“Choose this day whom you shall serve.” (Joshua 24:15) Elections and critical votes are often fraught with tension because what the majority chooses dictates the destiny of all. Election results either liberate or restrict those subject to the outcome depending on their political persuasion. Like it or not the leaders chosen and laws passed impose […]
You have the deciding vote! Read More »
But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. Genesis 6:8-9
The hopes and expectations for 2014 for every Christ follower is probably best summed up in our desire to find favor in the eyes of the Lord. Finding favor carries with it the idea of being blessed with pardon, purpose, provision, protection etc.
Favor is one of those beautiful biblical words that communicate the extension of God’s grace and blessing to human kind. The Hebrew word “chen” interpreted most commonly as “favor” is also translated in some passages of scripture as “grace” or “blessing.” It is significant to note that favor is often phrased in the Bible as something that is “found.” For instance the first mention of the word “favor” is in Genesis 6:8-9: “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” I just happened to read this very verse today as I am launching into my annual daily reading plan to take me through the entire Bible in a year. (If you don’t already have one, try the YouVersion website or app for tons of Bible reading plan ideas.)
When something is found it carries with it the idea of being gifted or granted out of goodwill. That is an important distinction as opposed to something that we possess by virtue of having earned, purchased or gained it by the strength of our own will. Favor in many ways is like God’s mercy. It is unearned. Paul underscores this when he writes “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” (Romans 9:16 ESV)
The Year of the Lord’s Favor Read More »
I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. Psalm 130:5 NIV One of the perplexing aspects of prayer is not knowing what to do in the period between the ask and the answer. That phase, commonly referred to as waiting on the Lord, is so critical
What to do while you are waiting on the Lord Read More »
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16 ESV)
One of the most attractive, unadulterated and treasured words in the English language is the word GRACE. It connotes a wide variety of desirable attributes ranging from beauty, elegance, refinement, dignity and ease . . . to kindness, forbearance, responsiveness, mercy and compassion. To be a recipient of grace and graciousness is often a disarming, deeply impressionable and even transformative experience. Gracious actions by gracious people have a way of overwhelming us because graciousness is often undeserved and unexpected.
Grace takes on an even more transcendent meaning when understood in the context of the Christian faith. It is a word that is used over 170 times in the New Testament in a wide variety of applications but most importantly it is the term used to communicate God’s free gift of salvation and all its accompanying blessings that come to us through faith in Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 2:8)
In order to really understand grace and thereby experience it in its fullness, we must always start at the place from which grace proceeds – the throne of grace. The very phrase “throne” of “grace” seems strangely incongruous in marrying/linking two such seemingly opposing ideas of absolute authority and sympathetic compassion. And yet the writer to the Hebrews, in the context of his explanation of how Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the Old Testament covenant in order to establish a new covenant, beckons us to that throne of grace with these words: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15-16 ESV)
The key to comprehending the magnitude of this grace that flows from this throne is found in discovering more about the one who sits upon this throne.
The Throne of Grace Read More »
For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him! (Isaiah 64:4 NLT)
There is a foundational spiritual principle for realizing inner peace, transformation and breakthrough in life. And it is this, it only happens when we choose to rest and let God do the work. This is a simple truth but it is not easy to do because it is counter intuitive to human reason and how the world operates.
The fact remains, in the spiritual realm and in God’s kingdom it is all about His work from beginning to end. Our relationship with God, His choice of us, our acceptance and forgiveness, our very sonship is based upon His work and not ours. Paul writes “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes (trusts) in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,” (Romans 4:4-5 ESV)
In God’s economy the operating principle for increase is not driven by earning, but by receiving. Therefore it is God’s delight to “gift” His creation with good things like righteousness and salvation. The main thing that requires of us is not work but trust. There is a big difference between those two, working versus trustin. When that understanding first dawned on me as an unredeemed struggling sinner, and it actually happened when those two verses out of Romans jumped off the page into my heart at a home bible study, it rocked my world. I felt liberated from the frustration and inability on my part to earn acceptance from God and I found myself rejoicing in that fact that what I could not do for myself, God had already done and was offering it as a free gift. His only requirement of me was that I trust Him to do it – to cease from my work and trust Him do the work.
Recently I had to have a minor surgery on my hand. It required submitting myself to anesthesia and the care and skill of my doctor and those who attended him. I would not have done it if I had not trusted the surgeon to do what I could not do myself. Because I was “out” during the whole procedure, it could be said I was ceasing from my labors in “resting” while I trusted him do all the work. As a result, I have become the recipient of a new and better functioning hand.
Is it time you took a rest? Read More »
