BoldGrace

After over four years of driving a school bus I have decided to give it up to work full time at our local hospital. I will miss my kids very, very much but something tells me my next adventure will be just as rewarding.  Here is a picture of three of my little boys who ride my bus.

In my next adventure I will be working in the Emergency Room as an Environmental Services Employee.  That’s means I will be cleaning up after all the sick and injured.  I must tell you I am very excited about this.  For me, it’s not about the particular job duties, but rather about the opportunity to be a kind face where people need it most.  I know the power of a simple smile or a kind word especially when someone is at their lowest point and I consider it a high honor to serve those who are in great need.  One of my little ones on the bus ask me if I was going to be a doctor and I said no, but after reflecting I think that in many ways I will be a doctor of a different kind. 

We have a lot of great discussions on this site and I truly enjoy sharing and receiving so much from all who come here but the real WONDER OF IT ALL happens in how we live our everyday lives.  I could have all the knowledge in the world and none of it is as powerful as going out each day and just sharing the kindness and love of God that every single one of us has within our hearts.  God gives everyone of us the ability to to reflect His Glory in all that we choose to do.  We are most at peace when we understand and share the reality of who we really are in every moment with every person we encounter on this earth. 

The Wonder of It All is ever before us if we will just open our eyes and realize the perfect love we have always had will never fail us, never forsake us, never give up on us, and in the end will awaken us ALL.

In the above verse the writer is talking about those who wanted to go back under the law. That is the “SIN”. There were some who had clearly accepted the understanding of the (new covenant) written about in the following verses and yet had begun to have doubts:

The people in question needed to understand that the offering of sin had been made and there would not be any future offerings. The old offerings that they wanted to go back to under the law would not bring any peace to their minds. If they chose that the next verses describe the type of mindset they could look forward to.

The above verse describes exactly what the mind set after the flesh (law) can look forward to. I don’t believe the writer is stating what the reality is but rather what the illusion is for those who strive to be right with God by LAW.

The writer here is making the case to those people who had tasted of this new covenant and then were reconsidering if it could really be true. How many times do Christians today doubt if God’s grace could really go the distance. “Where sin has gone GRACE has gone all the MORE.”

Our doubting GRACE will never be able to change its POWER.  

THE FORGIVENESS OF OUR SINS DOES NOT HAPPEN BECAUSE OF WHAT WE OFFER. IT HAPPENS BECAUSE OF WHAT HE OFFERED ONCE FOR ALL AND OUR DOUBTING IT WILL ONLY CAUSE US INWARD PAIN IN THIS LIFE THAT IS NOT NECESSARY. COMING OUT OF THAT DOUBT IS OUR SALVATION NOT OUR REDEMPTION. 

The writer above is quoting from the law. Certainly everyone who is trusting in following the law will lay their head down at night with extreme fear of falling into the hands of the God of LAW. Look at the definition of fearful in verse 31:

Those who choose to go back and trust in the old system will be inspired by fear, affected with fear, and in constant torment of a vengeful God.

But as we know, PERFECT LOVE CAST OUT ALL FEAR.

The writer of Hebrews is not speaking in these verses of the reality of God’s unconditional love seen in the sacrifice of Jesus. He is talking about the mind of a person who has been awakened to this love and then goes back and chooses the old life of Adam. That person will never have peace in his flesh. We have seen this in many a human being to this day, but the reality is that they have been set free and someday they will see the glory of their own creation and will bow down in utter praise to the God who loved them even before their journey on this earth began and will love them long after it is over.

Our friends Glenn Klein and Mike Williams

Peace Geo

Lyrics | Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love lyrics

I believe it was Bruce that wrote the following introduction to our site:

BoldGrace is a community of bloggers who have come together to share the message of a bold, vast, full grace that was revealed to all the world through the Cross of Christ.

Join us as we untangle the twists and turns of religion, and journey into the simple truth of an awesome, sweet, amazing… Grace!

We are not here to please anyone else.  We are not here for the purpose of debate.  We are not here to WIN or to LOSE.  We simply want to share where we have been, where we are, and where we might be going on this most spectacular spiritual & physical journey.

We fully realize that every single person who comes to this site brings with them an entirely unique experience that could have a profound effect on how we might view what comes next.  I for one am so glad that this environment is full of disagreement and opposing views.  As we consider what each unique person brings to the table it helps us all to realize that God made us this way for a reason and I think that reason is for us to learn as we journey along.

I also think that for us to get the most out of each other we must draw from the Christ within (LOVE) and let that be our gift to each other even when we really disagree.  I so believe in the freedom that this site allows because I think it is in that freedom that we can truly engage each other at the most productive level. 

Is there a line we won’t allow to be crossed?  YES, but that line has not been crossed yet and even though there will always be comments that make some feel uncomfortable we must hold freedom dear.  This is what I always thought was lacking in the organized church.  We must allow others to disagree and still accept them.  We here at BoldGrace believe EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO HAS EVERY LIVED OR WILL LIVE IS LOVED THE SAME BY GOD and ALWAYS WILL BE. 

So, speak up to your hearts desire and at the end of each night when you have read all the comments remember that every connection we have with each other is precious and eternal.  Someday God will reveal to us all the Glory of HIS CREATION (which is US). 

Peace,

Cliff

Unless you are someone who has completely given up on life you have rules you live by.  You may be guided by a set of strict religious rules, or they may be a set of rules handed down to you by your parents, or you may have just discovered a set of rules that fit your life best.   The bottom line is we all have rules we allow to govern our lives.

I for one believe rules are important and helpful in living a productive life.  On the other hand rules can become something we follow without giving much thought as to why we follow them and they can be very destructive.  The people that Christ spoke to fell into this last category.  They became so enamored with the rules that they could not see the greater energy behind them.  I think the same danger can happen today by those who are unable to see beyond the written word and to what that written word points to.  Jesus spoke of this in the following words:

John 5:39-47  You diligently study  the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.  "I do not accept praise from men, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts.  I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.  How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?  "But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.  But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?"

In the last few weeks we had some visitors come to our site and blazingly attack and accuse us of just about everything you can think of.  Yesterday I visited their site and read a lengthy post as they praised each other for being God’s champions in destroying us and exposing all of our vile wickedness (according to them).  As I read their words of hate I thought about the above words of Jesus. 

I’m so glad that Jesus will not accuse us before the Father, for indeed, if he did I for one would have no chance.   And Jesus is also right that Moses (and I believe he was speaking about the LAW) does accuse us and finds every single one of us GUILTY.  Thankfully Jesus (who is God) was not going to let us fail.  God knew from the very beginning that our redemption was secured before the foundation of the earth was ever formed.

Rom 8:28-31 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

Isn’t God for ALL OF US?  How did I get justified?  How did I get glorified?  Certainly it was not by my doing or my believing and that’s why I will never seek or accept praise from men.  God allowed ALL men to seek him out by their own ability to follow the rules and ALL men failed until Christ came.  There are some today who still think they get some special favor from God because of their RULE following but they have set their hopes on a failed system and at least in this life they will continue to lay their head down at night knowing they have come up short.  In their minds they are still IN ADAM, but someday God will reveal to them that they are IN CHRIST.

Rom 5:18-19
18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

As I said in the beginning "I’ believe rule following can be of great benefit, but not to gain favor with God.  There is only ONE ACT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS that justifies any of us and that one act is not from us. 

So, what are the rules I live by?  Paul sums it up best:

Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.

I live by rules that have been written on my heart by God the Father himself.   It does not matter to me who praises me or who condemns me because the praise I receive comes from the one who made me and knows me best. 

Ps 139:13-16 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

That’s right!!!  If the Jesus that evangelical Christianity teaches is true and he only returns that which was given to him then Jesus will be CAST INTO OUTER DARKNESS!

If ALL things were given to Jesus by the Father as Jesus said they were and if He was given the heathen of the world as an inheritance as it says in Psalms and then Jesus only returns Heathens to the Father then Jesus is in His own words a Lazy (unprofitable) and Wicked Servant. Because he would only be returning that which was given and nothing else.

And this will be His fate!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Matthew 25:30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness

Selah

Geo

I saw this video on Oprah and it made me cry.  The video shows how very precious life is regardless of how difficult circumstances might be.  I know that we all face tough days and hard times but life is still so very precious.  Oh that we might all see each other the way God sees us.  These beautiful parents show us all how we should strive to live each day.  May God bless us all to see our beauty & perfection.

I have taught all my grandkids that there is one important thing to remember as they travel this journey we call life and that is "LOVE TO LEARN, LEARN TO LOVE". 

Now if we choose to really do that we will always be walking a tight rope with every relationship we encounter.  Every person we meet or come into contact with is important because we have an eternal connection with each and every one of them.  As we walk with them we will always be challenged to love them.  This is true with our closest relationships as well as those that are more distant.  How many times have we seen families broken up because the tight rope got to tough and someone chose to just jump off?  If loving those who are closest to us is difficult then it’s easy to see why those that are more distant have problems.

As the statement says above we must all be willing to learn how to love.  As we have looked at the past posts with all the bickering back and forth it became quite apparent to me that our failure was not love, but rather a difference of opinion on what loving each other means. 

This may sound strange (as much as Jack has attacked me) but I really do think in his own way he loves me.  Each of us decide what we think it means to love someone and Jack has decided that correcting others to his way of thinking is showing love. 

I have spent the better part of my adult life learning what love really means and then trying to apply it in all my relationships.  Because every relationship is different there can never be one particular formula that works.  As I have walked with my wife over the past 40 years I have learned how to love her.  I think she would tell you that I have improved a great deal since we were young teenagers.  I also have four grown adult children who have mates and each and every one of them I have learned to approach differently as I apply my knowledge of love. 

I think you see the analogy of walking a tight rope with every relationship because every single one takes focus to stay on the right course.  I can offer my advice as to what has worked best for me with different people but ultimately we must each find our own way as we strive to be creatures of love in a very difficult world.

In all my searching and tying to understand I still have never found any better advice on this then what Paul gave us:

1 Cor 13:4-8 Love is patient. Love is kind. Love isn’t jealous. It doesn’t sing its own praises. It isn’t arrogant. It isn’t rude. It doesn’t think about itself. It isn’t irritable. It doesn’t keep track of wrongs. It isn’t happy when injustice is done, but it is happy with the truth. Love never stops being patient, never stops believing, never stops hoping, never gives up. Love never comes to an end.

Certainly Christ showed us true love by deciding to love us even as we reject him and I think we are at our best on the relationship tight rope when we do the same thing.  Paul also tells us "to be at peace with all men as much as what lies in you."  In other words it’s not always easy to be a peace with someone who would rather fight.  An old black preacher friend of my once said to me, "Brother Hazelbaker, you want to be at peace with all men but sometimes the only way to be at peace is to be at peace without them." 

So, what is my advice to all of you?  Don’t jump off the tight rope just because things get tough.  Keep following the ways of love to the best of your ability.  Be as kind as you can be and be respectful even if you are not shown respect.  If someone in your circle of relationships continues to attack you then let the ugliness be on their part, not yours.  Stand your ground but let that ground be the foundation of love.

When you fail at being the person of love that you want to be don’t give up.  That’s why we are here, to learn to love and to love to learn.  I have failed many times in the past and often look back at certain relationships and wish I could have changed something, but what I can do is learn from those mistakes and apply the lessons that life teaches me about love and use them for the future.

I thank each and everyone of you for the wisdom and love you bring to this site.  Even when I don’t agree I always consider where you are coming from and I know that you, just like me are trying to find your way in this journey of LIFE. 

Peace to All,

Cliff

Ok, it’s time for a little fun.  I thought I would share my baby picture with you all.  Maybe Jack’s right, but ain’t I adorable?