What if they knew?

What if everyone knew our secrets? How would you feel about that? It would be very intimidating for most of us, and I am sure we would struggle to look each other in the eye. Our mistakes and sins are not something we are very proud of. So, why is the Samaritan woman going around telling people that Jesus knows all about my life - he knows my secrets?!

John 4:29 - “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did", perhaps could be 

I think it because she has got used to people knowing her story and rejecting her or shunning her. But now, she meets a religious man, who openly talks to her and doesn't shame her. Her statement in this verse, could easily be summed up: "Can you believe it? This holy man knows all about my secrets and yet he still wants to talk to me about faith and God. He didn't even look down at me but rather offered me 'Living Water.' Could he be the Messiah?"

Thought: God knows all about our past and our present struggles/sins, yet he still loves us. How remarkable is that?

Romans 5:8 - "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Living in Grace

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Overcoming the worst in ourselves

In a blog post attributed to the late Frederick Buechner, I stumbled across these words:

"'Fight the good fight,' he says (1 Timothy 6:12), where it's not the fight to overcome the best of the competition that he's talking about, but the fight to overcome the worst in ourselves."

The words in italics are the ones that stood out for me. How often is it that I need to overcome the worst in myself, in order to fully rely on God's grace. The worst in ourselves (which I believe is our deepest sin) threaten to keep us away from the loving embrace of our heavenly father. And the lies of the evil one add weight to the battle we fight - he tries to feed our minds and hearts with these lies, in order to keep us from running to the arms of Jesus.

Thought: May you rest in the strength of Christ, as you fight the good fight of faith. Remember that Jesus is already aware of the 'worst in us' and he died for these sins. Lean on his mercy and grace.

John 16:33 - "I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

Living in Grace

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Paying the debt

Hebrews 7:22 - "Because of this oath, Jesus is the one who guarantees this better covenant with God."

The understanding of a guarantor is of 'someone who commits to pay back a debt if the original borrower can't pay it back.' Another name for this person is a 'surety.' The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the one who guarantees the New Covenant with his Father. 

In order to try and explain this in another way, the author Max Lucado shares this story: 

"A man had a daughter in college. He had set up a checking account for her so that she would have some money at school and could be responsible to pay her bills through this account. He was trying to help her learn how to manage a budget. He gave her some money to start the account, and she put money into her account through an on-campus job she had. He was also on the account as a guarantor to the bank since his daughter was still a minor. 

One day the bank sent him an overdraft notice on his daughter’s account. The amount of the overdraft was $25.37. What should he do? Let the bank absorb it? They won’t. Send her an angry letter? Admonition might help her later, but it won’t satisfy the bank .... He knew he could transfer the money from his account to hers. That seemed like the best option. So, he did. He replenished her account and paid the overdraft fee as well.

He then called her. He told her about the overdraft. She said she was sorry. But she told him she had no money to repay him at that moment. She was broke.

After a pause she began, “Dad, could you….” But before she could continue the sentence Dad said, “Honey, I already have.” 

Isn’t that amazing. Dad had met her need before she knew she had one."

And this is the story of the Gospel. While we were still caught up in our sinful lives, Jesus died for us (Romans 5:8). He became the sacrifice and the guarantor, both at the same time. 

Living Grace

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Self awareness

The trouble with freedom of speech as that we can lose the sensitivity towards others and become a little preoccupied with ourselves. Proverbs reminds us to become more self-aware, as many of our troubles come from thinking we are better than we truly are. In today's reading, I was drawn to this verse:

"Can any of us really say, “My thoughts are pure, and my sins are gone”? (Proverbs 20:9)

It reminds me of the words of Paul, who argued that 'All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) When I comprehend that I am need of a Saviour, then I become more humble and understanding of those struggle with their personal sin.

Here is another verse from Proverbs 20 that runs along the same line of thinking: "Our inner thoughts are a lamp from the Lord, and they search our hearts" (v.27)

How self-aware are we?

"Self-awareness is a trait - or maybe 'practice' is the more accurate way to put it - that everyone can always improve at. It is part emotional intelligence, part perceptiveness, part critical thinking. It means knowing your weaknesses, of course, but it also means knowing your strengths and what motivates you." - Neil Blumenthal

Self awareness is our capacity to stand apart from ourselves and examine our thinking, our motives, our history, our scripts, our actions, and our habits and tendencies." - Stephen Covey

Living in Grace
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Wash away the mud

 

 
"If by life rightly led, you wash away the mud that has been put on your heart, the Godlike beauty will again shine out in you." - Gregory of Nyssa

The words of Gregory reminded me that we all have the imprint of God upon our lives, but the troubles we face, the sins we commit and the struggles we endure, all throw mud onto our hearts. When we realise this, we need to ask the Spirit of God to wash away all the dirt and help us to shine again.

"Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water." - Hebrews 10:22

Living in Grace
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Silence - Endo Shusaku

 

Shusako Endo was a world renowned author who wrote from a unique perspective - as a Japanese Christian he was able to write his novels with an overtly Christian undertone and he influenced many people for the Gospel. His most famous work, Silence, which was recently made into a movie, tells the story of a Catholic priest serving in Japan in the seventeenth century. This historical novel portrays the great struggles of the missionaries and how one man has to make a tough choice in order to save the lives of other priests. It is a very depressing movie, but very closely linked to facts surrounding the true story.

There are not many people that have heard of Shusako Endo, so here are some insightful quotes from his works:

“Sin, he reflected, is not what it is usually thought to be; it is not to steal and tell lies. Sin is for one man to walk brutally over the life of another and to be quite oblivious of the wounds he has left behind.”― Shusaku Endo, Silence  

Christ did not die for the good and beautiful. It is easy enough to die for the good and beautiful; the hard thing is to die for the miserable and corrupt.”― Shūsaku Endō, Silence 

“Every weakness contains within itself a strength.”

May these words inspire you today.
God bless you

Living in Grace
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A prayer of pain

If you take a read of Psalm38 you will notice that King David is carrying a very heavy load - in actual fact he is carrying far too much baggage. Sadly, the baggage of his sin is self-inflicted, but he still has enough faith to cry out to God. Listen to the first cries of his confession and prayer:

“My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.”

 “My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly.

….my BACK Is filled with searing pain.

 … I am utterly crushed!” 

Even if we let ourselves and God down through our sins (like David), I pray that we would still find a way back Home. I pray that we would still have enough humility to admit our mistakes, confess them to our loving Father, and then receive his peace. Like I mentioned yesterday, when we do this, God is not in the business of counting our sins against us. He will see the sincerity of our confessions and is faithful and just to forgive us.

Is Psalm 38 your prayer today? If yes, then know that God doesn't want us to carry the Baggage alone, but that he desires to forgive us.

Living in Grace

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God is not counting

God is not counting your sins, so why are you doing it?
We are often trapped by our sinfulness and by the many mistakes we make. They leave us feeling burdened, bound and paralysed. Yet, if we truly understood the gift that Jesus gives to us, we would realise that we have been set free from the law of sin, and that God has forgiven us.

Read these words carefully and see what I mean.

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them….” - 2 Corinthians 5:17-19

Did you notice that last part? God is NOT counting your sins against you, so why are you doing it?

Let us live in the FREEDOM that Christ offers us.

Living in Grace

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P.S. Please remember that you are welcome to join us at the Book Launch on Wednesday at 6pm. 

Red means GO!

I don't want to exaggerate, but I think I witnessed around 8 people 'jumping' red traffic lights today. And this was at 8 different times in the day and at different intersections. Each time I just shook my head and wondered when this will ever stop. Look, I have been through a few yellow/red robots in my life and so I am wary of being judgemental, but these people were going through RED, RED traffic lights - after everyone else had stopped already. Sadly, I think it won't stop, but it just reminds me of how easy we get used to sin.

We start by speeding up when we see the lights change yellow.
We then start jumping the yellow all the time.
Yellow becomes just like green for us.
Then after a while, we speed up when we see the yellow change to red.
Then we start jumping reds more often.
Then we try and nip into the left/right lane while our light is red, before the cars reach us.
Then ....

Sadly, we may only change our behaviour when we get smacked by another car or we kill someone else. But by then, sin has taken its hold on us and we are comfortable living in our sin.

Romans 6:12 -  "Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires."

Makes me think!

Living in Grace
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I am desperate for some Good News!

If you are anything like me, then you are desperate to hear some Good News. This past week has been horrendous on planet Earth. It is almost as if one can't imagine things getting worse, and then suddenly they DO get worse! Man, I am dying for some good news.

Reflecting a little on the events of South Africa, Orlando, France, Sudan, and the Middle East, I am even more convinced that we need to hear that God loves us and that God's Kingdom is a reign of Peace and not war. I have been saddened by the comments of a few 'Christians' on social media who have taken over God's job as 'JUDGE' and have superimposed their own feelings onto the tragic events of our planet.

In my opinion (and I am open to correction), one of the most influential passages in our Gospel's comes from John's account of the life of Jesus. This is what he says:

"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." - John 3:17

Romans 3:22-26 - "We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
²³ For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. ²⁴ Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. ²⁵ For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, ²⁶ for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus."

I hope this is GOOD NEWS for all of us today.
Living in Grace
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Owning up

Very few of us like to own up to our mistakes. We find it easier to blame someone else and to shift the attention away from our short-comings and sins. However, this is only a deception and in the end, it doesn't do us any favours. When we lie to ourselves, we end up breaking our own hearts, as well as those of others around us.

Judah eventually owned up to her sin and cried out to God:
“Lord, see my anguish!
    My heart is broken
and my soul despairs,
    for I have rebelled against you." - Lamentations 1:20

A few verses before the nation was blaming God for all her troubles, but now the people have come to their senses. It must have been hard to uttered the words "I have rebelled against you!" 
I believe that this confession is the beginning point in bringing healing to the broken heart and the soul that despairs.

What do you think?

Living in Grace
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The mess it creates

We witnessed something today that revealed exactly how sin messes with God's created order. As I was taking the boys home in the car, we were caught in a slight traffic jam. The cause of the jam was a vehicle trying to make an illegal right turn across a busy intersection -all of this in peak hour traffic!

Needless to say he wasn't able to do it quickly as cars sped past, in both directions. His actions caused frustration and irritation with many drivers, until eventually someone got out their car to explain to the guy that he was doing something illegal and that in the process, he was causing a back-log of traffic.

In my mind, this is exactly what sin does - it causes havoc for a whole lot of people, not just the person steering the 'vehicle.' I may think that my actions are personal and only influencing my world, but I don't always see the trail of destruction that is left behind. For this reason, God doesn't condone sin - it destroys the sinner, as well as impacting innocent bystanders.

Romans 2:5 - But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself.

Acts 17:30 - “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him."

What do you think?

Living in Grace
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People lose their way

When you read through Proverbs 11, in Eugene Peterson's translation of the Bible (The Message), you will notice that he entitles it "Without good direction, people lose their way!" I think this is a brilliant heading for any chapter - it is as relevant today as it was in Solomon's day.

When people stop listening to good, solid advice, they quickly lose their way. Sadly, I have seen this happen far too often. People don't just suddenly change direction, but it usually starts slowly and eventually one wakes up to realise that these good people have gone down a path of brokenness.

If this is perhaps a word of caution for you (or someone you know) then it may be time to gently speak to them. It may be a hard thing to do, but any good relationship needs honesty.

Proverbs 11

³ The integrity of the honest keeps them on track;
    the deviousness of crooks brings them to ruin.

⁴ A thick bankroll is no help when life falls apart,
    but a principled life can stand up to the worst.

⁵ Moral character makes for smooth travelling;
    an evil life is a hard life.

⁶ Good character is the best insurance;
    crooks get trapped in their sinful lust.

Living in Grace

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Moth to a flame

The other evening I noticed how many moths are drawn to the lights. Start some kind of flame or put on a light and they are immediately drawn to it. The tragedy is that what draws them to light ends up killing them, as they get burnt by the flames (or light globe). Sin has the same effect on us. It draws us in because it looks "brilliant" and "bright", but in the end it only burns us.

"By that sin fell the angels." -William Shakespeare

So, today I urge us all to be conscious of what motivates us and what draws us into its brilliance - it may not be what it pretends to be.

Romans 5:21 - "...so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Living in grace

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Uproot

Most of you know this already, but let us hear it again. It is no good cutting the weeds in our gardens, we need to actually uproot them. It may look like we can get rid of them, by simply cutting them with the weed-eater, but in a few days they will grow back.

It is the same with the sin in our lives. We mustn't fool ourselves and merely think that we can "cut it out" for a while - we need to uproot these areas in our lives and then ask God to fill the gap with his grace and love.

So what 'weeds' need some uprooting today?

Matthew 15:13 - "He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots."

Matthew 13: 40 - “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age."

"If only such people were as diligent in the uprooting of vices and the planting of virtues as they are in the debating of problems, there would not be so many evils and scandals among the people, nor such laxity in communities." - Thomas a Kempis

Uproot the sin in your life - don't just cut it down for a few days!

Living in Grace
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Left to my own devices

If we were left to our own devices I wonder humanity would get up to? On a daily basis we notice what happens in our world, despite all of our laws, religions and social norms. It seems as if we are all drawn to sin - like a moth to a flame or a paper clip to a giant magnet.

However, God has given us a way out. He has given us his Son, Jesus and it is through His life and death that the power of sin has been defeated. So, we can now choose whether we want to be left to our own devices (and all it's trappings) or whether we want to have God's Spirit take control of our lives.

My own devices? ..... OR
Allowing God to take control?

It's our choice to make.... may we choose well!

Hebrews 12:1 - "....let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles."

Mark 14:38 - "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’"

Living in Grace
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Knowing the difference

It is hard to sometimes know the difference between 2 things that appear similar at a glance. Take for example, glass and perspex. If you quickly look at something that is made of perspex, you could easily mistake it as being made from glass. In the end, this may not make a massive difference to anyone, but we need to acknowledge that they are different!

Let me give another example, via Alan Redpath:

"There are many weird ideas about bearing your cross. I remember a man saying to me, 'I have a fierce temper, but I suppose that is my cross to bear!'

'My friend,' I said to him, 'That is not your cross. It is your wife's cross, but it is your sin!"

I can sometimes fool myself, but others know the truth. I may think that my character, lifestyle and choices, are a result of the influence of others (and there may be some truth in that), but in the end, I need to be real enough to admit the truth - it could be my sin!

Let's not confuse perspex with glass!

Advent is about reflecting on the birth of Jesus and the Hope that Jesus brings. Jesus bore my sins on the cross and it is now my call to 'take up my cross and follow him.'

Living in Grace
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Let's not be confused - Lent 32

There are a lot of things happening over the Easter period, but let us not be confused by all of this potential "mayhem!". Easter is only about 1 thing - and in my opinion it is this:

The Love of God, revealed to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

It is through Jesus' death on the cross that my sins are paid for - the debt has been covered by Jesus. There is now nothing that can stand in the way of our relationship with God - the last remaining obstacles, sin and death, have been shown the door. They are no longer welcome in our homes!

"Blessed is the one
    whose transgressions are forgiven,
    whose sins are covered.
² Blessed is the one
    whose sin the Lord does not count against them    and in whose spirit is no deceit." - Psalm 32:1-2

May your Easter weekend be happy - not only because of what you get up to, but primarily because of what Jesus has already done for you.

Living in Grace
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“ALL” includes me - Lent 14

David hits a big nerve when he remarks that “all have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no-one who does good, not even one.” - Psalm 14:3

Most of us, who consider ourselves “good” people feel uncomfortable with this statement – surely, David is not thinking of us? We are good people!

Well, actually he was! 

The Apostle Paul even confirms this thinking, when he writes:

“For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” – Romans 3:23

This is the very reason why we need Jesus. Jesus becomes our rescuer, saviour and redeemer. It is Jesus who recognises our plight and it is through his death that we know our sins are paid for. 

Acknowledging that we belong to the category of ALL is significant for us – it means that in humility we can ask God to forgive us and free us from our destructive natures. God's grace applies to ALL who are willing to receive it.

Living in Grace

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