Rescued

Have you ever been rescued? Ever been in that desperate, vulnerable moment where your future was out of your control and in an other's hands? Has anyone ever put their life on the line to save yours? Let's take it a notch down and go with reputation or comfort or convenience or pride... has anyone ever set these things aside to preserve yours? I've experienced some of these situations. Now, how did you feel towards the person or people that put your needs before their own? Gratitude, perhaps?

I think of the young man that stopped to see if he was needed on that bitter cold, dark January night when I rolled my car and was stranded out in the country 10 miles from anything! I think of the woman that took the time to listen to my lonely, aching heart that led me to a relationship with Jesus.

In Paul's letter to the Romans, he is expressing these deep feelings of gratitude to a precious, devoted couple that rescued him from imminent danger - Priscilla and Aquila. They risked their own lives for his; either in Corinth at the uprising against Paul, when the Jews dragged him to the judgment seat of Gallio; or the uproar in Ephesus by Demetrius, when Paul and his comrades were in great danger. This zealous couple was present at both of these events and acted in great courage to preserve Paul's life. He is thankful and remembers his fellow workers with deep gratitude. The Gentile churches were obliged to be grateful as well since they, also, were greatly affected by Paul's labor in carrying on the work of the Lord in spreading the saving message of the Gospel.

"Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles." Romans 16:4 (preceded by v. 3 to complete the statement).

God has this same desire to rescue each one of us - to protect and preserve our lives so we may 1) be in relationship with Him and 2) do the labor in which He prepared in advance for us to do (Eph. 2:10).

"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10

Henry & Richard Blackaby illustrate this idea with a story in Experiencing God:

     Suppose you had to cross a field full of land mines, and a person who knew exactly where each one was buried offered to take you through it. Would you say to him, "I don't want you to tell me what to do. I have free will? I don't want you to impose your ways on me"?
     I don't know about you, but I would stay as close to that person as I could. I certainly would not wander off. His directions to me would preserve my life. He would say, "Don't go that way, because that way will kill you. Go this way, and you will live." 
     That is the purpose of God's commands. He wants you to receive life and have it abundantly. When the Lord gives you a command, He is trying to protect and preserve the best He has for you. He does not want you to lose it. When God gives a command, He is not restricting you. He is freeing you.

"And the LORD our God commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear him so he can continue to bless us and preserve our lives, as he has done to this day." Deuteronomy 6:24

God takes it a step further to preserve our lives beyond this life on earth:

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16

As Paul was giving thanks for his rescuers, Priscilla and Aquila, we also owe a debt of gratitude to all who put their lives out in front of ours (if even for a moment) and primarily to God our loving Father who protects and preserves our lives now and into eternity.

"And be thankful." Colossians 3:15b

Convictions

In my last post, I shared our lesson on the FROG (Fully Rely On God). This lesson has stuck with me. On the way to church yesterday, my son who brought the FROG lesson home said, "I don't think the F should stand for Fully. I think it should stand for Forever!" His conviction was clear - he had been thinking about this lesson change for a few weeks. Obviously the lesson hadn't stuck only with me. Wow. The mind of a 7 year old never ceases to amaze me. Yes, I agree, this takes the lesson to a new level.

Strong beliefs or convictions direct us in the way we carry out our lives. They play into our focus and our determination and eventually what we accomplish. I think it's important to have convictions to direct our steps. However, sometimes strong convictions can hinder others' steps if we are not careful about how we share them.

Our next verse of thanks comes from a portion of scripture that sheds light on how we, as Christians, are to treat one an other's convictions. Paul is addressing the faith of the weak and the strong. He gets into some details of choices made by individuals that are in different levels of faith. There seems to be some disagreement among his audience on what is right or wrong in matters of diet and celebrations.

"He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God." Romans 14:6

Paul is letting Christians know that agreeing on these details is not necessary. What is necessary is serving the Lord and giving thanks for His provision. Now and again, in the church, believers criticize and look down upon their fellow believer for their convictions that don't align. Paul tells us that this is not our job. It's God's. We will all stand before the Judgment Seat of God and he quotes Isaiah 45:23 "every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God."

Later in this same message Paul says, "For, after all, the important thing for us as Christians is not what we eat or drink but stirring up goodness and peace and joy from the Holy Spirit. If you let Christ be Lord in these affairs, God will be glad; and so will others. In this way aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up." (Romans 14:17-19 The Living Bible)

My son's conviction that Fully isn't quite enough when it comes to our trust or reliance on God - but that Forever, we should, Rely On God. In my spirit, I think they are both necessary. I LOVE the new level of eternal perspective that Forever brings in. After all, in the end, the point is being with our Father God and that is Forever. Just as Paul was directing his disputing listeners to focus on serving the Lord and giving Him thanks, my son is working out his understanding of always and Forever Relying On God. For that matter, so am I.

Oswald Chambers says, "Once we realize that Jesus has served us even to the depths of our meagerness, our selfishness, and our sin, nothing we encounter from others will be able to exhaust our determination to serve others for His sake." So if the criticizing lens has been focused on me... well then, as long as I have my priorities straight and my focus on giving thanks to God, I pray I can determine to serve Him anyway. I pray I stand with a strong conviction in gratitude to my God FOREVER.

"And be thankful." Colossians 3:15b

The FROG Lesson

This weekend my youngest came out of Sunday school with a bead creation of a frog and a bracelet that spelled out FROG. He told me that it had something to do with God. Darling... but I needed more. I asked his teacher what the significance of the frog was. She told me it's an acronym for Fully Rely On God. OK. Kind of a no-brainer right? But I couldn't shake the significance of this lesson.

In going about my week following this "simple" lesson I realized that I am lacking in this area. My struggle is the "Fully" part. Ironically, this is the word I've been having the most trouble remembering from my son's acronym FROG.

God is a Master that is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness. When we humbly and obediently submit to His authority over our lives He delights to bless us. When we rebel in the flesh He reminds us who He is and what He expects and usually gives us a chance or two or three to repent and turn back to His love. God is not willing that even one of His little ones should parish (Matt. 18:14) so He lovingly disciplines us wayward ones with life lessons that redirect our hearts, our steps, our dedication to Him. His expectation is always that we fully rely on Him - for our good and His glory. He's our only antidote for death and our only answer for life.

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

In our next verse of thanks Paul asks the question (in the preceding verse) "Who will rescue me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24b) Then he answers his own question with the only truth:

 "Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin." Romans 7:25

Paul recognizes that God's gift; Jesus' life, death and resurrection, is the only answer to his battle with sin. Fully relying on God's love, through Christ's redeeming blood, will rescue him from certain death in the sinful nature of man. Jesus is our only rescue as well.

As I was pondering the lesson that Paul was fleshing out in our thanks verse, here are God's breadcrumbs of truth that He provided for me over the last week (I pray that you see the picture that God was painting for me beginning with a cute little frog):

"We sinned for no reason but an incomprehensible lack of love, and He saved us for no reason but an incomprehensible excess of love." - Peter Kreeft

"but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears." 1 Corinthians 13:10

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5

"God's children are to dedicate their lives to radiating His character" - love, generosity, benevolence

"And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8

"The world has yet to see what God can do with and for and through and in a man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him." - Henry Varley

Along with the apostle Paul, let's give thanks to God for His character of love that so abundantly blesses us through Jesus Christ, that we need not fear death but joyfully embrace life in freedom as we Fully Rely On God!

"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." John 8:36

"And be thankful." Colossians 3:15b

Clean, White Pages

Anticipation. Excitement. Freedom. New beginnings are a beautiful thing. But they don't come easy.

I live in the real world. Though I'm a recovering perfectionist, I stumble on a regular enough basis that I wonder if I'll ever fully recover. A continuous goal to replace pride with humility looms always and is an infinite battle of my will.

A real life snip-it. Teaching my daughter to cook. Spill on the stove. Perfectionist freaks. Battle lost. Heart hurt. Fun turned to shame. Stove cleaned. Eager student lost. Lesson done. Apology offered. Accepted. Hug. New beginning.

Had I submitted to humility in the first place and simply forgave the spill and wiped it up without my prideful will, the blessings would have far outweighed the backwards, real life scenario. But, I'm thankful for do-overs, forgiveness and grace.

God is a specialist in new beginnings. He delights in giving His children clean, white pages. Thanks be to God! He loves us with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). A love we cannot fully comprehend. Through His grace, He gives us room to grow and make mistakes and come to Him with our pure heart apologies which He ALWAYS accepts and forgives our sin.

In this verse of thanks, Paul is thanking God for the freedom from sin that the new converts in the early church (Christians) were experiencing as a result of their willingness to obey the teachings of Christ (the Gospel).

"But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted." Romans 6:17

Christian obedience is not forced or legalistic, but willing - from the heart - "wholeheartedly obeyed." When we submit in humility to God, through Christ's sacrifice, we receive His grace. We receive the blessing of trading masters. Naturally we are slaves to sin. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we become willing servants to righteousness - clean, white pages.

Thoughts from Oswald Chambers about God's providence in our new beginning.

"But God is the God of our yesterdays, and He allows the memory of them to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual growth for our future... He will keep watch so that we will not be tripped up again by the same failures, as would undoubtedly happen if He were not our 'rear guard.' (Isaiah 52:12)... Our yesterdays hold broken and irreversible things for us. It is true that we have lost opportunities that will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past rest, but let it rest in the sweet embrace of Christ... Leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him." - from My Utmost for His Highest

In 2015, please prayerfully join me in the daily pursuit to lay down my pride for humility and my will for His, and receive clean, white pages of grace from Christ's loving presence. With that, thanks will be our continuous companion and our master One of grace and love.

"And be thankful." Colossians 3:15b