A small but loaded phrase from the booklet I am reading...
'... it is always best to postpone negative reactions under the government of grace...'
Why? We have redemptive motivations.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another." - Galatians 5:22-26 ESV
Patience, long suffering and self control are really thing God does in us and through us. We often have a moment of decision... a moment when we can look into the future instead of having a present reaction. A moment when the lit match that would ignite us is being held between our thumb and index finger. Will we drop it into the kindling or blow it out?
I want to keep in step with the Spirit. I choose to let the mind of Christ dwell in me richly and look to a redemptive future.
We all can have sore spots that cause us to flinch if touched but the choice to bare our teeth or not is ours. Mercy gives what isn't deserved and grace assigns favor based on God's value system. Reacting isn't going to ease the pain and God has healing in His wings if that is where we choose to dwell.
"Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities." - Isaiah 53:11 ESV
"For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering." - Hebrews 2:10 ESV
Jesus came as a servant and learned something from it. He was perfected through the suffering of his passion (his journey to the cross). That is baffling to think about but it is true. The God-man learned something this way?
He came into the journey to the cross with redemptive knowledge and a redemptive attitude and He came through it 'perfected.' Wow. God can do that for us also... on a different scale but it is the same dynamic.
Are we available for that? Perhaps our rights and opinions mean more to us than they should.
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Showing posts with label Response. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Response. Show all posts
Monday, February 13, 2017
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
The Leadership Of Grace
God always finds a voice. The Bible is full of accounts where this principle is revealed.
I've been thinking of Moses and his leadership style the last few days. It's funny how in an emergency some people rise up as leaders that would not normally be considered leaders. The fire alarm sounds and for those few moments a person becomes a leader because there is a crisis. Moses was that kind of leader. He was a voice that God raised up for the generation he was in.
"Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high," - Hebrews 1:1-3 ESV
Jesus wasn't filling in because it was an emergency. Jesus is leadership incarnate. He came as a servant. He heeded the voice of His Father in Heaven. He was responsive not reactive.
Perhaps our first response can be a reactive one. If we are not prepared we rely on crisis oriented leadership that just wants to get everyone to safety. But the voice that speaks to us isn't trying to corral us. Grace is more than that. It isn't just an emergency measure.
I need to hear His voice first in order to be prepared for life.
"Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them." - Hebrews 13:9 ESV
Moses was a provision for His generation. Jesus is the provision for every generation. He is my portion in this life. If I hear Him then I can respond crisis or no crisis.
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I've been thinking of Moses and his leadership style the last few days. It's funny how in an emergency some people rise up as leaders that would not normally be considered leaders. The fire alarm sounds and for those few moments a person becomes a leader because there is a crisis. Moses was that kind of leader. He was a voice that God raised up for the generation he was in.
"Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high," - Hebrews 1:1-3 ESV
Jesus wasn't filling in because it was an emergency. Jesus is leadership incarnate. He came as a servant. He heeded the voice of His Father in Heaven. He was responsive not reactive.
Perhaps our first response can be a reactive one. If we are not prepared we rely on crisis oriented leadership that just wants to get everyone to safety. But the voice that speaks to us isn't trying to corral us. Grace is more than that. It isn't just an emergency measure.
I need to hear His voice first in order to be prepared for life.
"Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them." - Hebrews 13:9 ESV
Moses was a provision for His generation. Jesus is the provision for every generation. He is my portion in this life. If I hear Him then I can respond crisis or no crisis.
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Monday, November 24, 2014
Responding To God
Responding to God is so key.
People often talk about obedience in terms of response but we only obey someone that we fear or respect because there is power or authority behind their commands. I don't see Jesus barking out commands. He healed people and loved people. He included people. The disciples followed His lead because they spent time with Him listening and saw the results of people responding to His words. They respected Him. They knew His love for people and they 'obeyed' Him.
"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works." - Psalm 73:26-28 ESV
We need to be exposed to God in order to respond to Him. It doesn't happen in a vacuum. Where are we going to see God initiate to us?
The Bible is one irreplaceable place. That is where God has chosen to reveal Himself. People and places that represent God's character and nature, like Church, are also places where we can respond to God because there are things to respond to. Prayer and evangelism are places where this is possible. You would think evangelism is where you go to give people something to respond to, and it is, but really we go with the thought of responding to God first. We don't have anything to give anyone but words unless we first respond to God.
So, How is it going to happen for you today? Perhaps it already has.
Jesus is our bridge to eternal things. He is the One who puts things in perspective. He is the One who makes the invisible visible. Let's go be with Him. Let's walk with Him and follow Him. When He is present there is always something to respond to.
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People often talk about obedience in terms of response but we only obey someone that we fear or respect because there is power or authority behind their commands. I don't see Jesus barking out commands. He healed people and loved people. He included people. The disciples followed His lead because they spent time with Him listening and saw the results of people responding to His words. They respected Him. They knew His love for people and they 'obeyed' Him.
"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works." - Psalm 73:26-28 ESV
We need to be exposed to God in order to respond to Him. It doesn't happen in a vacuum. Where are we going to see God initiate to us?
The Bible is one irreplaceable place. That is where God has chosen to reveal Himself. People and places that represent God's character and nature, like Church, are also places where we can respond to God because there are things to respond to. Prayer and evangelism are places where this is possible. You would think evangelism is where you go to give people something to respond to, and it is, but really we go with the thought of responding to God first. We don't have anything to give anyone but words unless we first respond to God.
So, How is it going to happen for you today? Perhaps it already has.
Jesus is our bridge to eternal things. He is the One who puts things in perspective. He is the One who makes the invisible visible. Let's go be with Him. Let's walk with Him and follow Him. When He is present there is always something to respond to.
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