Grace under fire?

In regard to yesterday’s thoughts, God gave me an idea of how I can ‘visit’ orphans in Brazil or other places by using technology. Only two issues: the recipients must also have the same technology, and we must both speak the same language. I’ve sent this idea to a mission in Brazil and I am waiting for their response.

In the meantime, Piper’s devotional raises a question: Is zeal for doing good praised or persecuted? He points to this passage:

Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. (1 Peter 3:13–16)

This reminds me of the playground ditty, “My Dad is bigger than your dad” sometimes used to challenge attackers. If someone is critical of what I do in obedience to Jesus, He will defend me, or at least bless me. I’m not to be afraid or even troubled by any opposition. Key is not my feelings about criticism but what I do about it. Imaginary conversation:

“What is the reason you are doing that? What good will it do?”

“I’m not sure. I only know that Jesus is able to use small offerings, such as five loaves and two fish, to bless a great number of people. I’ve no idea what He will do with what I’m doing. I just know that He prompted the idea, not me. I have no special skill or insight into His plan, only that He wants this done.”

While my imagination gives me a sense of what Jesus wants when I am questioned or doubted, He does make another promise:

Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. (Matthew 10:17–20)

Piper talks about future grace and this is a good example. God gives me what I need when I need it, not before. This means I have no need to plan my conversations or try to figure out what to say ahead of time. These verses are not about ‘sermon preparation’ or ‘lesson planning’ but about those times when my hope in Christ is challenged, either verbally or with extreme persecution.

Where I live, the legal system prevents others from tossing Christians in jail for their faith. However, we know people from other countries where the legal system did the tossing. They testify to the power of God who kept them at peace even when they could not speak to defend themselves. Their testimonies demonstrate that God is bigger than any threat that I might ever face.

PRAY: Jesus, whether I see Your great power in the lives of others, or someday need that same power in my own life, You are faithful to keep Your promise to be my Rock and Defender, also my source to do good and use my voice to speak with gentleness and respect, even when abused and treated harshly. Thank You for such great grace.

Visit them. . . .

Today’s reading distresses me so much that writing about it is almost impossible. Piper’s book was written more than thirty years ago. Are these stats better now? Or worse? He says:

There are an estimated twelve million homeless children on the streets of Brazil. Their parents lost them in the crowds, put them out, died. However they got there, they are there. They beg, they steal, they sell their bodies. They eat garbage. Some policemen and others moonlight by contracting to kill street children so that they will not menace the city. In 1992 an average of four hundred of these children were killed monthly in Brazil. It’s the same in other big cities. The Philippine government estimates that there are fifteen thousand child prostitutes in Manila between the ages of nine and twelve. One estimate suggests that in Thailand there are eight hundred thousand girls between twelve and sixteen years old involved in prostitution.

Google AI says the numbers in Brazil are about 7 million homeless children, 250,000 to 1 million others in Manila, and at least 20,000 without hope and enslaved in Thailand’s major cities. Even if these numbers are exaggerated, what are God’s people doing about it? The Bible says:

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:27)

Physically visit them? I cannot do that for these shunned and hunted orphans. We have widows in our large complex that I can visit, yet my heart hurts to think of so many children in such dire straits. Our church points to organizations that target rescuing these kids. They include: Chain of Love and International Justice Mission, yet the most an average person can do is pray and send money. Prayer puts the burden in God's hands and money provides the resources needed. Both are better than nothing, yet the implication in the Word of God is to doing something more personal. Jesus would and can.

Unstained from the world seems not connected to visiting needy people. However, the world is defined in another passage:

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15–17)

Summed up, loving the world is being so involved in what I can gain from life that I have no desire and no time nor reason for helping others have a life that matters. And isn’t that what God wills for me? For those kids?

PRAY: Father, my heart hurts. I can send money. I can visit a few widows. I try to keep worldly desires out of my motivations and actions. It seems so little compared to the size of this problem. I know You are powerful and merciful. What do you want from me in regard to this incredible need?

Who is doing the work?

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12–13)

This interesting NT passage begs the question: what is my part in doing the work and what is God's part? How do I know for certain that God is working in me? The answer may be obvious to some, but there are other verses that make this question more complicated.

Another passage from the OT quotes the people asking God a question and then His response. They said, “Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?” God answers:

Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord? (Isaiah 58:3–5)

They were going through the motions so it looked like obedience, but God could see the motivation of their hearts. Their fasting was useless, even harmful.

I’ve tried to illustrate this with taking a pie to a new neighbor. I could be truly wanting to welcome this person and demonstrate the love of God, or I could be seeking a compliment on my pie-baking skills. However, the last time I said this, those listening tried to make my selfish reason a virtue! They did not see it as God saw the fast described in Isaiah 58:3. Were they blind to the subtlety of walking in the flesh that is intent on glorifying self?

God’s grace is a gift that enables us to do His will. It is like the hand in a glove. We do the work, but He supplies the will and the ability. This should make me say things like:

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10)
For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. (Colossians 1:29)
For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ. (Romans 15:18–19)

God wants me to press on by grace and in the motivation and power of the Holy Spirit, not according to my flesh, whether the latter is overtly selfish or hides that motivation under a pious pretension. I am not to think highly of myself but be content and even glory in my weaknesses that His power may rest on me. In other words, being Spirit-filled and enabled may mean that I am not even aware of His power. Only others will see Him because He is my focus.

PRAY: Jesus, faith is conviction about what I cannot see, not a vision or focus on what I want or how I am performing. It is a deep desire for Your will to be done, along with the understanding of my great need for grace. Apart from You, this glove is totally useless.

 

My efforts vs. God’s enabling

 
In our small group Bible study, my focus is often on the flesh vs. spirit issue but received as if I’m saying we don’t do anything — all of our obedience is God’s doing. But I’ve not made clear that there are two “we’s” in the discussion. The flesh is dead and useless. To obey God, I must be walking in the Spirit, not the flesh which is my old nature. The problem is that I have not been clarifying which “we” is helpless and which is able to obey.

Another confusion is that many Christians do not recognize when the flesh is at work (even though it is dead to God) or what being filled with the Spirit is like. Many do not want to examine their motivations but it seems vital to me that I know why I do what I am doing.

Today’s reading begins with a question about pursuing faith. Since it is a gift from God, do i try to increase it? As with anything else He grants, I cannot make it happen without faith or by my human efforts, but God is eager to enable me to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” so that He is glorified “both now and to the day of eternity.” (2 Peter 3:18) Certainly faith is a gift from God.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9)
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. (Romans 12:3)
For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake… (Philippians 1:29)

Other verses show that faith is granted to us by a revelation to our hearts. That is, He makes it possible for me to believe. This is also a gift as Jesus told Peter: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 16:17) Otherwise, flesh remains in darkness. We need the gift of new life and the light from God which He shines “in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6)

Even though faith is a gift, the Bible says it needs to grow so I am trusting Him all the time. What is true for salvation — “faith comes from hearing through the word of Christ” — is also true after that new life comes. Being in the Word, spending time with Jesus and with His Body, and obeying Him are important, yet also must be activities of the new nature. The flesh can go through the motions but is not the way to build faith or express it. If I do anything, even what seems like ‘good works’ I am not honoring God nor producing fruit without His enabling.

So faith is about walking in the Spirit, not the flesh, and about glorifying God and not doing things to make the old nature feel good or be praiseworthy. I now see when I talk about being useless, I need to better clarify that all that talk is about the old me — and my flesh needs to be ignored. The new nature listens to God and obeys. This means that I need to be able to discern which is which. The old nature wants to rule things and can imitate or fake godliness and render my actions useless to serve or honor God.

PRAY: Jesus, Thank You for clarifying how to better explain when I make comments about passages like John 15:1-5 or 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 and how ‘I’ am useless yet I can do all things through Christ. Most Christians tend to be unaware of the flesh-spirit conflict because they have not recognized the differences or do not want to admit how the flesh messes with their faith. You want me to be clear about my battles so all of us are better at walking in Your Spirit and enable to do so by Your amazing grace.

Living for Jesus is not a payback

Today’s reading gives more reasons why I should never consider that my obedience is paying  God back for all He has done for me. Even if I could do it, I would be turning grace into a business transaction. If I could pay him back, my salvation could not be by grace. Grace is a free gift.

Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. (Romans 4:4)

I might do this trade thing when someone invites us for dinner and I want to return the favor and pay them back. Feeling obligated nullifies their gracious gift. God does not ask for that response to His gracious gift. Instead, I am to “praise his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. . . . so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. . . . who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:6-14)

Piper also points out that focusing on gratitude as an empowerment for obedience tends to overlook the crucial importance of future grace. In other words, gratitude looks back to grace received in the past and feels thankful. However, faith looks forward to grace promised in the future and feels hopeful.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

Trusting God for the future strengthens my obedience. It is confidence in what God will do. Past grace builds confidence for that future that is not seen, but paying Him back turns grace into a trade. Instead, my obedience must come from trusting Him for more grace. This trust honors His promises and His power so I can say with Paul:

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10)

His trust was in God's promises, as did Joshua who heard God say: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9) This man then obeyed and moved as God directed and empowered him to move ahead.

God promises me what I need. I trusted Him on His past performance and faith gives me courage to trust Him for future needs. I am not to do the payback thing as reason for obedience but instead honor His promises to lead me and give me whatever I need for what He may ask me to do:

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32)

PRAY: I never know what each day brings, but I do know that You can enable me to follow Your lead and do Your will, not only because of past grace, but because of Your promises. Trusting You is vital. Thanking You is also vital. Trying to pay You back for all that You have done is an exercise in futility.

Repay? Or be Thankful?

A friend shared that she struggles to be thankful. She explains that years of being cared for by God without a great deal of stress seems to cause her to take His care for granted. We are supposed to be thankful. It is part of worship and my friend agrees with verses like these:

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. (Colossians 3:15)
give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

That said, I was a bit surprised at the first line in today’s devotional reading: “Gratitude is a joyful emotion for worship but a dangerous motive for obedience.” Piper adds, “How can we not be thankful when we owe everything to God?”

He went on to explain that gratitude is a dangerous motive for obedience as it tends to be expressed in debtor’s terms like, “God has done so much for me… I owe Him everything…” But is that possible? How could anyone pay Him back for the grace He has given us?

“Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:35–36)

It is impossible because all we have already belongs to Him. Do I think of my life and possessions that way? I cannot even take another breath — being alive is his gift. Having a comfortable home, and a remarkable church and church family, and children and their children, and abilities and all else is because of God’s goodness. All belongs to Him ad well. I’ve only my gratitude.

Lately becoming aware of helplessness and weakness without Him, and aware that all strength to do His will is due to the Holy Spirit. Sometimes Christians say, “I did this for God” or “You need to obey Him” as if they do not understand what Jesus said:

Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:3–5)

This is clear, and even the abiding is His work because apart from Him I cannot abide or would not want to. Like those who resist all that God requires, unless I’m filled with the Spirit of God and yielded to His leading, I am just like them. How can I pay anything back to God unless He does His work in my heart? And even then, it is never enough.

One thought: I do owe love to God and to others, yet even being able to love is also a gift by grace, meaning we do not earn or deserve it or payback God for it…

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:7–12)

PRAY: Jesus, I’ve never thought about paying You back. It sounds too much like arrogance, as if I have the ability and means in myself to do it. Keep me from having a wrong motive pressing me into anything but loving obedience.

Knowing God

Last night’s group study topic was the prayer of Jesus that begins:

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (John 17:1–3)

Our study leader asked about this definition of eternal life that Jesus describes. We agreed that Jesus described a relationship. It is not the same as knowing about Him, or even knowing that He is God who came in the form of a man, or even believing in one God, or perhaps that He is three in one because the Bible also says:

You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! (James 2:19)

Knowledge of facts about God and accepting those facts as true does not necessarily result in trust or an intimate relationship. In this context and in considering all that the Bible says about faith in Christ, it is deeper. Jesus used the Greek word ginōskō that means to know, recognize, discern, understand; conclude, but is also a euphemism for the intimacy of sexual relations. In other words, while this verb can refer to knowledge of facts or information, it is used more often to refer to a deeper knowledge that involves intimacy.

Intimacy of relationship involves love but also self-revelation, an openness that includes inner thoughts revealed by transparent and truth-filled interaction and conversation. Not only that, this prayer seems more of a description of what eternal life is like rather than how it is obtained. By knowing Jesus as Lord, Savior, best friend forever, we have a relationship of mutual confiding, of intimate knowledge as Jesus reveals Himself to us.

Before Jesus came into my life, I knew about Him, about His life and the importance of trusting Him (but not how to do it) but I did not have that relationship. However, He came to me without a formal introduction, and I knew instantly who He is and that He was offering me His life and all He could do for me. There was no doubt about His identity or His worth. Rejecting Him never entered my mind. Life events and the Holy Spirit had already made the point: I needed Jesus.

Most Christian’s testify how they came to a point of need through life’s circumstances. For me, it was a sense of failure. For some it is deep guilt, or rejection. Others feel surprised by Jesus and later realized they were ready to say yes when He called them.

While some talk about needing to “accept” Him vs. the ability to reject Jesus, that can only be prior to hearing His call to relationship. People will reject church, or what seems like law and rules, or say they don’t need religion, or bristle at the idea of being a sinner. The Holy Spirit’s role is to use various means to remove any barriers and soften hearts to the point that sinners are ready to trust His power and say yes to His invitation.

PRAY: Jesus, You never force anyone to trust You, nor are You are helpless to draw sinners to Yourself. Your love and Your ability to reveal Yourself as desirable is unlimited. You are the grace of God reaching out and revealing God to those being called. You overwhelm me with Your goodness and mercy. The more I know You, the more I know what God the Father is like, and what eternal life is like. Since You are beyond all description and human imagination, eternity will be filled with discovery — forever knowing more and more about You. This is a marvelous reality given to me because that is what You do.