Mercy and grace are not something new with God!

The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the Lord will drive you. There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell. But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the Lord your God and obey him. (Deuteronomy 4:27-30, NIV)

Christian believers often are confused about the grace that saves them. They often view grace as something new. They talk as if grace was recently found, languishing on a dusty shelf in a room filled with God’s gifts. Then after this gift of grace was found, God remarkably decides to gives it to us in a special way and unique way.

Grace is not something that God simply does as an action but rather one of the many acts that flow out from the attributes of God from His omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent essence and being. Our true understanding of His mercy and grace will always be blurred by our limited capacities, as God created beings even though we can be at the same time daunted by the scope of God’s love in granting us mercy and grace.

God’s unfathomable mercy by which He is able to lovingly see us as sinners and by His grace, to bestow on us His redeeming favor … is not new! God is who He always was, and who He will forever be (Malachi 3:6) and His mercies are new (Lamentations 3:22-23) only in sense that they flow endlessly by His grace into every new day.

God’s forgiveness was formally tied to a system of sacrifice to bring about the release from sin until Christ fulfilled all requirements for sacrifice and by His death brought redemption to all people, once and for all time, for all sin (1 Peter 3:18).  Still God always turned in mercy to those who sought Him in the Old Testament and gave grace to those who repented with a contrite heart. He welcomed back into His loving arms even those who had wandered so far that they worshiped false and useless gods which were made of wood and stone

The chosen people of the “First Covenant” and the followers of the “New Covenant” in Jesus Christ come to the same God and place their only redeeming hope in the same Living and Almighty God. God’s long-suffering and great mercy to see those who turn away from sin, selfishness, foolishness and falseness was and is always the same. His granting of favor through grace has always been the same because it flows from who God is and will forever be the same. Mercy and grace are not something new with God for they come from the God who is and will forever … be love.

He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love. (1 John 4:8, KJ21)

Suggested Reading … Deuteronomy 4

An all-encompassing shield around us …

Lord, how they have increased that trouble me! Many are they that rise up against me! Many there be that say of my soul, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah  But Thou, O Lord, art a shield for me, my glory and the lifter up of mine head. (Psalm 3:1-3, KJ21)

There is much in life that can come against us. The battles can be inside of us with endless torrents of distresses, confusion and anxieties coming like menacing hordes overpowering our hearts with emotions and our minds with raging thoughts.  The battles can come from stresses related to health issues and family interactions and commitments. These internal battles can come from or in response to our performances and obligations in roles and relationships related to our work and careers.  The battles can be old coming from regretful actions and lingering consequences and the battles can be new ambushing us when we least expect them.

Real battles can also come against us from real enemies. Literal enemies that would wish to hurt, maim and even destroy us physically, emotionally, financially or by reputation. These combatant enemies can be individuals, or social, societal and even governmental entities but their intentions are always similar.  They desire possession of your place and position and revenge, retaliation and damage drives their actions.

King David faced both the surging internal battles in his heart and mind and countless literal external intentional actions by enemies near and far bent on his destruction and the taking of his kingdom.

David offers the hope of a shield that would encompass protection from all that was coming against him both from the inside pressures and anxieties and from the literal battles with his enemies, wishing to destroy him. His only hope rested in the mighty shield of the Almighty God protecting him from all realms and all enemies that would come against him. In the midst of all that came against him, David knew and trusted that His Lord would come to him and fight for him. The Lord was David’s only glory and his only hope rested only in God alone.

We may face different pressures and anxieties than David faced and we may never face literal enemies bent on our destruction but we have the same Deliverer who protects us with an all-encompassing shield against all that would come against us. To the Lord alone we give all glory for He alone delivers us from all that would come against us.  He is the only true hope for strength, peace and deliverance from all that would come against us.

Salvation belongs to the Lord; your blessing be on your people! Selah (Psalm 3:8, ESV)

Suggested Reading … Psalm 3

The agreeable soil of our hearts ...

This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is God’s word. The seeds that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message, only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved. The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation. The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity. And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.  (Luke 8:11-15, NLT)

In the soil of our hearts lies the potential of the abundance of God’s blessing and beauty. The soil is the substance that God imparts life to. The seeds of faith in God come through the gift and grace of His presence and in His Word which He will plant and cause to grow in the soil of our hearts when we are soft and agreeable to Him. The Holy Spirit will then nurture and give life to the plant of faith imparted to us.

If we are hard to God’s Word, always closing ourselves off to the moisture and nourishment which He gives, we will fade in the heat of the day. If we are seeking other sources of sustenance, we will be choked off from the life that His Spirit will lead us to. If we are unsure about Christ being life to us, we will be smothered by the other things and the life He so freely gives, will be pushed aside. If we do not trust in the life He gives, our roots will not grow deep and we will die in our faith as immature plants. If we do not see the evil weeds around us competing for nourishment, they will sap the strength we need in our life with Christ.

Be soft and agreeable to God, His Word and His Spirit. Let Christ bring you new life as He teaches, refines and nourishes you. Do not be fooled into thinking other sources can bring you true life. Don’t be rebellious to the only true life for our souls. And don’t let temptations, cares, riches and pleasures ever choke out the potential, abundance and beauty that only He can bring to the soil of your heart. Let God have His way with the soil of your heart.

“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end” (Hebrews 3:12-15 ESV).

Suggested Bible Reading ... Luke 8 & Hebrews 3

A repost from 2013

Our Savior comes in the empty and seemingly void of promise!

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9, NIV)

Instead of promises that end up being empty and void of their reward; God surprises in what can seem and look quite empty and void of hope. In a world and culture where things are over promised and yet found to be illusive in their satisfying ability; God promises become a truth that will always sustain and satisfy us. God comes in what seems empty and void of hope to bring us the tremendous and priceless gifts of His grace and love. He comes in loss with His presence.

He comes in the broken to heal. God comes when His promises seem impossible in the empty and void with His steadfast love to uphold us and His mighty power to deliver us.

There is something quite powerful in God’s coming to His children in empty places, void of even the smallest amounts of promise. We tend to delight in God’s blessings of joy, provision and abundance but seldom recognize or acknowledge the greater importance of the reversal He brings when things are empty and hopelessly void of promise. God created life itself on this earth in the empty and void and He certainly will create new in the empty of all loss and the void of all uncertainty.

It is at the empty cross, we find forgiveness and grace. At the empty tomb, we find eternal life and victory over death. In the empty Easter clothes left behind by the Risen Lord, we find the gift of the Holy Spirit. In the empty places in our life, lacking in hope … we often find the wings of God which can lift us up to hope again and His hands which redeem us by His love and provide for our every need and healing.

The guarantee and surety of our Savior coming in the empty places where the void is glaring and hopelessly bleak, is truly remarkable and incredible. God comes because His steadfast love endures forever and He will always deliver grace sufficient for each and every void we may find in our lives. Rejoice … your Savior delights in coming in the empty and seemingly void of promise. He will come.

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. (Psalm 100:5, NIV)

Suggested Reading … Psalm 100

The Melody of God's Love

Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright. Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. (Psalm 33:1-4, ESV)

What is it about music that captivates us? What is it about a melody that touches us deeply in our hearts? What is it about a song that can cause our spirits to soar to a place high above our normalcy of what we are immediately experiencing around us? Music can be a balm like consolation to the deepest of hurts and it can bring a joyful outlook to the bleakest of surroundings.

It was through song and music that a horribly tormented Saul was quieted through the soft voice and melodies of David. Essentially the psalms are really songs … full of emotion from heartache to joy, speaking of deep yearning and struggle but often offering both glimpses of hope and the assuredness of God’s enduring love.

Midst all struggles, music can break into the realm of the difficulty with the assurances of God becoming interrupting notes plunging into stifling discord with a beckoning melody of hope. Love is much like music in this way. We can be touched by the smallest of kindnesses that come from those who love us and we can be encouraged and sustained by the faithfulness of love through all times and all circumstances.

Thus the love of God becomes the melody of hope we can sing, even if it comes out a bit silted and hesitantly in our disconcerting times when we have to wait on the Lord. Somehow our faith carries us until we can sing the joyous refrain as rescuing and sustaining God comes with His steadfast and enduring love bringing mercy and compassion as a soothing song. There is a melody to the love of God and it is always compassionate and joyous. Something good will always happen, when we sing along.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16, ESV)

Suggested Reading … Psalm 33

Hope in all hopelessness!

Once after a sacrificial meal at Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray. Eli the priest was sitting at his customary place beside the entrance of the Tabernacle. Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. (1 Samuel 1:10, NLT)

The sad women poured out her anguish and heartbreak in a prayer beyond what her words could possibly convey. Her tears flowed like tiny rivers down her cheeks as nothing could hinder their descent to flooded floor laden with the sorrow of her current circumstances. She had endured years of ridicule from another wife, living in the same household but jealous of the affections that the husband had lavished on this sad and broken woman. Years of sharp and stinging, insulting and lingering words had been layered heavily on her heart about her position as a childless wife in a culture that saw motherhood as the gesture of great blessing in the following of the Living God. All seemed so hopeless.

She seemed to be in such a drunken state that her language sounded like gibberish and was incoherent in meaning. When she explained the deepness of her aching heart, she was given the blessing of the priest who had incorrectly discerned a false sense of her being unholy in a holy place. This woman named Hannah lived to see her childless state completely reversed by the miraculous blessing of the Living God.

How deep is your anguish in the circumstances of your life? How painful are the gossiping, stinging and ridiculing words of those that despise you? How deep is the shame that has been falsely layered upon you? How flooded is the floor from the tears of your sorrow? Is it so deep that your prayers might sound incoherent to anyone that might by chance overhear them?

Hopeless, might be the place where your sorrow and heartbreak seem like your closest friends, just as it was for Hannah so many long years ago. Even in this place of hopelessness, there is a Living God who hears and comes to all in such broken places. Even if the times of anguish have slowly become years, it does not mean your prayers are unheard. It does mean … He will not come to you. Joy is found in His presence, no matter what the circumstances that surround us because we know His steadfast love remains the rock of our faith. There will come a day when He will deliver us from this place. We cannot answer as to the time but we can trust that the Living God will come. This is and will forever be the hope in any and all hopelessness.

Then Hannah prayed: “My heart rejoices in the Lord! The Lord has made me strong. Now I have an answer for my enemies; I rejoice because you rescued me. No one is holy like the Lord! There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. (1 Samuel 2:1-2, NLT)

Suggested Reading … 1 Samuel 1 & 2

Longing to see “The One” who sees the all of us.

Jesus was leaving the shambles of the old city of Jericho and entering the bustling center of commerce in the new city of Jericho. A short man who had become quite wealthy in the settling of tax matters with the Roman government had heard about the great Rabbi named Jesus and he was desperate to see him. The crowds were horrendous and so he ran ahead of the throng of people climbing a great tree to see this Jesus.

As Jesus walked by, he saw this man and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down here. We are going to your home to visit.” What could Zacchaeus say, but “Okay, let’s go.” Oh, how the people in the crowd fussed and fumed, “What kind of a holy man visits the home of a dirty low life tax gouger.”

In their time together, Zacchaeus was touched in his heart by the truth Jesus gave to him and promised the Lord, “I now see the answers to my life are found in living righteously and I will make things more than right with those I have wronged.” Jesus proclaimed a great joy had come in the salvation of the man, named Zacchaeus. (Luke 19:1-10, Paraphrase, 2015, srm)

Crowds clamored around Jesus as he healed and taught. Many tried to see over the throngs of people clustered around this great healer and teacher. Of course there were distractors, skeptics and mockers but most people came to see this man who did great things. A determined man desperate to see this Jesus, climbs a tree and he is rewarded not only with a view of the Rabbi but with an attentive focus and impending visit to his home from the Rabbi.

We do not know what Jesus said to Zacchaeus nor do we know why Zacchaeus had a complete change of heart in matters that matter in life. We do know that salvation came to him and salvation changed him.

Do we desire to see above those clustered around Jesus? Do we desire more than just to see Jesus or to know about Him?  Do we desire to see “The One” who sees and knows all? Do we desire what the Master can freely give? Do we really desire the "Master" to be the master of our lives? Are we willing to let Him see into our hearts and change what he sees in us? He brings salvation to all, even to those despised and rejected by others. Salvation that changes us comes to our hearts when we listen and fellowship with our Lord. These are changes that will always bring real blessings to others and grace to us.

Suggested Reading … Luke 19