The greatest decision any one can take - Day 12: Thirty Day Meditations to Abundant Life!
The greatest decision a man or woman can ever take is not who to marry, what profession to pursue, where to live or which dreams they shall follow. The greatest decision you will ever make, after throwing in your lot with Jesus of Nazareth of course, is to choose grace... to choose to rely on God for EVERY THING, ALL THINGS and with no exceptions.
To rely on God's grace, means that you come to the realization that control is an illusion and that God is the source of all that is good and wonderful in existence and not yourself. Now before I continue there are two great objections to this issue... and by the way, not living by grace is the worst thing a child of God can do, it is in fact, the most common and ancient problem to have beset the church so much so that Paul dedicated his life to fighting law... The Law is the very anti-thesis of grace, the darkness in comparison to light, evil bestrode good.
The first objection, though most who read this are unlikely to share it, is that you have accomplished things because of your own efforts and that God really is not in the picture nor does He deserve anything more than perhaps some, as opposed to all, credit. You've become rich because you worked hard, you've become skillful because you studied with all your might to get that skill, you've become creative because you are inspired by so many great artists. Yet there is no talent acquired, skill learned or creative force that has not it's origins in God! Even the will to pursue all these things is from Him.
This doesn't mean that you don't get any credit. It means that God is the source of every blessing and even the power of your will. Indeed, is that not God's name... I AM... that is the most willful name of the universe. And that doesn't mean that your will has been hijacked by the Almighty either. But Life and Light, Goodness and Sweetness, Righteousness and Peace, and above all, LOVE is all from God... so much so, that God is Life, Light, Good, Sweetest, Righteous, Peace, and Love!
And then comes the second objection, which I think most of us who read this will ask... "Does that mean I don't do anything?" or worse, "Does that I mean I can even sin all the more?" The latter question, is I believe, never asked by a true son or daughter of God, and I daresay, it is impossible for such a person to do so. We only ask it as an anticipation of how others might respond. But the first question is highly pertinent. What does it even mean to choose grace, let alone, to live by it???
It means to fully rely on divine results in all you do and for all you care about. It means you realize that God's desire is to bless you beyond imagination... He sent His Son to be cursed with the curse of the Law so you could be blessed; have you any idea how staggering this revelation is? I wrote a book about it sometime ago and I'm still beyond staggered. It ultimately means that you live expecting good things to come and that they certainly shall come without an inkling that they do so because of anything you deserve or do. Anything... not one slither of it comes by merit to you, not one hair!
Wow... I'm sure there's a few good things in my life, maybe very small things, but they're there nonetheless, that I think comes to me because I deserve it. But that's a lie. And the truth is so comforting... "It is My good pleasure to bless you for I was cursed, to heal you for I was stricken with every infirmity, to give you My very Kingdom, My All, My Best... this is My Desire, My Will and if you doubt it, just look at what I did on the cross. Understand what I did in sending My Son to die at the hands of the wretched ones."
Hallelujah, for His Grace! It's so simple and fait accompli that it sounds like a cop out! 'I'll just sit around and wait for it to happen.' We get that impression when Jesus spoke about the birds and flowers. 'What do you mean I don't have to worry about food and clothing? Hello! Jesus, do you even know what life is like in this world?' Now the birds, don't sit around all day even though they are fed by God do they? The worms aren't miraculously placed into their hands (they don't have hands) nor the seeds into their beaks. And flowers, well they have to dig in with their roots to absorb water and nutrients and their leaves have to soak in the sun. But the sun and the presence of water and nutrients is something that is entirely not in their control. That is the key of living by grace; the good things to come will come and their coming is not in your control, but you are not dismayed, it's in God's control! So as you seek the worms and bask in the sunshine of His love, what happens? You do so with this consciousness of Grace, with the understanding that He is the source and it is His good pleasure to bless you in all you do.
If you hit an obstacle, you will find a way to overcome it. If your job is taken from you, a better one shall be given. If you fall sick, more health shall be added to you. If you are in debt, you shall have more than enough to repay and even give. If you fall seven times, look to your rising, for that is the heritage and glory of the righteous, and you are righteous... why are you righteous? By Grace! Jesus imputed His righteousness to you! To be righteous, as I've written many times, means "to deserve the inheritance!" To be righteous means to deserve what Jesus deserves - that's why He bore the punishment you deserved in the first place.
So yes, to live by Grace is to work and think and live and speak and love and listen all in this attitude. It doesn't mean you do nothing! It means you do it all knowing who the source is and what His unbelievably (but you better believe it) too-good-to-be-true will and desire is for you.
So today, choose. Decide.
Will you choose to rely on God to lose weight? Be healed? To get out of debt? To see those incredibly crazy dreams you've had come true? Or will you set your face like flint and try with all your might, knocking on every door till your knuckles are worn out and your face is scorched?
I choose to trust in You Father to deliver me out of troubles and curses. I choose to trust in You Father to have my debts cancelled, my health restored and my family made whole in love and joy and safety and peace. I choose to rise above the glory of my fathers and to walk into the grand and great inheritance You so joyfully made mine by the cross of Jesus. I choose to rely on Your Grace, for all these things and especially for _______ (fill it in the blank!). Thank You Father! Thank You! Make me to see the wonders of Your Grace. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
See the previous day's devotional: All things work for you - Day 11: Thirty Day Meditations to Abundant Life! |
| Courtesy of Dietmar Temps (text by D.R.) |
The first objection, though most who read this are unlikely to share it, is that you have accomplished things because of your own efforts and that God really is not in the picture nor does He deserve anything more than perhaps some, as opposed to all, credit. You've become rich because you worked hard, you've become skillful because you studied with all your might to get that skill, you've become creative because you are inspired by so many great artists. Yet there is no talent acquired, skill learned or creative force that has not it's origins in God! Even the will to pursue all these things is from Him.
This doesn't mean that you don't get any credit. It means that God is the source of every blessing and even the power of your will. Indeed, is that not God's name... I AM... that is the most willful name of the universe. And that doesn't mean that your will has been hijacked by the Almighty either. But Life and Light, Goodness and Sweetness, Righteousness and Peace, and above all, LOVE is all from God... so much so, that God is Life, Light, Good, Sweetest, Righteous, Peace, and Love!
And then comes the second objection, which I think most of us who read this will ask... "Does that mean I don't do anything?" or worse, "Does that I mean I can even sin all the more?" The latter question, is I believe, never asked by a true son or daughter of God, and I daresay, it is impossible for such a person to do so. We only ask it as an anticipation of how others might respond. But the first question is highly pertinent. What does it even mean to choose grace, let alone, to live by it???
It means to fully rely on divine results in all you do and for all you care about. It means you realize that God's desire is to bless you beyond imagination... He sent His Son to be cursed with the curse of the Law so you could be blessed; have you any idea how staggering this revelation is? I wrote a book about it sometime ago and I'm still beyond staggered. It ultimately means that you live expecting good things to come and that they certainly shall come without an inkling that they do so because of anything you deserve or do. Anything... not one slither of it comes by merit to you, not one hair!
Wow... I'm sure there's a few good things in my life, maybe very small things, but they're there nonetheless, that I think comes to me because I deserve it. But that's a lie. And the truth is so comforting... "It is My good pleasure to bless you for I was cursed, to heal you for I was stricken with every infirmity, to give you My very Kingdom, My All, My Best... this is My Desire, My Will and if you doubt it, just look at what I did on the cross. Understand what I did in sending My Son to die at the hands of the wretched ones."
Hallelujah, for His Grace! It's so simple and fait accompli that it sounds like a cop out! 'I'll just sit around and wait for it to happen.' We get that impression when Jesus spoke about the birds and flowers. 'What do you mean I don't have to worry about food and clothing? Hello! Jesus, do you even know what life is like in this world?' Now the birds, don't sit around all day even though they are fed by God do they? The worms aren't miraculously placed into their hands (they don't have hands) nor the seeds into their beaks. And flowers, well they have to dig in with their roots to absorb water and nutrients and their leaves have to soak in the sun. But the sun and the presence of water and nutrients is something that is entirely not in their control. That is the key of living by grace; the good things to come will come and their coming is not in your control, but you are not dismayed, it's in God's control! So as you seek the worms and bask in the sunshine of His love, what happens? You do so with this consciousness of Grace, with the understanding that He is the source and it is His good pleasure to bless you in all you do.
If you hit an obstacle, you will find a way to overcome it. If your job is taken from you, a better one shall be given. If you fall sick, more health shall be added to you. If you are in debt, you shall have more than enough to repay and even give. If you fall seven times, look to your rising, for that is the heritage and glory of the righteous, and you are righteous... why are you righteous? By Grace! Jesus imputed His righteousness to you! To be righteous, as I've written many times, means "to deserve the inheritance!" To be righteous means to deserve what Jesus deserves - that's why He bore the punishment you deserved in the first place.
So yes, to live by Grace is to work and think and live and speak and love and listen all in this attitude. It doesn't mean you do nothing! It means you do it all knowing who the source is and what His unbelievably (but you better believe it) too-good-to-be-true will and desire is for you.
So today, choose. Decide.
Will you choose to rely on God to lose weight? Be healed? To get out of debt? To see those incredibly crazy dreams you've had come true? Or will you set your face like flint and try with all your might, knocking on every door till your knuckles are worn out and your face is scorched?
I choose to trust in You Father to deliver me out of troubles and curses. I choose to trust in You Father to have my debts cancelled, my health restored and my family made whole in love and joy and safety and peace. I choose to rise above the glory of my fathers and to walk into the grand and great inheritance You so joyfully made mine by the cross of Jesus. I choose to rely on Your Grace, for all these things and especially for _______ (fill it in the blank!). Thank You Father! Thank You! Make me to see the wonders of Your Grace. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
I do not set aside God's grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!
Paul, the Apostle of Grace (Gal 2:21)
David Roiel
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