THE 3:16 VERSES OF THE BIBLE, PART 10: "GENERAL GRACE, SAVING GRACE"

He said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Make this valley full of trenches.’  For thus says the Lord, ‘You shall not see wind nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, both you and your cattle and your beasts. (2 Kings 3:16-17a)
The incredible thing about our loving Heavenly Father is how long He will put up with rebellion and rejection and then turn around and help those who hate Him with a passion. The Bible tells us that God "causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous". (Matthew 5:45b. 

You know the routine - the majority of the richest, wealthiest and most powerful people in the world are atheist. The biggest persecutors, dictators and rulers of God's people all through Judeo-Christian history lived well and prospered. This continues, regardless of the lessons of history. Their children lived high on the hog and on and on. While they do not acknowledge the God Who gave them breadth, the ability to gain and hold on to their temporal wealth and property, He still grants them His general Grace. He did send God the Son - Jesus - to give His life for ALL (John 3:16), so He knows no one is beyond redemption. They just choose to reject God's gift.

This general Grace however, is only for this short lifespan on earth. This is because, while God is really so good to ALL people at ALL times, His Saving Grace is only for those whose sins are forgiven and put their complete Faith and Trust in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as Lord and Master. Those who are reap the rewards of the good life reap them now. Like the rich man in Hell, who Jesus talked about, he enjoyed the good things only in his life on earth. The Saved, Redeemed and the Elect of God's reward is laid up ahead as we persevere and keep Godly perspectives while the wicked reign on this earth.

In this passage of 2 Kings Chapter 3, we see the three regional kings - the king of Edom (descendants of Esau), the King of Israel (the pagan northern kingdom) and the King of Judah - Jehoshaphat coming together to fight against the King of Moab, a powerful and rich man. Of these three kings, only Jehoshaphat was a follower of Yahweh, everyone else in this picture is full of pagan idolatry. After a while, the army and supplies of this combined army ran out of water for all their horses and were suddenly in dire straits.

Jesoshaphat knew enough of the Ways of the Lord and sought a minister who could approach the Lord for His help. The spiritual son of the great Elijah, Elisha, was now the main prophet of Israel. So Elisha was sent for and he was not amused. This tells me that this joint venture was not the Will of the Lord. Elisha was hesitant about going to meet with the three kings until he heard that the well-regarded Jehoshaphat, who lived in Jerusalem, was one of them. 

It was at this point, as we come to this 3:16 verse, as Elisha approached the Lord God of Heaven Who responded mightily, because His prophet Elisha asked. What God did was miraculous. He did not send rain to fill up creeks and rivers with running water. He told Elisha to have the kings dig trenches and wide areas which were then miraculously filled with literal pools of water from the springs out of the direction of Edom! The water was so plentiful coming out of the East that it looked like a lake....and led eventually to the victory of three allied kings.

What we see here  the following in this wonderful passage from John's 19th.- the General Grace of God on display...for the Glory of God! The enemy who all three kings went up against - the King of Moab- misread the sun shining off the brand new "lake" and thought it looked like blood and rode straight to his and his army's defeat. The Lord made the victory again. The question of us, who are reading this - are we under this General Grace of God only or have we been saved by Grace alone, through Faith in Christ alone for the Glory of God enough? The choice is entirely up to each one of us!

A FORTNIGHT OF PRAYER - AMERICA STRESSED OUT

DAY 8

WILDFIRES, FLOODS, TORNADOES - DESPAIR

Jesus warned us of these last days and as America faces them and handles them with class and dignified tears, as compared to others....quiet desperation is starting to set in. Here is what the Lord Jesus said "...For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. (Matthew 24:7-8 ESV)

Each Spring, devastating tornadoes go through the Midwestern USA with impunity. Tornado Alley from Oklahoma/Missouri/Kentucky/Tennessee/Northern Alabama kill dozens of nice folks each year. As we say in Joplin, Mo last year - entire towns can be decimated. Just this past week alone, hurricane Debby blasted southern Florida and Mobile, Alabama with a massive blow and storm clouds which looked like that mile-wide deadly tornado which destroyed almost half of Tuscaloosa, Alabama over a year ago. Parts of Pensacola, Fl. Other coastal cities in Florida are under massive amounts of water.


In the west, massive forest wildfires are out of control and not just costing billions of dollars of damage to property, but altering the lives of many thousands of good American citizens. Colorado Springs is the home to many Christian ministries who witness to and disciple and literally feed thousands here and worldwide. Their reactions have been a blessing to watch, while we grieve with them. There really is a difference between a Christian and those of the world. 

Many look for answers, but friends, the only answer can be found in Jesus and Prayer. To begin to understand, we look at what He said in Matthew 5:45b "...He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous". With that in mind, all we can do is turn to Him in prayer and seek comfort in Him....because.... it is going to get ten times worse! If you read what Jesus said will follow all the famine and wars and earthquakes (and yes, fires, storms etc), it is NOT pretty: “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come (!!!) (Matthew 24:9-14 ESV)


So why Prayer? Here is what the great EM Bounds said about that: 
Prayer in the time of trouble brings comfort, help, hope, and blessings, which, while not removing the trouble, enable the saint to better bear it and to submit to the will of God. Prayer opens the eyes to see God’s hand in trouble. Prayer does not interpret God’s providences, but it does justify them and recognize God in them. 
Prayer enables us to see wise ends in trouble. 
Prayer in trouble drives us away from unbelief, saves us from doubt, and delivers from all vain and foolish questionings because of our painful experiences.


So Father God, we just pray for those who are in pain, shock, grief and at a total loss to understand what is really happening to them in both Florida, Alabama and Colorado Springs, Lord. They did nothing to deserve the destruction of all they have worked hard for to....and to now see it under flood or burnt up in raging fires. But Lord, let them and us know that You are the God of goodness and compassion and Your Love never fails us because Great is Your Faithfulness, Lord unto us.

Father comfort the victims of these natural disasters in their spirits and then restore them in the physical lives and give them a hope that if they seek You, and repent and trust in the Savior, that they too should have nothing to worry about. Father they need the assurance that this life is but a fleeting vapor and the next life is what's important. Lord we know that many will blame You for their losses, but draw them near to Thee my God and my King and my Creator as You draw us into Your Loving arms and help us all to make sense of this through the Knowledge that Thou art Sovereign and in control and has our very lives in Your Mighty Hands and that if we are truly Yours and believe in You, we really have nothing to worry about, since You have paved the way for our redemption. Help us to help others to see that while they too grieve with us over what is now happening.


 Lord and finally, I pray for the firemen and other first responders who are doing amazing work to contain these fires or rescue others from the floods. I pray for their strength and their futures as well as their families. I pray that You bless them for all they do for others, selflessly, in Jesus Holy and Mighty Name, amen.

(images by google)

THINK ON THESE THINGS - SUNDAY MESSAGE

UNEARNED...(it's all about Grace)!

In baseball or softball, an unearned run means the base runner got on base (or scored) due to an error and the pitcher is not charged with the run. In the dictionary sense of the word, it is something which a person was not qualified to receive, but was given anyway.

This past June 3, Coach Josh Maxwell’s Shelbyville (IL.)  Rams Girls High School softball team was playing the Alton Marquette team in the Illinois Class 2A state semifinals at Eastside Centre (East Peoria, Illinois). Coach Maxwell’s mother had just died one hour before game time. It was the top of the 3^rd inning when Marquette’s all-star pitcher Alexis Silkwood blew an easy throw off a bunt to second base. This led to the only run of the entire game later on, due to a wild pitch by Silkwood, who had just an awful game that day. It was an unearned run.

Two things to note about this win for Coach, just hours after his dear mother passed away – it was an error in throwing….add this to a wild pitch by Marquette’s ace pitcher caused advanced the Rams’ base runners to score.  Secondly, they did nothing to earn it. They only showed up to play.

You know, there are so many we can say about Grace (like this real-life example)! It is said the old traditional hymns have more much more theology than the new worship songs, and they are correct! The ones about Grace have not only stood the test of time, but speak to us powerfully, even today!

The Praise and Worship music of Chris Tomlin or the Gateway Worship band of Texas or Hillsong of Australia is amazing.  However, the centuries old standards have not just tradition with them, but each carries a story of unbridled faith in the     face of fear and storms.

     TWO STORIES, TWO SONGS

We all know the old standard “IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL” and like the story behind Amazing Grace, its origins are stunning!  Horatio G. Spafford was the father of four daughters, and was a loyal friend and supporter of D. L. Moody. Moody and his song leader, Ira Sankey, had left for Great Britain for an evangelistic crusade and Spafford decided to lift the spirits of his family by taking them on a vacation to Europe.  He was planning to join them later.

In November, 1873, Spafford was detained by his business, but he sent his wife and four daughters, as scheduled, on the S.S. Ville du Harve, planning to join them soon. Somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, the ship was struck by another ship, and sank in 12 minutes. All four of the Spafford daughters were among the 226 who drowned.

Spafford’s wife was among the few who were miraculously survived. On the way to Cardiff, Wales – in extreme sorrow – he was shown the approximate spot where the ship had gone down. In the midst of his grief, the words to this old favorite were poured into his spirit, by a comforting God:

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well; it is well, with my soul.

Or how about this one. We all know Patrick of Ireland is credited with chasing all the snakes out of that country. But the real story of this great saint of the Faith is much more than this! His loyalty and dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ is unparalleled in Irish history! His battle was literally against the princes and powers of the air, which the Apostle Paul warns us of in Ephesians 6:12. 

More than 400 years after St. Patrick (385-461 AD) an 8th Century Monk, Dallan Forgaill wrote “BE THOU MY VISION” as a tribute to this fearless man of God, who took on the druids and pagans of Ireland, defeated them, and took the land for Jesus:

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.

Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

GRACE FOR EVERY NEED

So what does this have to do with anything? Well, dearly beloved, it’s to show God’s goodness to His people manifests and inhabits itself in the Praises of His people!

For such a time as this, when fear; panic; hate and turmoil abound…when we hear the hounds of heresy nipping at our feet and former “sacred cows” are going down to defeat….for such a time as this, we turn to the Eternal Word of God first and then His Spirit leads us to some of these great messages in music to find the Comfort of His Grace.

By the way, it is time anything called a “sacred cow” goes down to the dust. The term “sacred cow” comes from the Hindu worship of an animal in their religion which is so extreme; they will drink its milk and wear leather shoes, but not eat beef. Also you will remember Moses destroyed Aaron’s Golden Calf after the former came off Mt. Sinai and the just liberated Israelites where conducting pagan orgies/worship around the golden metal cow!

One great old hymn of the Faith contains all the characteristics of the Grace of God and should be examined closely because every word of it can be located and identified with our Great God of Heaven – Abba Father!

You would not believe what the word God uses for “Grace” in the New Testament actually means! The word in the Original Biblical Manuscript is “CHARIS”.  “Charis” means (in the Greek Lexicon) “that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm and loveliness or grace of speech”. It is also blessing; concession; credit; favor; gift; grace; gracious; gracious work; gratitude and thankfulness.

“Charis” also means “the merciful kindness by which God; or the Favor which exerts His holy influence upon souls and turns them to Christ. It is that which keeps, strengthens, increases them (and us) in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues”!!! Can you believe this!

ALSO ….as if this were not enough…the spiritual condition of one governed by the power of divine grace is bountiful!

The original word in the Bible for GRACE – “Charis” means all of this! THE THING TO REMEMBER ABOUT ALL OF THIS BEAUTY AND GOODNESS IS THIS – IT IS ALL UNEARNED! We did not work for it. We did not deserve it. We got it anyway!

Unearned Grace – the unmerited Favor of God to His people!

APPLIED

The following are the words to an old country hymn which really speaks volumes to our troubled times….and anyone can find comfort in them.

CAVEAT: The one qualification is this – you and I HAVE TO BE a child and servant of God. For while He gives freely, He gives only certain things to His own. The Bible says “the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike” (Matthew 5:45).  This means that you will see the unbeliever prospering and even winning most of the time, in this life.

You will see his children with nice cars, clothes and careers. You may even see the opposite for you and yours. But let not your heart be troubled. Persevere. The saint of God is meant to persevere and stick it out because our eternal citizenship is not in the United States or wherever this is read, across the world.

Only those who are saved by the Lord Jesus Christ by Grace through Faith will know the true Grace of which I speak in this essay! We call these the “Five Solas”….to wit:

Sola Scriptura - Scripture Alone
Solus Christus - Christ Alone
Sola Gratia - Grace Alone
Sola Fide - Faith Alone
Soli Deo Gloria - The Glory of God Alone

The 1996 Cambridge Declaration confirmed these “Solas” (which is Latin for “alone”).  Part of this Declaration says “God’s grace in Christ is not merely necessary but is the sole efficient cause of salvation. We confess that human beings are born spiritually dead and are incapable even of cooperating with regenerating grace. We reaffirm that in salvation we are rescued from God's wrath by His grace alone. It is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit that brings us to Christ by releasing us from our bondage to sin and raising us from spiritual death to spiritual life. 

GRACE FOR YOUR EVERY NEED IN LIFE!

VERSE:

I will now go through every line of this hymn, with an exhortation, grounded in Biblical Truth. My comment is in bright BOLD blue. 

Song lyric in Italics.

There is joy divine that is ever mine since the Lord has forgiven me....pardoned me. (If the bills, the high cost of living or bad health has stolen your smile; remember they can never steal your joy because YOU ARE CHILD OF GOD AND YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN).

And I work and sing for my blessed King who by grace now is keeping me. (All the aforementioned and your gratitude have led you to serve our great God and King. You may not be a preacher, a teacher or a worship song leader. However you teach 4-5 year old songs read bible stories to them and teach them to pray. In light of this, all the daily struggles are put into perspective because His Grace has covered you and is His Reward for your faithfulness…see previous definition of Grace for ALL the meanings of the word).

CHORUS:

There is grace for every need, grace for you, grace for me, keeping true, keeping free (Lamentations 3:22-23 (NLT) says “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning”….meaning, there is nothing you actually need, which God will NOT provide for you! Read Matthew 6 by clicking HERE.)

Precious saving grace indeed, flowing from the throne above. (This one is self-explanatory. It is only through the Grace of God – SEALED at the Cross of Christ the King – we are saved.)

VERSE:

Grace to cover all my sins. Grace to all who believe, oh this grace now receive full forgiveness, all may win (A lot of people, even those who are called and saved have trouble with this one. We believe our sins are forgiven…but we struggle at times…with doubt….! For instance, “am I TRULY forgiven?” or…”why I do these things from the past keep coming up as a reminder of my past”…or the list can go on….

My friends – this is called Spiritual Warfare! Believe it or not…and more and more Christians are being defeated by NOT believing we are in a war…believe it or not…we are in a war and the enemy, the devil, is out to steal, kill and destroy our joy!  JUST DO NOT ALLOW HIM TO DO IT!! Fight back with not just a “positive attitude”…but Fight back with Worship and the Word! More in Worship in future essays on this site.)

Yes there's grace in the Lord’s precious love (That’s it! Because God is Love….just as when we love someone – we give FREELY to them…Abba loves us…hence…Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!)

He will ever keep when the tempests sweeps, and hath grace for each trying hour....every hour. (Life’s storms are increasingly horrible, saints and dearly beloved!  We have all experienced horrible, and in the case of a fellow co-worker of mine, fatal snow blizzards….mile-wide tornadoes in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and more devastation in Joplin, Missouri with floods off the Mississippi River added in for good measure. All of this happened within 3-4 months of each other. 

We see Life’s storms in the government and our finances running low or out. We see Life’s storms in the worry for how to make the next car payment or send a kid to college to graduate with no job and owing a national debt of over $100,000 for HIS grandkid – BEFORE THAT CHILD IS EVEN BORN! In troubles like these….GOD’s Grace….that’s all we can rely on! )

So I go in love to this Friend above ever trusting His grace and pow'r. (Because our Father is all powerful, we can trust not just His Word, but His Might! He can take down the greatest foe while saving a child. He can and DOES go before us like a Mighty Warrior and wins our battles. He is the God Who can be depended on.)

VERSE:

O this wondrous grace is for all the race. It is boundless and full and free.

...full and free (When we get saved, we get the FULL PACKAGE. This means not just salvation from the Fires of Hell. This means, we are adopted into the Eternal Kingdom and Family of God from eternity past to eternity future. We are currently living in the eternals - more on that in the future as well. 

Therefore, because of this Adoption as sons and daughters of Abba Father and Christ, we have His Spirit in us directing, guiding and EMPOWERING AND EQUIPPING us to finish the course. We want to have the Apostle Paul’s famous last exhortation as ours, because this is not a sprint to the finish, but a Marathon…and what matters is how you finish. Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful”. AMEN!)

And I trust and cling to my blessed king Who by grace now is keeping me. (In light of all the words of this great hymn and speaking for myself, I plan to be like Jacob as He wrestled the Angel of God – Jesus-  except I am not letting go! His Grace is sufficient for me. I am a son of my Father in Heaven; Jesus is my Savior, I shall not be moved and He will keep me by His wonderful Grace and mercy, because His Loving kindness endureth forever!!!) AMEN!

IN CONCLUSION:
Finally, regardless of what the world throws at us this week, next week, next month or five hours from now, adopt this attitude from Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:8-18 “⁸ We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. ⁹ We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. ¹⁰ Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.
 ¹¹ Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. ¹² So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.
 ¹³ But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.” ¹⁴ We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. ¹⁵ All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.
 ¹⁶ That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. ¹⁷ For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! ¹⁸ So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever”

Images courtesy BING images
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.