January 5, 2015 1 Timothy 1:16 It is By His Grace....Not Ours....

1 Timothy 1:16

But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.

The worst of sinners....

Not one of the worst not some of the worst but 'the' worst of sinners.  This letter is thought to have been written by Paul to Timothy just prior to Paul's final imprisonment.  Many moons had passed over his history as being Saul.  He was now a revered teacher of God's Word.  He was sought after by those who he had once served alongside.  He brought the Truth to the gentiles and he, himself, was a prime example of true transformation.

And, yet, he still referred to himself as being the worst of sinners.  He never forgot.  He walked with humility also in remembrance that it was by Christ's grace he had been saved.  By Christ and Christ alone, he was a changed man. He never adopted the attitude that we see so often in our religious circles today.  An attitude that forgets what each one of us once were....a sinner destined for hell.  An attitude that projects itself as holier than. 

But holier than what?  Than others?  Than Christ, himself?

We all walk a path in obedience to our Father.  It is an individual path that, thankfully, we have been granted to sweetness of fellowship with other believers to share in our journey.  But with lies and twisted agendas, satan has taken what should be encouragement and turned it many times into a place where we are uncomfortable to share areas where we struggle, places where we are simply inept or the valleys of our life. 

We share the mountain experiences over and over...sometimes the same one for years and years...clinging to that moment when we experienced God while privately grieving our personal despair of trying to find Him now.  And as each of us take on this persona, those who are seeking often times see a group of people that are seemingly perfect...maybe too perfect for themselves.  We create an illusion that all is well. 

I overheard a conversation once between one of the poorest of the poor in the city dump and a person from America.  The lady who lived in the dump had been asked how a church body back home might could pray for her.  And after sharing her prayer requests, she looked up in the eyes of the one who asked and said, "And how might I pray for you?"  To which the person from America quickly replied, "I have everything I need. I don't need prayers like you need them." 

Do we?  Sure if you are reading this, you are in the top wealthy of the world even if at times it doesn't seem like it.  If you ate today at least one meal, consider yourself lucky.  If you have a vehicle at your disposal to drive, can read and a house, you are one of the most fortunate....but are you?  See, we spend alot of our time and resources looking at the wealthy and the poor but we use measures of materialism.  I have lots of things that must mean I am fine.  But am I? 

What about my spiritual depth?  Do I really know Christ?  Isn't that what really matters when everything is finished here?  My house, my car, my bank account, my, my, my...none of that will matter when my last breath on this earth is taken.  So how am I really?  Have I accepted Him as my Saviour or do I use my busy life as an excuse to believe...but not really believe. 

I  think through Paul, we see a heart totally sold out to God and out of that....we see humility.  We see someone willing to share their past with others that are seeking...not to brag or boast but to share the vastness of God's grace.  I once was that...but through His grace and power..I am no more.  We aren't afraid of the realness of life...the messiness...the craziness...  We realize that we are safe and secure in our God's hands...and that is all that matters.

January 1, 2015. 1 Timothy 1:14. Abundant Grace.....

1 Timothy 1:14

The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

Abundantly.  

Imagine being quite possibly the man that Christians feared most in this world.  Imagine martyring instead of being martyred....this was Paul's life prior to his encounter with God.  This was Paul's life as Saul.  Most feared, most hated, most intent on wiping out every morsel of Christianity.

And God revealed the Truth, Paul immediately changed and the Lord poured out His grace abundantly. 

With the change of Paul's heart, God not just extended forgiveness and mercy but poured out His grace abundantly.....not in measured increments consistent with his time of "remorsefulness " but abundantly. 

Abundantly. And, yet, there are many of us who couldn't accept God's abundant flow of grace in our lives if it slapped us in the face...and sometimes it does!   We journey through this world holding ourselves accountable to past issues when everyone else has forgotten.  We limp through our lives tethered to past sins that have long been forgiven but in our mind not forgotten.  We carry gathered in our arms a past that causes our heads to fall in shame....missing completely on the abundant fall of His grace in our lives.

I'm not taking about living a life flippantly or carelessly but rather a life filled with abundant grace knowing that the same God that poured abundant grace over Paul's life is the same God that pours in our life. 

Grace. Abundantly.

What would our lives look like if we lived in the grace that has been poured upon us?  If we embraced every single drop of love that He extends?  Imagine a life well steeped in abundant grace...from top to bottom.  Satan doesn't want us to find that place.  The moment in our lives where our life is so changed that we go from being a "Saul" to a "Paul"....the moment when we realize what grace really means instead of the watered down version that many of us survive in...teetering back and forth from one abyss to another...never firmly planting our feet on His firm foundation.

No sin is too big, no past too brazen... Let's start living today in His abundant grace.  We say we believe, we know the Truth but many of us still live as if tethered to our old selves....  Find freedom in Him.