Disciples of Grace Today

  all photo credits Storm Knight "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life" - Proverbs 13:12 We don't like to think of God saying no. It seems more comforting to say He didn't answer but such a statement makes Him out to be a liar and He is not. You and I have never prayed a prayer that God has not heard and answered. Our problem is we don't like the answer. More often than not God answers us in a way that's very different than what our imaginations can conjure up and depending on how it plays out to us we think of that as a good thing or a not so good thing.  Ever since I was a child I'd been in love with the news. I knew that's what I wanted to do when I grew up. I was so entrenched with it, that for punishment my mom would make me watch cartoons or go outside and play with other children. I ordered my entire life toward becoming a Producer in Television and Radio but, it never really took off like I thought it w...

 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven - Matthew 5:10 Persecution. Certainly not something we would categorize as a blessing or associate with happiness, but Jesus does and he does so with intent. As he continues his teaching he doesn't let up, he actually doubles down on this truth in the verses that follow and his delivery only gets stronger as he moves on through this 3 chapter sermon (Matthew 5-7) letting us know that God fully expects us to live this way and knowing that we can't. This sermon is designed, like the Law of Moses, to get us to cry out for help. He also lets us know that as we proclaim Truth persecution will follow. As one Pastor has noted, "If you stay silent, you stay safe. If you proclaim The Gospel and live out your faith, persecution will come, because persecution will always accompany proclamation.". This truth is seen throughout scripture from Genesis to Revelation but Hebrews giv...

Sknight Luna 2019 Who is this, who looks down like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awesome as an army with banners? - Song of Solomon 6:10 Oh, how I LOVE this passage of scripture. It has been a constant reminder to me of how God sees me. The Song of Solomon is the passionate pursuit of each other by two lovers. It's a husband and wife and in a New Testament context it is Christ and His Church, because that's what marriage is an ultimate picture of (Ephesians 5:22-33). Chapter 6 in the ESV (English Standard Version) Translation has as its sub title "Lovers in the Garden of Love." The whole of the Song of Solomon is a conversation between the groom, the bride and their guests or others. It's a fascinating read and the original language will leave you blushing.  However, this morning I found myself pondering this passage in a different light. It's early in the year and while I made no resolutions and set no particular goals in my life I did t...

12  Moses said to the Lord, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’  13  Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.”  14  And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”  15  And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.  16  For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” – Exodus 33:12-16 This is a portion of Moses’ prayer of intercession after Aaron, the priest, gives in to the wil...

  Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. - Hebrews 12:28-29 The Book of Hebrews has always been a favorite of mine. It's a wonderful balance of Old Testament hope and New Testament fulfillment which produces an endurance that is sometimes lacking in our world of extremes. The writer of Hebrews doesn't gloss over the sufferings his readers are facing but he encourages them with the whole truth of God's faithfulness in times of good and times of challenge.  Once again many work places are on lockdown, more out of an abundance of caution than anything else, but this time it's during a holiday season and that makes things a little more difficult. We're asked not to gather in large numbers with our families and Thanksgiving is all about family, football and food. Black Friday is a time when families go shopping to purchase gifts of love an...

  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God - Matthew 5:9 Expressions such as “Like father like son” and “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” are common and we know what’s being communicated when people use them whether in a flattering context or a resentful one. Jesus is still shifting our gaze upward. He is laying bare the heart of the Law of God and intentionally making us feel the weight of our unworthiness and inability all the while calling us to Himself to receive the relief our souls desperately need. He began this tiny shift in verse 7 where He commands us to be merciful considering the mercy we have received and then in verse 8 where He commands us to live out of a pure heart renewed by The Spirit. Here He is calling us to be present day peace makers, but what is that exactly? To answer that question, we must look to our example, Christ Jesus – The Son of God. What is the peace that Christ came to bring? Well, certainly there is the coming da...

  Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God - Matthew 5:8 This one statement packs such a punch! Everything that was lost in Genesis 3 Jesus makes a reality for those who will come to Him. From the dawn of creation, we see man walking with God and enjoying fellowship with Him and then the unthinkable happens, man sides with evil and commits treason against the High King of Heaven. God casts man out of His presence and sin separates man from his Creator, but God who is rich in mercy makes a promise in Genesis 3:15. He promises that a Seed is coming and that Seed will crush the head of the Serpent, thus begins God’s unfolding plan of redemption, settled before the foundations of creation were laid. First God chooses a man Abraham, through whose line the Seed would come, from that man comes a people, Israel, who would represent Him among the nations and then there is a deliverer, Moses, who would lead His people out of the bondage of slavery and then there would be the king...