There are two guarantees in life. And no, I'm not talking about death and taxes!
Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. (John 11:25)
All kinds of things happen to a person, but there are two things in particular that we are guaranteed. Death... and Life.
First off, death. It's guaranteed that this body we live in will die. Can't get around that one. It's mortal, it's corruptible. These eyes, these hands, these ears, this heart, this liver, these legs, these feet, this skin, these knees, these mortal parts, this temporary tent... will not go on forever.
But that's alright... because of that other guarantee.
From 1 Cor 15 - Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The dead will be raised incorruptible. This corruption must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality.
The thing is, even though we're living in a mortal body, we already have Eternal Life. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life." John said, "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life."
We have life!
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. (Col 3:1-4)
Jesus came to give us Life - which is Himself!
Grace Roots Blog
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Grace Roots
Grace Roots... Where'd that name come from? Almost three years ago I had been thinking about creating a website, basically for the purpose of providing an outlet for me to write about God's grace. I asked the Lord, "What should I call my website?" I remember the day as clear as crystal. I was driving along the road for my job, and just as soon as I had asked the question this is what came into my mind: "graceroots.org."
It's something that I never would have come up with myself - I really believe the Lord gave me that name. And although I questioned the Lord about that name and about if I had really heard from Him (or heard from Him correctly), I came home and signed up with a web host and I registered the graceroots.org domain. During these past 3 years I've gone along with the "Grace Roots" theme. Till now, it's been a theme about having everything we do rooted in the grace of God. But the theme became even clearer to me last week.
I was listening to a radio program last Wednesday - at a time when I normally would not even have been home - where two men were having a discussion about "growing in the the grace and knowledge of Jesus" (2 Peter 3:18). "Growing in Grace" has been another theme in my life, as I co-host an internet radio program with that name, and I also write an article with that same title.
One of the men brought up some words from Psalm 92.
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.
They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green...
He brought up something about palm trees. He said something like, "Did you know that palm trees don't bear fruit during their first ten years?" He went on to basically say that a palm tree spends that time getting its roots established in the soil. If you look at the branches and leaves, the palm tree appears to simply be in a Godward gaze. That really spoke to me about so many of the thoughts I've had during the past few years, some of which I've written about and some of which I haven't yet.
I've been big on "waiting" and "abiding" and on not just going out there and "doing things for God" for the sake of making sure you're working for God. I've been big on "resting" and "establishing the heart in grace" and in letting real, God-produced fruit come in its proper time, and by HIM producing it, not us producing it. I've really been saddened that we get people to come to church and then each week we teach and preach about how to live life as a Christian (all the "Christian values" and "Principles for Christian living"), but we really give people little to no time to get their roots established in the fertile soil of grace.
We add a little grace here and a little grace there. We say we can do nothing apart from Christ. That's all great, but it just seems that grace is basically seen as one of many "ingredients" of Christian living. We don't seem to understand that grace is the very soil that our roots desperately need to be firmly established in.
I'm not saying that a Christian should wait ten years before "doing" anything! The point is that every Christian needs to have their heart established in grace - and that takes time. Grace is the soil that provides all the water and nutrients to the heart. Instead of focusing on all the fruit we think we're suppose to bear, we need to spend time getting to know God and getting our roots firmly established in His grace - no matter how long it takes.
The men went on to talk a little bit about how even a little legalism can contaminate the soil, and can stunt growth. OH HOW TRUE! I've written about this a little, and I've thought about it A LOT! I've experienced this first hand. I've discussed it with my wife. I've had to "fast" from various religious teachings so I could purge out the subtle legalism that was killing my growth in grace.
Just a little bit of herbicide sprayed in the wrong direction can kill a healthy plant. But the heart established in - rooted in - the fertile soil of pure grace will flourish like a palm tree and grow like a cedar of Lebanon.
One other thing to note, about the mighty Cedar tree. It doesn't exactly spring up overnight either!
It's something that I never would have come up with myself - I really believe the Lord gave me that name. And although I questioned the Lord about that name and about if I had really heard from Him (or heard from Him correctly), I came home and signed up with a web host and I registered the graceroots.org domain. During these past 3 years I've gone along with the "Grace Roots" theme. Till now, it's been a theme about having everything we do rooted in the grace of God. But the theme became even clearer to me last week.
I was listening to a radio program last Wednesday - at a time when I normally would not even have been home - where two men were having a discussion about "growing in the the grace and knowledge of Jesus" (2 Peter 3:18). "Growing in Grace" has been another theme in my life, as I co-host an internet radio program with that name, and I also write an article with that same title.
One of the men brought up some words from Psalm 92.
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.
They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green...
He brought up something about palm trees. He said something like, "Did you know that palm trees don't bear fruit during their first ten years?" He went on to basically say that a palm tree spends that time getting its roots established in the soil. If you look at the branches and leaves, the palm tree appears to simply be in a Godward gaze. That really spoke to me about so many of the thoughts I've had during the past few years, some of which I've written about and some of which I haven't yet.
I've been big on "waiting" and "abiding" and on not just going out there and "doing things for God" for the sake of making sure you're working for God. I've been big on "resting" and "establishing the heart in grace" and in letting real, God-produced fruit come in its proper time, and by HIM producing it, not us producing it. I've really been saddened that we get people to come to church and then each week we teach and preach about how to live life as a Christian (all the "Christian values" and "Principles for Christian living"), but we really give people little to no time to get their roots established in the fertile soil of grace.
We add a little grace here and a little grace there. We say we can do nothing apart from Christ. That's all great, but it just seems that grace is basically seen as one of many "ingredients" of Christian living. We don't seem to understand that grace is the very soil that our roots desperately need to be firmly established in.
I'm not saying that a Christian should wait ten years before "doing" anything! The point is that every Christian needs to have their heart established in grace - and that takes time. Grace is the soil that provides all the water and nutrients to the heart. Instead of focusing on all the fruit we think we're suppose to bear, we need to spend time getting to know God and getting our roots firmly established in His grace - no matter how long it takes.
The men went on to talk a little bit about how even a little legalism can contaminate the soil, and can stunt growth. OH HOW TRUE! I've written about this a little, and I've thought about it A LOT! I've experienced this first hand. I've discussed it with my wife. I've had to "fast" from various religious teachings so I could purge out the subtle legalism that was killing my growth in grace.
Just a little bit of herbicide sprayed in the wrong direction can kill a healthy plant. But the heart established in - rooted in - the fertile soil of pure grace will flourish like a palm tree and grow like a cedar of Lebanon.
One other thing to note, about the mighty Cedar tree. It doesn't exactly spring up overnight either!
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Rest and Peace
Life!
And by "Life!" I mean two different things.
1. Life has simply been busy lately. I love writing, so it's been hard for me to have time to write here. Actually, I have had the time, at least from time to time, but when I do have time my thoughts are simply not in a place in which they can be put together coherently.
2. LIFE! I have so much joy, even in the midst of seeming chaos (a relative word). I don't know how to explain it, but with my wife having had surgery this past week, and with me having lost a somewhat significant part of our income earlier this year, and with my car not wanting to perform up to full measure, and with us not having money to replace it, and with house repairs needed, and with our children needing constant attention (thank GOD that we have children who need attention!), and with all kinds of activities going on that on the surface, seem to overwhelm us, I've still been able to rest and be at peace in my mind. Hear me - I am not complaining or whining about the circumstances of life! I'm making the case that, yes, circumstances are overwhelming at times, even quite often, but yet rest and peace is what prevails!
And so, rest and peace is the theme for this post. Even though peace, as the world knows it, and rest, as the world knows it, seems to be lacking in my life right now (things went from zero to 100 when we got married 10 years ago, and then to about 1,000 when the kids came!), I still know that peace and rest are two constants in my spirit. "My spirit" is who I am. And because of all that Jesus did, my spirit is in complete rest, and at complete peace with God. It's not because of any good thing I've done, or any evil, and it's not because of any physical or mental states or feelings of rest and peace, and it's not due to any circumstance or set of circumstances in life, but solely because of Christ living in me, that I have complete rest and peace with God.
I never have to worry about whether my works are good enough for God, or whether I've done enough 'for' Him. Christ Himself is our peace, and our rest. Does "It is finished" mean anything? It means everything!
And by "Life!" I mean two different things.
1. Life has simply been busy lately. I love writing, so it's been hard for me to have time to write here. Actually, I have had the time, at least from time to time, but when I do have time my thoughts are simply not in a place in which they can be put together coherently.
2. LIFE! I have so much joy, even in the midst of seeming chaos (a relative word). I don't know how to explain it, but with my wife having had surgery this past week, and with me having lost a somewhat significant part of our income earlier this year, and with my car not wanting to perform up to full measure, and with us not having money to replace it, and with house repairs needed, and with our children needing constant attention (thank GOD that we have children who need attention!), and with all kinds of activities going on that on the surface, seem to overwhelm us, I've still been able to rest and be at peace in my mind. Hear me - I am not complaining or whining about the circumstances of life! I'm making the case that, yes, circumstances are overwhelming at times, even quite often, but yet rest and peace is what prevails!
And so, rest and peace is the theme for this post. Even though peace, as the world knows it, and rest, as the world knows it, seems to be lacking in my life right now (things went from zero to 100 when we got married 10 years ago, and then to about 1,000 when the kids came!), I still know that peace and rest are two constants in my spirit. "My spirit" is who I am. And because of all that Jesus did, my spirit is in complete rest, and at complete peace with God. It's not because of any good thing I've done, or any evil, and it's not because of any physical or mental states or feelings of rest and peace, and it's not due to any circumstance or set of circumstances in life, but solely because of Christ living in me, that I have complete rest and peace with God.
I never have to worry about whether my works are good enough for God, or whether I've done enough 'for' Him. Christ Himself is our peace, and our rest. Does "It is finished" mean anything? It means everything!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)