Discipleship Network Forum

The gospel of grace is central to all of life. Everything we do, say and think about will be impacted by the gospel. The gospel is simply the good news that God sent his son Jesus to save us from our sins. We were created to live in relationship with God but we chose to turn our backs on God and live life the way we wanted to live. This rebellion broke our relationship with God and left us to face the wages and consequences of our own sin, which is death. But God, who is rich in mercy and grace, did not leave us to ourselves. God sent Jesus to come and die, paying the penalty for our sins, past, present and future. Through faith in Jesus we can have a restored relationship with the God of the universe. This renewed relationship will last forever and cannot be broken.

The Bible says that we are “new creations” and that we who live might no longer live for ourselves but for him who died for us. God’s Spirit comes and makes his home in our hearts. The Holy Spirit will work in and through us to glorify God in all we do. Every day should be one in which we live in the gospel of grace. This grace infects us and causes all our interactions with others and with ourselves to glorify God. You will have people that irritate you, dislike you, disobey you, make fun of you and you will love them with the grace that God has given you. You will have financial stress, your computer will stop working, you will miss an appointment and you will work through these issues with the grace that God has given you. You will enjoy a date with your wife, you will accomplish something great at work, you will find joy in smelling the fresh spring air and you will thank God for his abundant grace in your life. The gospel of grace is central to all of life. It permeates our thoughts, our actions and our words. As we walk through today and the day after that and the day after that, let us never forget to bathe ourselves in God’s grace. May you be completely overwhelmed just by meditating on this infinite grace.

“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through GRACE, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” (II Thess.2:16-17)

All for Jesus,

Fletch

I cannot get my mind to settle this morning, to stay focused and move on. It drifts here and there, running in circles, trying to pull me away from what I'm intent on doing. Those of you who've had a dog may know the type of behaviour I'm talking about. Not playfulness, not mischeivious, but the "come, come, let me show you" - darting off, coming back, circling, darting, coming back - that leads you eventually where it wants you to be. It's always, to see, or to do.

Today, my mind will not allow me to move ahead. It circles, yelps, darts off when I try to lead it along. Moving when I force it, but always darting back toward the thing it wants me to see.

What I'd missed in yesterday's quiet time. Back to Luke 6:47, when we should have been moving ahead in chapter 7. Of course I thought, I don't need to go back there, I know that story. You know it too, lay a good foundation and you can withstand the onslaught of life. Why go back there? What was I missing?

Oh, of course, "listens to my words and puts them into practice." (Luke 6:47b NET) No, that wasn't it. I still got pulled back. What then? When I allowed it to happen, the stopping where I was led and the waiting, watching - have you ever notice how when you're waiting and watching eventually you start thinking deeply (maybe, it's just a "guy thing" - the let's get it done, move on mentality - that doesn't allow for deep thinking). No, it was the "...who dug down deep..." (Luke 6:48b NET) that I was supposed to "see".

One of the first job's I ever had was working for a small contractor and we were doing site work (moving earth, preparing the site for building) and my job was to prepare the footing trench. With a shovel. By hand. And it wasn't easy. It was "back breaking work". I went home every night exhausted, fell into bed, and slept soundly.

So, today we miss an important part of that message because we don't know or think about what those words, dug down deep, meant to early believers. Yes, hearing God's word and putting it into practice is an important part of it, but it's the hard labor of digging down deep, by hand, moving tons of earth by hand, leveling the ground, by hand, getting dirty, sweaty, exhausted, keeping at while the blisters form, pop, bleed, heal and your hands strengthen, become fit for the work they're doing - and you become skilled in weilding the word. Then you're prepared to lay a solid foundation. To build upward.