Tag: God’s grace

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Psalms Devotionals 2

God’s humility

Cross

You have given me the shield of your salvation;
your right hand upholds me,
and your humility exalts me. (Psalm 18:35)

It’s probably because Christmas is fast approaching that those words resonate with me.

“Your humility exalts me.”

Though by the world’s standards, I’m insignificant, God humbled himself, became a man, and took the form of a servant.

He then went to the cross paying the price for my sin. (Philippians 2:7)

And because of what Christ did there, insignificant little me has now become a child of God.

That’s awesome to ponder.

The Lord lives—blessed be my rock!
The God of my salvation is exalted. (Psalm 18:46)

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Psalms Devotionals 2

Memory Monday: For whom the fruitful tree prospers

Memory Monday

An article I wrote a while back but still resonates with me today.

May we all be fruitful trees, channels of God’s grace to everyone we touch.

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Judges Devotionals

When we forget

Never forget the cross

When Gideon died, the Israelites turned and prostituted themselves by worshiping the Baals and made Baal-berith their god.

The Israelites did not remember the Lord their God who had rescued them from the hand of the enemies around them. (Judges 8:33-34)

Those verses epitomize the problem with the Israelites in the book of Judges: they so quickly forgot God’s grace and mercy to them.

For that matter, they didn’t seem to realize where their blessings came from in the first place, giving credit to Gideon for their salvation. (22)

The result? No heart of love and gratitude to the God who saved them.

It’s so easy to lose our first love for God when we forget the love and grace he has shown us, when we lose our gratitude and joy for all he has done for us.

Father, let me never forget or take for granted the love and grace you have shown me.

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Joshua Devotionals

Forgetting the “therefore”

Bible

Therefore, fear the Lord and worship him in sincerity and truth. (Joshua 24:14)

Therefore.

When I first read verse 14 this morning, I’ll admit my first focus was on worshiping God in sincerity and truth, and thinking about what that meant.

But as I read it again, the word “therefore” leapt to my eye.

What was the “therefore” there for?

Joshua had been reminding the Israelites of God’s goodness and mercy towards them.

And only after having done so, did he then say, “Therefore, fear him, worshiping him in sincerity and truth.”

It reminded me of another “therefore” in the Bible.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. (Romans 12:1)

It’s so easy to start with God’s commands to give our all to him. To put aside the idols and sin in our lives and to serve and worship him with all our heart, soul, and mind.

But let’s not skip over the “therefore.”

Rather, let us always start with these two truths:

Our God is so good to us.

And he has shown us so much mercy and grace.

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Exodus Devotions

Immanuel

Immanuel

“Now if I have indeed found favor with you, please teach me your ways, and I will know you, so that I may find favor with you. Now consider that this nation is your people.”

And he replied, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

“If your presence does not go,” Moses responded to him, “don’t make us go up from here.” (Exodus 33:13-15)

I was thinking this morning, “How often do I have Moses’ heart?”

“Father, I don’t even want to leave this house unless you go with me. If I have found favor with you, walk with me. Teach me your ways and I will know you so that I may find favor with you.”

The amazing thing is that God says to us, “I will do this very thing you have asked, for you have found favor with me, and I know you by name. My presence will go with you and I will give you rest.” (Exodus 33:17, 14)

Ultimately, that’s what Christmas is about.

Jesus is Immanuel, God with us.

He not only walks with us and talks with us as he did with Moses, he reveals his glory to us, and we receive grace upon grace upon grace. (John 1:14, 16-18)

That’s awesome to ponder.

Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and peace on earth to people he favors! (Luke 2:14)

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Genesis Devotions

The One who’ll never abandon us

abandoned and depressed

Look, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go.

I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. (Genesis 28:15)

Considering how badly Jacob had messed up, God’s promise to him was truly amazing.

But it did remind me that God says the same thing of us.

No matter how badly we may mess up, he never abandons us. He continues to be with us and watch over us.

His Spirit works in us daily to make us more like Jesus. And he will not leave us until he has done everything he has promised us, we are complete, and we see him face to face.

As Paul put it,

I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)

I don’t know about you, but that gives me hope.

Let’s walk each day in that hope.

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Mark Devotionals

Losing our saltiness?

losing our saltiness

There’s a lot to think about in this passage, but it was Jesus’ last words of this chapter that really hit home today.

Salt is good, but if the salt should lose its flavor, how can you season it? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with one another. (Mark 9:50)

Jesus has called us to be the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13). To flavor the world with God’s love and grace.

But the church can lose its saltiness if we can’t even love each other.

Pride, bitterness, unforgiveness, and selfishness all cause us to lose our saltiness. You see the disciples struggling with these issues in this chapter and in its companion passage in Matthew 18.

But truth be told, so do I. Just thinking about yesterday, pride and selfishness were definite issues. And so as I read Jesus’ words, I had to repent.

How about you? What relationship issues, especially with your brothers and sisters in Christ, are causing you to lose your flavor?

Jesus said,

Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another.

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:34-35)

Let’s remember Jesus’ command to us and love each other. In doing so, we will keep our saltiness, flavoring this world with God’s love and grace.

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Luke Devotionals

When we won’t come in…

prodigal son's brother and father

Then he became angry and didn’t want to go in. So his father came out… (Luke 15:28)

Those words really struck me when I read them.

Most times when we read the story of the prodigal son, we focus on the younger son.

But it wasn’t only the younger son that the father cared for. He also cared for the older.

And when his older son was acting bitter and stupid and refused to come into the house, his father went out to him.

How often are we like that older son? Sometimes, because of our circumstances, or because of how we feel God is treating us, we become bitter and stupid, refusing to come into his presence.

But when we won’t come in, God goes out to us.

It’s the grace that he showed when he first saved us. And it’s the grace he extends to us even now.

The psalmist Asaph himself experienced that grace. He wrote,

When I became embittered
and my innermost being was wounded,
I was stupid and didn’t understand;
I was an unthinking animal toward you.

Yet I am always with you;
you hold my right hand.

You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me up in glory. (Psalm 73:21-24)

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Ephesians Devotionals

But God…

But God…made us alive with Christ…He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus…

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:4-6, 10)

I was just marveling at God’s grace this morning.

In the Greek, “his” is stressed in verse 10. Paul says, “We are HIS workmanship.”

I wondered at that. Why stress “his”?

Then Paul’s words in verse 4 struck me: “But God…

Because of everything I’VE done, I was spiritually dead, separated from God. Because of all I’VE done, I was a child under God’s wrath, deserving hell.

But GOD…

God made me alive. He forgave my sins through the blood of Christ shed on the cross. He raised me up and gave me new life. And he has seated me with Christ by his side.

Why?

Not because of how great I am or anything I’ve done.

But because of his great love and mercy toward me.

When God first made me in my mother’s womb, I was his “masterpiece.” (Psalm 139:13-14, Ephesians 2:10, NLT)

But with me dead in my sins, a “masterpiece” broken and scarred, by his grace, God then made me anew.

I am twice HIS masterpiece!

And he made me not so just so that people might admire me. He has prepared me for a specific work: to touch people for his kingdom. And I want to walk each day, doing that work.

You are God’s masterpiece too. Twice his masterpiece. Let’s rejoice in that. And let’s walk each day, doing the things he has given us to do.

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2 Kings Devotionals

Our attitude in prayer

Please, Lord, remember how I have walked before you faithfully and wholeheartedly and have done what pleases you. (2 Kings 20:3)

This story apparently happened after Assyria started their attacks on Judah, but before Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem. (See 2 Kings 20:13 and compare with 18:14-16.)

What strikes me is the basis on which Hezekiah made his plea, and the basis on which God answered. Hezekiah made his plea based on his goodness and faithfulness.

But on what basis did God answer?

When God gave the reasons for granting Hezekiah’s request and for delivering Judah from Assyria, he said he would do these things “for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.” (16)

In short, God granted Hezekiah’s request, not because of Hezekiah’s goodness, but because of God’s glory, goodness, faithfulness, and grace.

He had made promises to David, and he was faithful to keep them.

And by healing Hezekiah and delivering Judah from Assyria, he showed his glory, goodness, and grace not only to Hezekiah, but to Judah and all the surrounding nations.

It made me think. On what basis do I come to God with my requests?

Am I appealing to my own goodness? Am I saying, “God, I deserve this”?

Or do I acknowledge, “Father, I deserve nothing from you. But I come to you because of your goodness, faithfulness, and grace to me.”

Do I lay my requests before him with that kind of heart?

If we come to God thinking we deserve things from him, it’s easy to fall into the trap of pride Hezekiah did. (2 Kings 20:12-19, 2 Chronicles 32:24-25).

“Of course, God answered my prayer. I deserve it. I deserve his blessings.”

Or if God says no, we get angry.

“Why didn’t you answer me? I deserve this!”

On what basis do you come to God in prayer?

On your goodness?

Or God’s glory, goodness, faithfulness, and grace?

Father, I deserve nothing from you. And yet, by your grace, you call me your child and tell me I can ask you for anything.

So Father, I humbly come before you and lay my requests before you.

Not because of my goodness. But because of your glory, goodness, faithfulness, and grace.

And I trust that however you answer, yes or no, you are good and your ways are best. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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2 Kings Devotionals

“Forgetting God’s kindness to us,” revisited

Then Jehoahaz sought the Lord’s favor, and the Lord heard him, for he saw the oppression the king of Aram inflicted on Israel.

Therefore, the Lord gave Israel a deliverer, and they escaped from the power of the Arameans. Then the people of Israel returned to their former way of life, but they didn’t turn away from the sins that the house of Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.

Jehoahaz continued them, and the Asherah pole also remained standing in Samaria. (2 Kings 13:4-6)

God’s grace is pretty amazing.

Despite the fact that Jehoahaz and the Israelites had turned their back on him, when Jeohoahaz cried out to God, God graciously helped them, delivering Israel from the Arameans.

But after life returned to normal, they showed no gratitude for God’s kindness to them.

Instead they just returned back to their sin, living their own way.

How often do we get into trouble because of our sin, cry out to God for help, and in his grace he delivers us?

And how often do we soon forget the kindness God showed us and put him to the side, living our own way?

Let us not forget God when life is going well, taking his kindness and love toward us for granted.

As Paul wrote,

…do you despise the riches of his kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2:4)

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2 Kings Devotionals

God’s curse, God’s grace revisited

As I was reading the story of Elisha “healing” the water of Jericho, God showed me something new that I’d never thought of before.

Jericho had been a cursed city.

It was the first city to be destroyed by the Israelites when they entered the promised land. And at that time, Joshua declared a curse on anyone who would rebuild it (Joshua 6:26).

When someone did rebuild it, God’s curse fell on him. (1 Kings 16:34)

In a way, Jericho was still cursed in Elisha’s time.

The city was in a wonderful place, but the water was bad, and as a result, nothing would grow.

But when the people came to Elisha for help, he threw salt into the water, saying,

“This is what the Lord says: ‘I have healed this water. No longer will death or unfruitfulness result from it.’” (2 Kings 2:21)

Here was a city that was cursed by God for years. Yet in an instant, it was healed by his grace.

You may feel cursed by God, judged by him for your sin.

But if you turn to him, humbling yourself before him, he will bring healing to your life.

If he can reverse a judgment on a city that lasted hundreds of years, he can do the same for you.

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Judges Devotionals

Living by God’s grace

Judges

“We’re certainly going to die,” he said to his wife, “because we have seen God!”

But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had intended to kill us, he wouldn’t have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from us, and he would not have shown us all these things or spoken to us like this.” (Judges 13:22-23)

Every day, we live by God’s grace. We actually deserve to die because of our sin. But because of God’s grace, he speaks to us, he shows us his plans for us in his word, and even accepts offerings from our imperfect hands.

It’s so easy to take God’s grace for granted. But take the time to meditate on his grace today, and think about just how amazing it really is.

Lord, your name is wonderful, beyond our comprehension. Your grace and your mercy to us our new every morning.

Now by your grace, fill us with your Spirit. Bless us, and stir our hearts to do your will this day. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Acts Devotionals Ephesians Devotionals

Amazing

Ephesians

For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him.

He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One. (Ephesians 1:4-6)

From one man he has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live.

He did this so that they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. (Acts 17:26-27)

The love and grace of God towards us is truly amazing to me.

That before the foundation of the world he would choose us. That he would determine when we were born, where we born, and the circumstances of our birth.

He did it so that we would reach out and find him. And the thing is, when we did, we found out that he had never been far from us in the first place.

Not only that, this God who would not deign to live in temples made by human hands chooses to dwell in us.

We ourselves become his temple. (Acts 17:24, John 14:23, 2 Corinthians 6:16)

When I think of it all, the only word that comes to mind is…amazing.

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2 Thessalonians Devotionals

A prayer

2 Thessalonians

Father, I pray that you will make me worthy of your calling.

By your power fulfill my every desire to do good and my work produced by faith.

I pray this so that the name of the Lord Jesus will be glorified by me, and me by him.

I pray this not according to my own worthiness and goodness. Rather, I pray this according to your grace, Father, and the grace of the Lord Jesus.

And I pray this not only for myself, but for your church, especially in these trying times, so that this world that is hurting and dying may know you.

I love you.

I pray all this in Jesus’ name,

Amen.

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2 Corinthians Devotionals

Living by grace

2 Corinthians

I was thinking on a passage I was reading with my small group yesterday. It’s a pretty famous passage in which Paul talks about his “thorn in the flesh.”

Three times Paul asked that it be taken from him, and three times, God refused, answering,

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Paul, looking back on the experience, then said,

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (9b-10)

Truth be told, I hate being in places of weakness, where I don’t feel like I’m in control.

I suppose few people do.

My dad talked about it being like walking on a tightrope with no safety net below.

Not a comfortable feeling.

But if I don’t experience weakness, I’ll never truly experience God’s grace.

That was true when God saved me. (Romans 5:6)

It remains true even now.

So maybe I need to do a little more stepping out, reveling in my weakness.

I’m not exactly sure what that means for me now. But I’m sure it won’t be long before God starts telling me.

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Job

To truly know God

Job

I had heard rumors about You, but now my eyes have seen You. (Job 42:5)

I’ve been thinking about these words of Job recently, as I’ve been reflecting on what it means to truly know God.

Paul prayed in Colossians 1:10 that we would grow in our knowledge of God. But what does that mean?

It’s certainly not just head knowledge, important as that is.

It’s actually seeing his work in our lives. It’s actually hearing his voice as we read his Word, as we pray, and as we live our daily lives.

It’s experiencing his love, grace, and power firsthand in our lives, not just hearing about these things in the lives of other people.

Is that you? Do you truly know God?

May we all be able to say like Job, “I had heard rumors about you, but now my eyes have seen you.”

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Ephesians Devotionals

What God has done for us

Ephesians

As I look at these two chapters, I can’t help but think how God-centered they are. They’re all about not what we have done, but about what God has done and will do. Think about it.

He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3)

He chose us before this world began to be holy and blameless in love before him. (1:4)

He predestined us to be his sons and daughters. (1:5)

He lavished his grace on us in Jesus. (1:6)

He redeemed us through the blood of Jesus. (1:7)

He forgave our sins. (1:7)

He will bring everything together in Christ. (1:10)

He has given us an inheritance  in Jesus. (1:11)

He works out everything in agreement with the purpose of his will. (1:11)

He sealed us with the Spirit, claiming us as his own, and guaranteeing our inheritance. (1:13-14)

He raised Jesus from the dead, and set him far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion. (1:20-22)

He made us, who were dead in sin, alive in Christ. (Ephesians 2:5)

He raised us up with Jesus and seated us with him in the heavens. (2:6)

He gives us the gift of salvation. (2:8)

He brought us near through the blood of Christ. (2:13)

Jesus reconciled both us and the Jews to each other and to the Father. (2:14-16)

Jesus proclaimed peace to us. (2:17)

Jesus gives us access to the Father. (2:18)

God makes us fellow citizens with all the saints. (2:19)

He builds us in Christ to be a temple for God. (21-22)

All this God did for us.

What did we do?

In all these passages, what does it say we did?

Paul says, “You….carried out all your sinful desires.” (2:3)

That’s what we did. We were people deserving God’s wrath.  We deserved nothing from God but death.

And yet he poured out his love and grace upon us. And because of that, we came to believe in him.

That’s what Paul means when he tells us,

For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift–not from works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Think about that truth. Meditate on it. And let us praise God for his glorious grace.

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Ephesians Devotionals

Spiritual amnesia

Spiritual amnesia

It is so easy to forget as Christians.

We forget how much God has blessed us.

We forget how he chose us before the foundation of the world.

We forget the riches of his grace that he has lavished on us.

We forget the hope to which God called us.

We forget the riches of the glorious inheritance we have received.

We forget the immeasurable greatness of his power in our lives.

We forget the greatness of our King who is “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”

And so in Ephesians 1, Paul prays that God would heal our spiritual amnesia. That we would truly see all these things.

When you read the words of Ephesians 1, do they ring in your soul? Or do they leave you cold?

I pray that these words of Paul for you today.

But please pray them for me as well.

Because I get spiritual amnesia too.

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Romans

A grace that reigns

Romans

These two verses show two things: The weakness of the law, and the power of grace. It says in verse 20,

The law was added so that the trespass might increase. (Romans 5:20)

That sounds a little weird. God gave us the law so that people might sin more?

But if we look back at verse 13, we see what Paul means.

For before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. (Romans 5:13)

So even before the law, people were doing sinful acts. But people cannot be held accountable for what they don’t know is wrong.

What they were held responsible for was for rejecting God and for breaking their own consciences and laws whenever they matched with God’s standards. (Romans 2:14-15)

But those consciences and standards were imperfect. They were dirty mirrors so to speak.

So God gave the law so that people might see the true standard of right and wrong. And as people became aware of it, sin increased because now they were deliberately crossing the lines God had set.

That’s the weakness of the law. It can’t make us good. Rather, it simply makes us more responsible for the sin we commit.

More, our sinful nature sees those laws and because it’s in rebellion against God, it leads us to cross those lines even more.

The result? Death.

The good news?

But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:20b-21)

One might think God was cruel in giving us the law. That he purposely did so in order to pour out his wrath upon us even more. But Paul shows us that this isn’t the case at all.

Because no matter how much sin might increase, grace increases all the more to those who will receive it. No one can ever sin so much that God’s grace cannot cover it.

More, no one can be so bad, that his grace cannot change them.

Paul tells us here that his grace will reign through righteousness.

This doesn’t merely mean that we are made righteous in legal terms before God, that is, we are declared “not guilty” before him.

But as we mentioned last time, through God’s grace we receive a new nature, and through that new nature, we start to do the things that are right. We actually become righteous in the things that we think, say, and do.

And the end result of the work that God does in us through his grace is eternal life.

That’s what’s so amazing about grace. No matter how bad you are or have been, his grace has the power to change you.

All you have to do is receive it.

How about you? Do you know the grace of God in your life?

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Luke Luke 18

Parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee: Remembering our need for grace

Luke

It’s amazing how though times change, some things never do. And in this passage, we see an example of this. Luke writes,

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable. (Luke 18:9)

This attitude was particularly common among the Pharisees of the day. The Pharisees had dedicated their lives to keeping every jot and tittle of the word of God. But in doing so, it led to a spirit of pride, and you see it here.

In Jesus’ story, a Pharisee was praying out loud by himself (perhaps even to himself), saying,

God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. (11-12)

In other words, “God you are so lucky to have someone like me in your kingdom. See what a good person I am? Not like this…tax collector!”

Unfortunately, we see much the same attitude in many Christians today.

Oh, they may claim to live by God’s grace, but their attitude says otherwise. Because a person who truly lives by God’s grace sees two things very clearly. Their utter sinfulness and their need for God.

That’s what we see in the tax collector.

Tax collectors in those days were hated because not only were they considered collaborators with the Roman government who had conquered Israel, but because they consistently cheated the people when collecting taxes.

But this tax collector came before God, and beating his chest cried out,

God, have mercy on me, a sinner. (13)

And Jesus said of him,

I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. (14)

How about you? Are you truly living by God’s grace?

I’ve mentioned that people who live by God’s grace see two things clearly, their own sinfulness, and their utter need for God.

What are the characteristics of a person like this?

First, they are humble and grateful for what God has done for them.

There is no room for pride in their hearts. Pride in their own righteousness. Pride in their gifts. Why not? Because they realize that the only thing they deserve from God is death.

And yet they realize that God has showered his grace on them and given them a life they did not deserve.

So each day, their hearts are filled with thankfulness. Not bitterness because others don’t appreciate them. And certainly not pride for what they’ve “accomplished.” Thankfulness.

Second, they have a heart that extends the grace they have received to others. They don’t see themselves as better as others. Rather they see others as people that need the very same grace that they themselves have received.

There can be no despising of others, when you realize just how wretched you really are. There can be no looking down on others in judgment when you realize just how much you have been forgiven.

Instead, there is compassion, and a heart that reaches out that others may experience God’s grace as well.

How about you? Do you truly recognize the need for God’s grace in your life?

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Psalms

Blameless, under God’s grace

Psalms

Psalm 26 is another psalm where I wish I knew when David wrote it.

Did he write it during the time of his flight from Saul?  Or from Absalom?  Or did he write it at some other time in his life?

Looking at what he says, it would seem to make sense that this happened during his flight from Saul.  For in these verses, he sings,

Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have led a blameless life.

I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.

Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth. (Psalm 26:1-3)

Because of his failures with Bathsheba and Uriah, it would be much easier to see him singing this during his time fleeing from Saul.  Certainly, he could say these things with much more confidence back then.

But what intrigues me is the idea that perhaps he wrote this song after his sin with Bathsheba.  That it happened during his flight from Absalom.

And if that is so, then he truly understood the depth of God’s forgiveness.  That God had indeed washed him as white as snow.  That God had blotted out his iniquities as he had asked.  (Psalm 51)

So when he talks about his blamelessness, he says this with confidence not based on the fact that he was, but on the basis of knowing that God had forgiven his sin and remembered his sin no more.  (Jeremiah 31:34)

Now by God’s mercy, he was back on track, living the life that God had intended for him, and he could praise God saying,

I wash my hands in innocence, and go about your altar, O LORD,  proclaiming aloud your praise and telling of all your wonderful deeds. (6-7)

And he could say with confidence,

My feet stand on level ground (12).

So many times we look at our lives, and we see our failures.  We see our sin.

And Satan would accuse us, saying, “See!  You’re no good.  Look at yourself.  Look at what a mess you made out of your life.”

During those times, let us look Satan in the eye and tell him, “What you say is true.  But God has already forgiven my sin, and no longer remembers it.

“You have no right to accuse me anymore when my Judge doesn’t.  So get away from me Satan and take your accusations with you.

“I’m God’s child now, and I’m forgiven.  And in his eyes, I’m blameless.”

Categories
2 Chronicles 2 Kings Isaiah

Forgetting God’s grace

Kings,Chronicles, and Isaiah

It’s amazing to me that after all God had done for Hezekiah, that he still forgot God’s grace in his life.  It says in 2 Chronicles 32:25

But Hezekiah’s heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him; therefore the LORD’s wrath was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.

In what way was Hezekiah proud?  After his illness, envoys from Babylon came to visit because they’d heard all that God had done in extending his Hezekiah’s life. 

But instead of giving all the glory to God, Hezekiah instead pointed to all his riches, his gold, silver, his armory, and all of his treasures.

And so Isaiah confronted him saying,

Hear the word of the Lord Almighty:  The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. 

Nothing will be left, says the Lord.  And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.  (Isaiah 39:5-7)

It would be a good guess that the Babylonians took note of the wealth of Israel on this visit, and that it was this visit which planted the seed for their later invasion of Judah.

But more than that, Hezekiah missed an opportunity to share the grace of God with the Babylonians that they might turn from their sin and follow the living God.

That’s what happens when we forget God’s grace in our lives.  We become proud of all that we have and have accomplished and forget it was from God that we received all these things. 

Not only that, when others start to notice God’s blessing in our lives, we start pointing to ourselves instead of God.  And as a result, people become impressed with us instead of the God we serve.

How about you?  When others look at you, are they impressed with what you’ve accomplished?  Are they impressed with what a great person you are? 

Or when they see you, do they start to hunger for the God who lives within you?

Let us not forget God’s grace in our lives.  Rather let us always remain humble and thankful, eager to share the grace that we’ve received with those around us.