Undoubtedly
it's important to get in the word everyday. But I think it might be even more
important to remember, in depth, what it means to receive the grace of
God. I mean really remember it and its
implications DAILY. The word, prayer, and meditation can all be ways to achieve
this. Also, possibly even more
encompassing would be to remember deeply the Holiness of God which would
include His incredible love and His power, perfection and justice. Recognizing these things daily then realizing
he has provided you with another day of life for some reason inspires a healthy
fear, reverence and love for Him!
Christians
should be happy.
God promises
even the bad things work out for our good (Rom 8:28).
The things
he has given us like salvation, grace, love, and mercy, he promises to never
take away (John 10:28). And the very
best things are yet to come (Rev 21)
-Jonathan
Edwards (paraphrased)
We can't be
fulfilled on this earth. This is a widely accepted psychological truth. That something, that no matter what you do,
is still missing. that's built in by God
into the human soul to remind you that there is something more, that there is
somePLACE more
we are saved
by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.
-Martin
Luther
it brings
about grateful, joyful, trusting obedience
The man who has God for his treasure has all
things in One. Many ordinary treasures may be denied him, or if he is allowed
to have them, the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they will never be
necessary to his happiness. Or if he must see them go, one after one, he will
scarcely feel a sense of loss, for having the Source of all things he has in
One all satisfaction, all pleasure, all delight. Whatever he may lose he has
actually lost nothing, for he now has it all in One, and he has it purely,
legitimately and forever. -AW Tozer
While sin is
indeed breaking the law of God, having this view of sin can confuse our view of
grace and cause us to idolize morality.
We become obsessed over doing everything perfectly according to his law,
but this can’t be done! This view causes
us to subconsciously try to do everything perfect in an attempt to convince
ourselves we are spiritually acceptable.
Christ has made us spiritually perfect and beautiful already (eph 5:27)
--DON’T FORGET THIS. (Jer 2:32). Let’s
look at sin, not as something that breaks the law of God, but as something that
breaks the HEART of the One that has already showed us unending grace.
He took his
hands off of His life and became a dying, a destroyed sacrifice for you. He gave Himself utterly to you. Now take your hands off your life and become
a living sacrifice for Him! -TIMOTHY
Think of
life like a PUPPET show. I think to make
the analogy work we need to imagine puppet strings are connected not just to
our members but also our heart, mind, and soul.
God is the puppet master and all of the puppets are hopeless for
salvation until the Lord opens the eyes of the puppets hearts and gives them a
faith. Even after this occurs, the
puppet still has no righteousness or power on its own. Instead all of its power and righteousness comes
from the puppet master who is the source of everything and sovereign over the
puppet show. We are just limp, hopeless
puppets until the Lord picks us out. We
have ZERO to boast about. We are in the
hands of a MIGHTY God who is in control of our sanctification. Also, how can we judge other believers or
look down on them when we all are equally as broken and the Lord is in charge
of our sanctification? Phil 2:30
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