Tag Archives: surrender

May 28, 2014

Stop Asking for God’s Grace

By Rebekah

How do I react when I make a mistake, when I don’t do what I want to do and I do what I don’t want to do (Rom. 7:19-20), when I sin?

Hopefully, the immediate or near immediate reaction is remorse and repentance. Often that is the case. Often another human emotional response is guilt. Guilt can be good to an extent, if it leads to repentance and change.

If I’ve repented and changed, guilt no longer has a place. But what if it won’t let go? It could mean that there’s more the Holy Spirit is trying to show me. Or I could just be holding into the guilt because of shame or habit or some other reason. That’s no good.

It can be hard to let go of guilt, especially if my sin affects or harms others. If I lash out in anger at someone, I can ask God to forgive me, and He does. But I also have to ask that person to forgive me and then deal with the consequences of my actions. If it’s been a habitual problem, it can be even more difficult to lay down the guilt.

Recently, I was discussing with a local priest this issue of guilt robbing us of grace. How does a repeat offender (aka all humans), keep coming back and asking for more grace? His answer floored me.

He basically reminded me that, as a human, I’m never worthy of the grace and mercy that I need. I have fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). But he also reminded me of the good news – I can never exhaust God’s grace and mercy. His mercies are new every morning (Lam. 3:23).

He gave, what was for me, life-changing advice: “Stop asking for God’s grace, and start cooperating with it.”

Stop asking for grace, and start cooperating with it. That one sentence changed my entire perspective. Why would I ask for something that’s already been given? The grace of God is a gift that was already given two millennia ago. It is free. It is for you and for me.

So what does it mean to cooperate with grace? I don’t know that I have a complete answer.

It seems that this cooperation begins with repentance. Then laying down guilt at the foot of the Cross and walking in a new freedom. It means laying that guilt down every time we’re tempted to pick it up again. It means finding ways to change and grow stronger in spirit to better resist the next temptation which tries to come between us and God. It means allowing the Holy Spirit to search our hearts and root out anything that exalts itself against Him.

That is what it means to me, but I’m more interested in what you think. How do you cooperate with God’s grace?

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May 6, 2014

I can’t do it

By Rebekah

I can’t be holy. I can spend my whole life trying to be perfect by my standards, by the world’s standards, even by God’s standards. I will fail. Apart from Christ, I have no hope of salvation, no hope of glory, no hope of true success.

So to be holy, to follow the way of Christ, I have to turn my heart from what I can do. I must remove my focus from myself and my inability. I must look instead to Christ on the cross, Christ risen, Christ in me. Then, I have the only hope that matters, the only hope that is true.

This year my mantra has been the song, “Lord, I Need You” by Matt Maher. It perfectly captures my heart at at this moment in time. And it’s popularity suggests that it echoes the hearts of many Christians.

I especially like the second verse and the bridge:

V2: Where sin runs deep Your grace is more
Where grace is found is where You are
And where You are, Lord, I am free
Holiness is Christ in me
 
Bridge: Teach my song to rise to You
When temptation comes my way
And when I cannot stand I’ll fall on You
Jesus, You’re my hope and stay

The theme of grace, freedom and holiness are tied into one thought. No matter where I go, what I do, how many times I fall, Jesus is my hope and stay.

I tend to be such a control freak that I don’t always realize that I’m doing something in my own strength instead of relying on Him. Until I hit the wall or fall on my face. But the more I make a habit of falling on Him, running to Him, looking to Him, the more I realize I need Him in every way, in every minute of every day.

Needing Christ doesn’t make us weak, for He is our strength. His grace is always bigger than our sin. His power is always greater than our need. His love is always enough.

I can’t be holy, but I can surrender to Him. It’s a daily choice, sometimes hourly or even by the minute – but I can choose to cooperate with His unending grace. I can choose to let Christ be Holiness in me.

If you don’t know it, check out the song:

 

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March 25, 2014

What if I stumble?

By Rebekah

Do you remember that song by DC Talk?

What if I stumble
What if fall?
What if I lose my step
And I make fools of us all?
Will the love continue
When the walk becomes a crawl?
What if I stumble,
And what if I fall?

When I was a teen, I loved that song because it gave me a sense of purpose in trying so hard. These days I still like the song, but for different reasons.

I've quit trying so hard, sort of. In my love and study of philosophy. I've spent some time studying humility and pride. Often in our guilt after messing up, we come to God and tell him how awful we are and how horribly we've missed the mark. And in the process we beat ourselves up thinking we're being humble. Truthfully, that's just prideful. Believing that we can do it on our own is pride.

God knows we're human. He knows we will fall. On our own we can never make it. On our own we will never be worthy of Him. That's why He sent His Son.

On my own, I can't be holy. With Him, I can do anything. The key is how much I'm willing to give myself over to Him.

On my own, I can't resist temptation. Maybe I can for a little while, but eventually the enemy will wear me down, find a new soft point and beat me at my own game. But with Christ, oh man, with Him, I am an overcomer.

He is the One who resisted satan after 40 days of fasting. He is the One who resisted temptation to flee from the cup that God poured out on Him. He is the one who never quit, who never leaves, who never forsakes!

That is your God. He will sustain you if you are willing to give him everything that you are. I can't say that I succeed in that everyday, but I am willing to try. Are you?

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