Category Archives: Grace

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Just…

The Proper Estimation of Man and God

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“Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  Hebrews 4:16

Just.  It’s a very small but significant word.   On the one hand it can be used to defend actions as reasonable, proper, righteous, deserved and lawful.  On the other, it can be used to express a lack of certainty, low expectation, or a lesser degree than desired.  As Christians we often use “just” inappropriately in our discussions with others and in our prayers.  The problem is that we often use the stronger version of the word in relationship to ourselves and the weaker version in reference to God.  When we do this, we think of ourselves “more highly than we ought to think” and underestimate God.

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Looking to Heaven

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“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.  No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.  They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.”  Revelation 22:1-4

Our four-year-old grandson stayed with us overnight last week so we got to spend a day together.  One of the things that he loves to do is play the game Mouse Trap.  While my wife and I both enjoyed the original game as children, we both find the current version rather tedious.  As Liam and I were playing a third round of the game, I began to feel a bit cranky and the hard floor we were sitting on wasn’t helping.  His elation and my crankiness caused me to consider the varying views that people have about heaven.  You can get a bit of an idea of someone’s spiritual maturity by their expectations for eternity.  Similar to the assumptions regarding what a loving God would include in our lives, many consider the wonder of heaven to be the eternal enjoyment of things that brought them pleasure in this life.  In that sense, what is reward for one person may be punishment for another.  Fortunately, that is not the case.  While I generally avoid conversations about heaven and the subject of eschatology because people tend to assume things that scripture doesn’t speak to as well as attempting to predict what God’s word tells us is unpredictable, I would like to touch on a few fairly clear characteristics of heaven.

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God in His Mercy

Part 1 Forgiveness

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“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ”  Ephesians 2:4-5

“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.  Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”  Ephesians 4:31-32

This series of posts is dedicated to my mother Ruth as she is the inspiration.   She was not a perfect person and certainly did not have an easy life, but she loved well, loved her Lord and clung to His promises.

Sometime around 1945-1946 while my parents were dating, my mother stopped by her home to pick up some belongings.  Due to a previous altercation, she attempted to do this while her father was not at home.  Sadly, he was.  After a loud argument and in a drunken rage he pushed her down the steep flight of stairs between their apartment and the outside entrance.  My father, hearing the argument, ran into the house and up the stairs in time to catch my mother from behind while her mother grabbed her skirt from the landing above.  Roughly eight to ten years later, my grandmother filed for a legal separation and her attorney made this incident the basis of his case.  Having to relive this event would upset my mother and haunt her for years.   But in the midst of that pain, God in His mercy caused my grandfather to be so horrified by the details of this event that he stopped drinking and asked my mother for forgiveness.  God in His mercy gave my mother the ability to forgive him and allowed the relationship to be restored.  It paved the way for my siblings and I to know our grandfather.

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Checking Our Baggage

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But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.  1 Corinthians 11:28

Some of my family members tease me about the amount of luggage that I take on a trip.  In my younger days before the health issues took center stage, I used to be able to pack rather efficiently.  However, things are a bit different now.  Because I no longer tolerate cold weather or changes in weather well, my luggage often contains everything from shorts to winter sweaters.  Further, in addition to a case for my toiletries, I have another one just for the medicines that I need or may need.  Consequently there is some concern when we’re flying as I’m worried about the weight limit for checked luggage.  It requires a bit of scrutiny to make sure that I take what I need but not so much that I’m over the limits.  I am most efficient and discerning when I have time to lay everything out that I think I need and then carefully examine it and evaluate what I truly need versus what I can leave behind or risk going without.  If I’m not careful, it’s easy to go over the limits and find myself weighed down with luggage and additional expense.  Life is like that too.  If we don’t examine ourselves and sort out our lives, we often carry around a lot of unnecessary and even harmful baggage.  In the book “The Emotionally Healthy Church, Peter Scazzero compares us to an iceberg.  “About ten percent of an iceberg is visible to the surface.  That is the part of our lives of which we are consciously aware.  Note, however that the Titanic sank because it collided with a section of the submerged 90 percent of an iceberg.”  In other words, many of our problems with other people and how we handle difficult situations is greatly impacted by the 90 percent of which we are unaware.  That is why several passages in scripture, including the one above, call for us to examine ourselves.  It’s not intended to make us feel bad about ourselves, but rather to deal with negative issues so that we can walk more closely with our Lord, enjoy better relationships and, in general, have a better quality of life spiritually and emotionally.

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The Comfort of God’s Love

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“For if He causes grief, then He will have compassion according to His abundant lovingkindness.  For He does not afflict willingly or grieve the sons of men.  Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?  Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and ill go forth?  Why should any living mortal, or any man, offer complaint in view of his sins?”  Lamentations 3:32-33, 37-39

As I lay on the doctor’s exam table over 25 years ago, I was hard pressed to reconcile what I had been taught about the love of God with the extreme pain that I was experiencing with no definitive cause.  The physical pain was intense, but the spiritual pain greatly exceeded it.

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Pregnant Words Part 1

Character

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“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.  And she cried out with a loud voice and said, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me?  For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.  And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.’  And Mary said:  ‘My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.  For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; for behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.  For the Mighty One has done great things for me; and holy is His name.  And His mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear Him.  He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.  He has brought down rulers from their thrones, and has exalted those who were humble.  He has filled the hungry with good things; and sent away the rich empty-handed.  He has given help to Israel His servant, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.’”  Luke 1:41-55

I have a wife, two daughters, a mother, a mother-in-law, five sisters-in-law, seven nieces, and three great nieces.  Add to that friends’ wives and daughters and the fact that the majority of the people that I have supervised were women, I have heard my fair share of conversations between and about pregnant women.  First it’s the joy (or surprise) of pregnancy, then the trials of pregnancy, than all of the things that are needed for the baby, then the labor symptoms and finally upon the baby’s arrival comes the vital information i.e. sex, name, weight and length (and pity the poor guy that doesn’t get all of the pertinent information).  However, never have I ever heard a conversation even remotely similar to the one between Elizabeth and Mary recorded for us in Luke 1.  While they may have gotten around to the details of pregnancy later in their visit, their first priority was to acknowledge the works of the Lord.

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Teaching Our Children

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Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.  Proverbs 22:6

I realize that many who are facing the challenges of chronic illness may not have children or have children that are grown, but that fact does not diminish our impact on the children around us…even the grown ones.  Training the generations to come, is not limited to parents only.  Many people without children of their own have nieces and nephews, are teachers or have friends with children.  My point is, whether or not we have children of our own, we have an impact on those coming up behind us.

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God is the Strength of My Heart

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My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.  Psalm 73:26

Strength is one of those things that waxes and wanes, varies from person to person and can be considered in terms of physical, mental and spiritual attributes.  No matter what aspect is being considered, at the core of this discussion we must remember that any form or degree of strength that we have is provided and sustained by our Heavenly Father in Christ.  

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God Of All Comfort

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“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.”    2 Corinthians 1:3-5

We have all experienced times when we needed to be comforted.  Sometimes it’s physical, emotional or spiritual pain, but more often than not, it is a mixture.

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You Have Been My God

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“Yet You are He who brought me forth from the womb; You made me trust when upon my mother’s breasts.  Upon You I was cast from birth; you have been my God from my mother’s womb. Be not far from me, for trouble is near; for there is none to help.”  Psalm 22:9-11 

Healthy relationships are important.  The ones that are most meaningful are the ones that have stood the test of time and have survived the ups and downs of life.  As the relationship grows, the level of intimacy and trust increases. 

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