What if God Stopped Covering us with His Grace?

The preacher asked yesterday, "Where would we be if God said, 'Tomorrow I will stop covering you with My grace.  Tomorrow you will receive justice.'?"

Indeed.

Sometiimes all we can do is stand ...

We fight. We struggle. We worry. We believe. We doubt. We wait. We manipulate. We do everything we can think of to make things as best as we can imagine they ought to be.

Then we realize we have no power, no ability to make things work out like we want them to. It's frustrating. It's discouraging. It's lonely.

That's where I am right now. But you know what? Even though I don't really like the "feeling", it's a very good place to be. Because it's right here in our weakness and inability that we find God. It's when we have no other choice but to rely on Christ that we see His love for us.


Father, let me stand in Your grace. Let me trust You. Let me believe You. Let me know Your presence, Your love, Your provision for me. Prepare me, Lord, to be Your vessel. Make me able to stand. Give me strength in You, Lord God Almighty.

Amen.


Ephesians 6:10-20 KJV)

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,

20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Beautiful

I saw something truly beautiful yesterday. 

My wife and I visited a tiny Enterprise Baptist Church waaaaaay out in the country.  Some friends of mine go there.  They are awesome, so I thought we'd worship with them some.  Know what I mean?

A shy, young man with a truly gifted, beautiful voice sang with his grandfather while his grandfather played guitar.  The grandfather also has a good voice.  But his shaky hands only occasionally found the right chords on his guitar.  And his effrots to change chords often threw off their timing.

You would expect a boy this age (I don't know, somewhere between 17 and 20 I guess) to be embarrassed.  Yet he kindly waited for his Papaw to catch up (or finally give up finding the right chord) and sang right along with the old man without a hint embarrassment or impatience.

That, my friends, is beautiful !!!!!!!

What You say goes, God, and Stays

Psalm 119:89-91 (The Message)

What you say goes, God,
      and stays, as permanent as the heavens.
Your truth never goes out of fashion;
      it's as up-to-date as the earth when the sun comes up.
Your Word and truth are dependable as ever;
      that's what you ordered—you set the earth going. 

Submission and Authority

I've never been there, but I occasionally catch a TV broadcast from the Southland Christian Church in Lexington, KY. And I usually like it a lot. Especially when Mike Breaux is doing the teaching.

Here's a clip of a recent study he did on Submission and Authority.

I caught the segment starting at about the 5:00 minute mark in the video one Sunday morning as I was getting ready for church. When he talked about the difference between the worldly view of authority and submission versus Christ's view I was blown away.

I had never put those exact thoughts together in my own mind. But I immediately recognized the aspect of Jesus that Mike is talking about here is the aspect of our Lord that truly changed my life.

Christ starts with love and acceptance. I promise you, there is no other way I could have been reached. I was so guilty. I was so filthy. I was so unable to make myself right. Honestly, I was near the point of giving up on Christianity because I just knew I could never be that good.

Then Jesus came. It was the voice of a radio preacher that plowed the ground and opened my heart at that moment. But then Jesus came and spoke to me.

"I know you," He said. "I have always known you. I know the very worst parts about you. I have always known them."

"I know you can't make yourself good. I know you stumble and fall many, many times over the same issues. I have always known that. I know the shame you hold in your heart. I know how you struggle. I knew it before you ever came to Me."

And He brought to my mind all that I am most ashamed of, all that I struggle with the most, my deepest, darkest me.  There I was, exposed, naked, vulnerable, and ashamed before the God of all Creation.  There was no defense.  There was no excuse, only guilt.  I cannot put my shame into words.

Then He said, "I love you anyway. I died on the cross for you anyway. This is why I have come for you; to set you free from all this sin and from all your guilt."

"I know the worst about you. I love you anyway."

That has become my anthem.

Thank You, Jesus !!!!! Thank You, precious Lord, for Your mercy, Your love, Your kindness, Your tenderness, Your acceptance !!!!!

Hallelujah !!!!!!!

\o/

Father, Let us Walk in Your Way

Colossians 1:9-14
 
For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
 
That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
 
Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
 
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
 
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
 
In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

All the Way My Savior Leads Me

Rich Mullins - All the Way My Savior Leads Me

All the way my Savior leads me
What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His faithful mercies?
Who through life has been my guide
Heavenly peace, divinest comfort
Ere by faith in Him to dwell
For I know whate'er fall me
Jesus doeth all things well

All of the way my Savior leads me
And He cheers each winding path I tread
Gives me strength for every trial
And He feeds me with the living bread
And though my weary steps may falter
And my soul a-thirst may be
Gushing from a rock before me
Though a spirit joy I see

And all the way my Savior leads me
Oh, the fullness of His love
Perfect rest in me is promised
In my Father's house above
When my spirit clothed immortal
Wings it's flight through the realms of the day
This my song through endless ages
Jesus led me all the way


Note:

It just came to my attention that this song was written by Fanny Crosby.

I Will Sing ...

Romans 15:3b, 4, 6 (The Message)

... Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it's written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. ... Then we'll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!


Rich Mullins "I Will Sing"

I will sing for the meek
For those who pray with their very lives for peace
Though they're in chains for a higher call
Their mourning will change into laughter when the nations fall

In spirit poor
In mercy rich
They hunger for Your righteousness
Their hearts refined in the purity
Lord let me shine for them
Lord let me sing
Lord let me shine for them
Lord let me sing

Godlieness with Contentment

Godliness with contentment is great gain. (I Tim 6:6)

Why is it so hard for us to be satisfied with what we have and where we are right now ???


Help us, Lord.  Teach us like You did Paul to know how to be satisfied no matter the circumstances.

Can I Be With You

Jesus spoke to my heart on the way home the other night.  It wasn't one of those clear, to-the-point things.  This time it was just a general feeling.  Yet the overall message was very clear and very reassuring.

"The things you are losing need to be gone.  The things you are gaining are making you more complete in Me."

I'm coming through a really rough couple of years.  The pain of going through this fire is intense.  But I'm coming through.  I'm not the same man I was.  And I like what I'm becoming. 

I know Jesus better and more assuredly than I ever have.  I need Him now - and I KNOW I need Him now - more than ever before.  I'm beginning to understand, experience, and live the joy of knowing what it is to be completely helpless and dependent on Jesus Christ.


Lord I pray You continue Your work in me.  Lord I pray You burn out all that is unlike You.  Lord I pray You build me up with all that is pure and true and breathe Your life into me.  And Lord I pray, can I be with You?


Rich Mullins - Be With You

Everybody each and all
We're gonna die eventually
It's no more or less our faults
Than it is our destiny
So now Lord I come to you
Asking only for Your grace
You know what I've put myself through
All those empty dreams I chased

And when my body lies in the ruins
Of the lies that nearly ruined me
Will You pick up the pieces
That were pure and true
And breathe Your life into them
And set them free?

And when You start this world over
Again from scratch
Will You make me anew
Out of the stuff that lasts
Stuff that's purer than gold is
And clearer than glass could ever be

Can I be with You?
Can I be with You?

And everybody all and each
From the day that we are born
We have to learn to walk beneath
Those mercies by which we're drawn
And now we wrestle in the dark
With these angels that we can't see
We will move on although with scars
Oh Lord move inside of me

And when my body lies in the ruins
Of the lies that nearly ruined me
Will You pick up the pieces
That were pure and true
And breathe Your life into them
And set them free?

And when You blast this cosmos
To kingdom come
When those jagged-edged mountains
I love are gone
When the sky is crossed with the tears
Of a thousand falling suns
As they crash into the sea

Can I be with you?
Can I be with you?

Complete and Free Access to God's Kingdom

"... This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out.

And that's not all. You will have complete and free access to God's kingdom, keys to open any and every door: no more barriers between heaven and earth, earth and heaven. A yes on earth is yes in heaven. A no on earth is no in heaven."

- Matthew 16:18-19 (The Message)

Oh Hallelujah, what a promise !!!!!!!


Do you have ANY idea who you are in Christ?  Do you have ANY idea of the freedom and power granted and available to you through His wonderful grace and mercy. 

We are WAY more than forgiven.  We are the church, the Body of Christ, the manifestation of God Himself on earth.

Why, oh why, do we stumble and struggle in darkness and disbelief?


Father in Heaven, Mighty God, Lord of all Creation, open our eyes and hearts and minds to see Your heavenly kingdom.  Show us our place in You, God.  Help us believe Your incredible, precious, and holy promises. 

Make us to walk in Your love and grace and power.  Let us manifest Your presence in everything we do.  Let Your spirit flow in and through us, Lord.  Let us open every door.  Let us know You. 

Touch us, Jesus.  Pour Yourself into us.  Let us rise and know You.  Let us embrace You.  Let us worship and adore You, God.  Let us live in You.  Let everything we do and say honor You and display Your character.  Let all who see us know You, Jesus.

Let us be Your church.

Amen.