A Worthy Walk in Grace

But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.

For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.” 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12 (NASB)

The letters to the Thessalonians were written by Paul, Silvanus (Silas), and Timothy, and the pronoun we is always used in the letters. The gospel of God’s grace is a “we” gospel, and one of the components of this wonderful grace that God extends to us is the way God uses us to exhort each other. None of us stand alone in God’s grace.

This is why our walk with God is so important. As Paul, Silas and Timothy write in the scripture passage above, an important part of their ministry was to work alongside the Thessalonians so they (the Thessalonians) could witness God’s grace through Paul, Silas and Timothy’s actions and their love for the members of this Thessalonian church.

This is why our walk is so important to the plan of God’s grace. God uses our walks to exhort each other, stand by each other, work with each other, and love each other. It is not our walk that is worthy of God, but our walk with a worthy God that witnesses to others. I like the word walk because it implies a journey, and we can infer that journeys are not without hardships, errors, misdirection, detours, and stumbling. In spite of this, God still continues to call us to Himself, and by His miraculous grace, He allows us to reach Him, even if our journey is not perfect. Walking worthy of God does not mean that we must walk in perfection. It means that we allow God to use our walk to minister to others who are on the same journey

Freedom in grace

"For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1 (NRSV).

The book of Galatians was written by the Apostle Paul to early Christian churches in the region of Galatia who were being persuaded that it was necessary to observe Jewish laws in order to belong to Christ. The entire book of Galatians expresses Paul's unwavering position that accepting Christ as our savior allows us to be free from religious rules and regulations.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, the serpent tempted Eve by telling her that if she ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that she would be like a god, knowing the difference between good and evil. In a sense, the serpent spoke the truth. That is exactly what happened. Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, and their eyes were opened. They knew the difference between good and evil, and they immediately made a judgement that being naked was evil, so they tried to cover themselves to look righteous in the eyes of God.

Up to this present day, human beings have been encumbered with the knowledge of the difference between good and evil. This is the moral basis for laws and our religious rules and regulations. This knowledge of the difference between good and evil causes us to seek to do good things for ourselves and judge the evil in others. Christ came to free us from the bondage of judgement. Christ asks us to do just the opposite of what our knowledge compels us to do. Christ asks us to seek to do good things for others instead of ourselves, and recognize the evil inside of ourselves instead of the evil that is others and come to Him with a repentant heart. We can then be free of the bondage to laws that never make us righteous in God's eyes and glaringly point out the evil in others.

Isaiah 42:1-4 Servanthood and grace

"Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching." Isaiah 42: 1-4 (NRSV)

When I think of a servant, I think of someone who carries out orders. For example, a waitress takes orders from customers, delivers the requests to the kitchen, and then serves the prepared food. Servants are very busy people, and they tend to have more responsibilities than one person can carry out efficiently.

I am sure that many of us feel very inadequate in a servant role. We serve in different capacities for our families, for our work, and for our churches, friends, and societies. Our service responsibilities may be more than we have time to accomplish. There seems to be very little waiting (on our part) as we serve. I know that I find myself constantly looking at my watch, hurrying to get things accomplished, and being impatient with those who require more time than I am willing to give.

In Isaiah 42, God describes His servant, Christ, who waits to bring forth justice. Christ is not shouting "Hurry up!" Instead, in this picture, Christ is patiently waiting for the bruised, battered, and weary whom He is serving.

When I pray for my family, my friends, my church, and the world, I sometimes become overwhelmed with the needs for which I am praying. There is so much need that I feel that I will never be able to pray enough. I almost want to hurry through my prayers to be able to include everyone on my list. This is when I must remember that the Holy Spirit will never grow weary of interceding for us, and He prays patiently and intimately for each and every need in this world. Think of it--The Holy Spirit prays for each individual need of each and every person that this world has ever seen! That is a lot of patience.

I may be weary, but God is not. I see so much injustice, and I think that it needs to be corrected right now, but God's plan encompasses everyone and everything. Christ knows when to wait, and when to act, we must learn to wait for His infinite patience and wisdom.

Isaiah 26:3 I will keep you in perfect peace

Andrae Crouch was a prolific composer, arranger, record producer and pastor, who helped to start the contemporary Christian music movement in today's churches.  This song, "Perfect Peace", is a Bible verse song based on Isaiah 26:3.  It was recorded  by Andrae Crouch and the Disciples in 1976.  (The link has Disciples spelled incorrectly.)  It has a gospel sound, and is different than the contemporary Christian music recorded today.  Beware--This song has a way of staying with you.

Groping for God

" From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’;" Acts 17: 26-28

In the passage of scripture above, Paul is speaking with the people in Athens. Paul has approached the subject of God by appealing to the Athenians recognition of an unknown god and their desire to seek knowledge. Paul does not present his personal testimony, but he presents an observable testimony of God through human behavior.

In this passage, Paul points out to the Athenians that it is the nature of men to search for God because God made us that way. We were made to seek and find God--to grope for Him in a way that no other creature on earth can do. Groping is a good word to use because our relationship with God is a constant struggle. Without the struggle, then we would become complacent and ignore God entirely. Praise God that in His wisdom, love and grace, He planned for and encompasses our struggle to know Him.