If you put all of my weaknesses on one side of the scale and all of my strengths on the other side of the scale, it’s not even close in comparison.  Strength wins easily.  See if you agree with me on this.  My weaknesses: I don’t have all the right answers.  I don’t say all the right words.  I don’t make all the right moves.  Day after day, there are countless ways in which I am wrong, not right.  My strengths:  Jesus.  The scale always tips to the side of grace!  Day after day, He gives me the right stuff I need and forgives me for the wrong stuff I do.  Let us rejoice in this good news today:  His strength will overcome our weakness.

The gospel transforms us from who we used to be into who we are now in Christ.  We were dead and now have been made alive.  And the gospel continues to change us from looking a little like Jesus to thinking, speaking and acting more like Him.  We were babies and now are growing into adulthood.  As people who are set apart for God, we set out to live in ways that reflect we belong to Him.  This will inevitably create conflict as we live for the kingdom of God while also living in this anti-God world.  But the same grace that brought us out of the darkness into His light will help us shine His light back into the darkness.

Has God started a good work in you? How can you and I know that we have received God’s grace?  There are two really good indicators that your faith in Him is genuine:  you have a growing hatred for sin and a growing love for Jesus.  You don’t just want to be free from the consequences of sin, but sin itself.  You don’t just want to have the blessings of God, but God Himself.  There is a desire that begins growing inside of you to experience all that God has for you, in this world and the one to come.  You believe in Jesus for the first time, and then you believe in Him more fully over time.  We grow.  That’s how we know.

We’re given… New identities.  New desires.  New lives.  New futures.  Christians have a faith in Jesus that is demonstrated by loving obedience, though imperfectly executed.  That means there is grace to help us get this right, and there is grace to help us when we get this wrong.  Our entire spiritual journey is one in which we rely on grace to take steps of faith in living as God intends for us, and in which we rest in that same grace when we take mis-steps knowing that God won’t give up on us.  Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith, and we can be sure of this:  God will finish what He starts in us.

Faith is saying “yes” to God’s grace by agreeing with Him that you’re a sinner who cannot do anything to make yourself good enough to be accepted by Him, and then by asking Him to begin a good work in you to increasingly change you into a radically new person that is acceptable to Him.  Faith is also saying “no” to our old lives of indifference and rebellion to God by turning away from them to Him.  We mean it when we say of our sin: “I did it.  I regret doing it.  Help me not to do it again.  Lead me to something better in you.”  When that happens… God doesn’t just give us different lives; He makes us into different people.

Grace is God’s answer to the question of how sinners like you and me could ever be welcomed into His presence, His family and His blessing.  Then, grace poses a question for us to answer:  will you receive it? The gospel of grace is only good news if it is true, if you are included in it, and if you believe it.   It is true.  You can be included.  Do you believe?  You can have it all if you believe Jesus is Who the Bible says He is, Jesus did what the Bible says He did, and Jesus will deliver all the Bible says He will.  Grace leads us to Jesus.  Faith leads us to follow Jesus in loving obedience.  Nearness leads us to enjoy real life with Jesus.

You can’t afford it; but it’s already paid for.  You can’t earn it; but it’s freely given.  You can’t secure it; but it’s always available to you.  God’s grace has countless implications and applications for everyday life and eternal life, ranging from getting good things to getting through bad things to getting to the best things. There is grace for you to have the life of real contentedness that you’ve always wanted.  And that’s just the beginning, for it will expand and extend throughout eternity.  All you have to do is … Want it.  Ask for it.  Receive it.  Enjoy it.   Grace isn’t about your doing or your deserving; it’s about God giving us His gifts.

There is a lot we learn to love about Who Jesus is, which we learn about from what Jesus does.  We love that He is gracious, kind, powerful, wise and compassionate … and we see He is all of those things in the way He relates to us.  He forgives us, so we know He is gracious.  He blesses us, so we know He is kind.  He helps us, so we know He is powerful.  He guides us, so we know He is wise.  He cares for us, so we know He is compassionate.  But it is His character, nature and personality that draw us and delight us. We don’t love Jesus because we see His wonderful acts; we love Jesus because we see His wonderful heart.

As Christians, we are in an ongoing war against our sin, and there are daily occasions in which we lose the battle.  This spiritual journey we are on is one in which we have not yet been fully delivered from the presence of sin, so we must fight against it and confess our failings when we lose a skirmish.   Ours is a humble and simple cry out for grace: “I did it.  I regret doing it.  Help me not do it again.  Lead me to something better in you.”  Because Jesus has already secured the final victory over our sin, there is grace for us.  Grace that gives us pardon when we lose the fight, and grace that gives us power to fight on.

Worshipping Jesus is war against worshipping anything else.  Only one person, pursuit, prize or passion can rank as your highest priority, get your greatest admiration and be your fullest joy.  The more you value Jesus above all other things, the less you will value other things above Jesus.  Your heart.  Your mind.  Your will.  These will all bow down to something or someone that means the most to you.  While we are “given all things richly to enjoy,” none of these things are meant to compete with our love and loyalty for Jesus.  Who is worthy of our worship?  May we answer with our hearts, minds and lives: Jesus is.

Christians are to be both consumers of and contributors to the mutual building up of the family of God.  In our role as consumers, we are to let others do for us.  In our role as contributors, we are to do for others.  All of the “one another” commands in the Bible for how we are to interact with each other are two-sided.  We are to be encouraged by others, and we are to encourage others.  We are to be served by others, and we are to serve others.  We are to be cared for by others, and we are to care for others.   Every Christ-like act of love should flow in both directions. By grace, let’s do two things today: give and receive.

How is God glorified through our happiness?  There are at least three ways… First, He is glorified when we trust that He knows best how to make us happy, and we lovingly do what He says to bring about our happiness.  Second, He is glorified when we thank Him for the good things He gives to us and does for us that make us happy so that He gets credit.  Third, He is glorified when we treasure Him as our ultimate source of happiness by delighting not just in His gifts, but in Him as a good and generous and gracious Giver.   Trust Him.  Thank Him.  Treasure Him.  This is how God is honored in us and we are happy in Him.

It may surprise us.  It may confuse us.  It may overwhelm us.  But when it does, let us rest in knowing that the plan of God is good for us in the end, better than our own preferred ideas, and the best way of doing things to get what we’re both after.  The mutual goal for our lives is simple:  for God to be glorified in our happiness.  We don’t have to choose between God being honored and us being happy.  We have to choose between God’s way and our way for getting there.  Trust Him today because… Our plans are flawed even when we don’t think they are.  His plans are perfect even when we don’t think they are.

Never give up on your family member who is far from God.  Never stop praying for your friend who is cold toward God.  Never lose hope over your loved one who doesn’t believe in God.  We were all there in some way at some time in our past, and God changed our lives.  He can do it again!  He is still rescuing sinners by His grace so they can find their way to new life in Jesus.  No matter how far away they are.  No matter how cold they are.  No matter how unbelieving they are.  It takes a miracle for someone to repent and believe the gospel, but that’s exactly where we pin our hopes:  Our gracious God still works miracles.

Life is a series of personal, societal and general changes. But there is one thing that remains the same: our God is worthy to be praised through all of the ups and downs of our lives. Therefore… We praise Him when we succeed, but also when we fail.  We praise Him when things are comfortable, but also when they are difficult.  We praise Him when we get what we want, but also when we miss out.  God deserves our praise because of Who He is and what He does whether we are experiencing a high or a low. So… Let’s praise Him today as the One Who gets us to the mountaintops and gets us through the valleys.

We rob ourselves of satisfaction when we long too deeply for something more or something different than what God has given us. We will not like our lives when we think too much about how unlike they are from… The way it used to be in better times.  The way we want it to be in current times.  The way it seems to be for others at all times. But we can stop this robbery by trusting God knows best what to give us and by treasuring what God does give us in, through and because of the gift of His Son. Contentment will be ours if we stop focusing on what is absent from our lives and start rejoicing that Jesus is present in them.

An effective lie of the enemy works like this:  It is rejected.  It is tolerated.  It is approved.  It is encouraged.   It starts out so absurd that only someone considered a fool would believe it.  It ends up so accepted that only someone considered a fool would not believe it.  If something is said loud enough and long enough, people will think it is true. As Christians, we must look to God over politicians, journalists, bloggers, podcasters, peers and other people for what to believe.  We must turn to Scripture over culture for truth and wisdom for how to live.  Let us believe this… God is not our enemy, and God will never lie to us.

You can tell Jesus anything about the help you need and He will tell you something to help you with that need.  Tell Him you’re uncertain and He will tell you to follow Him.  Tell Him you’re worried and He will tell you to trust Him.  Tell Him you’re dissatisfied and He will tell you to enjoy Him.   Do you know what will happen when you tell Jesus that you’re tired, discouraged, lonely, angry, hurting, stressed or sad? He will tell you that His grace is sufficient to bring you relief, rest, renewal and even rejoicing as He brings you through hard times.  Tell Jesus what’s on your heart and let Jesus tell you what will unburden your heart.

He doesn’t take a day off.  He doesn’t take a break.  He doesn’t take a nap.  God never stops working for you and me.  24/7/365/Lifelong.  He is continually doing things we cannot do, doing things on our behalf and doing things to ensure that He is honored in us, and we are happy in Him.   Tirelessly.  Flawlessly. Endlessly. God keeps going to work things out for our good, work to make us more like Jesus, work through us to change the world, and work to get us safely home.  What grace! Today, we will not see all that God does for us.  But let us never forget the good news that He will never stop doing His good work.

There are two words that Christians ought to use regularly to encourage believers and engage with non-believers:  I understand.  We get it that perfection isn’t possible.  We get it that mistakes will be made.  We get it that flaws will come forth. We are all sinners who struggle with being the people we were made to be and doing the things we were made to do, even if we have been following Jesus for decades.  We never outgrow our need for His forgiveness and help.    Others need to hear us honestly acknowledge that we are fellow-sojourners who fail and fall too. And that we know where to go for grace when we do.