Grace and self esteem

“So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, ‘Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?’ 4 Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, ‘I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’  But I replied, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ But a second time the voice answered from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven.’”  Acts 11: 2-10 (NRSV).

The first Christians were Jewish, and it is important to remember that for early Christians, Judaism was their religion as well as a standard of social order, justice, and morals.  Those who followed the way of Christ did not start calling themselves Christians until more than ten years after Jesus died.  They called themselves Jews, and made a clear distinction between themselves and Gentiles (non-Jews).  The story in the scripture passage quoted above is told three times in Acts.  The vision Peter saw changed his life, and changed the course of Christianity.

 

The vision opened Peter's eyes to the fact that cleansing from sin is from God, and it is not a result of the work of the law. Most Jews believed that God loved everyone, but they also believed that God loved the Jews first.  Most Jews wanted the Gentiles to worship the one true God, but Jews refused to give up the distinction that God favored the Jews above all other nations.

In Peter's vision, God says, "What God has made clean, you must not call profane."  God is not only giving Peter permission to disregard the Jewish dietary laws, He is also telling Peter that everyone is God's favorite, not just the Jews.  Peter realizes this when he states in verse 17, "If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?"

For modern Christians, this idea needs to be learned on a very personal level.   Satan uses guilt to drive a wedge between us and God. We look at our own sin-ridden souls, and pronounce ourselves unclean.  But in verse 9, God says "What God has made clean, you must not call profane."  We do not have a right to pronounce a verdict of guilty on ourselves if we have claimed God's grace for our lives.  God's grace has made us clean!  

Grace and God's will for our lives

“During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’”  Acts 16: 9 (NRSV)

Background to this verse tells us that Paul, Silas and Timothy are traveling through the regions of Galatia and Phrygia, which are east and south of Asia. The group traveled through Asia, but the Holy Spirit did not allow them to speak God's word to any of the churches there, which included the beloved churches at Ephesus, Colossae, and Laodicea.  Paul attempted to go to the region north of Asia, which was a region called Bithynia, but he again was prohibited from going there by the Holy Spirit.  Then, Paul had the vision described in the verse above.

Paul's conversion was a result of a vision of Jesus.  Paul (then known as Saul) obeyed the instructions he was given in the vision, and God orchestrated the role that everyone else played in this miraculous conversion.  Paul was sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and when the Holy Spirit told Paul not to speak the Word, Paul obeyed, although this must have been a most difficult thing to do.  However, through obedience, even obedience to something that seems almost contrary to God's will, the LORD clearly showed Paul what His will was. 

 

For modern Christians, God's will often seems unclear and a bit mysterious.  Although I try to refrain from a personal testimony devotion format, I must relate personal testimony to this particular subject because God's will for our lives is such a personal thing, just as it was for Paul.  God does not pour his favor and grace into us and then leave us high and dry without specific direction. 

I have been without steady, permanent employment for a while.  Although I adjunct teach, and I enjoy this very much, I want to have steady employment.  I have interviewed for many jobs for which I am very well qualified, and the interviews have gone so well, but I have yet to be hired.  I can choose to cry to God and ask, "What is wrong with me?  Why won't You let them hire me?" The problem is that when I adopt this attitude, I am not seeking God's will, but defying God's grace.  Here is how this idea works.

The fact that Christ died for my sins says that when God looks at me, He sees a person to bring glory to His name.  This is a fact.  If the LORD, the most powerful and immense being in the universe sees me as a worthy person, then who am I to question this?  If I am to allow grace to govern my life, then God will be glorified in all that I do. 

So, what should I do about employment?  I need to keep trying because God is actually speaking very clearly to me in all of these attempts.  He is not saying that I am not worthy for this job.  God is saying that His glory is best displayed in what I am doing right now. 

The verse above serves as reminder to modern Christians that God does speak to us in everything that we do.  Sometimes things happen in a way that seems contrary to what we think is God's will for our lives, but we must remember that God is in control, no matter what happens.  Remember, God is working, through grace extended to each of us, to bring glory to Himself.                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Entrusted to grace

I am striving to make blog posts every other day, but it does not always happen.  Praise the Lord that His grace covers my failings!  My prayer is that His word will continue to bless the lives of those who are reading this blog, and that the readers will be patient with my shortcomings.   

But Paul chose Silas and set out, the believers commending him to the grace of the Lord.  Acts 15:40 (NRSV).

A bit of background information is needed to understand what is happening in this verse.  The apostles in Jerusalem sent Paul, Barnabas, Judas and Silas to the Christian brothers in Antioch with a letter concerning how gentile Christians were to conduct themselves regarding the law of Moses and circumcision.  Paul and Barnabas remained with the Antioch Christians, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord.  After a time, Paul and Barnabas decided to take a trip and revisit the cities where churches had already been planted to see how they were doing.  Barnabas wants to take his nephew, Mark, with them, but Paul does not want to take him.  Barnabas and Paul decide to go on separate journeys; Barnabas takes Mark with him, and Paul takes Silas. 

 

For modern Christians, the above verse reminds us of our mission as a church today.  It is so wonderful to experience church growth resulting from church leaders who are on fire for the LORD just as Barnabas, Paul and Silas were. But the true mission of the church is not growth, but to make disciples of all nations.  It would have been so easy for the brothers in Antioch to advise Paul, Barnabas, Silas and Mark to stay in Antioch and encourage all of the believers there. They needed encouragement just as much as any other church.  But instead, the believers took a very big step of faith and commended (entrusted) Paul and Silas to grace.  The Antioch believers allowed grace to govern their beloved leaders. By allowing grace to govern their leaders, the Antioch believers allowed grace to govern themselves as well. We will do well to remember that relying on grace to govern the lives of our loved ones means that first we must rely on grace to govern our own lives.