means to live by grace in their daily lives, and they certainly don't understand the relationship of grace to personal discipline.

     Consider two radically different days in your own life. The first one is a good day for you spiritually. You get up promptly when your alarm goes off and you have a refreshing and profitable quiet time as read your Bible and pray... The second day is just the opposite. You don't get up when your alarm goes off. Instead, you shut it off and go back to sleep. When you finally awaken, it's too late to have quiet time. You hurriedly gulp down some breakfast and rush off to the days activities. You feel guilty about oversleeping and missing your quiet time, and things generally go wrong all day.  On the evening of both days you quite unexpectedly have an opportunity to share the gospel with someone who is really interested in receiving Christ as Savior. Would you enter those two witnessing opportunities with a different degree of confidence? Would you be less confident of the bad day than the good day? Would you find it difficult to believe that God would bless you and use you in the midst of a rather bad spiritual day?

     If you answered yes to any of those questions, you have lots of company among believers. I've described these two scenarios and asked audiences, "Would you respond differently?" Invariably about 80% indicate they would. They would be less confident of God's blessing while sharing Christ at the end of a bad day than they would after a good one. Is such thinking justified? Does God work that way? The answer to both questions is no, because God's blessing does not depend on our performance.  Why then do we think this way? It is because we believe that God's blessing on our lives is somehow conditioned on our spiritual performance. If we've performed well we assume we are in a position for God to bless us.  We know God's blessings come to us through Christ, but we also have this vague but very real notion that they are also conditioned on our behavior.  A friend used to think, "If I do certain things then I can get God to come through for me."  People who have a bad day tend to have no doubt in their minds that they have forfeited God's favor for a certain period of time, most likely until the next day... They think God would not use them to share the Gospel with someone on a "bad" day because, "they wouldn't be worthy." Such a reply reveals an all-too-common misconception of the Christian life: The thinking that although we are saved by grace, we earn of forfeit God's blessings in our daily lives by our performance.

     So what should we do when we've had a "bad" day spiritually, when it seems we've done everything wrong and are feeling guilty?  We must go back to the cross and see Jesus there bearing our sins in His own body (I Peter 2:24). We must by faith appropriate for ourselves the blood of Christ that will cleanse our guilty consciences (Hebrews 9:14).  We must remember that even when we have flagrantly and willfully sinned, Jesus bore the sins we've committed this day in His body on the cross. He suffered the punishment we deserve, so that we might experience the blessings He deserved.... I am not proposing a cavalier attitude toward sin. Rather, I am saying Christ is greater than our sin, even on our worst days. To experience that grace, however, I must lay hold of it by faith in Christ and His death on our behalf...

     Now let's go back to the "good" day scenario... Have you thereby earned God's blessing that day?  Will God be pleased to bless you because you've been good?  You are probably thinking, "Well, when you put it like that, the answer is no. But doesn't God work through clean vessels? To which I reply, "Let's assume that is true. How good do you have to be to be a clean vessel? How good is good enough?" ...

     Jesus said: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind... and your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37-39)... Have you perfectly kept those two commands (even on your best day)? And if not, does God grade on a curve? Is 90% a passing grade with God? We know the answers to those questions, don't we? Jesus said, "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect."  And James wrote, "Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point, is guilty of breaking it all" (James 2:10).

     The point of this good-day-bad-day scenario is this: Regardless of our performance, we are always dependent on God's grace, His undeserved favor to those who deserve His wrath. Some days we may be more acutely conscious of our sinfulness and hence more aware of our need of His grace, but there is never a day when we can stand before Him on the two feet of our own performance and be worthy enough to deserve His blessing. At the same time, the good news of the Gospel is that God's grace is available even on our worst days. That is because Christ Jesus fully satisfied the claims of God's justice and fully paid the penalty of a broken law when he died on the cross in our place. Because of that the apostle could write, "He forgave all our sins" (Colossians 2:13).

     Does the fact that God has forgiven us all our sins mean that He no longer cares whether we obey or disobey? Not at all. (Ephesians 4:30, Colossians 1:10)   He cares about our behavior and will discipline us when we refuse to repent of conscious sin. But God is no longer our Judge. Through Christ He is now our heavenly Father who disciplines us only out of love and only for our good.  If God's blessings were dependent on our performance they would be meager indeed. For even our best works are shot through with sin -- with varying degrees of impure motives and lots of imperfect performance.

     So here is an important spiritual principle that sums up what I've said so far: Your worst days are never so BAD that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so GOOD that you are beyond the need of God's grace.  Every day of our Christian experience should be a day of relating to God on the basis of His grace alone. We are not only saved by grace, but we also live by grace every day. This grace comes through Christ, "through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand"  (Romans 5:2)." 

     It's another way of stating the truth I frequently tell believers to make sure they don't get it backwards: "In Christ we work FROM grace, not FOR grace."  And believe me, that should be the cause of much thanks and praise!

     Blessings on your day, whether you happen to be having a bad one where you need God's grace, or a good one where you also need God's grace, Pastor Jeff