God's grace

God's Grace {Matthew20}

8:00 AM

 Matthew 20


December 22, 2020


Here we are just 3 days from celebrating the birth of Jesus!  Oh the expectation!  And as I sit here writing  (two weeks prior), I am excited for all that is to come.


Today we get to read about the parable of the worker’s in the vineyard.  “Get to”, that phrase became something I heard quite often from my husband this year.  I want to show you how this phrase helped me get to see God’s grace.


Just prior to this chapter, we read, 28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife[e] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But , many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.


Jesus is telling His disciples that people who lay aside their worldly possessions, their pride; their need to impress others with status and success - leave it all behind - and, free of all worldly burden follow Jesus in His mission of faith… all of these people, no matter how lowly or poverty stricken will have the same reward… a place in Heaven.



In just three days we celebrate Jesus’ coming to earth.  He gave up everything to spread this good news.  All He is asking is that we drop everything and join Him on His mission.  If you can do that, you will be allowed to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  Those who stay behind gratifying in their riches, and boasting of their successes will never know this Kingdom.


This is a difficult lesson for most people to hear.  Jesus is telling us the opposite of what society is telling us is the “right way” to live our lives.  Isn’t it positive to have financial comfort; to be successful; to be the pride and joy of the family, the company, the community because of all the great things we do?  What’s so great about a guy who doesn’t have two nickels to rub together, and who is always doing things for others even when he doesn’t get credit for it?


Being first isn’t good enough for God.  In fact, He doesn’t care about that.  He cares about life lived in faith, not a life filled with achievements.


This year many churches provided their services via live stream over the internet.  In fact, in my church, all the Christmas services will be live streamed, because if you don’t have a reservation to attend one of the services, you will not be allowed in. I have to admit, this year has caused me to struggle because of the closures of churches and businesses.  This isolation has caused a lot of side effects which many of us don’t even want to talk about.  And this phrase, “Get to” has been used and heard quite often in my home.  What have you gotten to do this year?  Where has your focus been?  Want?  Or what you get to do/have?


The parable of the worker’s in the vineyard is yet another difficult message.  Jesus tells us that our reward as Christians is solely dependent on the grace of God.  In this story, Jesus compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a landowner who ignores the rules when he hands out wages at the end of the day.  He does not base the amount he pays each worker on how many hours they worked - he gives everyone the same wage whether they worked twelve hours or just one.  How can this be?  Where is the fairness here and how is the landowner like the Kingdom of Heaven if he’s not being fair?  Talk about being upside down!  Those who began work late in the day - last - get as much money as those who started at dawn - first!


The landowner represents God’s grace.  Jesus tells us that we all have an equal share of this grace: first, last or in the middle - everyone gets the same amount.  It doesn’t matter who you are, or when you started, as long as you entered the race.  Once you place your faith in God, just as Jesus placed His faith in God, your shares of God’s grace equal everyone else’s shares of grace!


Perhaps this lesson of the worker’s in the vineyard is even harder to digest than the lesson of giving up everything to follow Jesus.  Harder because, frequently, when we look around us, it is difficult to believe that we are all on equal footing; all on the same playing field.  Hard to believe that our faith, our way of life, our accomplishments are not somehow just a little, if not a lot better, or more correct, that everyone else’s.  Yet, in God’s eyes we are all equal.  God sees us all through the same lens.  Unfortunately, it is not until we all understand this - until we come to understand just what His grace is all about - it’s not until then that we can experience the peace that passes all understanding, confident in the knowledge that the Holy Spirit is with us every inch of the way, every moment of the day, no matter what our life circumstances might be.


I think the irony of this lesson is that when it comes to experiencing God’s grace, those who grasp it early in life, or first - they get to receive a fortune early in life.  How much greater a gift to live a life in, with and through Christ filled with hope and love from a very young age, than to find Christ only on one’s deathbed after a lifetime of loneliness and despair.


This is a hard lesson to learn, to accept and to live.  And they are harder lessons to achieve without faith.  Whatever your circumstances are this Christmas, you “get to” experience God’s grace.  He shows no partiality.  With faith in Him, we all get the same reward.


Blessings,

Lisa


God's grace

Reflections From Roxanna~God's Grace and Mercy

6:00 AM


“The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works.” (Ps. 145:9)

The Bible tells us that God is good, true, and His mercy great and everlasting. And in His goodness He is, "Compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin" (Ex. 34:6-7) Romans 2:4 instructs us that such goodness and mercy should lead us to have hearts of repentance. “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” (Rom. 2:4)

What does it mean that God is merciful? Augustus Hopkins Strong is quoted as saying, “Mercy is that eternal principle which leads Him to seek the temporal good and eternal salvation of those who have opposed themselves to His will, even at the cost of the infinite self-sacrifice.”

In His goodness, God not only shows mercy, but He bestows upon us His many forms of grace. they include:

Saving Grace- the supernatural gift of the undeserved and unmerited favor of God given to believers through Christ by Faith 

Living Grace- the supernatural ability to live each day in God's will, allowing us to both endure and conquer sin

Suffering Grace- the the supernatural strength provided by God to endure any and all suffering.

Giving Grace- the supernatural desire to share what God has given to you with his Church  and his people.

Dying Grace- the supernatural comfort that God gives to His saints

The One true God is good, and great are His mercies!

Blessings, 
Roxanna

Becky Austin

God’s Merciful Rest (Hebrews 4)

2:38 AM



Hebrews 4

Since Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden, life has been full of struggles and toil. Life requires that we carry many burdens, face many challenges and it certainly will weary our sin laden souls. But, God did not leave us to this fate. In His mercy, he extended us grace and offered us rest for our weary souls. He offered us an eternal hope for a life reunited with Him and full of amazing promise and hope. 

I remember vividly looking at a witnessing tract when I was a child called “One Way”. It had few words, mostly pictures. It started with a mass of people moving forward, stained with sin, headed to hell. But, there were signs pointing to a side corridor that said "God’s free gift” and “Love Gift Inside”. Three young people entered and saw the story of the gospel depicted on the walls. One of the young people, rejected the love offered in that story and left to rejoin the mass of people without God. Two of the young people, however accepted the gift with sincerity of heart. They went up a flight of stairs and were greeted by God the Father, Jesus and HolySpirit. They ran into their outstretched arms. It was such a joyous celebratory moment and it always comforted me. Of course, I felt sorry for the young boy who had walked away.  

Hebrews 4 reminds me of that simple story. God offers to the tired, weary, burdened society His free gift of love through the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ. He wants us to believe and accept His salvation. He wants to give us rest. But, sadly, many choose to reject what He so lovingly offers and must be judged accordingly.  
For those of us, however, who recognize our need for Christ, we are gifted with a very personable, unique, intimate relationship with Jesus. He knows each person He breathes life into and the same gift of salvation is always freely offered.  He knows every sinful thing about us, and yet He offers us comfort, deliverance from sin, and most importantly, He offers us rest. What incredible Grace and Mercy! He is always knowledgeable of what is going on in our lives and yet He is empathetic and willing to intercede on our behalf.  “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (v15)  Because of who He is and what He has done, we can know Him intimately and be encouraged to seek Him without fear of rejection.  
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (v16) 
  
"Thou lovest me, in spite of all my failure, 
Thou knowest all my weakness and my sin; 
But Thou did'st die on Calv'ry to redeem me, 
To cleanse and make me white as snow within. 
Thine is a love, unsearchable, eternal, 
And many waters cannot quench Thy love; 
Such love as Thou dost bear the guilty sinner, 
Caused Thee to leave Thy glorious throne above. 
Thou lovest me, a wretched, failing creature, 
Unworthy, but Thy worthiness I claim; 
Thy robe of righteousness is my salvation, 
I pin my faith on Thy most precious Name. 
Thou lovest me before the world's foundation, 
"Chosen in Him" before the moon and sun, 
Eternal love has marked out all my pathway, 
And will direct 'till life on earth is done. 
Thou lovest me, and Thou art interceding, 
And ever working all things for my good, 
O help me Lord, to rest upon Thy promise, 
Rejoicing in Thy ways, not understood. 
Thou lovest me, Ah! marvel of all ages, 
Such wondrous love! we'll never understand; 
But we can thankfully with joy receive it, 
Enjoying blessings from Thy blessed hand. 
O may we rest upon Thy love more fully! 
And trust Thee for the needs of every day, 
Assured Thy goodness, and Thy lovingkindness, 
With mercies will surround my path alway. 
  —Lois Beckwit 

God's grace

Hebrews 4:16 ~ ~ God’s Grace and Mercy

12:00 AM

Saturday, March 23, 2019


Welcome to Scripture Saturday!

This coming week's memory verse is Hebrews 4:16...

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (NIV)

Let me begin with the difference between mercy and grace…

Mercy = God NOT punishing us as our sins deserve = deliverance from judgement
Grace = God’s blessing us despite the fact that we do not deserve it = extending kindness to the unworthy

Everyday we live is an act of God’s mercy. If God gave us what we deserved we’d be in hell for all eternity. As David cried out in Psalm 51…”Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love…” (Psalm 51)

Anything good that we experience is because of the grace of God. God gives us good things that we do not deserve and could never earn. Grace from God is given to everyone, however saving grace is available only through Jesus Christ. When we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior, through His grace we are saved and through His mercy we are delivered from eternal judgement. By His grace we are gifted with an abundant life, a forgiveness of sins and an eternity with Him in Heaven.

Show God everyday, through your worship, how amazing He is and how thankful you are!

Have a blessed day and week everyone!


Becky Austin

With Thankful Hearts (Ephesians 1-2)

2:31 AM





Today is Thanksgiving Day, a day of reflection on the many blessings we have and a day to offer our humble thanks for those blessings to God, our loving Father. In Ephesians 1-2, Paul reminds us of some of those wonderful blessings and encourages us to have a heart of gratitude as we offer up praise to God. 
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,” (1:3)
How did He bless us?  “ IN Christ”. 
Christ is the reason we have acceptance in God’s eyes. And having Christ grants us the Grand Prize Package so to speak because “in Christ” we get it “ALL”- “every” spiritual blessing is ours! 

Just think about how much God extended to you. 
God loved you before the beginning of time. He knew long before you were born that you would need a Savior and he sent Christ to make you worthy of a status change. 
“even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.  (1:4-5)
How amazing is that! You are adopted into God’s family. But there’s more.  God chose to lavish us with His grace.  Lavish means “to bestow something in generous or extravagant quantities upon.”
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight”(1:7-8)

Paul talks about how the first believers, like himself, were given an inheritance by believing in Christ. But, this extended beyond the chosen Jewish nation to ALL people who would choose to believe. That includes you. “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (1:13-14 )
The Holy Spirit teaches you, comforts you, and empowers you.  Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? (1 Corinthians 3:16) What a blessed gift you have been given to have the Holy Spirit, with you always.

Life is the most important of blessings.  I’ve heard this quote recently “Jesus Christ did not come to make bad people good but to make dead people alive. “.  You should be grateful for your physical life, certainly, but what far exceeds physical life is Eternal Life!  Because of Christ, you have the greatest blessing of all.”
Paul reminds us that we were spiritually dead.  “in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” (2:2-3)
But, Praise God, we were given New Life....eternal life! 
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace, you have been saved—” ( 2:4-5) 
Paul reminds us this is “a gift of love”. You don’t deserve it. You don’t earn it. You don’t perform to keep it.  It is a freely offered gift of love and grace. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”(2:8-9)

What a great gift to be thankful for. Part of our thankfulness should be to allow God to extend what He has blessed us with in service to others. God wants to use our lives to glorify and honour Him. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (2:10)
Today is a great day to show our thankfulness and appreciation for what God has blessed us with but every day affords the same opportunity. Thanksgiving shouldn’t just be a day but a way of life!