Tag Archives: salvation

November 30, 2012 · 7:52 AM

The Check Please

I used to have a boss who would describe grace as God’s Redemption At Christ’s Expense. I have a friend who call’s it unmerited favor. I believe it is more than not getting what you deserve, it’s getting something you don’t deserve. Since Adam and Eve we have gone against what God has commanded us. We have gone our own way, done things our own way and lived our own way. I’m not sure why He would still extend grace to us when we clearly don’t deserve it. But He does.

I have a friend who does an exercise in grace each Christmas. He and his family rent a hotel or cabin in some small town nearby when it gets close to Christmas. Everyone brings the money they were going to spend on Christmas presents for their kids and spouses. Once in the hotel, each person draws a card with a day of the week on it. On that day, that person picks the restaurant and whoever their server is gets the money they were going to spend on their family. They do it even if they get poor service.

They don’t make a big show either. He told me that they get such an amazing feeling by blessing others. It’s addicting. He said that now his kids can’t take it when it’s not their night to bless. So what the others do now is look around the restaurant and tell their sever, “I want to buy that families dinner.” Sometimes his kids end up paying for everyone in the restaurant and no one knows who did it.

When I think about it, that’s a lot like what God did for us. He came into this world unassuming. He came as a baby when we were expecting a king. He lived among us and did normal things. He then started blessing people who didn’t deserve it. He helped the poor. Then, when we weren’t expecting it, he did the ultimate act of Grace. He paid for our sins. We deserve to pay for the wrongs we’ve done, but when the check comes, it’s marked paid!

I’m so thankful that there is nothing I can do to ever deserve God’s grace. Just like when those customers get their check, they see what they deserve to pay, I know what I deserve to pay. I’m thankful each day that God sent His Son into this world to pay my check. I know at the end of each day, I should owe something for what I’ve done. As unworthy as I am, Jesus looks down and says, “I got it.”

Have you accepted that grace from Him for what you’ve done? If not, now is the perfect time. All you have to do is say, “Jesus, I know I don’t deserve your grace. My sins and faults are many. I know the debt I owe, but I accept your grace and your forgiveness to cover the check. Thank you for forgiveness. Amen.” If you were worthy of it, it wouldn’t be grace. God’s Redemption At Christ’s Expense!

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November 5, 2012 · 7:48 AM

Swimming in the Nile

The Nile river holds the title of the longest river in the world. It starts in Lake Victoria down in Uganda and flows northward to Egypt until it releases into the Mediterranean Sea. By the time the Nile gets to Egypt, it’s pretty nasty and dirty. The expats there often warn of the dangers of touching the water because of amoebas. After a year of hearing all the warnings, I decided that I couldn’t live the rest of my life telling people I never swam in the Nile. So two friends and I rented a felucca (sail boat) and told the hired captain to take us to the middle where the water flow was the fastest.

After arriving in the middle we laughed at the thought of what we were about to do. “You go first,” one of us shouted. “No. You go first.” Somehow it was decided that I would go first while one of the others filmed our journey into the depths of the Nile. Sitting on the edge of the boat, looking into the Nile, I couldn’t stop laughing at the absurdity of what I was about to do. I finally slid off the side of the boat into the murky water. It was cold and dirt. After the other two joined me in the water, we quickly got out, toweled dry and had the captain take us back to shore so we could run to our homes and shower.

As Christians, many of us try to get through this world without getting in the water and we do our best to keep from getting splashed on. The fear of that paralyzes a lot of people and even pushes them to the center of the boat away from the edges. The problem is that if we are to bring people into the boat, we have to be where we can get splashed on. We sometimes have to get out of the boat and down into the water where people are in order to bring them back.

Jesus had no problem doing this. He often went into the homes of known sinners. He was even splashed on by the tears of a prostitute. The religious leaders around him said, “If you were really a prophet, you’d know what kind of woman that is who is touching you.” Jesus knew exactly who she was and what she had done yet He still allowed her to wash His feet with her tears. He forgave her sins and told her to go in peace.

If we aren’t willing to get out of the boat and to get dirty we will never reach others for Christ. Our lives weren’t meant to be lived completely encapsulated by the boat away from the water. Yes it’s dirty. Yes it can be dangerous, but I don’t want to get to Heaven one day and have this conversation:
Me: Jesus, I made it.
Jesus: Who did you bring with you?
Me: You know, Lord, that water was murky and nasty. I didn’t want to risk getting dirty by getting in it to help someone else. I figured you wanted me to be nice and clean when I got here.
Jesus: Have you ever met a fisherman who smelled good or had clean hands? Fishing requires you to get in the murky water. It requires you to get your hands dirty. You were called to be a fisher of men.

We are each called to be fishers of men. Any good fisherman will tell you to fish where the fish are. It just makes sense. In Luke 14:21, Jesus said we should go to the streets and the alleys and invite the poor, crippled, the blind and the lame. Then He said to go into the country roads and behind the hedges to urge anyone you find to come so that His house may be full. Where have you been called to go that you’ve been afraid of? Don’t let what others think keep you from getting your hands dirty to reach others. Be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove.

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September 17, 2012 · 9:11 AM

The Debt

In September 2003, I incurred a debt that I have been unable to pay. I was unable to keep my promise and people who depended on me paid the price. My goal is to pay that debt one day. In fact, I keep a paper in my wallet with that debt on it so that every time I open it to spend money, I see it. It is faded, worn out and tattered. Even though it is nine years old, it still weighs on me and will until it is paid.

Each one of us also has a debt we must pay. We incurred it on the day we were born. I like how King David put it in Psalm 51:5. He said, “I was born a sinner- yes, from the moment my mother conceived me (NLT).” Because Adam was unable to keep his promise to God in the Garden of Eden, we are all born with sin and owe the price of that sin. Romans 5:12 tells us that sin entered the world through one man and spread to all men.

Sin is what separates us from God. Isaiah 59:2 says that it is your sin that has cut you off from God. Just as Adam was cut off from daily fellowship with God, so too our sin cuts us off from having a relationship with Him. When someone has offended you, the last thing you want to do is hang out with them. When Adam sinned against God, he hid himself from God because he knew he had offended God. He didn’t want to face the consequences of his actions and neither do we.

The consequences for that sin and for our sin is separation from God for eternity. Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death. Each of us will die one day. At that point, we receive the payment for sin which is spiritual death or separation from God for eternity. We owe a debt to sin. Our wage that we collect at death is the payment for that debt. No matter how long we live with that debt, it will always weigh on us until it is paid. There is nothing we can do on our own to pay for that debt. Ephesians 2:9 says that salvation (having our debt paid) is not a reward for doing good deeds or being a good person.

The good news is that your debt has been paid. Jesus came to the earth as God’s only son in order to die on the cross to pay that debt for you. Romans 5:8 says that God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. It is not in God to leave us with a huge debt like that. He wants you to live debt free so He paid the price for you. All you have to do is claim it.

Romans 10:13 says that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. In order to claim His payment for your spiritual debt, you just have to pray. In Romans 10:9,10 it tells us how. It says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

I know a lot of people who think they have sinned so much or so badly that God wouldn’t want them or that He wouldn’t forgive them. That is the farthest thing from the truth. II Peter 3:9 says that the Lord is not slow in keeping His promise. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish (including you), but everyone to come to repentance. Your sin is no worse than anyone else’s and He wants to forgive your debt.

To prove that your sin is not too great or that He wants you no matter what, we have to look no farther than the cross. While Jesus was hanging on the cross and the men who beat Him, mocked Him and drove the nails into His hands and feet stood there watching Him die, Jesus looked up into Heaven and said, “Father, forgive them.” I’m sure you haven’t done anything worse than killing God’s only son. If He can forgive them and make a way for them to go to Heaven, He can forgive you and pay your debt.

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August 28, 2012 · 7:14 AM

Why I’m burnt out on religion

I’ve seen first hand what the effects of religion are. I’ve seen people who are forced to follow strict guidelines or risk being shunned by their community. I’ve watched people mutilate their body in hopes of paying some kind of penance. People do a lot of unnecessary things to themselves and to others all in the name of religion. It’s very sad to see.

Religion often seeks to control others. It uses rules and regulations to force people into doing things in order to earn their way into the afterlife. By keeping people guessing about their assurance of their salvation, they can manipulate them into doing whatever they ask. People comply and the follow in the name of this or in the name of that, but really it’s in the name of whoever is trying to control them by fear.

Jesus did not come to bring fear or to control you. It’s just the opposite. II Timothy 1:7 says that God has given us a spirit of power, love and a sound mind. He gives us a spirit of power, love and a sound mind, we won’t be controlled or manipulated by religions that seek to do that. Even in Christianity there are those who seek to manipulate and control through fear.

In Galatians 5:1, it says that it was for freedom that Christ set us free. Jesus didn’t die on the cross so you could be bound by religion and the rules that come along with it. He came to bring freedom from religion. He knew that the only way to have a true follower is if it were by choice. He wants to have a relationship, not a dictatorship.

Another thing that religion does is to condemn people. Condemnation uses shame and judgement to make someone feel bad. By using condemnation, religion seeks to elevate itself by tearing down those who follow it. Those who are under condemnation can never be good enough or do enough. They can never be sure of their salvation, but they keep trying in hopes of making it when they die.

Jesus said in John 3:17 that He did not come to condemn the world, but that through Him, the world might be saved. Where religion brings condemnation, Christ brings salvation. His message was not Hell, fire and brimstone. It was love, compassion and forgiveness. He desires to spend eternity with His creation and made a way for that to happen by paying the high cost of giving His life for you.

Religion also seeks to make you conform. It wants to make you conform into its image, not God’s. It doesn’t want you to be who God made you to be, it wants you to be who they think you should be. When you lose who you are, you are more likely to blindly follow their rules. As mentioned before, Jesus wants you to be free.

He wants to take who you are, all of your successes, failures, scars and shortcomings to use them for His purpose. When you become His follower, he doesn’t make you conform. Instead He makes you transform! Romans 12:2 says that we should not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the entire renewal of your mind. This transformation starts with renewal. You get a fresh start spiritually. Jesus wants to give you a renewed hope and future.

I know what it’s like to be religious and to try to impose religion on others. Jesus didn’t do it that way and neither should we. Where religion seeks to control, condemn and conform you, Christ wants to set you free, forgive you and renew you. In fact, Christianity is the opposite of religion. It is not a set of rules and regulations as some would have you believe. It’s about having a relationship with a God that loves you more than you can comprehend. It’s about living for the One who died for you. While there are those who seek to make Christianity act like religion, that was not Jesus’ intent. He came to bring life and peace. There is freedom in Jesus.

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August 13, 2012 · 8:54 AM

Reasons to Hope

Hope. It’s a small word that does big things. It’s a light when we are surrounded by darkness. It can sustain us in times of intense despair. It’s one of the amazing things in life that can keep us going when we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve clung to it many times in my life to help pull me through the darkest days of my life.

Maybe you’re in a situation right now that seems hopeless. Where You can’t seem to find anything worth living for or a reason to get you through the day. It’s tough. It’s lonely. Without hope is no way to live. It only takes a small amount of hope to make a big change in your life. Hope can make all the difference in your situation.

Here are three areas I’ve found reason to hope.

Hope for victory

Gene Kranz, flight director of Apollo 13, famously said, “Failure is not an option.” I’m here to tell you that defeat is not an option. You cannot open the door to defeat. Defeat is the enemy of hope. You may feel defeated in your situation right now, but there is still hope for victory for you no matter what.

Anytime you are caught in a battle, there is hope for victory. When there is no hope for victory, surrender is your only option. While hope remains, we fight on. You can be victorious in your situation. II Corinthians 2:14 says, “Now thanks be unto God, who always causes us to triumph in Christ!” Even when it doesn’t feel like it, you have the hope of victory through Christ.

2. Hope for healing

I remember being holed up in the ICU waiting room at M.D. Anderson while my mom was battling cancer. There was a group of us who lived in that room. The group was constantly evolving. You only moved out for one of two reason. Either your loved one got better and moved out of ICU or they didn’t. Every day we as strangers would share what little hope we had gotten that day: a blink, a hand grasp, a clean CAT scan. One person’s hope would be enough for all of us.

We have a hope for healing through Christ. Isaiah 53:5 tells us that with the stripes that wounded Christ, we are healed and made whole. We can believe and hope in that healing because of the pain He endured. I believe in God’s ability and willingness to heal today even though I was one of the ones who left that waiting room for the other reason. Now, I sit in Heaven’s waiting room with the hope of seeing her again.

3. Hope for Heaven

If you believe that Jesus came to this earth as the Son of God, lived a sinless life, died on the cross to pay the price for your sins and the was resurrected from death in order to give you life, you can have the hope of going to Heaven. There is not one of us who are worthy to go, but through the death of Christ on the cross, we receive the righteousness required to enter.

Once you believe in Jesus, that hope is translated to absolute knowledge. I John 5:12,13 tell us that whoever has the Son has life and these things were written so that we may know we have eternal life. You do not have to wonder if you are worthy enough or if you are going to Heaven. You can know it, but you have to believe in Him. There is hope for you!

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August 2, 2012 · 7:58 AM

Withholding things from God

Last night as our church group sat around talking and eating, the debate of waffle fries or McDonald’s fries came up. During the debate, it came up that I love McDonald’s fries so much that I won’t even share one with my wife. If she wants just one, I’ll go buy her a bag of fries rather than give her one of mine. Someone told me that if I loved her like Christ loved the Church, I would give her one. I jokingly said back, “I don’t know if He loved the Church that much!”

The truth is that He loves the Church infinitely more than that and he has called us to love our wives that much. Is there something you hold back from your spouse? It could be something silly like a French fry or it could be a compliment, a thank you or the words I love you. Beyond that, what is it you withhold from God?

Here are something’s that I’ve found I withhold from Him sometimes.

1. My time

There are 1440 minutes in each day. If I were to tithe on my time, I should give Him 144 minutes each day. That’s 2 hours and 24 minutes each day to put it into perspective. When you think of all he has given to us, 10% is not much. Time is something that is very valuable to all of us. We only have so much of it and it seems everyone wants some of it.

I was reading yesterday in Genesis about the death of Abraham’s wife Sarah. He needed a place to bury her and someone offered a field with a cave in it for free. He wouldn’t take it because he wanted to give his wife something that was valuable and cost him something. If time is your most valuable asset, God will honor you for giving more of it to him.

2. My problems

I know it sounds crazy, but sometimes I don’t want to bother God with what is bothering me. He has enough on His plate with everything going on in the world without having to worry or spend time helping me with my problems. Sure, I go to him with the big things, but I try to handle the little things on my own. I heard someone say this week that they only take God their big problems and someone responded, “With God, there are no “big” problems.”

God never intended us to carry the load ourselves. He told us to cast all our cares on Him because He cares for us. We don’t have to shoulder the burden ourselves. He wants to help, but we keep Him from it and wear ourselves out. In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus told all who were weary and had heavy burdens to come to Him and take his burdens because they were light.

3. My gratitude

When I look back at my life and think of all the things I have prayed for, I can see that more were answered than not. I also see that once it has been answered, I rarely go back to say “thank you”. It’s not that I’m ungrateful. It’s that a new problem has come up and I’ve started asking for it. I think it’s important to keep a prayer journal where you write down all your requests of God. When you go back in a month, year or decade and see what your problems were and how God answered them, you’ll be grateful and amazed.

I wrote recently about being thankful here. Being thankful and showing gratitude changes your perspective and builds your faith. When you see all the little things that God has done for you, it’s easy to trust Him with the big things. Everyone likes to be appreciated for things they do. We were made in God’s image. I think He likes to be thanked every now and then too.

Have you found that these are some areas that you withhold from God too? Maybe you haven’t withheld all of them or you’ve withheld other things that are important to you. God loves you so much that the Bible says he will not withhold any good thing from you. In fact, He has proven it by sending His son to die for our sins. Even when we are ungrateful for that at times, He still gives us good things. We can make that change today. We can choose to quit withholding things from Him now. What are you going to quit withholding?

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August 1, 2012 · 8:00 AM

Acting in Faith

Lately God has been pushing me to do more than I ever have. Sometimes the things He asks are small while other times it requires a great amount if faith to step out and do it. That first moment when you hear His voice or feel His prompting is critical. My mind starts to think different things. Do I step out and do that? Is that really God? Why would you want me to do that?

Have you experienced those thoughts when you’ve been promoted by God to act in faith? I think we all have. It’s not easy to take a step when you can’t see where you’re going. You don’t know what will happen or how you’ll look. We are all called by God to live a life of faith and surrender. What do you do when feel lead to act in faith?

Abraham was asked to take a huge leap of faith in sacrificing his only son. Here are somethings we can follow when we are asked to act in faith.

1. Act quickly

When God spoke to Abraham in Genesis 22:2 and asked him to sacrifice his son, Abraham didn’t argue with God. He knew that God had given him his son in his old age and that nothing was impossible for God. Verse 3 says that Abraham got up early the next morning, saddled his donkey, chopped wood for the sacrifice and began the trip.

I wonder how I would respond in that situation. Would I have argued with God? Would I have delayed and procrastinated? When God asks us to do something, it is usually time bound and requires our immediate action. He may want you to say something to a stranger, pay for someone’s groceries or just pray for someone. When He asks, we need to act quickly in faith.

2. Trust God

Along the way to the mountain, Isaac realized something wasn’t right. He noticed the wood and the fire, but he didn’t see a lamb. Abraham replied that God would provide. He knew that God had made a promise to him and that God would fulfill His promise. He wasn’t sure how He would do it, but he knew that God had not let any promises go unfulfilled yet.

God is faithful to His Word. He cannot go back on it. When He promises something to you, believe it with al, your heart and trust Him to fulfill it. As abraham was binding up his son and placing him on the altar, I’m sure Abraham was thinking, “Uh God, where is the lamb for this sacrifice?” He continued to act in faith even when he couldn’t see how God would provide. Blind obedience always yields God’s reward.

3. Receive His blessing

As Abraham stood there with knife in hand, the angel called out to him to stop. His faith had been tested and he had shown God that he would not withhold anything from Him including his only son. God then provided a ram to be caught in some bushes by its horns. He received that blessing and sacrificed it instead.

This is a great illustration of what God has done for us. It was our lives who were on the altar. We are the ones who were supposed to die because of our sin. At the right moment in time, God provided a lamb to be sacrificed in our place. He provided His only son, Jesus to come and die in our place so we could receive the blessing of spending eternity with Him.

If God was not willing to withhold even His own son from us, how much of what we have should we be willing to give Him? What He asks of us pales in comparison to what He gave for us. When God asks us next time to step out in faith, remember that we need to act quickly and trust Him. We have received the blessing of salvation, now it’s time to give something back to Him.

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July 24, 2012 · 10:52 AM

Giving Thanks

When is the last time that you stopped what you were doing and truly thanked God for all he’s done for you? In I Thessalonians 5:18, it tells us that no matter what your circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks. Even if nothing seems to be going your way right now, there is reason to give thanks.

Having a thankful heart is a mindset that you have to create. We are not naturally thankful creatures. You need to practice being thankful with others and with God. When you truly make being thankful a part of your life, you will find that your attitude, your outlook and your perspective will change for the better.

Here are some reasons I have found to give thanks.

1. For salvation

Each of should be eternally grateful for what Jesus did on the cross for us. There is nothing that we could ever do to earn our way to Heaven. It is only because God loved us so much that He sent His son to die for our sins that we have that ability. I don’t have to spend my life hoping and trying to be good enough one day. The price for my sin was paid for by Jesus.

I love how 2 Corinthians 9:15 says it: Now thanks be to God for His gift, precious beyond telling, His indescribable, inexpressible, free gift! We have a very good reason to be thankful today. You do not have to spend eternity separated from God if you receive His son into your life.

2. For God’s faithfulness

I’m thankful every day that God’s faithfulness doesn’t rely on my own faithfulness. 2 Timothy says that even if we are faithless or are untrue to Him, he remains faithful and true because He cannot deny Himself. What God has promised, He will do no matter what. He cannot go back on a promise.

One of my favorite promises in scripture is found in Philippians 4:19. I remind myself of this scripture when things aren’t going my way. It says that God will supply all of my needs according to His riches. I often want Him to supply all of my wants, but He has promised to take care of my needs. I have air in my lungs, a place to sleep and food to eat. That is something to be thankful for.

3. For what He has done

How many times have we prayed and asked God for something and He’s done it? Too many to count I’m sure. I often thank Him for the big things when He does them, but what about the little things? Have we thanked Him for a good night’s sleep, help on a test, safe travels, for food to eat? We constantly petition God in prayer and rarely thank Him.

When He healed the 10 lepers in Luke 17, only one came back to thank Him. Jess asked him where the other 9 were. How was it that only one came back for something as big as a life giving healing? I want to live my life like that one who came back and worshipped Him and thanked Him.

I know it’s hard to do sometimes. I’ve been at points in my life where it seemed I had nothing to be thankful for. The truth is that I had a lot to be thankful for, but I wasn’t looking for it. Wherever you are today, stop and give thanks to God. You will find that it will change you when you live with a grateful heart.

Here is a short prayer you can pray today to say “thank you” to God. It is provided by Michael Moak.

Dear Jesus,
Today I want to say THANK YOU! Thank you for my life. Thank you for my family. Thank you for salvation. Thank you for my church. Thank you for never giving up on me. Thank you for allowing me to experience your favor and your blessings! Thank you for everything that I take for granted for I know that without YOU I would have nothing. THANK YOU.

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