But God!

The thing about grace that amazes and blows me away is that grace is not just something nice that Jesus does for good people. Grace is a perfect, holy, righteous God showing unmerited favor to imperfect, unholy, unrighteous people. It is God doing good for us humans who desire only bad.

The term in Scripture that shows that truth is “But God”. “But God” connects our unworthiness with God’s grace. We see this most clearly in Ephesians 2.

Ephesians 2:1-3

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience – among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Ephesians 2:11-12

Therefore remember that at one time Gentiles in the flesh called “the uncircumcision ” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands – remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world

Ephesians 2:19

So, then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God

Before experiencing God’s grace that saves and changes us, we were:

Dead in trespasses and sins

Following the course of the world, the devil, a spirit of disobedience

Living in the passions of the flesh

Carrying out the desires of the body and of the mind

By nature, children of wrath

Separated from the people of God and from Christ

Strangers to God’s covenants

Without hope, without God

Strangers and aliens in this world

But God!

Ephesians 2:4-7

But God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:13-18

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

Ephesians 2:20-22

Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Grace makes us:

Recipients of God’s mercy and love, and of the peace of Christ

Made alive, and made a part of the people of God

Raised with Christ

Seated with Christ in the heavenly places

Set to receive grace throughout eternity

Reconciled to God

No hostility between God and man

Access in the Spirit to God the Father

Citizens and members of God’s house

Built upon Christ and His Word

Growing into a holy temple in the Lord

Built into a dwelling place for God

What makes the difference?

Not our goodness

Not our deserving it

Not our earning it

God’s grace is what makes the difference. It is the only things that makes the difference.

Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is experiencing God’s grace and being transformed by that grace.

By God’s Grace, Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls,

                                      Joe

Grace and a Boat

Jesus used what was available to proclaim the gospel. In Luke 5 Jesus used a fishing boat to do three huge things.

Luke 5:1-3

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on Him to hear the Word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and He saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, He asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the people from the boat.

Jesus uses whatever is available to share God’s Word.

Jesus uses the boat as a platform to teach the Word of God. Jesus taught the Word of God in many different locations. He taught in a boat, on a hillside, in synagogues, in the Temple courts, and as He walked along roads in Israel. Jesus didn’t follow tradition or religious rituals in teaching God’s Word.

We can follow Jesus’ example by using what God puts at our disposal to share the Gospel of Jesus. We have media in our hands that can be used to share the Gospel. We have groups and organizations by which we can share the gospel. We have community events we can use to share the gospel. We have above everything else personal relationship in which God can use us to share the gospel.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is using all things to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus.

Luke 5:4-7

And when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at Your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signal to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink.

Jesus uses the boat to give a great blessing to Simon and his fishing partners.

The normal way of fishing in that time was to go out in the evening in the shallow water. They had done that and spent all night fishing and caught nothing. But only because Jesus told Simon to push off from the land and let down the nets did Simon do it. Simon was not expecting to catch anything. They caught so many fish that their nets were breaking and that it almost sank the two boats.

Jesus wants to bless us. He will not always do it the way we anticipate and never the way the world expects it to be done.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is receiving blessings from Jesus in His way and in His timing.

Luke 5:8-11

But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

Jesus uses the boat to show Simon and the others their sinfulness, His power, and the call to follow Him.

Before we can really follow Jesus, we have to acknowledge our sin.

Before we can really follow Jesus, we have to experience His power to forgive our sin and remove it from our lives.

Before we can really follow Jesus, we have to leave everything.

Following Jesus is not a part time thing or a thing we do when it is convenient or comfortable. Following Jesus is a 24/7, 365-day focus.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is being willing to leave everything so we can 100% follow Jesus.

All that Jesus does in this passage is based in grace. Neither Simon nor anyone else asked Jesus to teach God’s Word or bless Simon and no one asked Jesus if they could follow Him. Jesus did all this by His grace.

Jesus wants to use us, His people, to share the Gospel of His Grace with the world.

In God’s Grace, Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                           Joe

Grace and the Birth of Jesus

I know it is July but I read Luke 2 this week and noticed how full of God’s grace the birth of Jesus is. God had given the promise of the Messiah as early as Genesis 3. Jesus came not because people or even a person saw the need and prayed for a Savior to come. Jesus came because of God’s love for us, His human creation, and because of God’s grace.

Jesus’ birth draws groups to converge to show the world the majesty and greatness of God.

“As weak as a baby” is a common phrase that expresses total weakness and even absolute helplessness. Jesus came as a baby but, because of the grace of God, His birth brings circumstances and groups to accomplish the will of God.

Luke 2:1-7

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Augustus Caesar was ruling the Roman Empire, but God was in charge. God used Caesar’s edict to move Joseph and Mary seventy-five miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem to fulfill God’s Word. When Joseph and Mary submitted to being used to bring the Messiah into the world, they were available to do whatever God chose for them.

God promised that the Messiah-Savior would be:

A Human

A Jew

A Member of the Tribe of Judah

A Member of the Family of David

An Offspring of a Virgin

A Birth Occurring in Bethlehem

God accomplished all of these by His grace through the faith of Joseph and Mary.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is allowing God to direct our life’s paths and destinations.

Luke 2:8-14

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you; you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

God’s grace draws the angels from heaven to the earth to announce the good news of the coming of Jesus the Savior into the world. The wonder of the Creator being born as a creature moved the angels to praise God. The first announcement of the Savior’s birth came to a group of anonymous shepherds. This visiting of the angels to the shepherds reveals the grace of God toward humanity. It was an unmerited and undeserved gift of a gracious, loving God to sinful humanity.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is worshiping God for who He is – Grace.

Luke 2:15-20

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made know to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made know the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorify and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

The announcement of the angels about the birth of the Savior in Bethlehem drew the shepherds out of the fields into Bethlehem. Shepherds were considered unclean because their work was ceremonially unclean. It also kept them away from worship at the Temple for weeks at a time so they could be declared clean. In revealing the birth of Jesus to the shepherds God was showing that it is not just to the rich and mighty that God works, but in the poor and humble. These shepherds are great examples of what to do when we experience the grace of God proclaim: it to everyone God brings into our lives.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is experiencing the grace of God and with great joy proclaiming and sharing that with others.

Angels have never experienced the grace of God, so they can’t bear witness as we as humans can. Telling others about the Savior and His grace is not just an obligation, but an awesome privilege, and we who are followers of Jesus have been given that privilege.

By God’s Grace Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls

                                          Joe

God's Grace Leads to True Freedom

Romans 6:16 (NLT)

Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!

God’s grace has set us free.

We just celebrated 243 years on us being a country. 243 years of political freedom. But are we really free?

Freedom is the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint of choice or action.

True freedom comes from God. 2 Corinthians 3:17 says “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

Jesus’ death and resurrection are what makes it possible for us to be free. It is the Holy Spirit indwelling us that makes freedom real in our lives. People can live in politically free countries, like the United States, but still not experience real freedom. Real freedom comes when we know that sin and death don’t control our lives. Only through Jesus’ death and resurrection and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit can that freedom be experienced.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is acknowledging that it is only Jesus’ death and resurrection and the Holy Spirit’s presence that make us free.

Peter says in 1 Peter 2:16 that we are to live as people who are free and not use our freedom as a cover-up for evil, but live as servants of God. And Paul says in Galatians 5:13 that we were called to freedom and we are not to use our freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but live as servants of God.

God has provided freedom so that His people can live as His servants serving others. God has not provided freedom so that we can use it for evil or for us to use it as an opportunity for selfish purposes. Freedom was not provided to us by Jesus for us to use it for ourselves, but to use it to honor Him. When we use our freedom to honor Jesus it creates even more freedom in our lives. When we use freedom to do what we want, it can lead us back into slavery to sin and death.

In Galatians 5:1 Paul says that Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery God wants people to be free yoke to all who labor and are heavy laden. Jesus promises rest when we take His yoke on us. We can have rest because when we are yoked with Jesus, He does the heavy pulling and we can find true rest.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is experiencing freedom in Jesus as we take His yoke of rest.

We are given a warning about freedom in 2 Peter 2:19. Peter says, “They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.”

There are many things that people promise will bring freedom to us. Those things cannot bring freedom because they are not Jesus and only Jesus brings freedom. Anything that controls our lives we are thus enslaved to. If Jesus controls our lives, we can experience freedom; but if anything else controls our lives, we are enslaved.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is allowing Jesus to control our lives and give us real freedom.

I joined with most of our nation in celebrating the founding our nation and the political freedom that we enjoy by being an American. I want to celebrate with even more joy and passion Jesus and His death and resurrection that brings me true freedom.

In Freedom by Jesus’ Grace Raising the Roof and Remove the Walls,

                                                  Joe