No, I cannot rest in my bed tonight until I add a final testimony. And please try to appreciate this, especially do I appeal to those of you who are fellow members of God's household of faith.
A few years ago, I began a military art blog featuring some of the work I had done portraying various military aircraft and other types of war arsenal. They represent various periods of military history.
What has grieved me much is that these postings had received comments, all being quite favorable. They were a sort of "keep up the good work," or, "These are really interesting!" And I painfully confess that at the time, I enjoyed reading them. But no additions have been made to this blog since, I think, around 2007. And to be honest, I have no desire to continue with it. In fact, I would prefer, if possible, to be rid it altogether. Why? Because since a powerful shaking I had received from the Lord a little over two years ago, the only thing I want to produce and show others, is what points others to eternity, and yes, God's Son Jesus Christ. The truth is, the previous blog shows nothing but themes of death. This present blog is about life and peace!
Now, you might be wondering, if you've read this far, how I could possibly be grieved over favorable comments on those images. It is because when I began sharing later, things which God has impressed on my heart and soul, there has not been even one comment made on these writings. The disturbing aspect is not that I have never seen a comment; rather it is what I fear to be an apparent lack of interest in things which truly matter: things having eternal significance!
I cannot help but think about Brother Paul's words found in Colossians 3:1&2: And these words are what God used to begin getting me to search my own heart back in 2008, and start recognizing what really matters.
"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things
Which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand
of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things
on the earth."
I hope no one out there in blog land will think of me as a legalist in the sense that I advocate
living under the law written on tables of stone. God forbid! But God's law is written on the tables
of the hearts of all of us who gave their hearts and souls to the Lordship of Christ. Everything else down here is sure to burn up before His judgment seat one day if it does not glorify and worship Him now, and if it does not point lost men, women, and children to Him so they might be saved, now, before it is everlasting too late.
I have said enough here, I suppose. Only I am at a loss as to how things which really have no eternal value, are often praised, and things which have to do with heaven above, and eternity, seldom are, if they ever are.
It is my hope and prayer that God will do a great and mighty work in and through His people, especially on this side of the Atlantic, where we have been able to worship thus far without facing persecution. But I believe this might soon change, and we will soon have to go through the fire for our faith. The sobering truth is, that time is fast running out, and if we are going to be and do anything for the glory and praise of "Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light," we best begin now. God is waiting, now!!!
My final word tonight is that whoever reads these words, will not take them as indicative of one who is "holier than thou," or self-righteous. I want all of you to know that as I write these words, as well as those I had been posting since 2007, I do it out of a love for my Savior, and out of my love for you. And they are written, in deed, by the hand of a man who feels he has Brother Paul beat in only one regard, when he said he was the chief of sinners. If God can save a wretch like me, He can save anyone!
May His grace be with you always.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Cheap Grace?
"And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto Him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto Him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head. And He said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee, but let me first bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."
Luke 9:57-62.
Is grace cheap? By that I suppose I mean should we view the grace of God as something of minimal value, the same as an item we may purchase at a store, say, like the Dollar Tree? I had some time to think that matter through, and the only conclusion I feel I could come to was that if the grace which God showed us was not cheap, how could I have the attitude by the way I live from day to day, that it was cheap? A perfect Man (Jesus), who went to a cross, to suffer beyond what human words could describe, in order that I might be made one of God's children, and have access to His heaven, does not sound like a cheap act of grace at all to me.
Yet, I am confessing here that there have been times when I thought about God's grace much the same way the persons mentioned in the above passage from Luke did. They really did not want Christ in the way He had hoped they would want Him. They wanted all His benefits, but they did not really want Him. They wanted all He promised if they would follow Him, but they did not want to pay the cost involved along the way.
I am not a Facebook person, and I make no apology for not being so. But a friend who uses it often, noticed that a certain person out there in Blog Land did write an inquiry into why I have not written anything lately on my Faith Walk. This person further added that the previous entries I had posted, blessed her and others who desire to grow from infancy to adulthood spiritually. I responded by saying that when I had begun this blog a couple of years ago, I did so in the belief that the Lord wanted me to, and that it might well be a blessing to others. However, since I had found no comments, I began to wonder if perhaps the idea was not from Him, but from me. It's not that I wanted to begin and continue this work so I would get responses. This would not be the right motive, as that would only prove I was more interested in man's approval, instead of my Lord's approval. And my Lord surely has much to say about that. If you care to read one example, I refer you to His teaching found in Matthew 6:1-6.
But just what is grace? The word in the Greek New Testament is "charis." It means favor and goodwill shown to someone undeserving of it. In this case, it is from God. I entitled this current posting as "Cheap Grace?" But just what is grace? Better still, what is God's grace? It is hard for me to say one without the other. God and His grace are like His love. He IS love! And it is the same as Jesus the Son being One with His Father. He said, "I and my Father are one."
And He IS grace! I trust God will forgive me for giving a simple definition. But what it means to me is a show of goodness and mercy to someone who does not deserve it. And that easily applies to me: I do not deserve His grace, and I never will.
One cold December afternoon during one of my long walks, this thought came to me: "If I received from a righteous, holy God what I truly deserve, I surely would not get from Him what I do not deserve." He gave me what I don't deserve, instead of what I do deserve. In other words, He gave to me His forgiveness, salvation, and the promise of heaven one day with Him, instead of letting me continue on in a life that really was not life at all, (1), lost, unforgiven, and on my way to hell, where I would be separated from Him forever and ever. And If you trusted Christ as your Lord and Savior, truly repented of your sins, the same applies to you as well.
That is grace, at least in the best possible way I can ever hope to define it. And that grace was not, and still is not, cheap! And if I cheapen it, then that grace has failed to achieve for me its intended work.
I will not write about him in this post, but in my next one, I would like to mention a man I feel both understood, and lived, by a grace that was not cheap. His name is Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and while he was in a Nazi prison, he wrote a book called The Cost of Discipleship. I want to share with you some of the excerpts from this prized gift my wife gave to me for Christmas two years ago.
(1)...Ref. Ephesians 2:1.
Luke 9:57-62.
Is grace cheap? By that I suppose I mean should we view the grace of God as something of minimal value, the same as an item we may purchase at a store, say, like the Dollar Tree? I had some time to think that matter through, and the only conclusion I feel I could come to was that if the grace which God showed us was not cheap, how could I have the attitude by the way I live from day to day, that it was cheap? A perfect Man (Jesus), who went to a cross, to suffer beyond what human words could describe, in order that I might be made one of God's children, and have access to His heaven, does not sound like a cheap act of grace at all to me.
Yet, I am confessing here that there have been times when I thought about God's grace much the same way the persons mentioned in the above passage from Luke did. They really did not want Christ in the way He had hoped they would want Him. They wanted all His benefits, but they did not really want Him. They wanted all He promised if they would follow Him, but they did not want to pay the cost involved along the way.
I am not a Facebook person, and I make no apology for not being so. But a friend who uses it often, noticed that a certain person out there in Blog Land did write an inquiry into why I have not written anything lately on my Faith Walk. This person further added that the previous entries I had posted, blessed her and others who desire to grow from infancy to adulthood spiritually. I responded by saying that when I had begun this blog a couple of years ago, I did so in the belief that the Lord wanted me to, and that it might well be a blessing to others. However, since I had found no comments, I began to wonder if perhaps the idea was not from Him, but from me. It's not that I wanted to begin and continue this work so I would get responses. This would not be the right motive, as that would only prove I was more interested in man's approval, instead of my Lord's approval. And my Lord surely has much to say about that. If you care to read one example, I refer you to His teaching found in Matthew 6:1-6.
But just what is grace? The word in the Greek New Testament is "charis." It means favor and goodwill shown to someone undeserving of it. In this case, it is from God. I entitled this current posting as "Cheap Grace?" But just what is grace? Better still, what is God's grace? It is hard for me to say one without the other. God and His grace are like His love. He IS love! And it is the same as Jesus the Son being One with His Father. He said, "I and my Father are one."
And He IS grace! I trust God will forgive me for giving a simple definition. But what it means to me is a show of goodness and mercy to someone who does not deserve it. And that easily applies to me: I do not deserve His grace, and I never will.
One cold December afternoon during one of my long walks, this thought came to me: "If I received from a righteous, holy God what I truly deserve, I surely would not get from Him what I do not deserve." He gave me what I don't deserve, instead of what I do deserve. In other words, He gave to me His forgiveness, salvation, and the promise of heaven one day with Him, instead of letting me continue on in a life that really was not life at all, (1), lost, unforgiven, and on my way to hell, where I would be separated from Him forever and ever. And If you trusted Christ as your Lord and Savior, truly repented of your sins, the same applies to you as well.
That is grace, at least in the best possible way I can ever hope to define it. And that grace was not, and still is not, cheap! And if I cheapen it, then that grace has failed to achieve for me its intended work.
I will not write about him in this post, but in my next one, I would like to mention a man I feel both understood, and lived, by a grace that was not cheap. His name is Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and while he was in a Nazi prison, he wrote a book called The Cost of Discipleship. I want to share with you some of the excerpts from this prized gift my wife gave to me for Christmas two years ago.
(1)...Ref. Ephesians 2:1.
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