The Real Result of Grace

I recently read David Platt's book, Radical, regarding the way that American church has been affected by our "me first" culture. It was eye-opening and very challenging to me. However, what really struck me most was the way he explained God's grace and its ultimate purpose.

A couple of thoughts stood out to me…

• Grace for salvation is not the end – Salvation is NOT the complete purpose of God's grace.
  
• If the purpose of God's grace is simply to bring an otherwise unreachable reconciliation of God and man – then it is actually about "ME" and not really about God.
  
• Grace is not the end – Grace to glorify God with the rest of my life IS!
  
• God's ultimate purpose for extending His grace to mankind is so that we can live the transformed, Spirit-filled life He intended and thus, return glory and honor to Him.
  

So here is a good question to ask yourself:

How can I live my life and lead my family and others that I influence for God's glory in Osceola, Mishawaka, Elkhart or wherever I find myself?

If we seek to answer that question through the lens of God's Word and His commands for us then we begin to realize that we serve Him as our Master and Savior instead of serving ourselves.

Isaiah seemed to get it straight from the Lord:

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." Isaiah 6:1-3 (NIV)

I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols. Isaiah 42:8 (NIV)

For my own name's sake I delay my wrath; for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you, so as not to cut you off. 10 See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. 11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another. Isaiah 48:9-11 (NIV)

I’m Adopted

I do not think that it is any secret to those that know me but I am adopted. When I was born, my biological mom (possibly a teenager in the early sixties) gave me up for adoption. This was known before I was born and at just a few days old I was officially given to my adoptive mom and dad (the only parents that I have ever really known). Even though the official adoption papers were not signed by the courts for another 7 months – I was officially theirs to raise as their own.

• For as long as I can remember, I have known that I was adopted.
  
• For as long as I can remember, I have loved my adoptive mom and dad and never ever, ever thought of myself as someone else's child – only theirs.
  
• For as long as I can remember, I have not wanted to ever know who my biological mom was (or dad for that matter) because for some reason they were not prepared to raise me and thus the only parents I have known and loved have been those who raised me.
  
• For as long as I can remember, I have felt loved, cherished and cared for by my mom and dad. They have done extraordinary things to care for me, provide for me, love me and teach me.
  
• I have always known I was theirs. In fact, many people who have no idea I was adopted tell me that I resemble my dad who raised me. They tell me that we have similar characteristics in both physical features and mannerisms, even in patterns of speech!
  

I cannot help but think of a second adoption that took place in my life. One that was even more precious to me than the first one. God willingly adopted me as His son. He paid an enormous price to adopt me through the blood and suffering of His own Son, Jesus Christ. And just like my physical adoption – He is the only spiritual Father that I have ever had that cared for me unconditionally.

Since I have been adopted by God, the Father, and I am now part of a universal adopted family of brothers and sisters who have yielded their lives to Jesus, I have been changing and becoming more and more like my heavenly Father every year. It is my goal to resemble Him and to begin to have those mannerisms and speech traits that reflect Him.

In the same way as my physical adoption – my spiritual adoption leaves me with some striking similarities:

• I am so content in being adopted my heavenly Father
  
• I am glad that after this adoption I have never felt as though I am someone else's child – Only God's.
  
• I do not ever want to know the master that I served in slavery before I was adopted by God as His child.
  
• I feel loved, cherished, cared for, provided for and comforted by God at every turn in my life.
  
• I have learned so much of what He wants me to be as I have had a chance to be taught by His written Word.
  
• I want people to look at me and realize that I must be a child of God because of how I act, speak and live. I want to be associated with my adoptive heavenly Father in every way!
  

Adoption is such a great picture of how God accepts us with all of our flaws, problems, baggage and imperfections but willingly helps to "raise" us under His strong, protective and lovingly gentle hand. I am so glad I was adopted – both here on earth and into heaven.

A Day in the Life

Since I became employed by a church ministry, I have had to learn some new approaches to gift giving and gift receiving. ( first, I say "since I became employed by a church ministry" because many say "Since I was called into ministry" as though they were not called to do ministry before even though other employment demands do not excuse us from being "called into ministry" in everyday life already.) So, what did I have to learn?

First, I had to learn that as much as I wanted to help people financially when I saw a need, I was no longer able to do it so freely. (Not that I don't do this but my income changed enough that I could not be as "generous" as I used to think I was.) Instead, we had to think creatively. I learned to consider how a time investment instead of monetary investment might help. Networking with those that had the means to give and did not know of the need while I knew of the need and did not have the means. This has been good for us. It has broadened my scope of what it means to give gifts and share with others in need.

Second, I had to learn how to receive gifts graciously ( I am still learning this one because I tend to make jokes or try to be funny when I feel like I am in an awkward place of receiving a gift) and simply thank the giver. It is uncomfortable for a person who has enjoyed giving to others in need to become the recipient and to handle that with grace. I have found that many people are blessed to be a giver and some are blessed to be able to receive.

I think that God has challenged us (me and my family) to learn to be good givers and to learn to be good receivers, too. God has blessed us in so many ways as we have found ourselves in need these last 8 years. Through God's prompting, through prayer, through His working in the hearts of godly people and through some incredible circumstances – God has allowed us to be recipients of two vehicles (used yet reliable), three computers over the years, many special little gifts and many events that have blessed our lives tremendously. For those things and those events – we are most grateful.

But what amazes me the most is in noticing how He has blessed us in ways that we normally never even consider. Example, 18 years ago, God allowed us to build a home that we have enjoyed raising our children in and hosting many people in their times of need. When we built this home we purchased new appliances for it (all from Sears) and this was the first time in our lives that we owned new appliances. It was a pretty exciting time and yet here we are 18 years later and we still have those same appliances. Yes, we have had to repair a couple of them from time to time but they have lasted. My wife just let me know today that the dryer was not working properly and it may be something that we have another repair on but it still works!

Take the time today to thank God for the blessings that we never really consider – the blessing of appliances or things that do not wear out! How many times do you thank Him for the fact that you DO NOT have to replace and appliance? It makes me think of Nehemiah 9:19-21  "Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the desert. By day the pillar of cloud did not cease to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. 20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. 21 For forty years you sustained them in the desert; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen." (also testified to in Deut. 8:4; 29:5)

Surprisingly, this care by God for His people was not a result of a reward for them. In fact, it was in spite of their hearts, their stubbornness and their horrible attitudes that He sustained them. Why? For His glory! To show HIS might and power! To bring attention to what He has done!

So… to God be the glory that the appliances and furnace in my home are still going strong (8 items in all)! He is truly a God who is worthy to be praised!

It Changes Everything

What changes everything? Well, think about it, there are events in our lives that become "watershed" moments that completely change the course of our lives. When we decide where to go to college, when we decide we are REALLY getting married, when we decide to have kids or buy a house or change jobs. Those are the types of things that are usually within our control. Real "watershed" moments are those events that are unexpected that change or alter us from that moment on and we have no control over what just happened.

Like what? A car accident, a war injury or a choice to help someone in danger and you are hurt in the process, a death in your family, a bad doctor's report, a fire, a robbery or a disaster (natural or man-made). Think about it… depending on how old you are you probably remember right where you were and what you were doing when JFK was assassinated, when the space shuttle, Challenger, exploded, when President Reagan was shot, when the Berlin Wall came down, when the World Trade Center Towers fell, when New Orleans flooded. Those are watershed moments – they probably changed your world forever. What if…

What if, instead of waiting for those moments to occur, you could do something to spark "watershed" moments in your own life? Or in the life of your family? Or in the life of your friends? Or your co-workers? What would you do?

Paul talks a great deal about praying and requests prayer for himself a few times but they are interesting prayers. Paul does not ask for prayer for his safety or his protection (although in Romans 15 he does ask to have them pray that he is rescued from the unbelievers so that he can continue his mission trip). He doesn't ask that God remove the oppression or that God would give him all that he needs. You see, Paul knows and trusts God enough already to know that He will provide for the needs and that His will is accomplished in His time, but look at what Paul asks people to pray about:

"Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel," - Eph 6:19 (NIV)

"And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should." - Col 4:3-4 (NIV)

He wants to boldly and fearlessly speak about Jesus. So do I! He wants to see an opportunity develop for him to share the message of hope in Christ. So do I! So let's pray that way. Let's make these prayers our prayers. Write them down. Memorize them and use them as reminders. Pray them aloud back to God. In addition to these two prayers – here is another one that Paul prayed to ask God to pave the way.

"I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe." - Eph 1:18-19 (NIV)

Do you want to see a watershed moment happen in your life? Begin praying like Paul prayed and expect God to do something great! When you pray these prayers and begin to see people as God sees them – your watershed moments will happen again and again! When you pray like this – your heart will begin to break for the same things that break God's heart and it will change you forever!

What's next – pray and pray and pray - (P.U.S.H. – Pray Until Something Happens) then click here and tell me about it – anonymously, if you want.