Changing my default!

This week there have been many e-mails between me and an old school chum, Dan. Most of our conversation has been in respect of getting free from legalism, the affects that legalism has had and the journey into grace and the awesomeness of grace. Dan and I are kindred spirits in many ways having journeyed together through a number of years and I would boldly say that he is like the brother that I never had. He's a real blessing to me and has been known to send me the odd prophetic word that has been totally spot on quite a number of times!!

In my e-mails to Dan I found myself realising just was a stench legalism has about it, but that grace has a sweet aroma – I know which one I would rather choose but yet there are times I run to the stench because that is what I am so used to! At work I have 3 different printers that I can send my printing to - a general one with the option to print on plain paper, headed paper or labels, a colour printer for the odd occasion that it is needed and a large beefy photocopier that will store my printing, double side it, put different sheets on different colours, staple and will print huge documents very quickly and very cheaply. The first one I mentioned is my default printer - if I just hit the print key and I know that it will go to the general printer and be on plain paper. Occasionally I have mass printing jobs to do and if I know that I will spend a few hours on the same print job then I will change my default to the third printer I mentioned. Why do I share the details of something so mundane - simply because I know that over years and years my 'default' has been set to legalism. Something happens and the natural, immediate and without question response has come from a position of legalism.
But oh for grace to become my default – how I yearn for it to be so - but I have been told and can see that unlearning the default of legalism can take time! How I pray that grace reactions would become my default reactions in the ups and downs of life!

The other thing that I have realised is that legalism wrecks lives – I only see damage from legalism. Even handling some situations that my husband and I face and have faced I realise how legalism is brought out and have to say that legalism underlines failure, highlights inability and bolds the imperfect!

So many people brought up in legalism struggle to gain the freedom and life offered under grace because their natural response comes from years of being taught ‘you must be this, you must do this, you must be like this, you must produce this, you must achieve this.’ But Grace explodes and disintegrates the ‘you must’ with ‘Jesus has’ - everything is liberated and the delight comes as we realise Jesus has done it all, won the day and given us all that we need!

Oh to live in the fullness of the default of grace..............

Perseverance, Grace and the Gym!

This is a bizarre title for a post but hang with me for a mo while I explain! Back in June I joined the gym that is literally a stones throw from my front door. I have been plucking away at going a number of times each week after the realisation that from 7am - 3.30pm every weekday I do a desk job with only a walk to the photocopier, toilets or a meeting as any exercise. I must confess having joined I want to go - I want my money's worth!!!! :-)

Anyway to get to the point I got up early this morning to get half an hour at the gym in, before a shower and an early start at Church with the praise team. Most days I plug my headphones into the piece of equipment I am working out on and watch the nice big plasma TV at the front. This morning I decided to take my trusty little ipod shuffle and spent half an hour blasting praise music while I had an 'in-head chat' with God. I spent some time praising Him, talking to Him about some of the things on my heart and also just listening to see what He had to say to me. Yet again I heard the same word that has been echoing in recent weeks - the word is 'perseverance' - this word was not only an encouragement to keep going on the treadmill this morning but also to keep going on the road of grace and to keep working through things that I have started to tackle recently. But the beauty of perseverance in grace is that all is given to me to persevere. God isn't going to make me journey this route without His touch and enabling the whole way!

I was thinking about legalism, grace and the gym this morning - I might be a member of the gym but if I don't actually put my kit on and walk out the door, round the corner and go in then being a member profits me nothing. If I go to the gym all the equipment that I want is there, all the good exercise is there to be had if I walk through the door, if I fancy a swim I can just go and do that - it's all there! Now think about this - what if I am a Christian and don't live in the grace given to me - it's all there - I just have to step in to it, there is a wealth of good things for me to enjoy and to revel in and to swim in! BUT I need to step in to grace to enjoy it, to realise it. The differences between my gym and the grace of God are multiple but - here are a few:- Grace is to be enjoyed not endured, Grace is never unavailable my gym has closing times! Grace is personal, a love relationship, the gym deals with strangers and there isn't a love for customers!

The point really is how struck I was this morning that I have to make the effort and go to the gym in order to receive the benefit of membership, I also have to make the effort to put myself in 'the line of fire' to learn about grace, to grow in grace, to be set free 100% to enjoy grace. So as my Sunday draws to a close I start another week with the word 'perseverance' ringing in my head, perseverance to be in the deluge of grace, but hand in hand with a knowledge that without being legalistic I need to step in the flow of grace and try to stay there..........................

Grace and molds?

Been thinking a lot recently about the mold of what I think I should be like as a Christian, perhaps the mold that I think others have for me, the expectations others have of me, the mold that perhaps I even try to put on myself. I am sure others have the same thoughts some time.

And then......well then I think about grace and it hits me - with grace there is no set mold that I have to fit in to. With grace there is nothing I have to do to 'fit in', with grace I am 100% accepted just as I am right now, grace turns the concept of 'I have to be like this' completely on his head. Now it is learning to really get these truths about grace from my head to my heart, to not just be right on the good days but to be true and real to me on the bad days, the lone moments, the times when the tears fall, when grief seems overwhelming and that is the challenge for the moment - for listening to the voice of grace even when things are tough and everything points to the 'you're rubbish syndrome.'

Anyone else battle with this????

The Journey of Grace Continues

I continue to journey through the ups and downs of stepping into the realisation that living under grace is completely different to living under rules, regulations and trying to fit into a mould. The journey has new highs and new lows. Constant new revelations seem to hit me on a daily basis and yet at the same time the battle often seems more intense! Recent days / weeks the feelings of condemnation seem to have grown and become more tougher to handle. I am grateful to God for putting key people around me that have encouraged me that the Bible says 'there is no condemnation for those in Christ.' People that have encouraged me that God's love and thoughts towards me are good and will never change even if I ever mess up that He will still love me that He doesn't ever get cross with me that I haven't fully grasped grace yet.
Then this evening I was reading Steve McVey's blog and this post and these paragraphs hit me like a bullet:-

The Spirit of Christ doesn’t put you under guilt and condemnation about something Jesus Christ has already absorbed into Himself at the cross, defeated and put away. Remember that Jesus dealt with sin and then sat down by the right hand of God because there was nothing left to do regarding sin. Your sins have been defeated and put away. So at every moment, “There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.”

When the Christian sins, the Holy Spirit causes us to realize, “This isn’t who I am. I don’t want to live like this.” That realization is a call to recognize our righteousness and act like who we are. If you sense feelings of worthlessness and shame; if you think you are a horrible person when you sin, that isn’t the Holy Spirit speaking to you. It may be your church or family history rising up to condemn you, but it isn’t God’s Spirit. He doesn’t do that. Ever.

-Steve McVey

What an awesome statement re God condemning me - "He doesn't do that. Ever."

How I pray that this goes from my head to my heart.....................

Grace Walk

I had seen the book 'Grace Walk' mentioned on some grace and glory blogs and realised that a number of folks were all saying what an impact this book had on their journey into grace. I couldn't help myself I HAD to read this book! So I brought a new and used copy from Amazon and was delighted when it arrived. I am not a particularly fast reader and sometimes feel like I am wading through a field of thick mud wondering if I will ever finish a book! Not with this one though - I just could not get enough of it! I am going to have to re-read this now with my husband he has to hear some of the stuff that McVey says!

So here are some snippits that have blessed me so very very much:-

'God never intended for our focus to be on performing and producing. He desires that our focus be on the person of Jesus Christ.'

'When you pray for God to help with your situation and things don't get any better, remember that He knows what He is doing! Just because you can't see His hand doesn't mean He isn't working. He may be using the situation to break that outer shell of self-reliance that keeps the life of Christ from being expressed through your lifestyle.'

'Adverse circumstances may be the hand of God working to bring us to the end of self-sufficiency.'

'God's purpose is not that we should rededicate our self with all it abilities, but that we should give up all help in self. We sometimes try to live for Him when He wants to live His life through us.'

'Law will cause a person to say,"Lord, help me to do the things You want me to do." Grace will cause a person to say, "Lord Jesus, I am abiding in You and You in me. Express You life through me in any way that you desire." '

'Understanding our identity is absolutely essential to our success in living the Christian life.'

'Our identity in Christ is one of the most liberating truths we will ever understand.'

'You are fully accepted by God. You are accepted because you are in Christ (Ephesians 1:6). Because Christ has received you and He is fully accepted by the Father, you are fully accepted as well! You don't need to change a thing about yourself for God to accept you. You acceptance isn't based on what you do, but on who you are.'

It is important to see yourself as God sees you. You know how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly through the process of metamorphosis. The caterpillar weaves a cocoon around itself and a short time later emerges as a butterfly.

If you were to see a butterfly, it would never occur to you to say,

"Hey everybody! Come and look at this good-looking converted worm!"

Why not? After all, it was a worm. And it was "converted." No, now it is a new

creature, and you don't think of it in terms of what it was.

You see it as it is now - a butterfly.

In exactly the same way, God see you as His new creature in Christ.

Although you might not always act like a good butterfly - you might land

on things you shouldn't, or forget you are a butterfly and crawl around

with your old worm buddies - the truth of the matter is,

you are never going to be a worm again!

It was liberating to understand just how God had made me into a butterfly. I was no longer a worm! In no way do I intend to convey the idea that understanding my identity caused me to live sinlessly. However, I have found that when I do sing now, I soon see it as foolish because I know that a sinful attitude or action contradicts my new nature.'

'Grace can never be repaid. It has no price, no because it is worthless, but because it is priceless.'

'God's love and acceptance are totally unconditional.'

'A person's behaviour has absolutely no influence on God's love. He loves you because, in His grace, He has chosen to do so. You can't do anything to gain God's acceptance, because Jesus has already done everything to cause the Father to accept you. You are fully accepted by God because you are in Christ. You can't improve on total acceptance, and God already accepts you totally.'

'The law says, "You must, you ought," while grace causes a person to say, "I want to!"'

'God is not interested in what we can do for Him. He can do anything that He needs done! He doesn't want what we can do - He just wants us!'

'The core of the Christian life doesn't revolve around doing, but it is grounded in being.'

'We are Christ's bride, not His hostage.'

'Legalism turns prayer into a boring monologue, while grace turns it into a delightful conversation.'

'Someone said that they don't bother talking to God about the small things because He's so busy. Remember this - it's all small to God! He doesn't need to conserve His energy for the big stuff. He is omnipotent! You won't drain Him of His power. If He knows how many hairs are on your head, He must care about every single details of your life, regardless of how small it may seem to you.'

'Christians need to give as much credit to God's ability to lead as they give to the ability of Satan to mislead!'

'Grace makes evangelism a real joy instead of a religious job.'

'When people are consumed with desire, they can't be stopped! Grace inflames the desire to witness. It ignites compassion toward the lost and motivates Christians to naturally witness with supernatural power. Grace-based evangelism is nothing less than an excitement about Jesus that is contagious to others. Grace motivates one to share a Person, not a plan.'

'The goal of evangelism is not to obtain decisions for Christ, but to introduce people to Christ.'

Gosh - I could go on and on and on - there are some awesome things in this book to encourage, inspire and help in the journey of grace - I make my decision today to live under grace, to be free to enjoy God, to live free from condemnation, to see myself as accepted, loved, clothed int he very righteousness of Jesus. Today I chose to give up trying and trying and trying and to rest in what Christ has won for me, I may have to make this choice tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the next day until grace is routed through me as a name through stick of rock.............

Oversized, superabounding grace.

Here's a great quote on how big grace is:-

"There is enough grace in God's heart of love to save and keep saved for time and eternity, every sinner that ever has or ever will live, and then enough left over to save a million more universes full of sinners, were there such, and then some more. There is enough grace available to give every saint constant victory over sin, and then some more. There is enough grace to meet and cope with all the sorrows, heartaches, difficulties, temptations, testings, and trials of human existence, and more added to that. God's salvation is an oversize salvation. It is shock-proof, stain proof, unbreakable, all-sufficient. It is equal to every emergency, for it flows from the heart of an infinite God freely bestowed and righteously given through the all-sufficient sacrifice of our Lord on the Cross. Salvation is all of grace. Trust God's grace. It is a superabounding grace." Quote Kenneth Wuest.

CH Spurgeon on "My Grace Is Sufficient For You."

I read this early this morning and it really hit home, made me smile but really got me thinking:-

There are many passages of Scripture which you will never understand until some trying experience shall interpret them to you. The other evening I was riding home after a heavy day's work; I was wearied and depressed; and swiftly and suddenly as a lightning flash, this text laid hold of me: "My grace is sufficient for you!" When I got home, I looked it up in the original, and finally it dawned upon me what the text was saying, MY grace is sufficient for THEE. "Why," I said to myself, "I should think it is!" and I burst out laughing. It seemed to make unbelief so absurd. It was though some little fish, being very thirsty, was troubled about drinking the river dry; and Father River said; "Drink away, little fish, my stream is sufficient for you!" Or as if a little mouse in the granaries of Egypt after seven years of plenty, feared lest it should die of famine, and Joseph said, "Cheer up, little mouse, my granaries are sufficient for you!" Again I imagines a man on the mountain saying to himself, "I fear I shall exhaust all the oxygen in the atmosphere." But the earth cries, "Breathe away, O man, and fill your lungs; my atmosphere is sufficient for you!" C.H. Spurgeon