Abundant Grace

Monday, November 30, 2015

Even if Others Reject It, We Need to Share It

“Let grace be shown to the wicked, yet he will not learn righteousness.” Isaiah 26:10

How great is God’s grace? It is great enough that He would send His only Son to this wicked world, have Him rudely treated, and finally brutally killed in order to forgive the sins of all mankind. That is pretty great grace. Everyone, every man, woman, and child should fall on their face in repentance and thanksgiving that God would do that for us. But Isaiah says that what is reasonable is not necessarily so.

No matter how much grace God continues to give to the unrighteous, they will not just jump for joy and embrace the fountain of their daily grace. Isaiah says that in spite of the grace of God there are those who will continue to choose to live in unrighteousness and reject God’s call to hear the Gospel and believe. In this Advent season we are reminded daily of God’s gift to us and the need to daily embrace it in our lives and faithfully share it with others who have not yet believed.

Dear Father, Thank You for the gift of grace and help us share it with others. Amen.

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Friday, November 27, 2015

A New Goal in Life

“The way of the just is uprightness.” Isaiah 26:7

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lived a perfect life. We cannot do that. We are sinners and even with Christ as our Savior, we are still sinners – forgiven sinners. With our forgiveness from sin we gain a new understanding of exactly how our righteous God views sin. That new perspective not only reveals an important truth but gives us concern for a new way of living. Colossians 2 says, “As you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, so walk in Him.” By faith we came to know Him and by faith in His word we are to walk in Him.

How did Christ walk? He walked in righteousness and truth. He was obedient to the Father. He fulfilled the Law by never breaking the Law. We can’t do that, but we can have a desire to be imitators of Christ, pattern our lives after His as much as we can, and seek to do God’s will in all areas of our life. We will, in effect, live in uprightness.

Dear Father, Strengthen us each day to walk by the Spirit and not be the flesh. Amen.

The Friday Benediction

Until Monday, my friends, may the good God envelop you with His grace; may you prove the common confession of faith, “I believe in the holy Christian church and in the fellowship of the saints”, and may you be enriched with joy and hope as you exercise that confession this weekend. Amen

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Happy Thanksgiving

Abundant Grace Thanksgiving

And here we are! This is my favorite of all holidays. Thanksgiving! It is full of great memories. It was the one holiday when all the aunts and uncles were together at Grandma’s house. There were no cousins on that side of the family. That meant that the only two people to contend for the turkey legs were by brother and me. I actually never got the leg because my wise Grandma knew that I wasn’t going to get even half of it eaten. That was alright, though, as Grandma knew best.

Today my wife and I are the Grandma and Grandpa. Our six children, their spouses and their fifteen children are all here. So is Great Uncle Larry and perhaps a few other invited friends will show up as well. He and I no longer want the leg. All the grandchildren are too young to take one on. Anyway, we cooked the turkey yesterday and deboned it for serving today. Not quite the way Grandma did it, but it works well with 30 people coming to the table. There will be chaos and noise and I won’t hear a thing from the other end of the table. When the last dish is done and the kids have gone to their in-laws houses for a second Thanksgiving feast my beloved bride and I will reflect on all the blessings of the day.

And that is really what we all need to do more of. God is so good to each and every one of us. That doesn’t mean there haven’t been tragedies or hard times this past year. It doesn’t mean that everything we have hoped for has come about just the way we wanted. It does mean that God is so good to each of us. The sun has always come up, and if it hadn’t we would be in the land that needs no sun to light the sky. God in grace has held our hand in sickness and difficulty. He has walked beside us in the beauty of answered prayers and the anticipation of how He will answer more. He has forgiven our sins and kept us sheltered under the shadow of His wing. He has and will continue to be God and continue to be good. That is what we need to remember beyond just today.

Just in case we think all must be good by human standards for us to be thankful, let us conclude today with the great hymn by Martin Rinkart which was written during the 30 Years War when over half the population of Germany died by war or plague or famine. That is the setting from which comes the great Thanksgiving hymn “Now Thank We All Our God”.

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Do You Really Want Peace?

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee.” Isaiah 26:3

Edward Bickersteth wrote a very simple hymn, “Peace, Perfect Peace”. Each verse is a simple couplet. The first half is a question that presents a dilemma. “Peace perfect peace in this dark world of sin?” How can there be peace when all around us is chaos, wickedness, sorrow, and death? The second half of the couplet gives the reply. “The blood of Jesus whispers peace within”. The responsive couplet in the fifth verse says it all. “Jesus we know, and He is on the throne.”

Peace does not erupt naturally from the human heart. Fear, despair, hopelessness, and more is the natural product of our sinful being. But when we think of God our Savior, Christ our Lord, the Holy Spirit our Comforter, then with our mind stayed on that blessed thought there can be peace within. God wants us to take a different perspective than the one we would choose. Don’t look around – Look UP!

Dear Father, Thank You for peace, peace, wonderful peace. Amen.

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

It is God's Salvation

“We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” Isaiah 25:9

When we receive a gift the first thing we often do is to claim that gift as ours. Just go to a child’s birthday party and see how often, without prompting, the child recognizes the giver but just lays claim to the gift. Giver shmiver! This is mine! It is as if the child felt that he either deserved it or that he has somehow achieved that gift by himself. That is too often how we regard the gift of our salvation. But Isaiah says it is God’s salvation.

Salvation is God’s gift to us. We did nothing to deserve it. We had no participation in achieving it. We didn’t suddenly get smart enough to figure out we needed it. We didn’t talk God into it. We didn’t initiate the idea or desire for it. That is all from God. It is His salvation. We are the ones who receive that gift from Him, and when we rejoice in salvation it is good to remember where it came from.

Dear Father, Thank You for the free gift of Your salvation. Amen.

Monday, November 23, 2015

No More Death

“He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces.” Isaiah 25:8

The death of a loved one can be one of the most traumatic events people face. The person who is our object of affection, hope, joy, and peace is gone. GONE! The terror of this separation has plagued mankind since the first recorded death when Cain killed Abel. Billions of dollars each year are spent on trying to avoid death and billions more are spent trying to memorialize the dead and somehow keep them alive.

God has a better plan. How about getting rid of death? How about taking the great sorrow of parting away from death? How about giving eternal life instead? Isaiah preached this Gospel message. Death is swallowed up by God. How? Jesus Christ died for our sins, by the grace of God, and He was raised by God from the dead. Death was defeated. For the followers of Jesus there is NO MORE DEATH! There is hope, joy, the blessed assurance of eternal life and of meeting our loved ones once again.

Dear Father, Thank You for sending Jesus to end our sentence of death. Amen.

Friday, November 20, 2015

Our Only Hope and Refuge

“For You have been a strength to the poor and needy, a refuge from the storm, and a shade from the heat.” Isaiah 25:4

The Gospel Song, “Where Could I Go But to the Lord” has this repeated chorus: “Where could I go, where could I go, seeking a refuge for my soul? Needing a friend to help in the end, where could I go but to the Lord?” (Sherrill, Billy/Sutton, Glenn) Isaiah proclaims this message for all of mankind – there is no place to go except to God.

Every life faces some sort of distress. Often if we saw our neighbor’s distress we would not want to exchange our own for theirs. Everybody has troubles and the only place of refuge is in the Lord. Money takes wings. Health fades quickly. Friends are fickle. Jobs are insecure. Relationships disappoint. Worldly truth changes daily. Governments can’t fix it all. But God is a refuge, a very present help in sorrow. God alone always cares, comforts, and keeps His promises. Where can we go? To the Lord!

Dear Father, Help us always remember our only true and lasting comfort is You. Amen.

The Friday Benediction