Becoming Pressure-Sensitive

“When you’re in a context in which religious pressure is the way that leadership gets people to behave better and ‘live uprightly’, you’ll feel a number of things: You’ll believe you haven’t done enough to please God or them, and you’ll feel guilty about not being more committed, more serious about your faith, more giving, more something. ‘Should’ and ‘ought’ are the subtext of these churches. Of course, the guilty verdict isn’t stated so overtly. The message is usually about your lack of commitment or sharing your faith, or something. But the foundational asumption from the pulpit or Sunday School classroom is that, ‘You are not doing enough’ – which accumulates over time to suggest that, ‘You are not enough for God.’”

“By contrast, when you experience a context of true Christian freedom, you’ll walk away feeling more alive, more settled in your convictions about God’s goodness, and more desiring to live for Him. In this liberating setting, guilt is never needed to motivate people because people who experience God’s affection won’t need you to tell them they ’should’ be doing this or that. They already want to do what God has called them to do because they are deeply aware of God’s desire for them and of His glorious work in their hearts that is both already accomplished and ever-increasing in them.” (“Recover Your Good Heart” by: Jim Robbins)

The Pure Heart Blessing

Our good friend Jesse has recently been sharing some truths from the Word that the Lord has been stirring in his heart about “the heart”. I was then quickened by God as I read this scripture in Matthew 5:8 pertaining to the heart. Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” According to the Strong’s Concordance, the greek word translated as “pure” in this verse is also defined as “clean”. So who are these pure or clean in heart? They are those who have received the new heart promised in Ezekiel 36:25-27. Those who have been washed and made clean by the blood of the Lamb. Those who have believed in their heart that Jesus is raised from the dead. Those who have called on the Name of the Lord to be saved. Period. WE are the ones that see God because God has placed His Spirit in us because He loves us. This blessing of seeing God is not based on performance or works as is often thought or taught. It’s not about “proving by our behavior” and “living up to certain standards” that we qualify to receive the “pure heart blessing”. NO! What we must do is receive by faith God’s gracious gift of a new heart and then praise Him and thank Him all the days of our life for making us new creatures in Christ who have eyes to see God!

Before we were saved, we were blind, deaf, and dumb to God. BUT NOW!! By His grace we are able to see Him! In people around us, in His creation, and even in the most difficult circumstances or the most unlikely places, we can see HIM! What a blessed people we truly are to have been freely given these pure hearts in exchange for our sinful ones. Hearts that no longer want to sin, but hearts alive with the Spirit of God. May we guard our hearts and stop believing any lie that would contradict what God has declared He has already done for us and may we believe “whole-heartedly” in the truth of our new hearts in Christ.

“Blessed (happy, enviably fortunate, and spiritually prosperous–possessing the happiness produced by the experience of God’s favor and especially conditioned by the revelation of His grace, regardless of their outward conditions) are the pure in heart, for they shall see God!” (Amplified Bible)

submitted by: Bobbi

Faith In, Not For

Hebrews 11:1says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. Many times I have seen “faith Scriptures” like Hebrews 11:1 read from the following perspective: “I have a hope FOR something and I don’t see it in the here and now; however, if my faith is substantial, I will have pleased God enough to qualify for it.” So the goal is to offer up a sufficient amount of faith to motivate God on my behalf. Sadly, in that way, faith is now a work. 

But what is the faith Hebrews 11:1 is referring to? In part this faith is the persuasion that comes to our hearts when we hear what Jesus Christ has already accomplished for us on the cross. That persuasion is the substance (or foundation) by which we can expect His faithfulness in all things, it is the evidence of things “not seen”. I don’t believe that if we want something, we must believe for it with some sort of monster faith. I mean we only need faith the size of a mustard seed! And we can’t decide to walk in a certain amount of faith anyway. When you hear the right message, when Jesus is correctly interpreted into the Word, you simply find faith rising up in your heart. It’s the type of faith that believes in the ONGOING goodness and love of God; especially in view of the cross. Hebrews 11:1 is God confirming what we’ve received as a result of this love and bringing it into view.

This simple faith is not about getting a better car or home or this or that possession. No, our faith is not for something; it is in Someone. This is the foundation of our faith for everything and is the source of all our expectations.  See, if we believe by faith that “it is finished”, we believe it all and walk in total assurance for the future. It is that revelation to our hearts that is never ending and always expanding.

Out of Christ’s finished work we can expect certain things to happen. We can expect God’s favor, unconditional love and acceptance. We can expect to walk in the power, provision and presence of God under an “open heaven” because nothing separates us. Our minds can rest assured in His friendship and in all He has done for us free of our own works. That makes our today and our future secure by faith. We can rest our minds in His goodness, understanding that our obedience is not what he looks at to bless us. But our obedience will increase out of this love, out of His grace influencing our hearts. There is nothing greater than the foundation of Jesus Christ. That foundation is the substance from which we hope; it is the evidence of things not seen.

Grace Multiplied

II Peter 1:2 says, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord”. The word “grace” in the Greek is “charis” and is defined in the Strong’s Concordance as “graciousness: especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude”.

Peter says, “Grace and peace be MULTIPLED to you”. With our definition of grace it could be said this way, “Let God’s divine influence upon your heart and its reflection in your life be multiplied”. The key question is how? Peter goes on to say, “Through the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord”. This means an ongoing acknowledgement (or recognition of the reality and truth of) what Jesus accomplished for us and freely gave us. This acknowledging also includes who we are in Him, who He is in us, and what God now acknowledges about us.

It is so incredibly simple. Through the ongoing acknowledgement of Jesus Christ, there will be the multiplication of God’s divine, transforming influence on our hearts and the resulting reflection of Him in and through our lives! No wonder Paul said he, “…determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified”.

Authentic Fruit

I recently read a post on the Grace Roots blogsite that really spoke to me and I want to share some of those insights. In Mark 4:26-28 it says, “And Jesus said, ‘The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed upon the ground, And then continues sleeping and rising night and day while the seed sprouts and grows and increases–he knows not how. The earth produces [acting] by itself–first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear’”. Now this way of producing fruit may confound many in the “church world”; but nonetheless, Jesus said it was “what the Kingdom of God was like”. The sad thing is that a large segment of the church is living by principles and methods and will accept plastic fruit because at least it shows everyone is busy “doing something”. Real fruit comes naturally and in due season as the Lord Himself works in us by the power of His Word, His Holy Spirit, and  His grace. His fruit borne in us is never unripe, never fake, never bad tasting, and definitely never plastic. Colossians 1:6 says, “The Gospel is bearing fruit and still is growing [by its own inherent power], as it has done among yourselves ever since the day you first heard and came to understand the grace of God in truth”.  Praise God for His many sons and daughters who are walking by faith and trusting Him to produce authentic fruit in their lives and in the lives of the other believers around them.

“I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing”. (John 15:5)

 

 

A Notorious Sinner Unconditionally Pardoned

In the account of Barabbas being released found in Matthew 27:15-26, I was recently made aware of some awesome realities of God. As Pilate made his decision to release Barabbas, there is not indication of Barabbas questioning Pilate or petitioning him as to “why” he was being unconditionally given his freedom. He did not ask Pilate, “Don’t I have to do something to earn this deliverance? Shouldn’t I work to merit this release?” NO! He just received his pardon and probably ran as fast as he could and as far away as he could from that prison house! Amazing what a dynamic picture this is in the natural of our total and complete pardon and deliverance in Christ. Yet how often we insist on trying to merit our salvation or prove our worthiness by seeking “things we could and should do”. This visual of a guilty man receiving his undeserved pardon without hesitation should speak to any pull from the enemy that says we must work for what has already been freely given to us.

It’s amazing the details of God we discover in the scriptures! Even in the means used to determine Jesus’ death sentence, a guilty man was set completely free. The death of a sinless Man, Jesus, made the pardon of a guilty man possible. Wow – could God make it any clearer? There is nothing we can do to save ourselves or free ourselves. Only by the mercy of God is it all possible. Jesus bore ALL our sin in His body on the cross and offered His life for ours. Now by His grace, we are freely pardoned and released from ALL judgement which was against us based on our own sin. Jesus’ death and resurrection has secured for us who believe an irreversible exchange of lives. Jesus’ life was given in exchange for Barabbas; the sinless Man died and the guilty ones now live! May we embrace the totality of what God’s gracious gift has secured for all eternity!

submitted by: Bobbi

By The Grace of God…

“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” Paul clearly shows here in I Corinthias 15:10 how grace and “laboring” or works go together. He makes it very clear that, yes, he did labor abundantly BUT it was all done by the grace of God which was with him – which he was vitally joined and connected to in Christ. It was the Lord laboring through him as he so clearly stated in Philippians 2:13, “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” Paul declared in I Cor. 3:10 that it was according to the grace of God that he did the work God had called and purposed him to do.  It was not done to earn or maintain his “place” with God or to get God’s favor and blessing on his life. He knew it was ALL grace – from beginning to end and he made this emphatically clear again and again. In Romans 11:6 he says, “And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.” 

The Lord desires for each of us to embrace the simplicity of His grace in Christ! It’s ALL grace – it’s just that simple. Take ALL works out of the equation completely – except the work of Jesus! Our relationship to the Lord is established and forever kept by the power of His grace. There is not a single work that we “can or must add” to solidfy, insure, or maintain our righteousness before the Father. All we can do is stand confidently in faith in the finished work of Christ accomplished on our behalf. Not wavering on  a “bad day” or feeling secure on a “good day” because we are focused on our performance and thus believe that what we do or don’t do is the gauge God is looking at to determine how He sees us and whether or not He will love us and favor us and bless us. Rather abiding confidently in His unwavering love for us based on the blood of Jesus. When it’s not about us anymore living up to some moral standard or keeping all our traditional “new laws”, we will finally be free to rest in His grace and allow Him to bring forth through us ALL the good works that He has ordained for us to walk in that He might be glorified!

“Now God has us where He wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all His idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish!” (Eph. 2:7-8 The Message Bible)

–submitted by Bobbi

Leadership By Grace

My dynamic, incredibly gifted son Zach (I hope he reads that) left a comment on “Organic Church” posted here on 9/21. He said, “Hey Dad, I like your take on an organic church model…something that flows out of a grace and missional focus. How do you see church leadership and structure fitting into an organic mentality? I’m trying to hone my own thinking here…”  After discussing it with him I began to think there are probably others out there trying to “hone” their thinking on some of these same issues. So here are a few additional thoughts:

I believe organic leadership leads loosely. They are kind of like the man in Mark4:26-28, “And Jesus said, ‘The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed upon the ground, And then continues sleeping and rising night and day while the seed sprouts and grows and increases–he knows not how. The earth produces (acting by itself) first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear”. Paul says the message of grace builds us up, bears fruit, and causes growth… “by its own inherent power” . (Colossians 1:6 Amp, Acts 20;32). The divine influence of God’s grace upon the heart supernaturally changes us from the inside out.  

A good illustration of this might be found in Acts 11:21-24 where it was said of the church in Antioch that “the presence of the Lord was with them with power, so that a great number turned to the Lord and believed”. When the church in Jerusalem heard about this, they sent Barnabas down to Antioch to check them out. When he arrived, “he rejoiced to see what the GRACE OF GOD HAD DONE”. (Acts 11:23). He didn’t rejoice over the leadership’s theological prowess, administrative skills or the dynamic programs they had instituted; no, it was about what “the grace of God had done”. This means that change was coming from the divine influence of grace upon the heart. Function, order and fruit were flowing from exposure to the grace of God in Christ. As a leader, sent by the Jerusalem super-church, verse 24 says all Barnabas did was, “exhort everyone with purpose of heart to cleave and remain near to the Lord“. He basically told them to continue in what they were doing; pointing people to the throne of grace, exhorting them, sowing grace into their hearts, helping them grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. 

Rob Rufus describes how Paul, in his intense farewell address to the leaders of the church at Ephesus, committed them to “the Word of grace“. (Acts 20:32). And not just a general idea of grace, but to the ongoing message of unconditional, irreversible, absolute love and acceptance of the Father. Sounds like good instruction, at least in part, for today’s leadership; a leadership that trusts in the transforming power of God’s radical grace.

Grace Culture, Part II

Call me crazy, but I believe we are in an era of unparalleled opportunity to see increasing numbers of believers set free from a mixture of law and grace. How? By the continued, uncompromised advancement of the message of grace revealed in Jesus Christ. And I’m not talking about a clever new way of presenting the gospel. I’m talking about the gospel of grace preached with no additives, creating an environment where the veil is torn, all systems of mediation have been removed, and a new era of unobstructed access to the Father is being shouted from the rooftops. 

In this atmosphere of grace, experience is as important as explanation. The proclamation of the message of grace brings God’s love very close; it brings the presence of God we enjoy positionally, into personal proximity. How could we believe the supernatural renewal of our minds be accomplished by anything less? In Ephesians 3:19 Paul tells us something outrageous. He says that as we come to know the love of Christ (which includes, but goes beyond explanation) we are “filled with all the fullness of God”. Now that is life transforming experience! This New Covenant world is a culture where having died to the law, we have been made alive to God.

Craig Glenn said, “God is doing something in the church today… By that something, I mean a rapid maturation process in the hearts of believers worldwide, young and old….He is giving a new lease on His Life, that is to say His Grace…sons of God will be synonymous with sons of Grace…God is doing something in the Church today. He has a dream…He has always had this dream and now….He is wanting to see it accomplished through us…”

There Comes A Time Of Fulfillment

There has been an ongoing prophetic emphasis that “something is coming”. But what if that “something” is here? Would we want to be sitting in our past, crying out for the future, missing that “something” actually happening in our present?  I believe there comes a time of fulfillment where we recognize that “the grace of God has come unto us”. I also believe we have moved from an endless parade of “changing seasons” to an outpouring of God’s grace until the end of the age. I like how the Lord communicated this idea to Ezekiel, “Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, the children of Israel say, The vision which he (Ezekiel) sees is for the days which are a long way off, and his words are of times still far away.’ Say to them then, ‘This is what the Lord has said: Not one of my words will be put off any longer, but what I say I will do, says the Lord”. I believe this reality of now might prevent a subtle, religiously “sanctioned” delay that says just keep waiting (and praying) for something “big” to happen “someday”.

Peter talks about the Old Covenant prophets and what they were seeing regarding the coming of Christ and the last days that we live in. I Peter 1:10-13 says, “The prophets, who prophesied of the grace which was intended for you, searched and inquired earnestly about this salvation. They sought (to find out) to whom or when this was to come through the Spirit of Christ working within them. It was then disclosed to them that the services they were rendering were not meant for themselves and their period of time, but for you. It is these very things which have ALREADY been made known to you by those who preached the good news (the Gospel of grace) to you by the same Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Into these things (the very) angels long to look!” The Message Bible says, “Do you realize how fortunate you are? Angels would have given anything to be in on this!” Peter finishes in verse 13 saying, “So brace up your minds; set your hope wholly and unchangeably on the grace that is coming to you when Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is revealed.”. The current day prophets might need to stop projecting into the future and begin recognizing and proclaiming that we are in the time where Jesus is being revealed (again) through a sovereignly orchestrated recovery of the Gospel of grace. The grace of God has come unto us.