Blog

(This week’s devotions are based on Sunday’s message: Grace for All…Grace Upsets- LISTEN HERE)

---

We love grace and generosity when it it shown to us…we get upset when someone else receives generosity.

As a kid, when it was our birthday we loved generosity.  Until it was a friends birthday and we got upset that we didn’t get a present too.

We love when we get a bonus for a year of hard work, but get upset when an individual who we perceive didn’t work as hard gets the same or bigger bonus.

We were happy with the salary we agreed to work for until we find out someone doing the same job is getting 25% more than we are.

We naturally put a judgment on grace and generosity because we naturally attach our effort to someone else’s generosity.  We create a story in our mind that we have really worked hard for what we have and its not fair if someone else receives more simply because the giver wanted to give that person more.

It happens with God’s grace too.  We subconsciously are trying to “justify” in our own minds the reality that we deserve the grace of God.  We want to feel content that our contribution has made us worthy of receiving God’s forgiveness.  It is natural to do this…but very, very dangerous.

The first danger is it shifts our hearts from relying on the grace of God to relying on our performance as a person.  When we shift this way, we are obligated to be perfect or face eternal separation from God.  That’s a disastrous shift.

The second danger is we get angry when someone receives the grace of God that we have determined hasn’t worked as hard or as long as we have.  When we have determined someone is a spiritual mess and doesn’t deserve forgiveness, we subtly muse disapproval when they come to trust Jesus as Savior…as if their past doesn’t matter. (Which it doesn’t when it is covered by Jesus’ blood.)

Jesus wanted to guard the hearts of his followers to realize that the fact they were part of God’s kingdom was due to the generosity of Jesus, not their performance.  And when others were invited into that kingdom of grace, we ought not be upset when God chooses to be generous with them.

Matthew 20: 1-16      “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. 

3 “About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went. 

“He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. 6 About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ 

7 “ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. 

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’ 

8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ 

9 “The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ 

13 “But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 

16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” 

 

Apply: What seems “unfair” about how God deals with others?  How does it make you feel?  Spend time today listing the ways that God has been generous and gracious to you!

Prayer: Lord, thank you for your grace and generosity for all people, especially for me.  Forgive me for thinking I’ve deserved it more than another person.  Lead me to rejoice as you do over the one who receives your grace.  AMEN.

(This week’s devotions are based on Sunday’s message: Grace for All…Grace Upsets- LISTEN HERE)

---

Why is it hard to rejoice when good things happen to other people?

If you had siblings, do you remember the birthday of your brother or sisters being a sad day?  Do you remember being disappointed when they got all the attention and you didn’t…even though you got your special day on your birthday?

Do you remember when you were older and a classmate got an award you were working hard to achieve or a teammate got a starting position on the team you thought you were going to get?

Do you remember in your working career hearing of a coworker receiving a promotion to a position you thought you were going to be next in line to receive?

How did you feel?

Perhaps a few of you were genuinely able to rejoice and be happy for your sibling, classmate or coworker…but…

I would guess that many of us (and I will include myself) struggle at times to celebrate the wins of other people…especially when we thought WE deserved the recognition, position or promotion more than they did.

Therein lies the problem.

To be sure there are times when injustice occurs, but often it is an injustice WE have determined occurred even though we are not the ones responsible for determining the position or promotion.  We just think THEY don’t deserve it as much as WE do.

As we finish the book of Jonah this week, this is an attitude the prophet Jonah wrestled with.  With little effort on Jonah’s part, the WHOLE city of Nineveh repented and the Lord did not bring the disaster he had threatened.  You would think that there would be rejoicing in Jonah’s heart, hugs to the king of Nineveh and a parade praising the mercy and grace of God.

Nope.

Here’s what happened:

4  But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. 2 He prayed to the LORD, “O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

4 But the LORD replied, “Have you any right to be angry?” (Jonah 4:1-4)

Jonah knew that the Lord was compassionate and his grace would prevail when the hearts of the people of Nineveh repented…but he was hoping the Lord wouldn’t.  Why?  I just believe he just wanted the people of Nineveh to experience the wrath of God.  He didn’t think they deserved grace because they were enemies of God’s people and their wickedness was great.

But that’s exactly what grace is.

God’s love shown that is NOT deserved.  And it is completely in the realm of God’s heart to distribute and show his grace.

Jonah wasn’t partying, but the angels in heaven were over the many in Nineveh who repented.

Luke 15:10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” 

Nineveh had repented.  That was a great thing.

Our hearts need to repent when our self-righteous pride gets in the way of rejoicing when blessing comes to others…especially the blessing of God’s grace.

 

Apply: What makes it hard for you to rejoice at the success of others?  At the grace of God that comes to others?

Prayer: Lord, forgive me for discounting your grace when you choose to show it to others.  Help me to realize your grace is not deserved but given…even to me.  AMEN.

Today’s devotion is based on Sunday’s Message: Grace Relents (LISTEN HERE).

---

First this morning, I’d like to wish my beautiful bride, Christy a “Happy Birthday!”  I am truly grateful for her love, friendship, forgiveness, partnership in ministry and much more!  She is very much a blessing from God, a gift of grace!

Back to Jonah…

 

Jonah 3:10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.

A tension that always exists in the heart of a parent is the balance between justice and love.  A parent must be an arbiter between what is right and wrong…who is right and wrong…and what appropriate discipline is.  Even when we do our best to administer justice in the home, we are charged with “not being fair” from other siblings that feel they were punished more or less than another.  It is hard to be perfectly just.

A parent also exhibits unconditional love.  Love is a self-sacrificing action on behalf of another.  From the moment of pregnancy, a mom is giving to her child.  A dad catches up once the child is born.  Both give of themselves to serve their child and do what is best for their child.  In addition their heart and their emotions desire what is best for their child.  So even in discipline, it comes from a heart of love that doesn’t desire the demise of their child, but rather that they learn from their mistakes and don’t do the same thing again.

In a much greater and perfect way, God exhibits his two characteristics of justice and love.  His boundaries he sets up in his law are there because he loves us enough to keep us from harm or keeping us from harming others.  He loves us deeply and desires a close and ongoing relationship in which we feel as safe and secure as a child does in a healthy and strong family environment.

So when God threatens to punish, it is a big deal.  But his threat of punishment is to warn the straying child that their behavior will bring harm to them temporarily and eternally.  His desire is that they don’t blow off his warning, but to turn from the destructive and evil behavior and turn back to walking in the ways of the Lord.

The Lord desires and is more pleased when he can relent from deserved destruction than carrying out his justice as a result of unrepentant sinners.  

Joel had a similar message as Jonah:

Joel 2:12 “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart,
    with fasting and weeping and mourning.”

13 Rend your heart and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.

Like the prophet Joel, the issue was the turning of hearts.  By the change in behavior in Nineveh and the fact that God relented is indicative that God saw a change of heart, which is what he desired.  For when the heart changes, so do the actions.

How important all this is to remember for us.  When someone calls us from sin, receive it not as “judgy” or “judgmental” but because they love us enough to warn us of where our behavior is going.  As we recognize the error of our ways, let not just our behavior change to “stay out of trouble” but let our hearts be changed so we return and stay with the Lord, our God who is gracious and compassionate and more than willing to relent from sending the calamity our sin deserves.

Apply: What sin is God calling you to repent of?  Does it become easier when you consider God is doing it because he loves you and wants to spare you harm?  Know that he does love you and desires your heart to always align to his.  

Prayer: Lord, thank you for being a gracious and compassionate God who is willing to relent when your people repent.  AMEN.

Today’s devotion is based on Sunday’s Message: Grace Relents (LISTEN HERE).

---

Jonah 3:6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7 Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh:

“By the decree of the king and his nobles:

Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.” 

Would the outcome of Nineveh had that same effect without the leadership of the king?

John Maxwell, a leadership guru, has made the claim, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.”  We’d be hard pressed to challenge this premise.  As the leader goes, so goes the people. 

The leadership of the king in bringing about the repentance of the city of Nineveh can’t be underestimated. Consider his other actions.  He could have condemned Jonah and anyone who listened to him.  He could have been passively supportive, but never engaged himself.  And the outcome no doubt would have been different.

How much the king of Nineveh knew about the God Jonah proclaimed we don’t know for sure, but we know he understood the justice of God and that the deeds of the city of Nineveh deserved the wrath of God.  He doesn’t justify the behavior.  He doesn’t make his people into victims of circumstances.  He simply encourages and directs the people to give up their evil ways and violence.  

He understood something about the grace of God as he appealed to his compassion that would lead him to turn from his fierce anger and spare them.  Without saying it, he recognized that Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death (2 Corinthians 7:10).

The result?

Jonah 3:10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.

The repentance of the people did not go unnoticed by the Lord.  He not only saw a change of behavior, he saw a change of heart and did not treat the city as their sins deserved.

Godly leadership is a blessing wherever it shows up.  This past weekend we marked Fathers’ Day.  Godly dads doing their best to lead under the leadership of Christ provide guidance in the boundaries of God, call to repentance when the will of God is broken, and model the compassion of God that forgives and restores.  The influence of a godly father in the home is vital.  Statistically the spiritual climate of the home is directed by the spiritual activity of a father.  Mom’s are working hard when dads are absent…but dad’s, don’t make mom’s go it alone.  Step up to the role that God in his grace has given you to a) be directed by the grace of God yourself and b) direct your family to know, love and live in the grace of God together.  There is only one legacy that will last and that is the legacy of faith that prevails after life on this world ends.

To be sure, godly leadership is a blessing wherever it shows up.  To the extent that you have influence in someone’s life, you have leadership opportunity.  Take the example of the king of Nineveh and guide people away from sin to the compassionate grace of the Lord who loves and cares for them deeply.

 

Apply: Where do you have an opportunity to show godly leadership today?  With God’s help, go for it!

Prayer: Lord, thank you for leading me to know and love you.  Use me in whatever leadership roles you place me to be an influence for your love and grace.  AMEN.

Today’s devotion is based on Sunday’s Message: Grace Relents (LISTEN HERE).

---

Are boundaries good?

Honestly, sometimes they can be frustrating.  Ask the teenager who has a curfew at midnight whose friends can stay out as late as they want.  Ask the driver on the highway in the middle of the night with few cars around wondering why they have to drive at 55 mph.  Ask the child who is limited to two snacks when it seems like there is enough for every child to have 10.

Some boundaries can be challenging to understand and thus abide by.

But boundaries provide safety.

Ask the motorist who had a severe blow out on a bridge and lost control and hit the barrier that prevented them from plummeting into the waters below.  Ask the teenager whose friends who were arrested for vandalism done in the early morning hours when he left to be home by midnight.  Ask the customer at Home Depot who had to wait behind a safety strap as a worker was moving material…only to see a pallet of blocks come crashing down where they would have been shopping.

Boundaries provide safety.

While we may balk at some boundaries, the motivation in most cases is a heart that loves the person enough to keep them from unnecessarily harming themselves or causing harm to others.  Enforcing boundaries is done for two reasons.  First, it reinforces the importance of the boundary (if it didn’t matter, it wouldn’t be enforced.) and second, it provides a consequence that will deter or prevent the person from breaking the boundary and suffering perhaps worse than the consequence.

God sets up boundaries that he summarized in the 10 Commandments.  These ten guide individuals in their relationship to God and to others.  They protect our hearts, our relationships, our material goods and much more.  There are also consequences if they are broken.  Ultimately, breaking the boundaries of God sets up the justice of God to separate us from God forever.

But God doesn’t want this.

So he, in his love, calls us to repentance.  He points out sin in our lives, which can hurt and we don’t like, but he does it because he wants the best for us.  The Apostle Paul knew this as he was in a position to be called to repentance and also call others to repentance.  But the goal of bringing repentance was the salvation of souls.

2 Corinthians 7:8 Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while— 9 yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. 10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

Sorrow is not, “I’m sorry I got caught,” but rather sorrow that realizes I have broken the loving boundary of God and realize the spiritual danger I am in.  Godly sorrow leads to repentance, a change of mind and heart to what I was doing back to the mind and heart of God.  The result? Salvation and no regret.

And that is exactly what our loving God wants for us and its why in his grace he calls us to repentance.

 

Apply: What area of life do you hear God’s call to repentance?  How does it make you feel?  What blessing is God trying to have you realize?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the boundaries you place in my life to bring blessing to my life.  Thank you for pointing out sin in my life and calling me to repentance so I might have no regret and experience your salvation.  AMEN.