grace

"By grace you have been saved through faith."  (Ephesians 2:8)

Have you any idea of the mess you were in, or moving toward, when God reached down and saved you?

Perhaps an illustration may help you get the picture. If you took your children to a petting zoo and a little lamb came running towards you, you probably wouldn't be afraid at all because lambs are harmless. You might even reach out your hand and let the lamb lick it.

But let's say you're at the zoo and the alarm goes out that a lion has escaped from its cage. If you're standing there and that lion comes running towards you, you'll be terrified and start to run because you know what lions can do. But just suppose that the runaway lion corners you in one part of the zoo and comes up to you - but instead of attacking you it gently licks your hand the way the lamb did. If that happened whose gentleness would you appreciate more, the lamb's or the lion's? You'd appreciate the lion's gentleness more because you know that he could just as easily have destroyed you without violating his nature as a lion.

Well, grace is God's kindness and gentleness to us when He could have backed us into a corner as guilty sinners and destroyed us without violating His Holy character. But God wanted to make us His children, so instead of expressing His wrath against us, He poured it out upon His own sinless Son on the cross. Jesus took our punishment so God could embrace us. Hence, we have a brand-new relationship with God through grace. Isn't that amazing!

anyway

The fear of rejection may be one of the most basic fears of the human experience. Dr. Joe Harding tells a heart-warming story of a man who finally decided to ask his boss for a raise in salary. It was Friday. He told his wife that morning what he was about to do. All day the man felt nervous and apprehensive. Late in the afternoon he summoned the courage to approach his employer. To his delight, the boss agreed to a raise.

 

The man arrived home to a beautiful table set with their best china. Candles were lighted. His wife had prepared a festive meal. Immediately he figured that someone from the office had tipped her off! Finding his wife in the kitchen, he told her the good news. They embraced and kissed, then sat down to a wonderful meal. Next to his plate the man found a beautiful lettered note. It read: "Congratulations, darling! I knew you'd get the raise! These things will tell you how much I love you."

 

While on his way to the kitchen to get dessert he noticed that a second card had fallen from her pocket. Picking it off the floor, he read: "Don't worry about not getting the raise! You deserve it anyway! These things will tell you how much I love you."

 

Total acceptance! Total love. Her love for him was not contingent upon his success at work. In fact, just the opposite. If he were to fail there, if he were to be rejected by his boss, he'd be all the more accepted at home. She stood behind him no matter what; softening the blows, healing thewounds, believing in him, loving him. We can be rejected by almost anyone if we're loved by one.

 

That's the way families can be with each other. And I like to think that's the way God is with us, too! "We love Him because He first loved us."

 

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

excuse

Charles Spurgeon once said that as Christians we should become "addicted to prayer".

We know how important it is to pray. We also are excellent at finding excuses why we don't have the time. Primarily, our lives are structured around the things we consider important. When God is important enough to us, the end result will be prayer. The decision to pray is the battle. Once that decision has been made, most of the battle is over.

Common excuses to put off prayer:

* I'm too tired.

Being tired is really common. You can still spend time in prayer despite your weariness. If you allow weariness to keep you from prayer, you will always be kept from prayer because fatigue is part of this fast-paced life.

* I'm too busy.

You need to develop an attitude about time that is similar to the one you have about money. The more time you give God, the more time you have from God. Following the principle of sowing and reaping, God will give back what you give to Him, then He increases it. Most people are busy, but not too busy to pray.

* I'm too dry.

You might not feel like praying. If you waited until you felt like praying you would pray very little. Jesus told his disciples that they should always pray and not give up (Luke 18:1). Should is an act of the will. Simply make yourself do it. It's a spiritual discipline. Certainly you should pray every time you feel led to pray, but for the most part, you lead yourself to prayer.

* I'm too lazy

This is not something you'd like to admit. Prayer itself is not difficult. You will never run out of things to pray for. The biggest obstacle is making the decision to pray. Once you are in the place of prayer, it's not that difficult to pray. The struggle is getting yourself in that position. Getting up out of the easy chair or out of that warm bed in the morning, turning off the TV or smart-phone, and putting yourself in a position to pray is where most of the battle lies.

Suggestions to help you pray:

* Give God the best time of the day.

Choose the time of day when you can be the most effective. David would often pray at night (Ps. 63:6); Abraham got up early to pray (Gen. 19:27); religious Jews liked to pray at the ninth hour - which was 3:00 p.m. (Acts 3:1); and Daniel prayed at three different times each day: morning, noon, and night (Dan. 6:10).

* Pray audibly.

Praying out loud helps you stay focused.

* Pace.

If you get drowsy while praying, get up and move around. Pacing is deliberate walking to help you concentrate on God.

* Stay Committed

If you've ever fallen asleep in prayer - simply pray when you wake up.

-ron auch

knocking

A young man who was an All-American football player in college went back to his alma mater as an assistant coach. One of his main responsibilities in his new job would be to go out and scout and recruit players for his college team.

Before he made his first recruiting trip, he went in to visit with the head coach, the same coach for whom he had played when he was there in college some years before. The head coach was a crusty old veteran. He had held that position as head coach for many years, was widely known and highly respected all across the country. The new young coach said to him, "Coach, I'm about to head out on my first recruiting trip, but before I go I want to be sure that we are on the same page. Tell me, Coach, what kind of player do you want me to recruit?"

The crusty old head coach leaned back in his chair. He looked the young coach straight in the eyes and said: "Son, I've been at this job a long time and over the years I have noticed that there are several different kinds of players. For example," he said, "you will find some players who get knocked down and they stay down. That's not the kind we want!"

And he said, "You will find some players who get knocked down and they will get right back up and get knocked down again and then they stay down. That's not the kind we want!"

And then the old coach said, "But you will also find some other players who get knocked down and knocked down and knocked down, and every time they get knocked down, they get right back up!"

At this point, the young coach got excited and he said, "Now, that's the kind of player we want, isn't it, Coach?"

"No!" said the old head coach. "We want the one doing all that knocking down!!"

Yes, we are called to be strong and to stand firm and to get back up when were been knocked down - and we commend people like that for being for being people of great faith. We must also remember that we in the church are called to knock down walls of hate and hostility and unforgiveness - and to build bridges of love and reconciliation .

"For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility." (Ephesians 2:14)

"And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18)

warfare

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. -- Ephesians 6:12

 

Billy Graham tells a story of a boxer who was engaged in a boxing match and was being badly beaten.  Battered and bruised, he leaned over the ropes and said to his trainer, "Please throw in the towel!  This guy is killing me!" The trainer said, "Oh, no, he's not.  He's not even hitting you.  He hasn't laid a glove on you!"  And the boxer looked at him through swollen eyes and said, "Well then, I wish you'd watch that referee - somebody is sure hitting me!"

 

The danger in Spiritual Warfare is not when you are being beat up. You know you're in a battle when you're battered. You may not know exactly who or where the blows are coming from; but you know you're in a fight.

 

No, the danger in Spiritual Warfare is when the devil is leaving you alone; when you are not having struggles, when temptations are few.  It's then, when life seems to be going good, that the devil has you right where he wants you.  Either you are spiritually dull and not aware of what the Devil is doing, or you are being set up for a big fall.

 

Just ask David about it. After years of running from Saul and struggling to form a new nation, it was when things seemed to be really good that David saw another man's wife bathing on the roof.  In a matter of days, the devil had David just were he wanted him, knee deep in sin and sliding down quickly.

 

Never take the armor off. Never let down the guard. We're in a war that will last a lifetime.