Saving Grace

 

People today are so turned off by legalism that they pervert the truth that we are forgiven of all sins - past, current and future - and allow sin to grow in their life. They feel no remorse for breaking God's heart.

They sit around drinking beer, wine, cocktails and even hard liquor discussing the Word of God. They smoke their cigars and pipes in church fellowships, and they allow their language to digress to that of a drunken sailor.

They feel this is spiritual, because they are breaking the bonds of legalism. They claim that the current church emasculates men and say that the "letter of the law", in the current evangelical church, prevents them from having a living relationship with our mighty God.

I agree that living only according to the "logos" - written Word of God - can mask the sinful desires within a person's heart. I also agree that a 'rhema' - the living Word - relationship is the most important aspect of our salvation.

Legalism does kill the spirit, and relationship is more important than religion. However, I also believe that when we actually see the living Jesus, we shrink from living with a license to sin (1 John 2:15).

We forsake alcoholism, pornography, gay pride, abortion, adultery and all the other sins, which humanity explains away in our current Laodicean society.

The teachings of today's so-called pastors mirror the gospel taught by the Nicolaitans, whom God hated (Revelations 2:6). These modern men are purporting old age deception cloaked in New Age Lies.

Add this to the gnostic element creeping back into the church through Satanic influence and deception, and the post-modern church has a stench that makes God want to vomit (2 Corinthians 11:4; Revelation 3:16).

Whatever happened to the holiness that Jesus exemplified for us in His life, calling us to emulate Him in our every thought, word and deed? His Spirit transforms us with the mind of Christ and fills us with His fruit to replace our carnality (Romans 12:2; Galatians 5:15-25).

Prayer:

Father God, You make it very clear in the Old and New Testament that You are a Holy God. You call Your Saints to walk in holiness and not to fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Galatians 5:15-25). You are the righteous judge, and sin grieves Your Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). We do not abound in sin, so that Your grace may abound in us (Romans 6:1).

Sin, in any form, is destructive and You protect us from its destruction by Your commandments and directives. If we compromise Your Word, we compromise our own success and blessings. We realize that our sin is already paid for by Christ's crucifixion, but this fact drives us to a dedication to Your Word, rather than to participate in crucifying Jesus afresh by our lackadaisical dabbling in sin without honest remorse (Hebrews 6:4- 6).

Thought for the Day:

Modern "reformed" preachers reject solid Biblical principles and replace them with lifeless, liberal mysticism; they ignore the draw of God's Spirit to walk in holiness just as our Father God is holy. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

- Hebrews 4:12, 13:8; 1 Peter 1:16. 

 

Though We Suffer Loss

 

Whoever offers praise, glorifies God (Psalm 50:23). We praise Him in our victories, our successes, and our blessings, as well as in our diseases, our worries, our fears and our setbacks (Job 13:15).

There are many times when things do not go our way. We feel frustration, remorse, defeat and hopelessness; yet, we rejoice in the God of our salvation, who is our strength (Habakkuk 3:17-19).

This connection with God acknowledges that He is in control of our life at all times. It humbles us and causes us to shift our focus from our self and our problems to Him, our Problem Solver.

The more we establish and maintain our unity with God, the fewer trials and negative experiences occur in our life. When they do come, as trials always have a way of infringing on the best of times, the trauma is short-lived because of our positive attitude.

We see the daily blessings in the negative situation, and we see the hand of God working in the details to bring us encouragement and support as we suffer loss and ill health.

Job knew the power of prayer. He lost more in one day than most people lose in a lifetime. He suffered anguishing emotional, mental, financial and physical loss all at the same time. Yet, he chose to praise the Lord.

Sitting in the pile of ashes, scraping his boils with broken pieces of pottery, his trust in God never faltered. He endured endless days of torment and suffering with His hope planted firmly in the Lord.

Prayer:

Father God, the length of Job's suffering discouraged him and caused him to question You, and to wish to die and end his misery; but You sustained him through those harsh and unwarranted issues and blessed him with more than he lost. We thank You that regardless of the circumstances we experience You are always in the midst of them with us.

It is encouraging to see that Satan has no power over us. There are only two ways that he can inflict us: if we open the door to him by our attitude and behavior, or if You give him permission. We know that if we walk uprightly before You, anything we suffer will result in more blessings in the end. Therefore, we praise You, even if You decide to slay us (Job 13:15; Daniel 3:8-18).

Thought for the Day:

When we experience the challenges of life, we learn to trust in the Lord with our whole spirit and soul, and to walk in His will rather than in our own goals and plans (Proverbs 3:5-8), as we live each moment by faith in His faithfulness, and guided by His Holy Spirit.

Emotional Disconnect during Holiday Celebrations

The first Mother's Day I celebrated after my husband decided that there was no option for us but divorce was the hardest day of my life. I felt a deep loss because I was separated from my children by hundreds of miles.

I went to fellowship with my church as usual, but did not celebrate, because I was too full of grief. I ended up leaving the service early, going to my tiny duplex and eating my homemade ravioli and marinara sauce to assuage my emotional pain.

Mother's and Father's Day, as we celebrate them every year, leave out those men and women who were not able to have children. They grieve this loss every day of their life, but especially on Mother's and Father's Day.

What about men and women who lost a child during pregnancy or maybe even at birth; or those people who chose abortion or adoption in a moment of crisis and are now full of grief, remorse and guilt?

There are people who came to Christ after a period of suffering through jail time, addiction, mental illness or estrangement from their mate; and now it is too late for them to bear children.

Other individuals lost their beloved mother or father through death, and many lost them way too early in life. Some have a parent drifting away from them through Alzheimer's, dementia, cancer or some other debilitating disease.

They are forced to put on happy faces during the hardest day of the year for them. Their grief is invisible to the rest of us, but it is eating them alive as the rest of us celebrate our children and our role as mother and father.

Then there is that percentage of people who suffered cruel treatment at the hand of a parent who was debilitated by health and psychological issues. Insecurity and the loss of their basic human needs, which were never met, affect every moment of their life.

These beloved persons suffered mental, emotional and physical abuse, deprivation, humiliation, degradation and belittlement as children and are still crippled today with physical, emotional and mental handicaps.

Many of us come to Christ and receive His healing, hiding our self with Christ in God (Colossians 3:1-4). Some of us teach our self how to parent our self with nurturing, cherishing and constant care; and to come to God for His nurturing care (1 Peter 5:7).

Some of them suffer alone, because we no longer allow our self to get to know one another in churches. We smile at each other when we enter and leave the one hour service on Sunday morning, but we do not know one another's heartaches and trials.

Prayer:

Father God, help us to get to know one another in the church; so that we can support each other, especially those men and women who suffer silently with deep wounds that may still be raw and infected, or that created a gaping chasm in their life.

Remind us that as a church, we can make holidays less of a challenge and more of a blessing by celebrating all people, not just with those who actually bore children and have healthy and nurturing parents, but also by sharing in the loss and grief of every person in our congregation all through the year.

Thought for the Day:

Our church can have ministries that do more than celebrate or help spouses and parents, but that also minister to all men and women regardless of their marital or parental status. We can learn each other's stories of loss, grief and suffering; and support one another each day of the year.

A Secure Life

 

Every trial in life threatens our stability. Physical illnesses, emotional trauma and mental stress take their toll. Sometimes they cause us to lose our job, home, mate, family, bank account and our security. We have nowhere to turn and we end up defenseless, scared and lonely.

Our human independence drives us to deal with life's stresses on our own. We pridefully believe that we can conquer every obstacle without anyone's help. In his day, Paul called people like this "foolish" (Galatians 3:1-3). God did not redeem us to forsake us (Isaiah 43:1). We cannot save our self for eternity and neither can we save our self on a daily basis.

There is only one stable place on this earth, and that is in the loving arms of our Heavenly Father. He sacrificed His Son in order to pay the penalty of our sins and to give us free access to His throne (John 3:16; Hebrews 4:16). He invites us to call upon Him anytime. He will answer us, give us security in our soul - our thoughts, choices and emotions - and work out our circumstances for our ultimate good (Jeremiah 33:3; Romans 2:28).

As authentic Born Again Believers our house is no longer built on the sand of Satan's lies, but on the solid Rock of Jesus Christ (Matthew 7:26; Psalm 18:2). Jesus is our chief cornerstone and He keeps us secure through all of life's stormy trials. God's Spirit within us provides us with a solid foundation (Matthew 7:24-27). As we cast our burdens on our Father God, He tenderly cares for us (Psalm 55:22; Proverbs 16:3; 1 Peter 5:7).

We cannot be good, holy or spiritual enough to deserve God's blessings; therefore, He loved us while we were still sinners (Isaiah 43:4; Romans 5:8). As we trust in Him, God manifests His glory in and through us during our entire lifetime (Titus 3:4-6; Ephesians 2:8-10). Once we enter God's rest, we no longer strive in our human carnal efforts (Deuteronomy 33:12; Hebrews 4:9-12).

Prayer:

Father God, if we consider more than this one moment of time, we will feel remorse for our past and fear for our future. As we realize that in this one moment we are blessed beyond measure, we can dwell in peace with our confidence in You. You give us peaceful dwellings, secure homes and undisturbed places of rest now and for eternity (Isaiah 32:17-20). Only in You do we have a secure life.

Thought for the Day:

Regardless of life's circumstances, nothing can separate us from the love of God. - Romans 8:31-39