Dependent on Grace

"Faith gives the whole earth a celestial aspect; each moment is a revelation of God."

                                                         ~ Jean-Pierre de Caussade


About a year ago, I left the church I had been serving for 13 years.
While I am much better off now than I was beforehand, there were times when trust, faith and personal experience in the future was a little shaky.

At the time, I knew that things would work out exactly how they were supposed to be → they always do because God is Sovereign. 
I also knew that where ever I was, I was supposed to be there for God had orchestrated the events of my life.
Yet, at that time, I can remember looking at my wife and saying, 'We're about to find out if we really believe what I preach.'

God in His wisdom, has revealed some of His foreknowledge to us in such situations for our encouragement. The outcome of our trials and temptations are known to Him before it ever begins and we have a glimpse and receive some of His Foreknowledge in the form of grace and the Gospel.

As Christians, like any other human being, we don't know the exact details about our personal future, but we do know the overall outcome to life on earth when lived before God.
Yet, knowing the future outcome of our lives does not make the present any easier when you are enduring a trial, a season of famine or suffering, or a time of temptation where you must fight.
No, having a piece of God's Foreknowledge isn't a magic bullet to make us live faithfully; instead it is a demanding test of faith for the Christian to hold on and remain secure in what we know is true rather than the upheaval of what 'might' happen.

Often during such times, God reveals things about yourself that you may not have otherwise known.
For example, I have learned that one of my major problems is the belief that many American Christians are wimps - lacking in the staying power or tenacity that one needs to grow and mature in the faith.

This line of thought began after I returned home from my first deployment.
I had been in the desert for five months and had worked extensively, behind the scenes and secretly, with the underground Church.

These were men and women who were routinely jailed by the local authorities because of their faith; and their jails make our incarceration resemble a country club setting. 
Some were beaten for fun; others were harassed daily; but all wanted more knowledge and more light of Christ regardless of the personal cost.

When I returned to America, I found Christians griping and complaining about their 'outdated' cell phones; the temperature in a church sanctuary; arguing over when an offering should be taken in the service; and I personally took criticism over the military haircut I sported upon my return to the pulpit. 

What I was seeing was a contrast between people who were enamored by the grace of Christ in His love and those who had seemingly lost their first love.

As time has continued, in the last year, I have been given a wonderful opportunity to preach the Gospel in many different churches and to meet believers that I would not have otherwise known this side of eternity.
Yet, over and over, the same themes resurface in their lives wherever I have been.Christians in America today seem to be apathetic and  dispirited; the reason is many have forsaken the joy of the Creator for the pleasure of the creature.
And the creature is ourselves.

This brings questions to my mind.

For example → What would happen if we lived as if God' will 'on Earth as in Heaven' had already been answered and fulfilled?
I mean, we pray this in the Lord's model prayer; we've been taught this since childhood and every football team offers this praiseworthy statement to the heavens before every kickoff.

Seriously, what would happen if we lived as if the prayer had already been answered?

One thing that would stop is the Church fights and upheavals over incidental issues like the music that is used during the worship services, and this would happen across denominational lines.
While I will agree the descent of lyrics from 'Paradise Lost' to 'Awesome God' symbolizes the decline of Christian intelligence and desire for beauty in language, still the heart of worship behind both remain very similar. 

Approaching music within the Church with the attitude of glorifying God and worshiping Him rather than being stuck on any one style → this is the key to peace on this matter; for we all have a song of praise to sing in our hearts to God, it is only the melody which is different; the Lord is the same.

Another thing that would stop is this embracing of fallacy preaching which teaches if a person's life is not headed in the direction of happiness and wealth, then they must not be believing enough or praying enough.
Friend → Some of the most faithful people I have known have suffered the greatest trials in their lives and it wasn't because of sin; it was because of God's Sovereignty.

May I remind the reader that at 38 years old I was diagnosed with Stage Four, terminal cancer?
When we suffer as Christians, it isn't always about what we have done in our lives; sometimes it is about other people and the witness and impact God can make through us into their hearts as we remain faithful.

Health and Wealth preaching never occurred to the Puritans.
If we lived as we pray each day, it would never occur to us again as being accurate.

This idea of a Christian being a slave to the Church or a rebel against the mainstream would also end.
There are Christians who will protest everything, but if we were faithful in what we are commanded to be faithful with, the protests and anger would end.

For example, there are Christians who go around the globe and protest the deforestation of the jungles; believing it is bad stewardship and we are sinning against God be killing the trees for human uses.
Well, if every Christian was a good steward, as commanded and as we pray to be, this would be a thing of the past. Take for instance the fact that if every Christian in America recycled every envelope and daily newspaper we receive, there would be no such thing as deforestation anywhere in the world.

And the same is true of other social issues that have a liberal bent - the food we throw away without touching for those who are hungry, filling the empty houses in America with the homeless (the houses outnumber the homeless) and countless other practical ways to be good stewards.
If we did what we pray we want to do and are commanded to do, many of these issues would disappear.

The modern Fundamentalist movement would also be curbed and maybe ended.
I don't mean the Fundamental belief in the 'Five Fundamentals of the Faith,' but rather the 'additions' to the Five Fundamentals that are supposed to help us live a holy life.
The Five Fundamentals of the Faith are as follows:

The Virgin Birth of Christ

The Sinless Nature of Christ

The Atonement of Christ

The Resurrection of Christ

The Imminent Return of Christ

Now, if a Christian believes in these five things, by definition they are a Fundamentalist.
I would argue that any person who DOES NOT believe in these Five Truths, they are not Christians at all, but something else; a quasi-Christian at best.

If we lived as we pray, these Five would stand out and the pettiness of modern fundamentalism, which is nothing more than rehashed regulations from the Pharisees of old, would disappear. 
The reason is because man-made rules about the faith are always hypocritical.

For example, I know Christians who will not enter a certain drug store because the store sells hard liquor; yet, I have never heard anybody complain about the human rights violations or the Christian persecution of the Chinese when frequenting Wal-Mart. 

And I've always wondered why aren't the Church's appeal for funds and tithes ever focused on my need as a Christian to give?
Giving is a worship all its own; instead of trying to make people feel good about what they're giving for, maybe we ought to insist people give according to how God has blessed them and stress the stewardship of God's blessing in our lives.

But nowhere should 'on earth as in heaven' be more true than when it comes to God's amazing Grace.
While I can give you example after example of Americans abusing their freedoms; I can give you just as many examples of Christians abusing the grace they have been given by God.

Scripture gives us high ideals straight from God with regards to living a holy live in honor of Him; but it also stresses that we are given a wonderful safety net called grace when we falter.
What this tells us is that our salvation, our walk, our restoration and our life with Christ is not dependent on meeting God's ideal.
In fact, little of the faith is dependent on us; yet, we are dependent on what Christ has done on the Cross and in our lives, giving us sufficient grace for all things.

As Christians, we ought to strive toward a holy life; but at the same time, rather than pettiness, we ought to be able to relax in His grace.
You see, Christians are nothing more than a people who are dependent on God above all things; and being dependent on God means that we are dependent on His grace.

As He has given to us, so we should give to others; in particular, those who do not deserve it because if any of us deserved it, it would not be called grace.

Until next time, win one for the good guys.