The Gospel of Grace empowers us and saves us. It was Jesus who saved you by His death on the cross; it was the Father’s love that saved you by sending Jesus to the cross in your place; and it is the Holy Spirit who is bringing that salvation into your life by His work of helping you to believe, trust and obey. But the vehicle they are using to drive all this home into your heart and life is the Gospel of Grace. “Gospel” means good news. It is the almost unbelievable good news about the grace of God. Jesus preached the good news of what He called the “gospel of the kingdom” everywhere He went. His message was that God was bringing His heavenly kingdom to earth, giving blessing away to all who will “repent and believe” the good news. By believing the good news, we trust and follow Jesus. New life is child’s play!
Do nothing? Oh, how that rubs against the grain! Sure there are plenty of times when my lazy bone is acting up and I only want to lay back, roll over and do nothing. But those are never the times (so to speak) when my house is on fire! In such situations of pain or perceived danger I’m on fire to do all that I can to alleviate the problems I face. And yet sometimes the best thing to do…
Why did the prodigal take so long to return? Why did he linger in that pig pen which was so humiliating and hateful for him (as a Jew) to endure? Why didn’t he simply head straight home to his father once the money was gone? Why did he drag it out until he was practically starving? It wasn’t pride. That’s what people usually say when I ask the question in class, especially classes on recovery from addictions. They know only…
Does God always give us a second chance? I hear this preached a lot, especially at the rescue mission where I serve as a part time chaplain. There is a great and wonderful truth to it, but there is also a very big BUT.First the truth: If you are able to turn to God and start calling on His Name in repentance for going the wrong way, you have just been given the second chance! If you want to get your life right with God, but don’t even know how, you have just been given the second chance…
There is a huge difference between the enemy’s ways with you and God’s. Have you noticed how the enemy (a.k.a. “the accuser of the brethren”) is always breathing out heavy threats, bearing down hard on you for every fault, putting pressure on you to fix yourself or your problems pronto, pushing you to be your own savior? How different the Lord’s ways with us are! With God there are no demands pressuring us to rescue ourselves…
The Gospel of Grace empowers us and saves us. It was Jesus who saved you by His death on the cross; it was the Father’s love that saved you by sending Jesus to the cross in your place; and it is the Holy Spirit who is bringing that salvation into your life by His work of helping you to believe, trust and obey. But the vehicle they are using to drive all this home into your heart and life is the Gospel of Grace. “Gospel” means good news. It is the almost unbelievable good news about the grace of God. Jesus preached the good news of what He called the “gospel of the kingdom” everywhere He went. His message was that God was bringing His heavenly kingdom to earth, giving blessing away to all who will “repent and believe” the good news. By believing the good news, we trust and follow Jesus. New life is child’s play!
