“By the Grace of God I Am What I Am”

By Oswald Chambers

 

November 30 

By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain… —1 Corinthians 15:10

The way we continually talk about our own inabilities is an insult to our Creator. To complain over our incompetence is to accuse God falsely of having overlooked us. Get into the habit of examining from God’s perspective those things that sound so humble to men. You will be amazed at how unbelievably inappropriate and disrespectful they are to Him. We say things such as, “Oh, I shouldn’t claim to be sanctified; I’m not a saint.” But to say that before God means, “No, Lord, it is impossible for You to save and sanctify me; there are opportunities I have not had and so many imperfections in my brain and body; no, Lord, it isn’t possible.” That may sound wonderfully humble to others, but before God it is an attitude of defiance.

Conversely, the things that sound humble before God may sound exactly the opposite to people. To say, “Thank God, I know I am saved and sanctified,” is in God’s eyes the purest expression of humility. It means you have so completely surrendered yourself to God that you know He is true. Never worry about whether what you say sounds humble before others or not. But always be humble before God, and allow Him to be your all in all.

There is only one relationship that really matters, and that is your personal relationship to your personal Redeemer and Lord. If you maintain that at all costs, letting everything else go, God will fulfill His purpose through your life. One individual life may be of priceless value to God’s purposes, and yours may be that life.

Grace Helped Me Forgive and Forget

From: CBN, and Kathy Carlton Willis, Author

Have you ever experienced the heartache of betrayal—the loneliness of rejection? If you’ve ever had a hurt heart, you know how precious the pursuit of grace can be. I recently faced yet another zinger—a woman who zapped me because she thought she had to tell me a tidbit to flaunt something, knowing it would pick at a wound and upset me. As I asked God to show me what I was to learn from it, God whispered to me, “Grace, child. I want you to learn grace.”

He reminded me of the time He gave me an abundance of grace when there was no human possibility for working up self-sourced forgiveness and love. A deacon joined in a campaign to try to rid the church of us—the agenda was to vote out my husband as pastor. We learned they were known as the “preacher-eating church” in town because of their short turnaround time with pastors. At that point, Russ had been there the second longest of any pastor in their 50-year history. It was our time to go! But we were just getting started in our ministry there and had planned to be there for the long haul.

That entire experience required a lot of grace, more grace than I had at the time. Not that grace wasn’t available to me—God always provides an abundance of grace for the circumstances He allows us to face. I’m certain in my pain I messed up plenty, all on my own. But there’s one thing that I managed to get right, and that’s why I know it was a God thing. No way could this mere mortal have orchestrated it!

The deacon and his family owned a company in town and had a fleet of easily recognized vehicles. One day not long after we were voted out of the church, we drove by the hospital and saw one of their trucks in the parking lot. My first inclination was to pray. My second thought was, “Do they need someone to hold their hands? Who do they turn to in their time of medical need when they are in between pastors?” I voiced my concerns, and Russ explained the truck was there because the company was contracted to do work at the hospital—not because of an emergency or health problem.

Whew! I was so relieved. And then it hit me. That’s what grace feels like in an everyday situation. I was genuinely concerned for them. I loved them despite what they had done to us. I prayed for them. I cared. I’m not saying that as a brag on self but as a brag on God—and more specifically on God’s grace. It was a beautiful heart transaction—He had deposited into my spiritual checking account just what I needed for the occasion. No longer did I feel like that account was depleted. It didn’t have insufficient funds. There was an abundance of grace—more than enough for the situation.

God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more grace and peace (1 Peter 1:2 NLT).

May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord (2 Peter 1:2 NLT).

Swipe Up

From: CBN, and Dr. Pam Morrison, author

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith …” Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV

We are in the age of the cell phone. Many people have them, and while they are wonderful, they can also be challenging to figure out.

Lately, I have had the problem of my battery wearing down swiftly. The phone battery can be charged up 100% first thing in the morning and then be down to 40-50% within an hour or two.  It is a “smartphone” so I know it is busy doing many things, but the battery drain has perplexed me.

I did what many of us do with challenges – I went to the internet to find an article on “cell phone battery drains too fast” and found a wonderful blog article by a very bright man (David Payette) who used to work for the company that makes my phone. Suggestion after suggestion revealed things I knew nothing about but I tried each remedy he named (and hoped I would remember it should I want to undo it!)

He came to a final point and said, “Do you know your apps may not actually be closed, even when you think you have closed them? They may still be running in the background without you knowing it and be a strong source of battery drainage.”

Wow! I wondered how you close an app more perfectly than just closing it. He said I needed to find the screen showing my last use of the app and “swipe up.” I did as he said and found several app screens. One by one, I swiped them upward brushing them off the phone screen, which he instructed would fully close them.

Later in the day, I was walking and felt the Holy Spirit draw this phone experience to mind and use it as a means to teach me. “You know,” He said, “When you feel you cannot hear Me or fully focus on Me, when you have trouble sleeping restfully at night, you are like your phone.”

I began to reflect on this simple thought and realized what the Spirit was teaching me – my preoccupation with worries about various things, my constant thoughts about troubles (when that happens), is similar to having a lot of open apps. My battery, that is my heart, zeal, energy, and hope, all get drained because heavy thoughts are all running in the background of my mind. I am trying to solve my problems on my own in those moments. I am focused on the negative and not on the Lord.

“Aha! Thank you, dear Spirit,” I thought to myself. I need to swipe my apps upward, that is I need to “cast all these cares upon Him because He cares for me.” 1 Peter 5:7NIV

The difficulties of life and our thoughts about them can become something we obsess about. In this state of mind, we run down, become weakened and weary. The writer of Hebrews said we should “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” And the writer’s advice was to accomplish this by “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV

In other words, it’s renewed faith that puts our eyes on Jesus. The beauty of this is that Jesus is the author (the giver) of faith and He perfects (grows it up) in us.  Our only task is to put our eyes on Him and take them off the troubles.  Putting our eyes on Him comes from prayer, praise and worship, community life in a good church, reading of the Word – and doing that all simply as His child.

Lost

November 28, 2017 Someone Desperately Needs You Today GLYNNIS WHITWER From: Crosswalk.com “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV) When my children were small, I distinctly remember thinking: I wish everybody didn’t need me so much. As a mom of a baby, toddler and preschooler, every waking moment was filled with someone needing something. My children needed me to love them, feed them, change them, keep them safe, teach them, play with them and so much more. The demands left me grateful for the incredible blessings, but exhausted. But then, things changed. The years skipped past, and now I find myself in a very different situation. No one needs me like they once did. It’s not just my kids (now grown), but we’re in a different church where I haven’t found my place. And I wonder, Does anyone need what I have to offer any more? Recently, I had a little pity party about that. I was pulling weeds, feeling quite alone and cried out to the Lord about my thoughts. As tears streamed, the Lord spoke to my heart very tenderly. He showed me people do need me. In fact, they need me quite desperately. First, my adult children still need me; it’s just different. They need me to cheer them on, not coach them like I used to. My husband needs me to be his cheerleader, too. My unsaved family needs to know the love of God, lived out through me. Actually, everyone in my extended family needs love shown in practical ways. My friends and co-workers, especially those going through hard times, need encouragement and support. And then there are people I don’t know personally, but who read our devotions or First 5 teachings through Proverbs 31 Ministries. They desperately need to know God loves them. They need to know their life matters. There are the people I interact with on a daily basis, and there are the people I may never meet. There are women around the world who need to know they are not forgotten. This insight changed my heart. It took my eyes off myself and helped me place them where God wanted them all along: on others. We read a very similar directive from the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:11, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” I wonder how many others might need encouragement today. Perhaps my single “sisters” wonder who needs their love. Perhaps my older sisters might wonder if they have anything left to give. Perhaps my sisters suffering from disability or illness feel unnecessary or they’re lacking value. Perhaps my sisters in faraway countries question if they were born in the wrong place to make a difference. May I speak truth to your heart? Someone desperately needs you today! They need you to go to their front door with a hug (and coffee), send a note, make a call, text, comment on social media. Some need to hear the life-saving good news of Jesus. An affirming word at work. Some need to be reminded they have value, and they have a profound purpose. Some need to be encouraged and prayed over and loved. Everyone needs to be treated kindly and with respect. No matter our age or stage of life, we are all needed in Jesus’ kingdom. We need each other. What kind of revolution could we start if we chose to think of ourselves as desperately needed? Could we open our eyes to the great needs around us and be representatives of Jesus to those others? Would you join me today in looking at life differently? Would you join me in starting a revolution of Jesus’ love? Lord, thank You for loving me first. You loved me when I had nothing to offer. As Your love fills me up, help me see others through Your eyes and be Your hands and feet in this world. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Restoration's Promise

From: Our Daily Journey

  Nov 27, 2017  

Read:

Nahum 2:1-13
Even though the destroyer has destroyed Judah, the Lord will restore its honor. Israel’s vine has been stripped of branches, but he will restore its splendor (Nahum 2:2).

One day I had a strong desire to pray for a neighbor with whom I had a distant, broken relationship. I prayed, Jesus, if you want me to talk with him, have him come up to the front of his house in the next few minutes (he was in his backyard). Just thirty seconds later he came to the front of the house where we talked for the next thirty minutes! The joy of restoration now marks our growing friendship.

In Nahum’s day, the people of Judah were in a difficult “relationship” with a superpower named Assyria who was threatening to overpower them. Having already conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel, the Assyrians plucked the king of Judah from Jerusalem and took him to Babylon (2 Chronicles 33:10-11). This flexing of their military muscles made the people of Judah cower in fear.

But God gave Nahum a message of hope and future restoration: “Even though the destroyer has destroyed Judah, the Lord will restore its honor. Israel’s vine has been stripped of branches, but he will restore its splendor” (Nahum 2:2). The fruitfulness of a “vine” symbolized God’s blessing of His people (Isaiah 27:2-6). Though the vine had been “stripped” as He disciplined them, He also let them know that He would fight for and one day restore the nation. The “Lord of Heaven’s Armies” was with them (Nahum 2:13).

If you’re a believer in Jesus, God is with you. In the difficulties of this life—broken relationships, battles with sin, painful experiences—remember what Paul once wrote: “Christ lives within you” and the “Spirit gives you life” (Romans 8:10)—new creational life.

Today, seek to be part of His restorative work on earth—a work that will one day culminate with Him “making everything new!” (Revelation 21:5).

Focus On Grace

From: Our Daily Journey

  Nov 25, 2017  

Read:

John 21:15-17
A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time (John 21:17).

A friend once asked me, “You’re never going to stop kicking yourself for that, are you?” He was referencing a relational fallout with a mutual friend that was largely my fault.

My gut instinct was to say, “Probably not!” That reaction is part of a lifelong coping mechanism called “sabotaging” that I sometimes use to “protect” myself. But it neverhelps! It only ends up hurting others and destroying what I most want and need.

So I looked my friend squarely in the eye and said, “I sure hope so!” It was a kinder, more hopeful response that signaled the presence of grace and a desire for a restored relationship with my estranged friend.

Peter knew what it was like to “kick himself” over hurting someone. Luke’s gospel account says that Peter ran off “weeping bitterly” after realizing he had denied knowing Jesus three times the night of His arrest (Luke 22:62).

Later, as the two met in a setting similar to the one where Jesus originally called Peter to follow Him (Luke 5:1-11), Jesus knew they had some unfinished business to address. Three times Christ asked him, “Do you love me?”—taking Peter back to those three shameful moments when he let Jesus down (John 21:15-17). He didn’t do this to rub Peter’s nose in his festering shame, but to bring healing by redirecting Peter’s focus to His love and grace.

Jesus sought to turn Peter’s attention away from the disgrace that consumed him and toward Him and His ways. It’s as if He said, “Peter, nothing you do can make Me love you less or more. Now pursue your calling in Me.”

Can’t stop kicking yourself over having hurt someone? Instead of shame, allow the deeper truth of Jesus’ love and grace to drive you to do the right and loving thing.

The Heart's True Home

From: Our Daily Bread

Read: Ecclesiastes 3:10–11 | Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 22–23; 1 Peter 1

 

 

[God] has . . . set eternity in the human heart. Ecclesiastes 3:11

We had a West Highland Terrier for a number of years. “Westies” are tough little dogs, bred to tunnel into badger holes and engage the “enemy” in its lair. Our Westie was many generations removed from her origins, but she still retained that instinct, put into her through years of breeding. On one occasion she became obsessed by some “critter” under a rock in our backyard. Nothing could dissuade her. She dug and dug until she tunneled several feet under the rock.

Now consider this question: Why do we as humans pursue, pursue, pursue? Why must we climb unclimbed mountains, ski near-vertical slopes? Run the most difficult and dangerous rapids, challenge the forces of nature? Part of it is a desire for adventure and enjoyment, but it’s much more. It’s an instinct for God that has been implanted in us. We cannot not want to find God.

Beneath all our longings is a deep desire for God.

We don’t know that, of course. We only know that we long for something. “You don’t know what it is you want,” Mark Twain said, “but you want it so much you could almost die.”

God is our heart’s true home. As church father Augustine said in that most famous quotation: “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

And what is the heart? A deep void within us that only God can fill.

Help me, Lord, to recognize my deep longing for You. Then fill me with the knowledge of You. Draw me near.

Beneath all our longings is a deep desire for God.

Trusting The Heart Of God

From: Our Daily Journey

  Nov 6, 2017  

Read:

Isaiah 65:17-25
Look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness (Isaiah 65:18).

I have a friend, a nurse, who recently went to Thessaloniki, Greece, to work in three refugee camps, primarily serving mothers and young babies who were far from home in the bitter cold. The overwhelming majority of the refugees are from Syria, where their villages and cities, once places of laughter and life, are now mostly rubble. In an email, my friend attached an image of one of the refugee tents where someone had scribbled on the outside: “We are not refugees, we are prisoners here. We want a better life.”

When we see violence ripping countries apart, we mourn with these dear people. We want a better life for them as well. We want the cities they call home to be places of joy again instead of devastation.

The terrors and hopes of refugees are not foreign to God’s people. Through the prophet Isaiah, God spoke to Israel as they sat on the brink of disintegration. God promised He had not forgotten the people’s plight and He intended to do something about it. “Look!” God said, “I am creating new heavens and a new earth” (Isaiah 65:17). With the arrival of this new reality, this new world, their beloved city that was teetering toward ruin would be renewed. “I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness,” God promised (Isaiah 65:18).

And this promise is still our hope as we struggle through the devastations of today. In God’s new city, “weeping and crying” will vanish as joy and celebration overflow (Isaiah 65:19). This city and her people will be “a source of joy” for all those who surround her (Isaiah 65:18).

And from this New Jerusalem, God’s mercy will flood over every nation and people. When God’s new world arrives, those who have believed in Jesus will experience the joy that flows from Him.

Seeing What's Invisible

From: Our Daily Journey

  Nov 21, 2017  

Read:

Colossians 1:11-20
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15).

From the time I first encountered Magic Eye stereograms (posters that show one obvious picture, but supposedly reveal more if you stare at them long enough), they’ve only frustrated me. I sat in front of one for what seemed like hours while everyone coached me, telling me to look through the image, then past the image, and then telling me to cross my eyes and look harder. No matter what I tried, I simply couldn’t see what, I’m told, was right there in front of me.

It’s possible to be similarly baffled in our attempts to understand God. Our finite human sight, our way of seeing and hearing and understanding, is simply ill-equipped for grasping and comprehending Him. He’s the transcendent Creator who is above us, beyond us, and outside our grasp. In fact, God once proclaimed to His people Israel that they couldn’t see His face. “No one may see me and live” (Exodus 33:20). In the same way, the book of Hebrews refers to God as the “one who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27).

And yet the apostle Paul tells us, “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). Jesus is how we see this One whom we can’t see. Isn’t that a mind-bender? Jesus shows us, in human flesh, the reality of God. So if we want to know what God is like, we look to Jesus. We listen to His words. We ponder Jesus’ actions. We take note of when Jesus grew angry or sad. We listen to His questions.

In Christ, we understand God as the One who “created everything,” the One who “existed before anything else,” and the one who “holds all creation together” (Colossians 1:16-17). When we encounter Jesus, we encounter God. Though much about God and faith are inscrutable, we are not left to grasp in the dark. We see Jesus.

Pass Over Nian

  Nov 20, 2017  

Read:

From: Our Daily Bread

Exodus 12:1-13 
The blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you (Exodus 12:13).

The myth of the Chinese New Year festival tells of a demon, Nian, who lived in the mountains. On the first day of the year, Nian would come into the village, steal the children, and eat livestock and grain. One day, an old man visited the village and gave the horrified people a solution. They were to hang red signs on their doors and make loud music—things the demon didn’t like. The Chinese word for New Year Guo Nian(过年) literally means “pass over Nian” or “overcome Nian.”

This myth reminds me of the Passover celebration that commemorates the Israelites’ freedom from slavery in Egypt. After the Israelites had been enslaved for four centuries, God chose a leader named Moses to free them. God brought ten devastating plagues as judgment over the Egyptians. The last plague was the killing of their firstborn sons (Exodus 12:12). To protect the Israelites from experiencing this fate, God provided a solution: The people were to sacrifice an animal, “a one-year-old male, either a sheep or a goat, with no defects” (Exodus 12:5). Then they had to take its blood and smear it on the sides and doorframes of their homes. God promised that the blood would be a sign of their allegiance. He would not judge them, but “pass over” them and they would be saved (Exodus 12:13).

Just as God delivered the Israelites, He later provided the ultimate sacrifice to save all humanity from slavery to sin. It’s even possible that Jesus died at the same time the lambs were being sacrificed in the temple in preparation for Passover (John 19:14). As Paul said, “Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7). Praise God for sending a Deliverer so we could be set free from sin and death!

Something in a Song

  Nov 19, 2017  

Read:

Psalm 42:1-11
Each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs (Psalm 42:8).

For years, Denise referred warmly to her sibling Carolyn as “my little sister.” Carolyn faced significant cognitive challenges, but she loved life and brought joy to everyone who knew her. She loved Jesus too!

When their mother died, Denise gladly took care of Carolyn. But when Carolyn died, Denise struggled tremendously—especially since the death was due to hospital error. For months, she questioned God. Silence.

Then one day, God answered. It was Sunday morning, and a church soloist stood to sing Carolyn’s favorite song: “The Old Rugged Cross.”

“That was it!” says Denise. “I was at peace, because I knew that Carolyn was at peace.”

A song can be so powerful! Music unites our whole being—mental, physical, emotional, spiritual. The right rhythms and chord progressions can touch the places we don’t often go. Lyrics paired well with harmonies give voice to what we always knew was there but couldn’t articulate. Music laments. Music celebrates. Music heals. No doubt that’s why songs appear throughout the Bible. Music is simultaneously human and a gift from God.

We don’t know who wrote Psalm 42, but we can identify with the poet’s lyrics. “As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God,” he declares (Psalm 42:1). When he confesses, “I have only tears for food” (Psalm 42:3), we understand. We relate when he writes, “My heart is breaking as I remember how it used to be” (Psalm 42:4).

But then, he recognizes where he must turn. “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again” (Psalm 42:5-6).

Wherever you are today, and whatever you long for, may the God of song give voice to your lament as well as to your praise!

Living In Peace

From: Our Daily Journey

  Nov 18, 2017  

Read:

Hosea 3:1-5
The Lord said to me, “Go and love your wife again, even though she commits adultery with another lover. This will illustrate that the Lord still loves Israel” (Hosea 3:1.

Although a man murdered nearly all of a woman’s family in the Rwandan genocide, they’re now next-door neighbors. He says, “Ever since I [confessed] my crimes and ask[ed] her for forgiveness, she has never once called me a killer. . . . She has set me free.”

Forgiveness and restoration lie at the heart of Prison Fellowship’s Rwanda project in founding reconciliation villages where victims and perpetrators live together. A representative remarked that for Rwanda to heal, people can’t avoid each other when they move back to their old neighborhoods, but need to “confront their innermost feelings . . . so suffering and anger” don’t rise up again.

This true story of seemingly impossible forgiveness reminds me of the book of Hosea in the Old Testament. When Hosea’s wife left him, returning to an unfaithful lifestyle, the Lord asked him to “go and love your wife again” to “illustrate that the Lord still loves Israel” (Hosea 3:1). In a culture where taking back an unfaithful wife was nearly unthinkable, Hosea chose to follow God’s example of extending forgiveness.

Seeking forgiveness and reconciliation can be incredibly difficult. Healing broken relationships entails not only repentance from the offending person and grace from the one forgiving, but hard work from both to rebuild trust. For Hosea and Gomer’s marriage to heal, it was necessary for Gomer to commit to renewed faithfulness (Hosea 3:4). In the Rwandan reconciliation villages, regular disciplines of conflict resolution have been necessary to establish the path to gradual healing.

Although seeking reconciliation can be a difficult road to walk, it’s also the path to freedom and joy. May it be so for us as we live in a world torn by strife.

The Eternal Goal

By Oswald Chambers

 By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing…I will bless you… —Genesis 22:16-17

Abraham, at this point, has reached where he is in touch with the very nature of God. He now understands the reality of God.

My goal is God Himself…
At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.

“At any cost…by any road” means submitting to God’s way of bringing us to the goal.

There is no possibility of questioning God when He speaks, if He speaks to His own nature in me. Prompt obedience is the only result. When Jesus says, “Come,” I simply come; when He says, “Let go,” I let go; when He says, “Trust God in this matter,” I trust. This work of obedience is the evidence that the nature of God is in me.

God’s revelation of Himself to me is influenced by my character, not by God’s character.

’Tis because I am ordinary,
Thy ways so often look ordinary to me.

It is through the discipline of obedience that I get to the place where Abraham was and I see who God is. God will never be real to me until I come face to face with Him in Jesus Christ. Then I will know and can boldly proclaim, “In all the world, my God, there is none but Thee, there is none but Thee.”

The promises of God are of no value to us until, through obedience, we come to understand the nature of God. We may read some things in the Bible every day for a year and they may mean nothing to us. Then, because we have been obedient to God in some small detail, we suddenly see what God means and His nature is instantly opened up to us. “All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen…” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Our “Yes” must be born of obedience; when by obedience we ratify a promise of God by saying, “Amen,” or, “So be it.” That promise becomes ours.