The Cost of Grace; The Freedom of Repentance

Oh how marvelous the grace of God the Father, the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth!  How awesome the power of the Holy spirit that transforms our lives when we choose to believe His word and obey it's commands!

How deep and wide is Gods mercy towards us when we repent of sin and ask forgiveness; how freely He gives the forgiveness and cleanses us of all unrighteousness by the blood of Christ the Savior!

How comforting that He causes the devil and all evil to flee from us when first we submit to Him and resist the lies and deceits directed toward us!

How free is the Grace He bestows upon us - BUT CHEAP?  Never cheap my friends!

Mistakenly making it appear that grace and holiness is so easy to obtain and repentance and submission optional rather than mandatory only confirms that we have lost sight of the cost, what it cost GOD to make that grace and mercy so freely available to us!

It cost the putting aside of divinity to come to this earth as a human baby to experience in fleshly form all that His creation experiences, so we might better understand His empathy for us.

It cost Him giving up His ETERNAL life to take on fleshly DEATH in order to pay the price required to redeem us from our sin.

How great is grace, how freely given.  How valuable it is, ETERNALLY valuable.  How precious a gift, freely given and freely received.

Unlike every earthly gift which is temporary only, this gift is eternal life, eternal peace, eternal salvation, eternal mercy from our ETERNAL GOD!

WORSHIP HIS HOLY NAME!  PRAISE THE LORD FOR HE IS GREAT AND WORTHY OF ALL PRAISE!

Prompt and blessed

We have been blessed tremendously to be living in such a time as this; instant communication enables us to reach what were once the most unreachable people groups with the Gospel of Jesus.

We enjoy the grace of God in abundance, free from the onerous daily chore of sacrificing animals to atone for sin; Jesus set us free indeed! (John 8:36)

And still we are privileged in the "Old Testament" teachings, as Apostle Paul so lovingly pointed out in Romans 15:4
"For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope",
but we are not beholden to the hundreds of specific laws and observances thanks to the Grace of God made available to us through Christ.

Truly there are many wonderful Old Testament scriptures of great teaching that speak into our lives today, eloquently and truthfully.


One such scripture I believe we should heed with all haste in our hearts is found in the book of the Prophet Isaiah.  During the reign of several Israel kings, God raised up Prophets to speak to to His people, precisely because they had refused to converse directly with their God at the time of Moses (Exodus 20:19).  These Prophets often spoke both to the people of their time and for future reference, to those who would come later.

Isaiah 1:19  If you are willing and obedient you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel you shall be devoured by the sword.  For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

I believe that this is one of those things which was "written before for our learning" that Paul was referring to that has always continued to have affect on peoples lives even when they may not have been aware of it.

While we most certainly DO enjoy the grace and favor of God, and though His love for us is unconditional, this isn't license to sin!  Now more than ever, it is imperative to our own well being, that each of us, individually "work out our own salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12) and that we do NOT REFUSE to hear the Lord speak to us personally and directly!

Just as He put it to the Israelites, it is even now a choice put before us much like the choice to choose LIFE over DEATH. (Deuteronomy 30:19) 

IF we are willing and obedient.... which refers to what exactly?  To the rules and regulations of man?  To the statutes and prohibitions of religious leaders?  To an American government (or any other government!) that appears bent on destroying the work of the Lord in our lives?

A simple reading of the verse in context puts it all in perspective and makes itself extremely clear and easy to understand.

Isaiah 1: 18  "Come now and let us reason together" says the Lord.

Then, like He already had planned it for all Eternity, (I really think He did!) the Lord makes clear that He speaks to the Israelites, yes, but also to we who would be saved later, by describing our condition so we will recognize ourselves.

 "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are like crimson, they shall be as wool."

We whose sins that are like scarlet have been washed in the sacrificed blood of Jesus and have been made "white as snow".  

This verse is written FOR OUR LEARNING.

Here is the physical and spiritual principle at work.

If this; then that.  

We all understand how this principle works in every area of life.  If we do this thing then that thing happens.  

The law of cause and effect.  Each action has an equal and opposite reaction.

Christians, the grace of God, as Apostle Paul so clearly taught in Romans 6:1, isn't a license to SIN, but a method to avoid being enslaved by sin!  

Every thinking human being can see clearly that all of our actions have consequences.  If we desire pleasant consequences that give us joy, we must choose willingly to be obedient to God.  If we choose to rebel; to do "our own thing" then we will suffer the consequences of those choices, good or bad.

With that in mind, wouldn't it be ridiculous for us to then declare that God is not good because we have reaped the unhappy consequence of our own action?  

God has instructed us clearly, as any loving parent would a child, on right behavior in order that we will reap the result of good consequence.

Right now you might find yourself asking this question; "How can I know God's instructions so I can choose to follow them?"

READ HIS INSTRUCTION MANUAL.

On the first read through, I know it will sound foreign and difficult to understand.  The first time we are introduced to anything it seems hard.  Remember arithmetic?  When they first introduced long division, I was convinced I'd never understand.  I went on to achieve A's in Algebra years later in High School.  

The GREAT thing about the Bible is that it is a living work, spoken into being by a Living God who moved on living men to write His will. (II Peter 1:21)

And it gets better.  The word has a spiritual life to it.  When you are born again of Gods spirit, your understanding is that much greater.  This isn't something that can be taught or explained, but only spiritually discerned by those who are filled with the Holy Spirit.


Reading the Bible regularly you will discover that understanding comes naturally.  Understanding increases with each reading.  

You can read the Bible in any manner that works for you.

Read straight through from cover to cover.

Start at the Gospels and work through the New Testament first.

Skip around from book to book, or even chapter to chapter.

Or you can join us, using the daily reading schedule we follow, and we can journey together toward deeper understanding and closer fellowship with the Lord. (See the Daily Reading page of this website) 

When we know, understand and OBEY Gods commands, we reap all manner of GOOD THINGS!  That is a promise directly from God the Father and Creator of all things to His children.  By the same token, if we choose disobedience we have no one but ourselves to blame when we reap those negative consequences.

Our prayer for you is that you will KNOW and RECEIVE the goodness God desires you to experience in your life, in Jesus Name, AMEN!

A way of foolish wickedness - a way of Eternal Life!

Proverbs 7

1 My son, keep my words,
And treasure my commands within you.
2 Keep my commands and live,
And my law as the apple of your eye.
3 Bind them on your fingers;
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And call understanding your nearest kin,
5 That they may keep you from the immoral woman,
From the seductress who flatters with her words.

6 For at the window of my house
I looked through my lattice,
7 And saw among the simple,
I perceived among the youths,
A young man devoid of understanding,
8 Passing along the street near her corner;
And he took the path to her house
9 In the twilight, in the evening,
In the black and dark night.

10 And there a woman met him,
With the attire of a harlot, and a crafty heart.
11 She was loud and rebellious,
Her feet would not stay at home.
12 At times she was outside, at times in the open square,
Lurking at every corner.
13 So she caught him and kissed him;
With an impudent face she said to him:
14 “I have peace offerings with me;
Today I have paid my vows.
15 So I came out to meet you,
Diligently to seek your face,
And I have found you.
16 I have spread my bed with tapestry,
Colored coverings of Egyptian linen.
17 I have perfumed my bed
With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let us take our fill of love until morning;
Let us delight ourselves with love.
19 For my husband is not at home;
He has gone on a long journey;
20 He has taken a bag of money with him,
And will come home on the appointed day.”

21 With her enticing speech she caused him to yield,
With her flattering lips she seduced him.
22 Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter,
Or as a fool to the correction of the stocks,
23 Till an arrow struck his liver.
As a bird hastens to the snare,
He did not know it would cost his life.

24 Now therefore, listen to me, my children;
Pay attention to the words of my mouth:
25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways,
Do not stray into her paths;
26 For she has cast down many wounded,
And all who were slain by her were strong men.
27 Her house is the way to hell,
Descending to the chambers of death.

Take a closer look at verses 14 - 17.  How many of us are exactly as this foolish young woman? We confess our sins and seek forgiveness, but then, because our hearts are wicked and not yielded fully to God in total surrender, we turn right around and commit sin, the same sin even, all over again.

Repentance is not an outward action of the flesh, but an inward, true change of the heart, a turning AWAY from sin that leads to a new heart attitude.  That new heart attitude is what leads to new actions.  

When our heart hasn't changed, just going through the motions counts as nothing with the Lord.  He is ever ready to forgive and give us a fresh start.  For that I am extremely grateful, for I've had more than one totally fresh, clean start thanks to Gods grace.

But He knows the difference. He knows when we are simply "pretending" on the outside - and when we have truly repented in our hearts and are ready to surrender and let HIM change our hearts forever.

Godly sorrow leads to true repentance.  When you are sorry, not because you were caught or there were unwelcome consequences to your actions.  But when you are really hurt in your heart that you have dishonored the Lord, who is worthy of all honor and glory and praise.

Verses 24 - 27 tell the story of her end and the end of those who foolishly follow in her footsteps.  But that isn't the end of the whole story!  No - the whole story is that Christ Jesus came and died for us to not only be forgiven of our sin, but to redeem us from slavery to sin and set us truly free to be brand new creations with Eternal through Him!

Now that is a perfect ending to our story!

Love and Kisses