BoldGrace

I have just finished another great year of driving a school bus and now I am enjoying some time off with my beautiful wife by my side.  I have to say that I am incredibly thankful for this life that I am a part of.  Now that doesn’t mean that my circumstances have always been so pleasant  because I have also know days that were far more difficult.

One thing that I have learned over the last 55 years is that being thankful really has nothing to do with circumstances, good or bad.  Being thankful is a choice and I am so glad that I learned that lesson early on in life.

Paul said in 1 Thess 5:16-18   16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

The above scripture may be one of the greatest truths that anyone can believe to find peace on this earth. 

"Give thanks in ALL circumstances." 

To be able to give thanks in all circumstances one must have faith that looks beyond what is seen and rely on something that you know will get you through whatever comes your way.  That’s why I believe with all my heart that God provided all of us that very something in the person of Jesus Christ.  He provided a perfect life, a life so powerful that it would be able to justify every man or woman who has ever or will ever walk this earth.  There is no sin too big or circumstance too difficult for our Lord and Savior.

Rom 8:38-39 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

There are some that claim to be followers of Jesus and yet they believe he only had the power to save a few.  How could we ever be thankful in ALL circumstances if we don’t believe HE is Lord of all circumstances?  I have sadly seen many a Christian who grew bitter when the circumstance of their life became hard, and why shouldn’t they when they are told so often from the pulpit that God only blesses those who believe enough and have enough faith?  Of course, they are never told just how much they have to believe or exactly what is defined as a faithful life.

Well, here is the good news.  Jesus is Lord of all circumstances.  He did believe enough.  He did have a perfect faith.  And He does stand by our side in the hard circumstances, and the easy ones, and He has made it crystal clear that He will see us through regardless of how difficult it may seem. 

We do have a decision to make, and this decision will not change the final outcome because that has already been decided by what Christ did at the cross, but making the decision to be thankful in ALL circumstances will give us an incredible peace as we journey here on earth.

So, as I said earlier, my present circimstances are really wonderful and I am incredibly thankful, but if things change tomorrow, I know I will still give thanks because I have a PERFECT SAVIOR who walks with me through whatever comes my way. 

Thankyou Lord Jesus.

I wrote this post on my old blog December 6, 2006

The answer to the above question is Yes, I mean No, I mean well sometimes, oh, what the heck do I mean? 

You see, the reality is many of the hard questions of life can not be answered in a nice neat little package that makes us feel all safe and comfortable.  That is exactly why I have some real issues with most religious institutions.  All the churches I have ever attended will talk about freedom, and yet if someone expresses an idea that is contrary to the acceptable doctrines of the church they are looked upon with suspect at the very least.  An example of this is once when I was teaching an adult bible class and I asked the question “Is it plausible to question the resurrection of Jesus Christ?”  I went on to say that none of us have ever seen a dead person come back to life, and I have been to plenty of funerals.  So, why would God hold that against someone if they did question it?  As you can imagine the room got very quiet.  Now the point I was trying to make was that God wants us to question, and Jesus even said “Ask and it shall be given, Seek and you shall find, Knock and the door will be opened."  Narrow minded people do not ask the hard questions.  Narrow minded people do not like those who do ask the hard questions.  And narrow minded people are most often found in positions of power in the religious institutions.  Jesus came to set us free and he did just that. 

Paul said in Gal 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

The yoke of bondage was the law, and there are a multitude of narrow minded people who demand that we adhere to their view of God’s law.  And the real problem is that even the narrow minded people can’t agree among themselves.  There are 30,000 different brands of Christianity alone all claiming to have the TRUTH. Does this mean I don’t think there are any answers?  God forbid as Paul would say.  Yes, yes, and yes.  And that’s why we are here to ask, and seek, and knock, and experience, and make mistakes, and repent, and grow, and to keep moving forward every day that we live.  And all of us are at different places in this grand journey that God has sent us on.  We can help each other, but we can’t force each other.  We can share with each other our experiences, but we can’t judge each other as if any of us are without fault.  None of us stands alone.  God is with us, and even if it seems the answers are too hard to find, God will reveal what we need to know.So, let’s be willing to ask the hard questions, and to let others do the same, and not worry so much about getting it all right today.  I am convinced that sooner or later everything we need to know will be revealed.

"If you love something, set it free. If it comes back to you, it’s yours. 
If it doesn’t, it never was."

A saying without a clear source. Some say it is an old ancient Chinese proverb. Regardless, it expresses the heart of the matter of a love that doesn’t wish to control. If one is to respond in the purest kind of love, it will flow from a sense of the purest kind of freedom.

Just a final thought as we get ready to leave for Myrtle Beach and a week of vacation with the entire family.

Grace & peace……and love that flows from freedom.

John 1:29 The next day John sees Jesus coming to him and says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

So just what was “the sin of the world” And were you taught that Jesus took away “sins” or “the sin” of the world?

It may seem like there is no difference, but there is. There was one sin that was imputed to the ENTIRE human race regardless of their works. That sin was UNBELIEF. Now Evangelical Christianity will and does teach that Jesus took away all sin past, present & future. But if you ask them about this “sin” unbelief they will proceed to tell you that while Jesus took away the sin of unbelief that only means that now since Jesus believed, people now have the “ability” to believe if they so choose. They will tell you that humans had not the ability to believe until Jesus did it first. And now if you will only believe in Him yours sins will be forgiven. Well as my friend and co-blogger Bruce says, “Good Luck With That”! If it takes mine, yours or anyone else’s belief to be forgiven then we are ALL in DEEP DUNG! So my question today is this…… Did Jesus take away the sin of unbelief?

I wrote the following post for Gospel of Grace in 2005 

One of the most disturbing phrases found in common prayers that I have heard through the years by legalistic Christians is:

“And Lord, if I be found faithful give me a home in heaven, Amen”.

I always wanted to scream out at them “Buddy, you won’t be”. It is sad to see Christians putting their very salvation on the line because of their own faithfulness or unfaithfulness.

But I don’t blame them. Most of them are honest, decent people who just want to do the right thing, and they have been told over and over from the pulpit that they better stay faithful or Christ can’t help them. If Christ was depending on our faithfulness then why did he give himself as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins?

I challenge any person, Christian or not, to show me a completely faithful life to present to God. In fact, there is none. No, not even one, accept JESUS CHRIST. And if God will accept a less then perfect faithful life, how much can we sin and still be considered faithful? This is why traditional Christians often struggle and fight with one another, because everyone is trying to figure out just how faithful they have to be.

Well folks, the good news of the Gospel is not based on your faithfulness. It is Christ who presented God with the only perfectly faithful life. And it is Christ that will draw all men unto him self. Yes, every knee will eventually bow, and every tongue will eventually confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Until then the only message I will preach is Christ, minus me, plus nothing.

Living In Love,

Cliff

“I want you to achieve what I never achieved; I want you to be somebody in the eyes of the world, so that I too can be somebody through you. Don’t disappoint me. I sacrificed so much for you. My disapproval of you is intended to make you feel so guilty and uncomfortable that you finally conform to my wishes. And it goes without saying that I know what’s best for you. I love you and I will continue to love you if you do what I know is right for you.”

The above is from “A New Earth”, by Eckart Tolle, Chapter 4, Role-playing: The Many Faces of the Ego. This portion of the chapter deals with parenthood and the role our ego sometimes plays in being a parent, rather than simply just being who we are.

"….IF you do what I know is right for you."

As I read it this morning it dawned on me just how representative it is of how we have been taught to think of God and as a result we do often relate to our own children in the same way. I did. Thank God I do no more.

Bruce often points out that we will behave as we perceive God…or “I only do what I see my Father doing”. So true. Society, influenced heavily by the performance based thinking of religious thought has given us a vision of God that cause us to perceive Him in such a way as Tolle describes and causes us to relate to our own children in exactly the same way and I did so for way too many years.

Especially in America, we seem to have this idea that God never really ruled the world and we must do so in proxy for Him. The kingdom of God will have come when “God’s nation” rules. We, as one nation under God, must put down the evil doers and establish government and we do so in His name. JP Manza just posted an interesting link to a post on the various Military Bibles being offered by a popular Christian book chain in America.

It is funny that so many think that God can’t rule apart from them. No it’s not funny, its ridiculous.

God does know what is best for us….and He provided it for us in the person of His Son, who is now a life giving Spirit, not a manipulative, demand oriented spirit. God does not love us IF anything. He loves us period and His Kingdom is already well established and He needed none of our help to do it. It was done when His Son fulfilled all of His will.

So the next time you feel guilty and uncomfortable know that it is not coming from God, but from your own mind, twisted to think that that God plays the same egoiac roles that our foolish minds have been taught to play. He doesn’t. He is completely and totally secure in who He is, the “I Am”. Know that and be secure in Him and please do not feel the need to dominate anyone “for Him”, not even your children. And as Americans may we see that God doesn’t need for us to dominate the world for Him either. He just wishes for us to rest in His unconditional Love.

Read the Lyrics here.

There’s a place I know where the train goes slow
Where the sinner can be washed in the blood of the lamb
There’s a river by the trestle down by sinner’s grove
Down where the willow and the dogwood grow

You can hear the whistle, you can hear the bell
From the halls of heaven to the gates of hell
And there’s room for the forsaken if you’re there on time
You’ll be washed of all your sins and all of your crimes
If you’re down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there where the train goes slow

There’s a golden moon that shines up through the mist
And I know that your name can be on that list
There’s no eye for an eye, there’s no tooth for a tooth
I saw Judas Iscariot carrying John Wilkes Booth
He was down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
He was down there where the train goes slow

If you’ve lost all your hope, if you’ve lost all your faith
I know you can be cared for and I know you can be safe
And all the shamefuls and all of the whores
And even the soldier who pierced the side of the Lord Is down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there where the train goes slow

Well, I’ve never asked forgiveness and I’ve never said a prayer
Never given of myself, never truly cared
I’ve left the ones who loved me and I’m still raising
Cain I’ve taken the low road and if you’ve done the same
Meet me down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there where the train goes slow

Meet me down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there where the train goes slow

By Johnny Cash

Seems as though Cash knew ALL are Redeemed by The Blood!

Peace

Geo

In Philippians 3:6 we see Paul saying what he did while in the process of following God’s law. He persecuted the church and killed Christians. His desire to keep God’s law was so ingrained in him he was actually killing people thinking he was doing God a favor. There are still people out there that do the same and they think going out and killing people because they are breaking God’s law is ok.

What comes to mind right now is those that go about killing those that may be involved in abortions and other things as well because they feel so strongly that what these people are doing is against God’s laws. They think they are justified by doing what they are doing because of God’s laws being broken. This would be the modern day version of what Paul was doing in his time.

In verse 7 we see that all the things listed in the previous verses were something that brought gain to Paul. All the thing he did under law were counted as gain to him and he did receive financial gain from this because in Galatians he says he prospered by this. But now we see that what he counted as gain he now counts as loss so he may have knowledge of Jesus Christ.

All of Paul’s works counted as nothing after the cross was revealed to him. He saw grace and he counted all other things as dung. He did not continue on and try to do the best he could and then trust the grace of God to make up for what he could not do. No, he saw all his works as dung, not just a few.

It is not our agreement with God on certain things that makes us right with God. It is not our works that gain us favor with God. It is Jesus’ agreement with God and His covenant with God that makes us in agreement and in covenant with God. It is not because we work at it. It is because of the cross and totally the cross. Paul saw why he was now in covenant with God and he then saw all his works were worth nothing. He had to see those as loss so he could see the knowledge of Christ.

If any of this had been left up to us it never would have nor could it ever have been accomplished. Being humans makes us very flaky when it comes to keeping promises. Most of the time we will have difficulty keeping our word. Those are some of the reasons God did not make a covenant with us but He made it with Jesus as He knew His Son would totally and fully keep His word. There was no doubt He was entrusting something this huge to Someone that would fulfill it to the end.

In Hebrews 7:26 it says our High Priest “became us” because God knew “us” would not be able to ever meet the requirements to be right with God. Jesus became you and I and took upon Himself humanity and did the work no human could do and then erased all rules and regulations in relationship to God. It was then that man was united to God through the power of Jesus Christ. This was all done by one man, Jesus Christ. It’s not our works or belief that does this, it has already been done.

The one man theory is difficult to grasp by many but it was by one man Adam that all became sinners and it is by one man Jesus that all became righteous. Neither one of these things had anything to do with us. We did not choose the first Adam to become sinners and we didn’t choose the second Adam (Jesus) to become righteous. All in Christendom believe the one man theory when it comes to Adam but have problems when it comes to the one man theory when it comes to Jesus. After looking at what Paul taught we see that is exactly what he saw and that is what he taught throughout the New Testament.

From our Friend Roy’s Blog

One day a man addressed Jesus as “good teacher”. He replied by asking “why do you call me good.” Now I think that all of us see Jesus as the epitome of a good man. Even those who do not believe that He is the Son of God will generally agree that He was at the least a good teacher.

But isn’t it interesting that Jesus didn’t wish to judge Himself as good, anymore than He was willing to pass negative judgment on those regarded as “evil doers” like the woman at the well, the one caught in adultery or any of the drinkers of wine and gluttons he was accused of associating with. Why he even associated with the hated tax collectors, the scum of the earth, at least to those from whom the taxes were collected.

The only time He ever spoke negatively was in response to those who considered themselves of possessing the knowledge with which to judge others and “good” enough to use it.

Do you suppose that He understood what George was saying in his last post?

There are those who constantly offer fruit from the knowledge of good and evil and there is the One who offers only life. If there is to be healing for the nations it is more likely to come only from the One offering life, from the cross, the tree of life and apart from judgment.