DAY 35 - A Call to Grace

Thought I had forgotten about you didn't you? Nope. Nor have I forgotten about 2 Peter. And I am finishing my grace book. Lots of stuff rolling around. So today we are gong to talk about day 35 of A Call to Grace.
This day is entitled Masterpiece. The entire book is referencing Ephesians 2:1-10. The passage focused on this day is,
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus..."
Nasser takes this day to discuss that you and I are masterpieces in the eyes of God. The two things that make us these exquisite works of art in the eyes of the Creator of the universe are:
first, the fact that we were created by the Master, and second, we are authentic works of art.
Nasser makes the point that we as Christians are all created to be different (authentic) yet we were all created by the same Person (Master), and thus bear the same signature.
That last bit to me is wonderfully freeing. We are all created to be different. To be our authentic selves. With authentic gifts, authentic talents, authentic roles to play in the advancement of the Kingdom. We are not supposed to be carbon copies of the hippest worship leader, or newest teacher, or the most grace filled lady we know at church. We are to be us - authentic us. The only one we carbon copy is Christ Jesus. Even in doing that, we would still be authentic. My church doesn't have to be like the church down the street and vice-versa. It is okay that we are different.
But in that difference some things are the same. One thing is the same for us all... Jesus Christ. We can disagree about a lot of things, but Jesus is not one of them. And that is freeing as well. Because when I get with people who are different, I can find the one common thing, Jesus. On Him I can focus. Him I can point to and draw from.
So in the freeing of being an authentic creation, there is also something unifying in being made by the same Person.
So many times we focus on striving to be authentic, we neglect the unifying factor. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the King of Kings, the Sacrificial Lamb, who sits at the right hand of God for you and for me.
What a masterpiece!

DESIGN? IDENTITY?

Great post by Holly.
Really great.
Design versus identity.
Read it.
Please.
Click here.

CAN YOU CHECK FOR ME?

According to Mr. Nasser, Jesus never used the word "grace" in the New Testament. I have checked and could not disagree. Would you mind checking?

Nasser says the reason Christ never used the term "grace" was because He was grace.

Interesting.

Hhmmm.

Ponder on that this weekend.

I was catching up on my Wednesdays with Beth and guess what the first one out of the shoot was... How to deal with chastisement from God. One of the points she made was how God takes our consequences and makes them a teachable moment- that is chastisement. To supernaturally take over the consequences and use them to correct us for our profit and His glory.

Here is how I think I see it. We will all have things happen in our life and they are exactly that- things that happen. Divinely ordained, but happen from what seems out of nowhere from our perspective. We will have consequences of our decisions. If we are in Christ Jesus, the punishment is not ours. Yes, we will be chastised and corrected by God, and praise His name when we are. For it means He cares enough to make us more like Him. He does it because He loves us. We will not face the punishment though. Jesus has done that for us. However, if we are not in Christ Jesus, there will come a day when will have the punishment. A final day when we will no longer be teachable, be able to be corrected, when it will be too late. Breaks my heart to even fathom a day when it is too late. God, who is SO incredibly patient and kind and desiring for us all to repent, will draw the line at some point in time. That is what is weighing heavy on me today. For my family and the world.

I KNOW, I KNOW

I know not everything that happens is a consequence of sin. Just wanted to clarify that before I started getting emails. Stuff just happens in life. But not everything is punishment. Trust me, for a gal who has spent 36+years trying to be good and follow the rules, the absence of punishment is a big deal. H-U-G-E. Still tossing it around. Will start 2 Peter soon. Thanks for reading my ramblings.

A CALL TO GRACE DAY 19

I have made no secret that I am struggling with this book. I struggle with grace. I think today Nasser hit the nail on the head with one of my reasons why.
"The fear is that a grace message this radical will give people license to sin." (p. 137)
I think this is what I thought. That if I extend grace, people will be allowed to sin, like I am giving them permission. They are punishment free. They are consequence free.
Oh I hope this makes sense.
Today as I was reading it hit me. Grace is not punishment free. The punishment has been dished out, and Jesus Christ took it. That is the grace part. He took the punishment for me. Grace is not consequence free. Those still have to be dealt with. But in grace I can say, and it has been said to me, "Yep. You messed up, and there will be consequences. Those we will have to deal with. But I still love you, that hasn't changed."
I think I saw God as a punishment God. When things were going wrong, I was being punished from some sin. So I had to strive to be good, to follow all the rules, in order to avoid the punishment. Knowing in my head that the price for my sin had already been paid but not having a full understanding of it in my heart. I think we have broken through that today. God is not out to dish out punishment every time I fall. If I am in Christ Jesus, the punishment for that has already been handled. He does allow the consequences to come so I can learn. So I have the chance for remorse which will lead to repentance.
The flip side is that if I am not in Christ Jesus, if I don't know Him as Lord and Savior, then the punishment will come. If I am not a part of Him, then the punishment He suffered has no value for me. How that should break my heart for those that don't know Him. How I should be burning to share with them what He has done for me.
I am not done with this page so I am sure I will have more. I am meditating on it and asking the Lord questions.
I think we have a crack in the wall though, and I think I see the smallest of light rays invading the darkness.
Shine Jesus Shine.

WRAPPING UP 1 PETER

"Therefore humble yourselves

under the mighty hand of God,

that He may exalt you

in due time,

casting all your care

upon Him,

for He cares for you."

1 Peter 5: 6-7

NKJV

Many of us, if not all of us, have things we want to accomplish. It could be professionally in your career of choice. It could personally. It could be in ministry. I know I have things I want to do. Things I want to accomplish. This I know. If I try to do what I want to do without God, I will fail. Oh sure I may accomplish what I set out to do, but it will still be a failure. It will be lacking. It will not be all I thought and hoped it would be. To be successful at anything, and I mean truly successful, God has to have done it. I have to lay it down before Him, give it over to Him, and let Him work it out. That goes for my work, my marriage, my kids, my ministry should there be one. Does not mean I am not an active participant or that I am not walking through doors He opens. I am just not busting my way through them or sneaking in. I am seeking Him and His guidance when to step and when to stop. It can be very frustrating and feel out of reach at times. That is okay. The rest of the verse tells me what to do with that. Cast my cares upon Him. Tell Him. Cry to Him. Vent to Him. MAINLY go to HIM. He can handle it. He wants to handle it. He cares about handling it.
So whatever you hope to accomplish, lay it down before God. Humble yourself and let Him open the way. Move when He says move and be still when He says be still. You have to be listening though. He tends not to scream. He tends to whisper.