Author: Craig

Grace and Response

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3May God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. 4Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. 5All glory to God forever and ever! Amen. Galatians 5:3-5  NLT

So many followers of Jesus get caught up again in the race to rescue themselves.

Instead of achievement being a response to God’s love, achievement becomes an idol necessary for us and required to justify our existence.

Instead of health being a response to God’s love, health becomes proof that we are blessed and actually fantastic humans.

Instead of relationships being a response to God’s love, relationships with certain people become the proof that we are loveable, and even worthy of love.

Instead of righteousness being a response to God’s love, righteousness, becomes a pursuit that proves we are pure and powerful, and able (we believe) to get what we want from God.

All of this happens when we lose sight of the grace and peace of God that’s ours in Christ.  He gave his life for our sins in order to rescue us from this evil work in which we live. The Gospel is FOR the follower of Jesus. Constant contact with Christ in the truth of the Gospel will keep us rooted in His grace and peace. Without being emerged regularly in the Gospel, we will generate false forms of peace which are many in this world and we will  become enslaved to them.

Jesus gave his life to rescue us!

Glory to God!

In you.

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9But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)

10And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. 11The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

12Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. Romans 8:9-13

The glorious reality of the new creation accomplished through faith in Jesus Christ and His work for the forgiveness of sin is this: “The Spirit of God, who raise Jesus from the dead, lives in you.”

In you. The Holy Spirit confirms you belong to God.
In you. Though your body will die because of sin, you will live.
In you. The Spirit gives life because you have been made right with God.
In you. The same Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead gives life.
In you. The Spirit frees you from enslaving obligations to the sinful nature.
In you. The Spirit has the power for you to put to death sinful deeds.
In you. By the Spirit, you will live.
Wow! This causes me to pause.

Consider. Give thanks. And listen and respond now – to Jesus.

The Day You Start Something New

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22The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. 23This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see. 24This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. 25Please, Lord, please save us. Please, Lord, please give us success. Psalm 118:22-25

September is full of new starts for many of us. And for those of us who aren’t in school anymore we probably still feel the echo of an impulse to start something new. We still like the smell of a box of crayons, the feel of a new notebook, and the adrenaline that accompanies the unknown. And yes I know some of you are so glad to be done with school, but I bet you still have to face days in which you face something new.

On the day you start something new, I hope you are continuing a prayer conversation you started some time ago with God. In my house this morning I heard this line called out as a wake-up call: “This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.”

I love the rest of the prayer too: “Please, Lord, please save us. Please Lord, please give us success.”

When we start something new perhaps one of the greatest fears before me, is not just that I might fail, but that I might be rejected. Its really good for me to note that the Psalmist’s prayer here for success recognizes the grace of God even in the context of rejection: “The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.”  That’s Jesus. Jesus crucified is the stone rejected. Jesus resurrected is now the cornerstone for the people God is building. Jesus is enough!

So, now on the day we start something new, we can call out the prayer with Jesus and in the name of the One who knows the pain of rejection and the joy of the Father’s redemptive power!

The girl at the entrance to aisle seven.

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3May God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. 4Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. 5All glory to God forever and ever! Amen. Galatians 1:3-5

I’m waiting patiently. She’s standing there confused, not sure if this is the aisle she wants. When she realizes I’m standing there, she doesn’t say “oh excuse me.” Instead she curses me and jumps down my throat for not asking her to move.

Always someone else’s fault. So it continues: all the blaming, shifting, and squirming under shame. That’s what its like to live in this evil world. God’s ready to meet us on aisle seven but we are embarrassed that He was waiting for us to turn and notice Him. So we curse, blame, and shift under our shame.

These are the moments when we need to know the grace and peace of God. These are the moments when faith smashes through our shame and we give glory to God. It’s not about me. This life is about Jesus— the One who gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned in order to rescue us!

Glory to God! For ever!

When faith gives voice to fears.

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The Lord will work out his plans for my life—

for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.

Don’t abandon me, for you made me.

Psalm 138:8

Christian faith does not ignore the doubt stirred up by conflict or the challenges to our hope in the promises of God. When we have adjusted our life to follow God the inevitable testing comes. Practicalities and pragmatism pull at us. Is this really going to work? Am I an idiot for trusting God? Is there a shortcut to the dream God has given me?

When King David was a young man Samuel anointed him to be the next king. But David’s journey to the throne was long and tedious. His commitments and values were tested. Having faith did not mean that David had to ignore reality in the world around or in the world of his mind and heart. It was his faith in God that actually gave voice to his fears. His fears were not allowed to be a unspoken hidden force controlling him.

This weekend Psalm 138 was read at the beginning of our worship gathering. Do hear the tension in the last verse? The whole prayer moves along the tension created by faith and fears. “Don’t abandon me.”

The Lord will work out his plans for my life—

for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.

Don’t abandon me, for you made me.

Psalm 138:8

Have you been this real with God lately? When was the last time your conversation with God moved along the tension created by your faith in Jesus and by your fears? He is waiting and willing to meet you.