2-way Grace – a distinction

June 19, 2012

Maria Grace, Philippians, Psalm 116, Psalm 131 , Leave a comment

I’ve heard it said that Grace is God’s one-way love.  I don’t intend to take away from that truth. Let’s just call it, “making a distinction.”

I love distinctions.  They help me sort out what I’m thinking; they give me an understanding of a concept.  Then it is mine.

Take the word ‘reasonable’.  It used to be a very good word.  But I didn’t know that until 2 years ago.  I grew up with the newer definition.  For example – if I asked to borrow 2 eggs from you and mentioned that I was going to the store the next day and would pay you back – that was a ‘reasonable’ request.  I wasn’t asking TOO MUCH from you – not like: “I need to borrow your one and only car for 3 days. May I please have the keys?”   Definitely UN-reasonable.

But reasonable doesn’t mean that at all!  Saying “yes” to Michael when he asked me to marry him after five weeks of dating happened to be a very REASONable decision.  He was both a philosopher and a good cook; we enjoyed spending lots of time outdoors together; we liked reading & travel; we worked in the same profession and he was cute!!  There you have it- 5 excellent REASONS and I haven’t even gotten warmed up!  That was a REASONABLE decision. (That ‘reasoning’ process took place 33 years ago, come September.)

Do you see why distinctions matter?

So it is with grace. God showers us with individual gifts called grace.  When we stop and notice them, SEE them and drink them in richly and then thank Him, not only are we pleasing our Father, we are enhancing our enjoyment of the gifts.

I saw this most closely yesterday as I was reading Phil 4: 6-7 in French.  That’s the exhortation not to worry about anything but to take every concern to God in prayer, with thanksgiving.  See if you can figure out what the verse means – there are lots of cognates. “…exposez vos requêtes à Dieu par la prière et la supplication avec des actions de grâces ;…. » Look at how the French translate ‘thanksgiving’ – actions de grâce !!!!!

I got to thinking that in some small human-sized way, I can give grace back to God by thanking Him for what He has given to me – in this case, access to Him for supernatural help!  My thanking Him pleases Him; He grants me more than I can ask or imagine according to His will; I see His hand all around me; I rest in His care; I tell Him how much I love His gifts; I feel close to Him; when something else comes up, it’s only natural that I turn to Him since I’ve been talking to Him.  It’s an X-stroke engine that once purring, it is easy to keep running. (why X?  – I don’t know – just seemed like X would indicate more than a limited number like 2 – besides, I don’t know cars!!!)

This is actually borne out by other scripture:  consider Psalm 116: 17 – to Thee I shall offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving AND call (try substituting: by calling) upon the name of the Lord (i.e. praying!!! – asking for more help)

Some dear folks mistakenly and pridefully reason, “God has too much to do running the universe to take an interest in my problems…besides doesn’t God help those who help themselves?”

No!  But that’s a topic for another distinction..and another blog – what part God does..and what part do we do.  For now let us be like the psalmist in Psalm 131, verse 2 – Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; like a weaned child against his mother, my soul is like a weaned child within me.

Dear Father, help me to see You and to cling to your Goodness like that trusting toddler.  Encourage me to ask for your help when I am in pain, anxiety and confusion.  Cause me to remember to thank you moment by moment.  In sync, in union, in step, in rhythm with your Grace.

Grace v Works – your choice

March 18, 2012

Maria Gospel, Grace , , Leave a comment

Mike and I are down in Tampa with Graham, Shay, Chloe and her new baby sister Vera who was born last month.  Chloe and I were at the playground yesterday.  In between playing ‘Princess’ I was reading about a local doctor , 51 years young,  who has just been diagnosed with ALS.  He’s the kind of ‘good’ man who has given tirelessly of himself to pre-med students, medical students, fellow doctors and the community.  The tone of the article had a kind of Rabbi ‘Kushneresque’ feel.  Kushner is the one who wrote a book, attempting to answer the perennial question, “When bad things happen to good people.”   It seems ‘unfair’ of God that after serving others for years, this local Tampa man faces a painful death.  Don’t he ‘deserve’ better?

Our natural reaction, our sense of entitlement is prevalent among Christians and non-Christians alike.  We all can think of missionaries, pastors and other unselfish people who have suffered tremendously and/or died an untimely death. The world recoils.  But Christians should understand, after all, ‘they crucified Jesus’! Why should we expect any different?

I’ve been studying the Jerry Bridges book on grace (Transforming Grace: Living Confidently in God’s Unfailing Love).   What I am beginning to glimpse is that not only do we not deserve anything good, but when we think we are doing good and earning blessing points, we haven’t a clue.

Take the parable of the workers hired at different hours.  I totally understand the indignation of the ones who worked all day in the sun.  I would have reasoned like them and felt disappointed not to be paid more.  Even though my hope for at least ‘time and a half’ would have been based on wishes and not logic, I would have convinced myself that I ‘deserved’ more.

Jerry Bridges nails his point, though, when he illustrates this principle of faulty ‘I-deserve’ thinking with a story of a college course.  As a good student who did her work I pridefully enjoyed earning ‘A’s and teachers’ praise.  Unfortunately at an early age I was hooked on this performance drug.  So I ‘get it’ when the A students self-righteously protest the professor’s generosity at awarding the slackers the same A that THEY earned. Like the boss in Jesus’ parable, doesn’t the professor have the right to be generous?

Thankfully, I’m beginning to glimpse a different way to think about this.  My son Graham talks about ‘God- Math’.  That is now shorthand for me, reminding me how differently God thinks about things (Duh!!!  He even tells us that His ways are not our ways – Is 55:8).

Paraphrasing Jerry Bridges, he explains that the sins of the elect, those for whom Jesus died, required nothing short of ETERNAL DEATH as a penalty.  And Jesus’ work during those 3 hours on the cross, actually accomplished that.  Now contrast what I think I, Maria, might do in a lifetime to ‘earn’ God’s favor with those 3 hours of Jesus.  The notion not only staggers and sobers me, it is actually ridiculous.  Thankfully!

I don’t want to try to earn anything more. God’s ocean of grace is mine already since I am in Christ.  And I have access to that Grace right now, not just later in Heaven.  And the most that I will use on a daily basis is equivalent to what a small bird might drink in through her beak as she nears the mighty Columbia River.  This river discharges water at the rate of 265,000 cubic feet per second.  I’m not a math person, but that sounds like a lot. I asked Mike how to think through this number.  He walked me through the computation.  The flow of water when it empties into the Pacific Ocean is the equivalent of almost 2 million gallons per second.

Do you think that you or I could ever use up this grace? Could we out-ask what is available as beloved children of our Father?  Could all the birds in the world dry up the mighty Columbia River?  Not even imaginable.

So rest, cease striving and drink deeply and pray that God give us a grateful heart.  The aroma of entitlement not only stinks, but will always leave us dissatisfied.

Unnatural Grace – a book recommendation

January 4, 2012

Maria 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Grace , , Leave a comment

It’s just not natural!  – a theology of grace

I’ve been captivated by a book.  Six years ago Episcopal priest Paul Zahl committed to paper what he has been teaching for the 30 years as a pastor.  Grace in Practice, A Theology of Everyday Life (2007) is changing me.

Very quickly he demonstrates how humans consistently fail to give each other grace. Yet each of us longs desperately to receive grace.  What is grace? –one-way love, the kind of love we crave because it’s freely given with no strings attached.  If there is an expectation on the part of the dispenser of grace, then it’s not grace, but manipulation.  And we are born with an innate ability to sniff out this kind of hypocrisy.

Christ is the ultimate example of grace. There is nothing we can do to earn salvation.  We can’t be good enough; we can’t manipulate our way into heaven,   “For when we were still sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:8

Lest you think that some people get by fine without grace due to their skill, hard work & maybe a bit of luck and that only down–and-out folk need grace, Zahl shatters that illusion right from the start.  How? –by explaining 3 givens that are true about every human that has ever lived:

a)   We are all guilty & inadequate to meet God’s standard due to original sin.  We live under an objective sentence of guilt and inside we FEEL this guilt.

b)   We are worse than we think; actually we are TOTALLY depraved which Zahl explains means that there is no part of the human condition that escapes depravity.

c)    No one has free will; free will is a myth we can’t shake. We’ve drunk the Kool-aid.

Read the book to follow his very convincing explanations and illustrations.

Because of the above givens, we crave grace.  But those we live with or work for don’t give us grace.  Instead they try to change us with exhortations (or worse, with commands or manipulative advice) to do better.  He calls that the Law.  No one ever gets better by the Law.

To be fair, Zahl makes an interesting distinction between what he calls necessary or natural law, the kind of law that protects us, but has no moral (read:  guilt-producing) baggage.

That kind of ‘first’ law maintains safety among groups of people.  It has nothing to do with self-improvement, relief from guilt or a thousand other problems we have.  When moral law (you should call your mother more often, you should do your homework consistently, you should stop drinking)  is applied, not only does it not help us, but often we dig our heels in further and do just the opposite of what the Law intends. Amazingly we do get better when grace is given.

In order to communicate what he means by grace, Zahl widens the theological term, ‘imputation’ and applies it to phenomena we have all witnessed.  This principle of passing on power through naming originated with God, “God gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were” – Romans 4:17b

Remember the time when your coach might have confidently said to you as an awkward 7th grader, ‘I think you’ll make a mighty fine basketball player’?  The power of that grace-filled imputation summoned your gifts and talents and motivated you to work hard to fulfill that expectation.  You were drawn to the drills and endless work that resulted in your becoming the good basketball player, all because your coach invited you and did not compel you.  Zahl promotes grace not only because it’s biblical, but because it works.

“The letter (the Law) kills but the spirit (Grace) gives life” – 2 Cor 3:6

Zahl doesn’t discount the Law. He describes how we need to allow the law to drive us crazy, so that we come to our senses.  I now see how it is necessary to be killed by the Law before Grace is even an option to consider.  We have to exhaust ourselves in trying to satisfy the Law and finally abandon our efforts and die to it before we turn to Grace.

I won’t go any further in describing Zahl’ work, but here are some quotes & paraphrases.  I hope they will whet your appetite enough to order the book.  Each night in December I could not wait to finish the dishes and find my cozy spot and read.  I felt hope rising:  hope and excitement in being able to offer those whom I love this kind of grace that brings out the best in people.

  • Grace is too good to be true.  It’s totally unfair
  • ‘theological anthropology’-takes in original sin, total depravity and our un-free will, our bondage
  • Marriage needs perpetual absolution.  Husbands have to forgive wives for being women. Women have to forgive their husbands for being men.
  • Everyone needs the same amount of love – 100 % unconditional one-way love
  • For grace to be grace there must not be any conditions, no partial role for me.
  • Grace is listening to another person without bringing the conversation back to you.
  • Grace never tries to fix, but trusts God to do this.  Grace listens
  • Grace in the marriage produces grace with the children

 

 

 

What’s a grape to do?

July 28, 2011

Maria 2 Corinthians, Doctrine, Galatians, Grace, John, Luke , Leave a comment

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23a

For every tree is known by its fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns; nor from a bramble bush do they gather the grape. Luke 6:44

I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. John 15:5 (the Message)

So how do you grow, if you are a piece of fruit? I’ve bounced back and forth between thinking that to grow fruit, you have to work at it:  you know, the whole sanctification process.  Sure God is the one who regenerated me, but now it’s up to me to lead the life of a disciple.  That means I have to work at and make a conscious effort to read my Bible, do acts of unselfish charity for those around me, sign up for committees at church ( no matter my interest ), all in hopes of becoming more Christ-like.  However, once in a while, I catch a whiff of a much easier way, the way of simply resting in what God has done through Jesus on the cross.  After all, fruit doesn’t do anything but simply sprout and hang onto the branch.  Almost convinced, I’ll start to think about how joyous and liberating that would be, if it were true.  That would TRULY be good news.

But then I’ll hear a sermon, or spot the title of a new book or read something about a super-duper Christian and I’ll go back to thinking: ‘No, it can’t be that easy. It’s all about self-denial, picking up my cross and leading a painful life.’

Fortunately, there are two facts that keep me coming back to the notion of rest and NOT having to do anything.  First of all, there is the nature of fruit.  Fruit is a by-product of a healthy tree.  Fruit sprouts automatically.  Jesus, himself, gives his disciples a Botany 101 lesson. Picture this scene as the guys are walking across the countryside:

**

Jesus:  Hey, fellows, look at these olives, what kind of tree do you think this is?

Precocious Peter:  could it be….an olive tree?

Jesus:  Spot on!  Wow.  How about these pinecones?   Where did they come from?

Tentative Thomas: maybe a pine tree?

Jesus:  Bingo! and they said you guys were just dumb fishermen! 

Eager Matthew:  Jesus, remember those rotten figs back in Jerusalem?  What about them?

Scornful Judas:  that’s easy, Dufus!  They’re rotten because the tree is dying.  It’s too close to the Temple Outhouse…..

**

It’s obvious; fruit doesn’t do anything but stay connected to the vital, sap-rich, nutrient-providing tree.  Given the right food and weather and protection from pesky bugs, the tree will grow and do what trees do naturally, sprout fruit.

Even Jesus found it axiomatic (i.e. – you don’t have to prove it) that good trees produce (after their own kind) good fruit.

The second argument for choosing the simple yet liberating concept of just hanging onto the branch comes from Jesus’ response to a crowd.  Recall a lengthy and difficult teaching by Jesus to the ‘always hungry’ 5000.  It’s the day after the miraculous fish and loves meal and the curious want more food.  Jesus advices them not to work for food that will be quickly eaten and digested, leaving them still hungry.  So they ask the reasonable follow-on question, “Well, if we can’t count on you to feed us like yesterday and if we don’t work to support ourselves in the traditional way, what kind of work are you talking about, Mr. Spiritual?”

Jesus stunningly shoots back in John 6:29, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

That’s it?  That sounds so simple, too minimalist and easy.  But the more I understand God’s grace and His good gifts and all that Jesus has DONE; I believe THIS is exactly what God calls us to do!  Just believe.  “Well, well, what about good works?  Where do they fit in?” you might be sputtering.

It’s a good question.  The Christian life DOES involve good works, just like trees produce fruit.  But look at the role of the fruit and the trees.  The fruit naturally appears and grows, just by hanging on and having the ‘good fortune’ to be part of a healthy tree.

If you believe the TRUE biblical Jesus (not the Jesus you make up), trust Him, cling to Him, and absorb the truths He teaches from Genesis to Revelation, then you will grow naturally.  And if God wants you to be a grape that ends up in Kellogg’s Raisin Bran or a grape that floats and sloshes around with other fermented grapes in a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, that is up to God.

Experientially, I know this is true.  I am not someone who has set out to DO Christian works.  I have followed my passions as they have grown naturally from being fed good food (true Bible teaching).  Remember making those pencil marks on a doorframe, measuring your growth as a child?  When you look back, you can see the proof of your change in height.  Yet all along, you probably were unaware of the lengthening of your skeletal structure. So it is in the Christian journey.  Fifteen years ago, I met a fellow mom who struck me as one of those ‘goody-two-shoes Christian ladies’, totally unlike me and certainly not someone I aspired to copy.  Then I joined Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) and started to study the Bible for the first time.  One day, with a start, I realized that God had changed me.  I no longer found this gal off-putting.   We were actually pretty similar.  It was I who had been transformed, all due to that Jesus life-sap I was soaking up as a connected piece of fruit.

Recently, I have spotted another change in me, one that is very encouraging.  I did nothing to work on it, no new DISCIPLINED habit .  Six months ago I read a book about initiating Gospel conversations with people one encounters naturally throughout the day.  My first reaction was how selfish I am STILL.  Unlike the author, I had no desire to make my day be about looking for opportunities to talk to people about ultimate, eternal matters.  After all, my day is about how much time I can cull for Maria to listen to podcasts, read books and exercise.

But thanks be to God who changes our desires.  I wrote last week about Caitlin, my student from school.  She is the teen who has taken up the challenge from this same book and has been initiating conversations with Wal-Mart clerks and gas station cashiers.  I was shamed into actually taking the plunge out of my comfort zone.  Astonishingly, I have been having fun!  This is evidence that I am not the same Maria.  But why should I be surprised?  Paul tells the Corinthians that once they have been regenerated, they have an entirely new nature.

Bottom line – the Gospel continues to be great news.  Just hang on to the right branch and soak in His word and let God do His gardening thing.  He has already done the hard part of grafting you into the right tree: the rest will follow.

What about grace?

June 10, 2011

Maria Ephesians, Grace , , Leave a comment

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.  Ephesians 2:8, 9

Have you noticed that ‘grace’ is a hot topic these days?  Everyone is talking about it.  I’m so glad.  Grace is life-giving in a way that the non-grace is not.  How do we recognize non-grace?  Non-grace has 2 versions: either your Works, that is to say what you do yourself to earn favor, or the Law, an evaluation of what you are doing wrong.  What this means is this:  if it’s not about grace, then it’s about your being good or your being bad.  Grace bypasses that distinction in a way that seems almost too good to be true.

What’s wrong with Law?  Law IS helpful, because it shows us that we can’t measure up (but we already know that, right?).  Law shows us HOW to love.  But Law lies.  It leads us to think that we can ‘do love’ correctly…… if we are just instructed well enough in the law.  Law SEEMS legitimate, but Law lets us down.  Under Law, we labor because we know we are losers.  The dirty little secret is that we can never succeed.  Law is endless performance and never measuring up.  It is life-sucking.

Grace, on the other hand, is God’s way.  It produces gratitude.  It gives us the POWER to love.  We are free.  We are safe to acknowledge that we can’t ‘do love’ on our own.  Fortunately we are not expected to.  Grace is a gift from God.  It is life-affirming.  It is gratuitous, extravagant.  It almost makes us feel guilty, because it seems too good to be true.  It is nothing short of freedom, pure oxygen for us humans.

I’m going to recommend a book. (My school year ended two weeks ago and I am enjoying a richer and fuller reading schedule.  Each morning I ‘allow’ myself the pleasure of reading until 10 a.m. or so).  Steve Lawson has written the first 2 of a five-volume opus about grace.  I’ve been reading volume one – his Foundations of Grace.   Every page is life-giving. By spotlighting the doctrines of grace, starting with the Pentateuch, he feeds the thirsty soul.  The act of calling pagan Abram out of Ur is one such example.  There was nothing to commend Abram to God.  His election is totally God’s doing.   Moses is another example to be found early in scripture.  God chose and favored him, causing Pharaoh’s daughter to rescue him.  Even Adam & Eve irresistibly answered God’s call and were saved.  As Lawson illumines the many Old and New Testament examples of radical depravity, sovereign calling, specific and limited atonement (i.e. Jesus’ death on the cross) for the elect, irresistible grace and the security of those called, my love for God is growing.  I can’t get enough of grace!!!

I mentioned that Grace seems to be the doctrine du jour (not to slight it – it is certainly THE biblical underpinning of Christianity).  Tullian Tchividjian (Billy Graham’s grandson) preaches nothing but grace.  And he is well-qualified.  He was a modern day prodigal before being regenerated by God at the age of 18.  Then he erred on the legalism slide before burning out. Now he preaches grace.  As a dad of 2 teenage boys and a precocious pre-teen girl, he has lots of lab time to practice grace at home and report back to his congregation whether ‘this grace thing’ really works.

Yes, grace is counter-intuitive.  We are all much more comfortable with works and law and having to earn our gold star.  That is predictable….and SAFE!!!  But as CS Lewis brings out in The Last Battle, Jesus is not necessarily “safe”, but he is good.

As a final point, I would like to mention Dan Franklin of ‘GroupThinkRescue’.  Dan, a pastor who is married to Karina, Randy Alcorn’s daughter, podcasted a helpful illustration of how to look for grace in the Bible.  He worked through the David & Goliath story, first acknowledging the traditional interpretation and then sharing the grace grid.  Who hasn’t heard a sermon emphasizing the fact that we all have giants in our lives and that with God’s help we can face and conquer them?  Grace tells a different story.  Grace shows up when the Hebrews, stewing in paralysis, have no hope of any rescue.  They are helpless in the face of the overwhelming specter of Goliath.  David (the type) prefigures Jesus (the anti-type) when he saves the Hebrews.  So the story of David and Goliath is not about what WE should do.  Instead it’s a story about what God has DONE.  And that is the whole gospel message of grace.

Revel in this good news.  We don’t have to DO anything.  God already DID it.  Jesus announces on the cross that IT IS FINISHED.   May God help us daily, hourly to soak up that message of hope.

PS:  Buy the Steve Lawson books!

Exploring the gifts of Grace

May 25, 2011

Maria Anxiety, Grace, Joy, Peace, Romans , , , , Leave a comment

You & I live our life in the “you must DO this and DO that” world in order to “be X, Y or Z.”  I get tired of ‘DO’ing, don’t you?  Whether it is at work or church or in relationships, it’s all exhausting and unceasing.

Christianity is different.  Christianity is the only religion that proclaims DONE, not DO!  What other religion has its God seek out his creation?  What other God died for his people?

Consider Romans 14:17, one of my new favorite verses:  For the Kingdom of God is not (religious rules governing) eating and drinking, but RIGHTEOUSNESS and PEACE and JOY in (by means of) the Holy Spirit.

This verse explains the essence of Christianity.  Living as a son or daughter in the Kingdom of God is not about following rules.  Instead it’s about treasuring what accrues to us as children of God.  By grace, (read: ‘a gift’) we are given:

  • Righteousness.  This is the Greek word ‘dika-ios-oo-nay’ (phonetic – # G1343).  It means that since we have been justified by God, we have right standing with our judge, God the Father.  When we become a Christian, we are made a new creation; we are united with Christ. The most eternally significant benefit is that our sins have been transferred over to Christ and paid for, so justice is done.  And we also have had transmitted to us Christ’s perfect life, as a credit.

Righteousness that belongs to someone else (but given to us) is not just a New Testament concept.  Consider Jeremiah 23:6. God is called Jehovah Tsedeq – the Lord our Righteousness.  We are not told to seek our own righteousness; we already have his if we belong to Him.

What follows from being ‘right’ with God?  Peace!  Remember Paul’s opening in Romans 5?  “Since we have been justified….let us grasp the fact that we have PEACE with God..”

  • Peace.  This is the Greek word, ‘ei-re-ne’ (#G1515).  Irene is the lovely name derived from this concept.  Here’s how the Blue Letter Bible website describes this peace, “the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is.”  If we have peace with God, we can reason from the greater to the lesser.  That is, if God has taken care of our biggest and eternal problem, we can rest assured that He will work temporary peace in our earthly relations to the extent that we trust Him and yield to His will.

Finally, the 2nd benefit of being made ‘right’ with God through what Jesus has done for us, is JOY by means of the Holy Spirit.

  • Joy.  ‘Chara’ is the Greek word (# G5479) The world attempts to sell us temporary happiness based on obtaining  ‘stuff’, ‘achievements’ or ‘experiences’.  But happiness is fleeting.  What we are starved for is permanent Joy.  We are wired for Joy; that is why happiness seems so desirable.  But happiness is the cheap version of joy.  Think about what a great God we have.  He desires our joy.  He could have said, “the Kingdom of God is about RULES or PLEASING ME or BEING BEST in the Kingdom or SACRIFICE or any other depressing version of DO THIS IN ORDER TO”.  But God wants our true joy.  When our answers to prayer result in NO and our happiness seems threatened, let us remember that our Heavenly Father desires something far better than what we can ask or imagine.

The last few words of our verse, “…in the Holy Spirit”, are important.  We need to remember that we cannot go after righteousness, peace & joy in our own strength.  But the good news assures us that if we are born-again believers, we have had our nature changed.  Our essence is different, we are united to Christ.  This change is passive in the sense that we do NOT do anything actively to bring it about.  We receive NEWS of what God himself has done.  If we respond to this news by executing an about-face and trust (‘receive’) what He says, then this new nature is ours. What follows is the family right to have fullness of peace and joy.

A caveat as I end: the joy and peace that are available to us, given both our right standing with God and our new nature IN Christ, won’t come to our awareness automatically.  We have to RE-CALL them frequently. We have to remind ourselves of our RIGHTS, our current inheritance.  But what a small effort for such a marvelous gift!  Each time we succumb to anxiety or internal churn, we can repent (think of the military command to make an About Face) and return our thoughts to the truth of who we are, whose we are and what belongs to us as beloved children of God.

My Asherah Pole – destroying an idol

April 22, 2011

Maria Grace, Idols , 1 Comment

You must break down their pagan altars and shatter their sacred pillars. Cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols. – Deuteronomy 7:5

If repetition is the mother of learning, then there is hope for me.  God keeps working the same lessons deeper into my soul.  I give up an idol for a while.  Time passes and subtly I’m lured back to my familiar friend/enemy with assurances that this time I can really control it, that it won’t hurt me.

My bathroom scale is my Asherah pole.  A week ago, I put it up;  that is ‘I removed it from the high place, but did not destroy it’. What high place was that? – the high place in my heart.  Each morning, awakened by the alarm, my FIRST thought of the morning was, “Maybe THIS time the scale will show me what I want to weigh and I WILL BE HAPPY!”  It was a temptation that held me in a vise-like grip.  More often than not, the numbers were NOT what I wanted and my outlook was set for the day – disappointment and gloom.  But on the rare days that my weight was what I wanted, I was VERY happy.  No matter what would happen, I could say with some peace of mind, “Well, at least I weigh XYZ”

Over the last few years, I have known this was not only sinful and wrong but demoralizing and unhealthy.  The Holy Spirit has often suggested the TRUE alternative to cheer me on,  “Well, (if my day is less than desirable)  at least I am chosen and dearly loved by God with 10,000 promises of future joys and pleasures, fellowship and peace with God and the company of the saints  awaiting me in heaven.”  Now that’s a life-giving picture.

I define an idol as a creaturely way to provide one’s own pleasure, significance or security.  When we create and worship (i.e. elevate its value in our life) something, we communicate to God that WE know what is best for us, that we can’t trust Him to provide what we need or want.

How do you identify idols? (Yes, there is often more than one)  For me, it’s the groove my thoughts run to automatically, habitually in order to self-console or self-medicate. “Hmm, what will give me a ‘divertissement’ from this present unpleasant day?”  I am like a child sucking his finger, a smoker lighting up, a nosher providing herself mouth-pleasure, a man de-stressing with porn, or on the other hand an over-achiever in competitive events (sports, sales, style, materialism or academics).  I have found solace in finding an achievement about which I could feel good and actually superior to my peers.  Weighing a certain weight has been the ultimate source of self-worth.

But a cruel slave-driver is my scale.  What power it has over my day.  Knowing this and trying to rebel against its tyranny,  I would often try to fight my idol’s hold over me with the logical reminder that before long I will have a new body in heaven.  I would ponder why such a temporary physical thing like a few pounds could mean that much to me?  Each day I reasoned how stupid I was to let an inanimate object determine my well-being.  But reason could not counter the siren pull of the scales, the temptation to validate myself by weighing my dream weight of 127.

So last Saturday, I put the scales in the closet for good.  I have asked God to help me resist ever getting that cruel taskmaster back out.   I will let my annual visit to the doctor be my only monitor.  So far I have felt free. I know that living by Grace is a daily endeavor.  I will need to feed on Grace thoughts to counter my natural bent to living by the Law.

Please post what helps you live idol-free!  Or how we can pray so that you may be free from the tyranny of the Law!

Grace Redux

April 12, 2011

Maria Grace, Isaiah, Philippians, Romans , Leave a comment

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.  Phil 4:13

I have finally awakened to the PRESENCE of supernatural GRACE (“charis – # 5485”) in the new Maria.  What new Maria?  I’m referring to the new creature that I became when I was born again.  God’s Holy Spirit was deposited in me at that moment when I passed from death to life.  I am now a daughter of God the Father and equipped with a new nature and new rights.  As His child, He deposited faith in me and gave me access to all the grace needed to obey His will.  And if the HS was powerful enough to raise a dead Jesus to life, He can do anything in me that is His will.

Newly aware of the GRACE that is rightfully mine (according to the inheritance stipulations), I am sorting out logical implications.

What is this logic?  If God saved us by GRACE, can’t we now expect God to continue to provide us with GRACE to live faithfully day by day?  Why would we, once we began the life of faith, then revert back to living our lives powered by our own strength, skill, talent & knowledge?

To be honest, you & I probably were unaware that GRACE saved us, that it was not something we did ourselves.  (It might FEEL like we made a decision to follow Christ, but that only was possible once God made us alive in Him.  Dead men don’t choose God and we were born dead.)   A moment in time changed our status and destination forever.

And since that time, we are growing into mature Christians.  (If we are not growing, maybe we haven’t been born again!).  We are learning from Scriptures how we were saved by GRACE, through faith deposited in us by God.  Once aware of this GRACE as redeemed sinners in the process of being renovated, we have time to savor, to muse about this GRACE.

Understanding GRACE is important. Remember the silly Galatians?  Paul saves his harshest words for them.  He point blank asks them whether they intend to walk with God, powered by their own strength or in total dependence on God’s strength.   This is not a trifling point of doctrine.  Paul did not call them silly, but sinful.

The Bible is very clear that anything we do on our own, not relying on God through faith is sinful, disobedient and repugnant to God.  He calls all such works filthy, no matter how ‘good’ in the eyes of the world. (Isaiah 64:6)  In Romans 8, Paul calls deeds done on our own, ‘deeds done in the flesh’.  And what is done in the flesh God calls a hostile deed, leading to death and by definition SIN.  Further in Romans, Paul wraps up God’s view this way: “…. and everything that does not come from faith is sin?” (Romans 14:23b).  ‘Coming from faith’ means ‘done by/ powered by faith’

In conclusion, EVERYTHING we do in our own strength without relying on God’s supernatural, Holy Spirit is not even worth doing.  This morning I heard a pastor pray, “Lord, I have so little time left in my life at age 57 that I don’t want to waste my life doing anything that requires no faith”.  Francis Chan asks his readers in Crazy Love, something like, “What are you doing in your life that requires any faith?”

As we seek to avoid the sin of assuming we can do ANYTHING pleasing to God powered by human strength, let us not forget all we will be able to do in obedience to God IN/ BY/ THROUGH Christ.  This is reassuring and freeing.  We are like little one-year-olds, learning to walk.  Picture a daddy, holding on to both raised hands of his little one, ‘walking’ his precious child.  The child is being held up by his dad as his little feet move.  But Dad and all the family applaud warmly and with resounding ‘bravos’ as the soon-to-be toddler takes his first assisted steps.  This is how God wants us to be.  He gives us all the help we need to do His will and then praises us for depending totally on Him.  What a deal!

What’s the catch?  It feels costly, since it deprives our most precious sin of any food.  We can no longer boast that our deeds were due to us!  But, in both the long and short run, this is a small price to pay to please our heavenly father.

Freedom that comes with Grace

April 9, 2011

Maria Grace, Hebrews, John Leave a comment

I just learned that the Greek word to justify (phonetically: dik-ah-yo, # 1344) also means to free, to declare righteous.  Since as a Calvinist I believe that we are saved only by grace, grace is always on my mind.   And recently books, blogs and sermons on living or walking by grace have converged to grab my attention.  If repetition is the key to effective education, then I have absorbed the message. Apparently, this message could not have come at a better time: “Needs rescuing!” has been my epithet.

Like most Christians, I grew up in a legalistic culture, both in the church and in society.  “Be a good girl,” has been the life-sucking, pride-producing shackle that I have willingly worn.

What a ‘good girl’ looks like depends on the culture one is in.  In civic society, one is considered ‘good’ if one pursues education, works out, keeps up the yard, volunteers, etc.  In evangelical circles, one is considered a ‘good’ Christian if one has a quiet time and family devotions, goes on mission trips, serves at church, and raises conforming and polite children.  All these are ‘good’ things, but the danger to Christians is similar to that faced by Odysseus as he navigated the perilous and narrow strait between the Scylla and the Charybdis.

If we walk the path of Law (following the rules in order to earn Christian ‘brownie points’) one of two consequences will ensue.  Either we fail to meet the standards,  condemn ourselves and suffer disapproval from others.  Or, we believe we have succeeded in our own strength, take the glory and revel in our accomplishments.  There you have it: Draining condemnation or prideful strutting (however sophisticated & subtle)

There is a better way.  Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life”. (John 14:6)   Jesus’ way is the way of freedom.  When we accept the Creator’s assessment that we are sick (totally depraved with a long legal rap that qualifies us for God’s wrath) and turn and embrace the medicine offered (mercy) we are set free by God.  In exchange for trusting both God’s diagnosis and remedy, Jesus pays off our penalty and credits us with his perfect righteousness.

In addition to this priceless gift, we are given the supernatural, powerful Holy Spirit both as a deposit guaranteeing our future inheritance (perpetual pleasure at the right hand of God) and also as power for living in the flesh.

It works like this.  Jesus said He did not abolish the Law when He gave us the new covenant.  Instead, He sent a helper, God himself.  As new creations bonded and fused with supernatural Holy Spirit power, we CAN obey the law. But something is different.  We no longer strive for obedience to win God’s favor and love.  We already have it (Jesus’ death proves it – when we were still failing at law-keeping, He died for us – Romans 5:8).  Tullian Tchividjian likens it to being assured by the teacher that you have the A before the class even starts. The teacher gives you a helper to get all the work done.  And with this helper’s presence and guidance, you are guaranteed the A. That’s a promise.  So why struggle on your own?

Foolishly we forget.  Paul chastises the Galatians and asks with genuine astonishment why they would want to revert back to their own power once they have been rescued from the futile illusion of self-dependence, autonomy.  After all, if we are saved by grace (the bigger miracle), why shouldn’t we walk/live by grace? (the lesser miracle)

There you have it: acceptance, freedom and power.  But where does the Law fit in? God gives us the law as a wise way to live, to please Him.  But He also gives us the Holy Spirit to enable us to do what pleases Him.  We get His praise for pleasing Him and He gets the glory for enabling us to do so.  It’s a win-win system and much easier.  We know where we stand – basking with love and acceptance from our Father in the inner circle of the throne.   We are totally loved and totally secure.  Out of love, and with Holy Spirit enablement, we then aim to please Him, knowing that we cannot fail.

What’s the hitch, ‘le hic’ as they say in French?  It’s that every hour we forget about grace.  Our default setting is works.  We have to remember what Christ has done for us.  This is where good Christian friends can help.  The author of Hebrews exhorts us, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Hebr 10:24).  The best deed is to point our friends to the Cross.  Jesus said, “It is finished”. Revel in and comfort yourself with the fact that all the work has been done.  Look to the cross and be free from both the condemnation and the boasting that result from living by the flesh.

West Point and the God of Abundant Grace

May 24, 2010

Maria Grace, Romans, Uncategorized , 6 Comments

“….God is able to do more than we can ask or imagine according to His power at work in us.”  Ephesians 3:20b

West Point Graduation – the culmination of a 47-month journey for 1002 young men & women in the graduating class of 2010.  A journey of prayer for many moms & dads.

Events I had no control over:

  • The weather!  It poured as we drove up from Virginia to New York on Tuesday, 18 May.  The events scheduled outdoors were the Superintendent’s Garden Reception,  a Thursday Parade,  Graduation Parade on Friday, followed by a family picnic down by the Hudson River, Graduation itself on Saturday in Michie Stadium, a picnic lunch celebration with Officer Christian Fellowship, and an evening barbecue picnic with 70 friends and family.  Then there were the many walks around the post, sight-seeing and trekking from parking lots 30-40 minutes from event locations to include walking in heels and ball gowns to the Grad Banquet.
  • Parking far away and being able to get to events on time.
  • When our group of 12 praying Moms-In-Touch would be able to meet and not cause a burden on the rest of the family members.
  • Family and friends showing up on time and getting through security.   Because President Obama was the speaker, inspections of persons, belongings and cars was intensified , therefore unpredictable.  Traffic backups were forecast.
  • A 11-month old baby!  Dear Chloe functions best with a morning nap and an afternoon nap.
  • Safety for family members flying in and driving in.
  • Harmony among the group.

How God met every need with abundant grace

  • Perfect weather – only the Supe’s garden reception got moved indoors.  We were able to walk around and push Chloe and enjoy the outdoor beauty of West Point.  During the 5 hours in the stadium for graduation, the sun was not too hot the first 3 or so hours.
  • We were able to park and get to events on time.
  • 9 of us moms were able to meet, hug, cry and pray in person.
  • Uncle Steve made it to the graduation banquet with plenty of time to spare. Joan & Jeff arrived on time to the hotel.  Fiancée Anne showed up at about the same time as her parents.  We drove onto post in plenty of time for graduation.
  • Wes’ sponsors, the Sturdivants, opened up their home to us for all 4 days so we could hang out, flop on their sofa and watch movies while Chloe napped upstairs in their guest room.  It was great to have a place just to relax and chill.  Grad week is INTENSE!
  • Chloe had at least one good nap a day and was able to adjust to her different schedule.  She was an amazingly happy baby.  Jeff, Joan and Anne took turns playing with her and walking her around.
  • Lots of laughter AND the good kind of tears.  Wonderful, memory-making times among the 10 of us.

Extra Grace that blessed us:

  • Wes’ grandmother in Seattle actually watched the graduation on C-SPAN and heard Wes’ name being called and watched him receive his diploma.
  • A foreign language awards ceremony where the personal care of loving professors was evident.  A slide show of baby & grown-up pictures of each of the 150 FL majors set to music was a special treat at the end.
  • The blessedness of a Spiritual Commissioning where Jesus Christ could be mentioned.
  • The personal and humorous anecdotal remarks that Col Rod Sturdivant made as he swore Wes in at his Army commissioning ceremony.
  • The warmth and care of two front-desk people at our hotel in Nanuet.
  • Seeing and hearing about the spiritual growth of Wes and his special small group of Christian brothers at the final event.
  • The layout of the hotel suites with kitchens so Chloe could be comfortable and we could have our creature comforts.
  • The joy of being with wonderfully-supportive Uncle Steve, Wes’ future in-laws- Jeff & Joan, Anne – Wes’ fiancée, and our beloved Graham and Shay with little Miss Chloe Isla Cochrane.
  • Restaurants that were accommodating to a  baby and provided high chairs that were perfect.
  • Anne being willing to drive Graham and family to the La Guardia airport which was MUCH easier than a taxi.
  • No traffic driving home.

What this experience taught me about how God answers prayer:

  • I am convinced that God delights to bless us with good things.  I take all these answers to prayer as evidence that the God of the universe does exist and does want us to cast ALL our cares on Him.  These ‘perfect’ 6 days have encouraged me to keep praying for those long-term prayer requests, the ones that seem to linger with no answers.  I believe that God showered us with all these blessings as a way to stress his teaching in Luke 18:1 –  Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

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