Grace to Overcome
Greetings in the Lord!
Today's verse comes from Psalm 124 and actually builds off of the blog from Job, chapter 2.
V. 6-8) "Praise be to the Lord, who has not let us be torn by their teeth. We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler's snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth."
In the previous blog on Job, I commented that "the Lord gives us both good things and gives us bad things." Why did I say it like that? The Lord does not do evil, but He allows it to happen for a designated time to accomplish His purposes. I said it like that to emphasize the completeness of the Lord's Sovereignty over all circumstances, so we can begin to understand the fullness of His grace. I discern from the Lord that the American church does not fully understand the depth and "cost" of His grace. We tend to teach a weak and meaningless form of grace--one that is quickly referenced but does not sustain in times of trial and results in many weak Christians, if not in false converts. Our form of "cheap grace," as Dietrich Bonhoeffer the German theologian called it, does not have the full understanding of the redemptive and saving power of Jesus. Psalm 124 talked about being set free from an enemy; that enemy wants us to die in our sins. That is the true captivity, not the sufferings we go through in our bodies. In this season we should seek to ascend to new heights in our understanding of God and Christ Jesus; to not be afraid of sufferings and discomforts for the purpose of glorifying Christ; to learn to be overcomers of the schemes of the enemy and to be fearless in doing the call on our lives. That's God's true overcoming grace.
Be blessed and be a blessing~
Today's verse comes from Psalm 124 and actually builds off of the blog from Job, chapter 2.
V. 6-8) "Praise be to the Lord, who has not let us be torn by their teeth. We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler's snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth."
In the previous blog on Job, I commented that "the Lord gives us both good things and gives us bad things." Why did I say it like that? The Lord does not do evil, but He allows it to happen for a designated time to accomplish His purposes. I said it like that to emphasize the completeness of the Lord's Sovereignty over all circumstances, so we can begin to understand the fullness of His grace. I discern from the Lord that the American church does not fully understand the depth and "cost" of His grace. We tend to teach a weak and meaningless form of grace--one that is quickly referenced but does not sustain in times of trial and results in many weak Christians, if not in false converts. Our form of "cheap grace," as Dietrich Bonhoeffer the German theologian called it, does not have the full understanding of the redemptive and saving power of Jesus. Psalm 124 talked about being set free from an enemy; that enemy wants us to die in our sins. That is the true captivity, not the sufferings we go through in our bodies. In this season we should seek to ascend to new heights in our understanding of God and Christ Jesus; to not be afraid of sufferings and discomforts for the purpose of glorifying Christ; to learn to be overcomers of the schemes of the enemy and to be fearless in doing the call on our lives. That's God's true overcoming grace.
Be blessed and be a blessing~
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