Philippians 1-2 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is Philippians 1:1-2:30.

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

This passage just smacked me this morning. Who is Paul convinced will complete this good work in the Philippians? He doesn’t say, “And I am sure of this, that you who began this good work will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.” Instead, he is convinced God will do it.

What freedom. What comfort. What joy. What peace. I don’t have to put my confidence in me to complete this good work, which only leads me to despair. I can put my confidence in God to complete it, which leads to peace and hope. That sets me free to quit worrying about where I’ll be at my death or when Christ returns. All I have to focus on today is doing the next right thing. God is working on the outcomes. He will bring this good work in me to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. No need to despair when God is the one who is at work within me both to will and to work for His good pleasure (cf. Philippians 2:13).

Praise God!

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? Click here to add your input.

PPS. Thanks to all of you for the positive comments you gave me here, on Facebook, via e-mail, and person to person about this blog. That was very encouraging and uplifting.

——————————————-

*Today’s illustration was generated by the creative tool at Wordle.net. You can find all my wordles here.

Romans 5-6 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is Romans 5:1-6:23.

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person–though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die–but God shows his love for us in that while were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8).

If God did this for me, shouldn’t I do it for others?

What about my spouse? Too often I get mad at my wife and start to dwell in resentment and bitterness. I think if she would just get her act together, everything would be okay. I pray that God will fix her so I can love her. I expect her to grovel, beg, and earn her way to my good graces. But that isn’t good graces is it? You know what I’ve found? When I get in that place, my marriage doesn’t get any better. I need to offer her the same grace, at the same time, that God offered me. The 3 times I need to offer grace to her are while she is still 1) weak, 2) ungodly, and 3) sinful. After all, don’t I want her to do the same for me?

What about my brethren? Too often I get mad at a brother or sister and start to dwell in resentment and bitterness. They have committed some sin against me. They’ve hurt me. They’ve betrayed me. They’ve violated a boundary. I get in a huff. I think if they would just get their act together, everything would be okay. I pray that God will fix them so I can love them. I pray that God will make them apologize and grovel and some how earn their way back into my good graces. But that isn’t good graces is it? You know what I’ve found? When I get in that place, my relationships with brethren don’t get any better. I need to offer them the same grace, at the same time, that God offered me. The 3 times I need to offer them grace are while they are still 1) weak, 2) ungodly, and 3) sinful. After all, don’t I want them to do the same for me?

What about my co-workers? What about my neighbors? What about my parents? What about my children? What about…?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? You can add your input by clicking here.

——————————————-

*Today’s illustration was generated by the creative tool at Wordle.net. You can find all my wordles here.

Today’s reading is 1 Corinthians 14:1-15:58.

“But by the grace  of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me…Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:10, 58).

What great comfort. God has given me His grace and it is not in vain because I am laboring in the Lord. At the same time, I am laboring in the Lord and my labor is not in vain because God has granted me His grace. It works together. God’s grace doesn’t mean I musn’t labor and my labor doesn’t mean I am avoiding God’s grace.

Rather, I have the strength and motivation to labor because I know God is laboring in His grace. God’s grace does me good because it prompts me to labor.

Today, I’ll keep working in the will of the Lord because I know His grace makes my work meaningful. Thank you, God, for that grace.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is 1 Peter 1:1-2:25.

“…knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Too often I’ve thought that grace was God’s ability to overlook my sins. But that is not true. God has not overlooked my sins. He hasn’t winked at a single one. Rather, He has stared at them in all His glory and all my horror. He could not help but see them glaring from my heart.  He does not dismiss them; He deals with them. He does not wink at them; He washes them away. He does not pass over them; He pays for them. What is the purchase price for my sins? Not gold. Not silver. Not all the money in the world. The purchase price was Jesus’ blood.

No longer can I dismiss my sins with a wink and a nod toward God’s grace. “Oh well, we’re all human, that’s what God’s grace is for.” God’s grace is not some ethereal force out there wandering around looking for sins to cover up from God’s eyes. God’s grace is the blood of Jesus Christ. Every sin I commit costs Jesus’ life. Every lie, every idle gossip, every look of lust, every cheat on a test, every rebellious notion is only paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ.

How can I turn a blind eye to my sins when God did not? How can I wink at my wrongs when the cost is so great? How can I dismiss my defects when Jesus’ death is the purchase price for them? Today, I’m going to throw myself into Jesus’ hands to grow in Him by His grace so I am not asking the price to be paid again.

Yes, when I fail, I know the price has been paid and I’m eternally grateful. But I will not devalue that price by assuming Jesus paid it so I could sin as much as I wanted.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Revelation 21:1-22:21.

How is it that I’ve missed how Revelation and therefore, the Bible, actually ends. I’ve turned to the end of Revelation for years to point out that if we add to or take away from the book, then plagues will be added to us or our share will be taken from the tree of life. But that isn’t actually how the book ends. Now don’t misunderstand; those statements are still there and we need to take their warning. However, that isn’t how the book ends.

Go read it again.

“The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.”

Wow!

I just don’t think there is much more to say other than thank Jesus for His grace. May His grace be with you as you enter a new year. Seek to know Him this year. Seek to be in Him this year. Seek to have the righteousness that comes by faith in Him this year (Philippians 3:8-9). 

***Question: What do you plan to do in 2010 to help you grow in Christ and His grace?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. Don’t forget, we’ll be right back here on Monday starting in the book of Luke. I’ve learned a lot this year, reading through the New Testament. I plan to learn more as I keep reading. I hope you will join me.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Today’s reading is Acts 19:1-20:38.

Today’s post is brief. It is just a reminder that what we are doing on this blog is really, really important. Acts 20:32 says, “And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”

Clearly, you don’t have to be on this blog to be in the word of God’s grace. But part of what we are doing here is helping each other stay in that word. Keep it up. If you’ve let your habit slip. That’s okay. Just pick it back up again today. This is really important.

***Question: How does reading the Bible regularly help you?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is Matthew 19:1-20:34.

Okay, actually, this was last Friday’s reading. However, the weekend was pretty hectic for me. But right now I’m sitting in a hotel room by myself and have plenty of time to catch up. So, I figured I would read Friday’s and today’s. You get a double post today. Enjoy.

Matthew 19:25-26 struck me today and how much did I need it?

When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

The disciples were astounded that the rich would have a hard time entering the kingdom. We need to keep in mind their background. As a nation subservient to Rome, they knew how someone entered the Roman kingdom. They were either born into it or they bought their way into it. For them, the obvious people entering God’s kingdom would be those who could buy their way in. But now they just heard the rich would have a hard time getting in. If the rich can’t get in, how could they possibly get in?

However, the part that astonishes me is that Jesus didn’t reply, “Oh, you guys don’t get it. You don’t enter the kingdom by money. You enter by righteousness.” He didn’t say, “You enter by humility.” He didn’t say, “You enter by your personal holiness.” Rather, His response was, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 

Did you catch that? He didn’t say, “Here you go guys, here is what you must do to enter the kingdom.” Rather He said, “Well, I mean, guys don’t you realize it is impossible for you to enter the kingdom. You don’t have what it takes. You can’t buy your way in. You can’t work your way in. You can’t sacrifice your way in. If you keep thinking of this as what great things you must do to enter the kingdom, you are going to be out of luck. The only way to get in is if God brings you in. It is impossible for you to save you. However, God can save you. God can bring you in.”

Let’s not miss how groundbreaking and earth shattering this is. We have a tendency to think we can enter the kingdom because of our greatness. If we try a bit harder, work a bit more, push ever farther, then when we die, we’ll warrant heaven. It just doesn’t work like that. We have to get this into our heads and our hearts, if we are relying on our strength, our work, our money, our effort, heaven is an impossibility. Heaven is only possible by the grace of God. If I go to heaven, it will not be because I am good enough. It will be because God is good enough.

Don’t misunderstand this. I’m not saying we sit on our thumbs and just hope we are one of the lucky chosen that God miraculously saves. Absolutely not. What I’m talking about is a mindset shift. Instead of working to enter the kingdom. Instead of thinking if we try just a little bit harder we’ll be good enough. We need to admit how powerless we are. We need to admit how impossible salvation is for us. Then, based on that, we need to surrender our lives over to God. We need to realize God can save us so we’ll just do whatever He says. We don’t obey God to try to be good enough to be saved. We obey God because God way works. His way is the way of salvation. 

I recognize that on a visible level this means our lives may not look exceedingly different. Those who are trying to earn their way into heaven read their Bibles a lot, pray every day, “go to church,” talk to other folks about Jesus, avoid sins, etc. The problem for them is as they are relying on themselves to be good enough, they constantly are reminded of how short they fall. They just can’t make it. They can’t ever be that good. However, those who are surrendering to God will also read their Bibles a lot, pray every day, “go to church,” talk to other folks about Jesus, avoid sins, etc. However, their mindset is different. They aren’t doing these things to be good enough. Therefore, they don’t have a constant reminder that they fall short. They are doing these things because they know on their own they will fall short so they are just giving their lives over to God, following His way, knowing that as they progress in their surrender God will measure up through them.

Okay, I know I’ve rambled on long enough. I hope I’ve explained the two mindsets well. However, if you get nothing else out of this post, go back to Jesus’ statement. Salvation is impossible for us. Only God can save us, we can’t. So, let’s quit trying to be good enough to be saved. Instead, let’s surrender our lives to God and ask Him to save us by His mercy.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What did you get out of today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Luke 3:1-4:44.

I don’t know why, but Luke 3:8 really struck me in today’s reading. And for a really surprising reason. I’ve never thought about this verse this way before.

“Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.“

In a sense, if we want to be saved, we have to be children of Abraham. No, I recognize we don’t have to be literally children of Abraham. But Galatians 3:7 talks about being the sons of Abraham by faith. Then Galatians 3:29 explains we are Christ’s when we are Abraham’s offspring.

I want to be Abraham’s offspring. I need to be. As do you. However, sometimes, I consider how I’ve lived and begin to think it’s impossible. How could I ever be counted among the sons of Abraham? Yet, John says God can raise up Abraham’s offspring from the rocks. If God can get the offspring of Abraham out of a rock, then he can get it out of me as well. That, of course, is what I need to remember. I can’t be a child of Abraham because I have been good enough. I become a child of Abraham by believing God enough to submit. He’ll make me the son of Abraham. He’ll bring me into Christ.

When I’m feeling the shame of my sins. I need to remember that God sent His Son to die for me so I could be a child of Abraham. If He would do that while I’m a sinner, then He’ll help me be Abraham’s offspring.

Of course, this ties in with an important verse in yesterday’s reading. “Nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).

Keep the faith and keep reading.

ELC

P.S. What did you get out of today’s reading?