Disciples of Grace Today

Photo by  Caio Resende  from  Pexels Stewards of the Mysteries of God 4  Let a man so consider us, as  servants of Christ  and stewards of the mysteries of God.  2  Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.  3  But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. This passage comes from 1st Corinthians 4:1-3. In this passage the Apostle Paul is once again defending his call to ministry. He has set himself to live for an audience of One. He has determined that his life and all that in it is subject to the Law of Christ. In Mark 9:35 Jesus said that if one were to be the greatest he must be the servant of all.  In my last post I promised you some links to some faithful churches headed up by faithful stewards. This list is NOT exhaustive and even if they are not in your area they will be more than happy to point you to churches in ...

Photo by  Luis Quintero  from  Pexels 9  Let  love  be  without hypocrisy.  Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.  10  Be  kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love,  in honor giving preference to one another;  11  not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;  12  rejoicing in hope,  patient [ c ]  in tribulation,  continuing steadfastly in prayer;  13  distributing to the needs of the saints,  given [ d ]  to hospitality. -  Romans 12:9-13 There are 100 one anothers mentioned in scripture, 59 of them are direct commands. This is just 12 of them.The Christian Life is not meant to be lived alone with just Jesus and you. We are commanded and expected to do life together. That's the only way we can walk out these commands. Sometimes we like to think that these extend to those outside of Christ and they do in that our distinct...

A man's heart plans his way, but The Lord directs his steps - Proverbs 16:9 It's Good Friday, three days away from what will be my 50th Birthday.   I don't know too many single women who celebrate their 50th birthday but, I've always loved mine and at every age I would have something planned out, especially for those milestone birthdays. At 16, I traveled with friends to NYC to see Bon Jovi play at Madison Square Garden. At 21, I was serving my country and even though I was away from home I'm thankful for those who served alongside me to help make that day special. Planning for this particular celebration, 50, had been in the works for over a year. I wanted to be surrounded by The Gospel, so I planned on going to two conferences: Together for The Gospel (T4G) and Secret Church (SC20). Everything had been purchased and all was well until a global pandemic ruined everything! Or did it? To be clear I AM NOT SAYING GOD SENT THE PANDEMIC. What I am saying is tha...

Oswald Chambers once said that prayer is a holy and solitary occupation. I think he was right. Prayer is that space where Heaven and Earth meet. Where the holy and the sinful commune. The prophet Isaiah said it like this “Come now, and let us  reason   together ,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool." (1:18)  If we look at this verse in context (Isaiah 1:16-20) we'll see that God is initiating this conversation and it is God who lays out the terms by which He will accept their services and sacrifices. God opens the door to commune with Him and says if you want me to draw near to you put away sin and  hypocrisy . Do good and keep my commandments. Unless we somehow think this is an Old Testament view and that God has somehow changed, we need only to look to Jesus' Sermon on The Mount (Matthew 5-7), James chapters 1-2 and any of the Epistles written by the ...

Photo by Li Sun Pexels.com 4  Then  Jesus was led up by  the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  2  And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.  3  Now when the tempter came to Him... - Matthew 4:1-11 Often times when this passage is taught it's done from a position of Christ in weakness and while that is not wrong I think in so doing we may miss something really important and that is Jesus operating from a position of strength. Jesus was led by the Spirit of God into the wilderness for the purpose of being tempted by the devil. If the devil can isolate you he may feel he has an upper hand but isolation may also be an opportunity to become strong in the Lord and the Power of His Might. A careful study of the Life of Christ will reveal a pattern for His followers. He often retreated to a place of solitude to pray and seek The Father. Once He emerged from that time He was filled with wisdom, s...

Photo by  Emre Kuzu  from  Pexels   13  When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people,  14  if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.  15  Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.  16  For now I have chosen and  [ d ] sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and  [ e ] My eyes and  [ f ] My heart will be there perpetually.  – 2 nd Chronicles 7:13-16 We are familiar with the word repent. We know it means to turn and go in a different direction. It’s not so much a 360 as it is a 180. It’s to be heading East and turn West. It’s to go in a direction that never leads back to the direction...

Photo by  Daria Shevtsova  from  Pexels Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.  - Psalm 37:3-5 If you're like me then you're a rare bird indeed because I'm actually enjoying my time in quarantine. I'm enjoying getting up early and not having to rush out to catch a bus to get to work to sit under florescent lighting and deal with the attitudes of people. Yet, there are things that I do miss. I miss physically gathering with my Church Family and there are even people on my job that I miss seeing. I'm also not so foolish as to think that just because I'm doing okay that others are too and it's with that in mind that I want to take a few moments to encourage those who may be having a hard time. This Psalm gives us a clear path to true delight and the fir...