Undignified Grace

There was nothing graceful about Jesus’ trial, nor His death. He was humiliated, tortured, whipped, beaten.
He was made to carry His cross while in great pain, through the streets
where crowds of people watched Him stumble and fall beneath the weight and the pain.
And when He reached the top of the hill with His cross on His back, and a stranger by His side,
He was nailed to that cross. His arms stretched wide, His feet stretched down:
one nail pounding, pounding pounding into His hands and His feet. There was nothing dignified about any of it.

And, yet, He submitted to His Father’s will and endured the undignified death that was, and is,
God’s plan for all of mankind. He was ‘obedient unto death’.

Through it all we were on His mind. He wanted us with Him and His Father,
but we couldn’t get there due to the sin in our hearts. That’s why He died: for us.
That through belief on Him, through the blood He shed for our sins, we would come to Him.
To hear God’s Word spoken in our ears, rooted in our hearts, flowing through us like rivers of living water.

Jesus doesn’t care how we come to Him, as long as we come.
Regardless of what we think about ourselves or in whatever state of being we are living,
He wants us to come. Whether we are outcasts of society,
like the ten lepers who came for a healing and were healed.
Or the woman with an issue of blood, who crawled on her hands and knees
to reach the Savior until her hand touched the hem of His garment,
where she was healed instantly. Undignified. Grace.

He cares not for what is seen on the outside, but He does care for what He sees on the inside.
Our hearts are less than dignified. While multitudes of thoughts may stream through
our minds at times, it is the thoughts that take root in our hearts that cause us to do evil.

Evil is not just the obvious acts that are committed by those who disobey the laws of the land.
Evil and wickedness are disobedience to God’s Word. If God said don’t do it, whatever it is,
and we do it anyway, we have committed an act of wickedness.
We have allowed evil thoughts to settle into our hearts long enough to perpetrate
unrighteous acts of disobedience. And, on the other end of this rationale, when God says to do something,
and we don’t do that which He tells us to do, that, too, is wickedness.
That is why we need a Savior. That is why He sent His Son to die in our place.
That is why Jesus submitted to God’s undignified saving grace plan of salvation.

We need undignified grace to cover our indignities, our unrighteous behavior;
the evil that is in our hearts needs to be uprooted and burned to ashes,
leaving only the Word of God there: active, alive, vibrant.
And we get it when we surrender our hearts to Jesus Christ.
When we believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, we believe the many attributes that concern Him.
Attributes of healing, mercy, righteousness, to name a few.

We are drawn by His Light and His Love, desiring to get closer,
close enough to touch Him, like the woman who touched only the hem of His garment.
She just wanted to touch The Rabbi; And when she did, she was healed fully and completely.
For what did He tell her? “But Jesus turned himself about, and when He saw her, He said, ‘Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.’ And the woman was made whole from that hour.” Matthew 9:22

We are drawn by His voice, wooed into His presence by the tone of His Word, as the ten lepers were who came to Him for healing. But of the ten that believe on Him for a healing, only one came back and thanked Him; that one was a Samaritan man, a stranger of Israel, and yet, He believed. How do we know He became a believer? “And He said unto him, ‘Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.’”

Many come to Jesus, but not everyone who receives what is asked of Him, stays with Him. People who believe He can heal, but not save, may still receive a healing, but they have lost the opportunity to believe on Him for salvation and remain eternally in His presence. What a great loss this!

Faith makes us whole. Not just any faith, but faith in The Lord God, putting all our trust, our hope, our belief in Him, in His Word. Acknowledging that there is no other god like The God of Israel, we come to Him with humbled hearts, throwing ourselves on the mercy of His court. And His mercy is granted to they who truly believe that He Is, and repent of the sins in our hearts. His mercy endures for ever. (Psalm 136; Deuteronomy 7:9; Exodus 20:6; Acts 2:39)

The undignified grace by which we are saved (Ephesians 2:8-9) is for each and every one who comes to Him, believing that He Is and that He Can. (John 3:16-17). I believe and I have come to receive that which He has for me, whatever He chooses to give me, I choose to use for His glory.

In Christ We Are: A New Creation

Ephesians 4:22-24 “Put off the old man (the old nature, the way we used to be before we accepted Christ as Lord), which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind (cf/Philippians 4:8); And that you put on the new man, (newness of life; born again by the Spirit) which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

John 3:3 (when Jesus and Nicodemus were conversing) “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily (of a truth, truly) I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:5 “...except a man be born of water (physical birth) and of the Spirit (godly birth), he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” We need to stop trying so hard to be like everyone else and start being who God wants us to be. Our focus must be on becoming and being the people God has called us to be.

We are covered in His righteousness. Romans 13:14 “But put ye on The Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lust thereof.” How will the world around us know we are Christians, if our actions do not match our words? What is in our hearts is revealed in the way we speak, the activities we put our hands to, the places we allow ourselves to be in. If Jesus Christ truly lives in us and we in Him, our lives will reflect Him outwardly.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” We are in Christ; Christ is in us. We are new creatures. Our very nature is swallowed up in the presence of Jesus Christ.

In Christ We Are: A Body Ministry

Romans 12:4-5 “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members of one another.”

I Corinthians 12:27 “Now you are the body of Christ, and members in particular.”

While these passages describe differing aspects of Christian ministry as compared with human anatomy, we need to remember that The Word is speaking to us, as well, not just the Christians in Rome and Corinth. We are not to think of ourselves as special or privileged just because we are called to do different ministries within the realm of God’s kingdom.

It has been said that “A good leader is a good servant”. One who follows Christ must be willing to go where Christ leads; whether we are led to the pulpit with Bible in hand, or the bathroom with toilet brush in hand. Whether Christ leads us to a foreign land to share our witness and testify of our Savior, or keeps on home ground to share Jesus here.

With us being a body ministry, where the missionaries go, we all go. We go by tithing into their ministry, which not only helps them serve in the country to which they have been called, but feeds and clothes them, as well. We go with them in prayer: we pray for their faithfulness and we pray that the hearts of those to whom they minister are opened and ready to receive Jesus.

Whatever we are called to do, we are to do in love, in the love of God. Where ever we are called to serve, we are to remember that not everyone serves God in the same way. We are not to revere our pastor above our janitor. In many instances, the pastor is the janitor.

Am I a good leader? A good servant? Am I following Christ the way He wants me to follow Him? Am I leading people to Christ the way He wants me to lead? Questions we must ask ourselves and answer honestly. Without honesty, we lack integrity. Without integrity, we must repent and seek God’s forgiveness for our wicked ways. It is the integrity of our faith that keeps us near the cross and near our Savior.

We must remember that it is for God’s glory that we are called to serve where He has placed us, not our own. The heart of the body is Jesus Christ. The Love of God flows through our veins via The Holy Spirit. This love flows into each part of the body of Christ, whatever that part does in the body of Christ. We are a body ministry and we are to serve, to encourage, to love each other according to The Word of God.

In Christ We Are: Light

Matthew 5:14-16  “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on  a candlestick; and it gives light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance tells us that the word “light” as used here means: the manifestation of God’s self-existent life; divine illumination to reveal and impart life through Christ.

How can we work in the fields we have been sent to if we cannot see where we are going? We need The Holy Spirit of God, the divine illumination, upon us to guide our steps and light our pathway. Who tends fields in the dark? If you cannot see your  hand in front of your face, how can we lead those who stand in the dark around us out of the fields we have been sent to?

We walk in The Light of The Word of God, for Jesus Christ is our Light. So, how do we let our Light shine that the world may see Jesus? We actively pursue and obtain a godly lifestyle through the indwelling power of The Holy Spirit. A born-again believer is one who believes wholeheartedly that Jesus Christ is God’s only begotten Son, that He died on the cross to take away the sins of the world, that He was buried in the tomb for three days and rose from the dead on the third day, that He walked out of the grave and was actively seen by hundreds of people before He ascended into heaven to be with His Father again.

As born again believers, whether of Hebrew lineage or Gentile, we are now followers of Christ, Christians. This world that we live in we do not live of: we are, according to Peter, “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; people who praise God continually for calling us out of darkness into His marvellous light”. (1 Peter 2:9)

His marvellous Light. We are in God’s marvellous Light. And it is that Light which should shine through us into the world around us. And where is the world around us? In our homes. The light of God’s Love, Jesus Christ, needs to shine in our homes, our families; that darkness would have no place to enter into.

Beyond, and sometimes within, our homes is our extended families, the families we have married into, the broken families we have left behind, the blended families we have chosen to be a part of. Beyond our familial ties are our workplace bonds: our coworkers and those connected with our workplaces with whom we have contact. That’s where our Light needs to shine.

Our neighbors and our neighborhoods need to see Jesus in our actions and hear His Love in our words. We can preach the gospel of salvation without being preachy. There is no need to be judgmental towards one another when we interact; judgment is God’s job. Our job is to shine the Light of God’s Love into the darkness around us, that others may be drawn to Christ, and become the next generation of believers.

John 3:17 “For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.”

In Christ We Are: Salt

Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under the foot of men.” 

Salt seasons, preserves and fertilizes. In this passage of Scripture Christ refers to those who are listening that they (we) are ‘the salt of the earth’.  

Seasoned Christians are mature Christians. We know The Word of God well, but are constantly seeking Him more. The Word of God is preserved in us through our dedication and commitment to serve Him better; the way He desires us to. The Word of God grows in us according to how often we seek Him out, communicate with God in prayer and commune with Jesus via The Holy Spirit.

Spiritual maturity is not based on chronological age, but on the depth of how far we have grown in Jesus Christ. While we each grow at differing rates of speed, and in different specifics of growth, we all have in common one thing: belief on  The LORD Jesus Christ as our Savior.

And, as we grow, our actions should show to those around us that we are different because of our faith in Jesus Christ. We show that we are not perfect, allowing others to not only see our mistakes, but revealing that there is Someone who forgives our errors, our sins, when we do. We forgive because He forgives us.

It is not a salty nature we have, but a salted tongue. We speak in love, because Love lives in us. We walk in love, because Love walks with us. We quote The Word of God when asked to give an opinion on issues because we value The Word of God above ourselves.

When we share the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ, we speak in love. We cannot draw others to our God when our words are words of hate, unkindness and loathing. Being in Christ, and He in us, we are compelled to share The Word via any means given to us. Whether we speak from a pulpit, a keyboard, a street corner, or face to face and one on one.

It is only when we take our eyes off The Word of God, Jesus Christ, and focus on what we want and desire, that we lose the saltiness which we had attained through our relationship with Him. When that happens, we really are ‘good for nothing’. We are unsalted, tasteless, useless and tossed out onto the ground.  

In Christ We Are: Redeemed

Psalm 107:1-2 "O give thanks to The LORD, for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. Let the redeemed of The LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary."

In Christ we are Redeemed. Our souls have been bought back at great cost: the precious Blood of The Lamb of God. Who held us captive that such great a ransom should be paid for us? Satan. His lying tongue tempted us many times; but now we belong to Jesus. 

Titus 2:14 "He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds." (Berean Study Bible)

In Christ We Are: One

When He prayed for us in the garden, just before His arrest, part of His prayer was that we would become one in Him, as He is in His Father. You and I, believers in The LORD Jesus Christ, are living in Christ, He lives in us and through Him we have access to The Father, His Father: The Almighty God. We are one. 
We must live and breathe and move as one. We must let go of petty differences and man-made rules that have taken first place in the church. We are not created to live by our own laws, but by God's laws.  As such, we must set God first in all areas of our lives. 
Becoming one in Christ takes time. We should not use the knowledge of that as an excuse for our delay in becoming the Church which The Holy Spirit is aiding us to be. We need to stop working against The Spirit of God and begin to work with Him. For only then will we truly become who Christ wants us to be according to His prayer. 
So, who are we? We need to search the Scriptures, reading and re-reading our Bibles; asking God to reveal Himself to us in it, showing us who we are in His Word. 

"Oh, LORD God, help us not to be slow in seeking You out. For Your Word is Faithful and True, ready to be sought out and found by we who desire to know who we are in You, as Your Word has declared to us. Lead us through Your Word, that we might be made presentable to You. Keep us near You at all times, even in our sleep, where dreams and nightmares threaten to take us out. You have said that Your Word shall not return void. It cannot. Gently and patiently You have led us to You Father. You show us who You are in Your Word. Show us now who we are in Your Word, that we might rise up and become one in You, that You might be glorified in us." Amen.