Ongoing Grace

One of the things I believe we miss the longer we are a part of the church is the need we ALL have to continue being nourished by the grace of Jesus. We think of being "saved by grace" and we should because the grace of God we receive is the basis and the means for our salvation. However, that is not the end role for grace in our life. We need to also remember that we are ALL called to:

1. Continue in grace - Paul and Barnabas . . . "urged them to continue in the grace of God." - Acts 13:43
2. Grow in grace - "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." - 2 Peter 3:18
3. Extend grace to others - "Each one of us should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." - 1 Peter 4:10

If grace is not the continual nourishment for our lives and our souls then we have forgotten or missed the Gospel. But if the power of the Gospel message of God's saving grace extended through Jesus Christ is alive in us, then we realize all of life is grace-based.

If we embrace this truth our lives can echo the words of John Newton, "I am not what I ought to be. I am not what I want to be. But still, I am not what I used to be. And by the grace of God, I am what I am."

I want to always have my life and my soul filled up with God's grace. I want to see new evidences of it in my life all the time. I want it to be evident in the manner in which I speak to my wife, in the tone I take with my kids, in the attitude I have at work, in the selfless posture God wants to display through me, etc. I want to see the grace of God so full in my life that I see it extending to others and, when I fail, that I will quickly appeal to God for a refreshing supply of His forgiving grace and, just as quickly, to the one I have hurt to receive their grace as well.

Where is grace showing up in your life?

Foundational Passages

Sometimes I like to reflect on Scripture passages that really grab me, that help me to worship, to reflect on who God really is or to reflect on who I really am in Him. I need to do this from time to time in order to be reminded of the real truth or things can get kind of fuzzy. I don't want to be fuzzy, I want to be clear and focused. Here are a few of those Scriptures for me:

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." -Revelation 4:8

God is sooo much bigger than anything I can conceive. I can trust He can handle all I face.

"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved." - Ephesians 2:1-5

I was DEAD before I met Christ. I deserved to be DEAD too, but God didn't give up on me. And Jesus made me ALIVE.

"May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it." - 1 Thessalonians 5:22-24

God's work in me is to make me new in every respect and He has the power to carry it out.

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:29-30

Living for Jesus isn't about achievement. Its about taking on and living out of His yoke of grace and mercy. I am not seen through my sin, but through the eyes of God's grace. That grace changes me from the inside out and I can follow that yoke because of the power He gives me.

"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 3:10-14

That is what I want to be my life mission. At my best, those are the driving forces of my life. They ground me. They remind me of what really matters and they give me a clear vision for the future.

There are many more passages that I could mention, but these are some of the most powerful to me. What passages are foundational for you? How often do you reflect on them and what happens when you do?

Holy Worldliness

I have been reading an interesting book by John Stott called The Living Church. He used a term in his chapter on evangelism that is intriguing to me - "holy worldliness." He said that no one exhibited this better than Jesus. Jesus was holy and never compromised His holiness while at the same time being fully present with all kinds of people. He invested Himself fully in the world for the sake of others who were far from God. In order to follow Jesus' example, according to Stott, we must do the same. We must be like Jesus in our character and countenance, doing what He did and saying what He said, and yet being fully present with those in the world.

Stott writes:

"Mission" arises, then, from the biblical doctrine of the church in the world. If we are not "the church," the holy and distinct people of God, we have nothing to say because we are compromised. If, on the other hand, we are not "in the world," deeply involved in its life and suffering, we have no one to serve because we are insulated. Our calling is to be "holy" and "worldly" at the same time. Without this balanced biblical ecclesiology we will never recover or fulfill our mission. (pg. 54)

What do you think of this term and his use of it? Is it a good lens to see the subject of mission through or do we need to use a different lens?