How many times do we wish people would not take too seriously, our failures? “ If only they would cut us some slack, they would see that we are human.” We can beat each other down to a pulp, by nitpicking every wrong thing the other does.
The past is always very hard to forgive, let alone forget. I’m speaking to myself as well, because I don’t forgive easily—like pulling teeth. I have worked out my long-term memory muscles hard enough, to contain most offenses. Yet, I’m in need of grace as much as I need to give it. We can’t give what we have never received. Within us is a storehouse of all sorts of good and bad things. We decide what to offer others, from the abundance of our hearts.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.15 John bore witness to Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ” 16 [And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1).
“Within us is a storehouse of all sorts of good and bad things.”
This is a sweet storage given to us, of The Lord Jesus’ fullness. He didn’t give us a third or a pint, He gave of His fullness—grace for grace. So there’s more than enough within us to go around.
Laws don’t have grace, they reveal how much we have fallen short and how much we deserve what’s coming to us. When we remember that we have totally blown it because we broke God’s commandments, we feel unworthy. See, when one feels like this, they see no need for association. But then there was grace, and it was so refreshing to know that the slate was wiped clean, by the sacrifice of the Holy Lamb of God.
Grace is stimulated by truth. No making excuses for ourselves or others, but admit fault, willingly. Grace isn’t cheap—it costs the giver to pay for peace. It’s value is worth the truth and nothing less.
“Grace gives love another chance.”
14 “Return, O backsliding children,” says the Lord; “for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. 15 And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding (Jeremiah 3).
The Lord has always been gracious to His people. He desires repentance, because He is gracious. Grace and love compel Him. While we love to see others suffer for all the wrong they have done against us, God prefers reconciliation. Falling from grace is betraying someone’s trust, by failing to do the right thing. But who among us is perfect? Grace gives love another chance. It reassures that in spite of all the flaws, we still belong.
29 So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. 30 But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’ 31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. 32 It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found (Luke 15).’”
“Grace made us justified, while we were sinners.”
God is in the business of repairing the broken, and restoring the lost. We are children of our Father, if the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. I need this message as much as the next person. Being a Christian is very hard because it requires us to not walk in our flesh but in the Spirit of God, in us. This is what love looks like– it is the great sacrifice on that Cross. It will hurt to give grace, but it’s what we received in great bounds.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5).
Who would have thought that “Grace” could be a secret formula for being perfect. How can anyone have faith that love works, except it is put to the test of grace? It transforms us and the offender. It’s at the core of Salvation. Grace made us justified, while we were sinners. It reconciled us while we were enemies. But for grace, there would be many broken spirits for not passing muster,and many broken relationships without a sense of belonging.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation (Romans 5).
In a world where many have lost hope, an act of grace could bring healing, peace, and restoration. It costs the giver, but it’s also a cost we never had to pay for our reconciliation to God. We can only give what we have already received. We also need grace at some point in our lives, so lets give it generously.
38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you (Luke 6).”
It doesn’t take much to get us riled up. There are good reasons for losing patience, feeling overwhelmed, being cumbered with worry, and frustration. Sometimes, it seems we can’t catch a break, especially when we have done all that’s needed—to the best of our ability. Anyone can reach a breaking point, when it seems like things are topsy-turvy. No one, at any point, has everything under control, even on their best form. Peace of mind or calm, is a state that involves an awareness of our abilities, the circumstances surrounding us, and the choice to find rest in something greater than ourselves.
3 You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.4 Trust in the Lord forever, For in Yahweh, the Lord is everlasting strength (Isaiah 26).
Perfect peace is a promise to those who take their minds off themselves and put their trust not in their abilities or circumstances, but in The Lord God. When we relinquish control, we admit we don’t have it all figured out. We accept our ineptitude in the limited knowledge we have of the outcome (Proverbs 3: 5-6). How debilitating that might be for those who always want to be one step ahead. What does perfect peace feel like? Contentment, satisfaction and confidence that however the cookie crumbles, we are in good company. God isn’t limited by time or space, and He knows the beginning from the end (Isaiah 41:6-8). After we have done what we can humanly do, we can leave the rest at His feet, and walk out with peace.
“No one at any point has everything under control, even on their best form.”
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary. And the young men shall utterly fall, 31 But those who wait on the LORD, shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40).
Being at peace with uncertainty, would require that we play our part well. We stay focused, realizing that we can lose ground in other areas. If we become fixated on shifting grounds, we will fail in those areas we can control. Waiting on God is critical to keeping us at peace.
Prayer, is the call for help and waiting, is the stillness needed to gain His strength. Stillness is silencing those inner grumbling thoughts. He gives strength to those who have reached the end of their rope. Prove Him by not staying down! Keep walking and don’t faint, run if you must to the accomplish the next thing. Mount up on the your best God-given abilities and don’t look back. We will need to shift gears and do the next thing (Philipians 3:13). I’m certain there’s other things we can find to do, or make ourselves useful in. There are also others depending on us to move on, and be present. Consider that we can only physically, be in one place-at one time. So, why not train our minds the same?
“Praying with thanksgiving is praying with expectancy.”
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Philipians 4).
If we are to live each day striving for peace within, then we have to pray. We don’t have to understand everything, but we can choose not to sweat the unknown. Anxiety is normal, but it must be contained before it takes us hostage. Our mind can wander into all sorts of scenarios and what-ifs, but that is all it is, in our mind. How much chaos could we create if we could give life to our thoughts?
Pray with thanksgiving, because you have higher expectations of God than yourself. Praying with thanksgiving is praying with expectancy. Answers may or may not come as we would like, but the important thing is we did accept those terms, in exchange for perfect peace.
27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27).
The Lord Jesus promises peace that only He can give. He says he has already left it for us. The peace that the world offers is fleeting. It’s peace is found in short-lived pleasures, and self gratification. The peace of Christ is one that can be tapped into, at all times, regardless of what we face. We pray for it in order to receive it. Once we have offered the plea for help, we are to cast out fear and anxiety, by trusting that He gives us the perfect peace. We can’t have it both ways, either have the peace of God, or have the peace of the world.
“We do have a better hope and motivation to get up and go.”
33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world (John 16:33).”
Christians as much as others are not immune to troubles. As long as we live in an imperfect world, with imperfect people as ourselves, we can be rest assured that we have no control of our circumstances. We do have a better hope and motivation to get up and go. We believe things work out for our good, and that God has us where He needs us. We can do the next good thing, we can try to be present, and also find an opportunity to help someone else. We are witnesses of God’s unfailing love in the midst of the most trying times.
Oh, that we would come to the Prince of Peace with our hands stretched out, and plead for mercy! Instead of grumbling and shaking our fists, we can come like children to our loving Father and lay it at His feet. What better options do we have left, besides ourselves and the world? He has never failed. Look around you and see that all of creation is under His orders. How much more control can our loving Father have, over all the chaos within us? We cry, “Lord I humble myself under Your Mighty Hand, let me not be put to shame!”
4 I sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. 5 They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed. 6 This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them. 8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! 9 Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints. There is no want to those who fear Him (Psalm 34).
That’s a tough one. Yet, if we can’t at least describe the source of who we are or the very meaning of our existence, we are suffering from a case of identity crisis. We could choose to be defined by our passions, painful past, our goals each day, regrets, achievements, or people who have had a formative influence in our lives. This is deeper than what we can wrap our heads around, much more than what others can see on the outside, in terms of our lifestyles or appearance. What makes you who you are? Values, experiences, motivations, upbringing, relationships, or personalities? The list can go on, but this is truly the crux of the issue isn’t it? Those deeper things very few know about us. Yet, we can opt to take this question lightly, and we may forfeit our one chance to live this one life, as intended. Our confidence, self esteem and how we carry each day really depends on what kind of stuff we are made of.
“We were purposefully created,—we didn’t come up with the idea of ourselves.”
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Genesis 1:26-27).”
So we were created—we didn’t come up with the great idea of ourselves. One may say , “Come on! I’m who I have become because of hard work and sacrifices I have made. Not to mention the decisions made for me, by those who raised me.” Yes. Of course, there are many factors that have a great impact on who we become, but we are innately unique; with our fingerprints, DNA and personalities, that are no coincidence.
Experiences can shape our attitudes and choices, but those things are subject to change on a whim. Who we are was determined before we came to be (Psalm 139). When God had a plan to create humans, He made them so they would be in His image and likeness. That meant, we have a purpose to resemble God and to be productive on the Earth He created as well. But what does that resemblance look like? The Son of God, The Lord Jesus Christ is the fullness of God in the flesh, having come as man.
16 For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. 17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people (Hebrews 2:16-17).
The Lord Jesus took the form of a human, born of a virgin by the Spirit of God. Consider this carefully, what was intended in the motivation for the creation of man and woman was achieved by the birth of Deity in human form, born of a woman, and by the Spirit of God. That He may present us holy as God is Holy; by taking our likeness of sin upon Himself, so that we may be sons and daughters. Just as children bear resemblance to their parents, we have a resemblance to the Father through the Son.
Who makes you who you are? There’s no question that every inventor that has created something has an intended purpose for it and requires that it remain so, if it’s to manifest its full potential. There are no mistakes with final products that are put out,—they have a distinct purpose and according to the manufacturer, they are complete. One may look at themselves and see how they have failed themselves and others, or that they could be a mistake. God makes no mistakes. He is intentional, precise, and perfect. His reputation or Glory depends on it. To answer the question again, who makes you? and who you are are not mutually exclusive. We have a divine nature as much as we have a natural or physical state. Here’s one better, one very exciting answer to the second part of the question, “who you are”.
“Our confidence, self esteem and how we carry each day really depends on what kind of stuff we are made of.”
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory (Colossians 3:1-4).
We are all sinners and apart from Christ we can’t attain the life God has for us. So? Well, that means that no matter where you are coming from, no matter who you choose to compare yourself with, we have all fallen short of God’s standard. Once again, God being forward-looking as He is, knew that we would fail, just as a child isn’t born to follow house rules. But Christ is now become our life. We died with Him at that Cross where He took on our human form, to pay for the sins of our human nature. In this transaction at the Cross, we rose with Him, to new life in Him,—we are hidden with Him, in God (Colossians 3:1-5). Talk about the exceeding great wisdom of God-to do what He promised in the beginning. What an incredible identity we have!
“Our outward nature is an expression of what’s bred within.”
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:3-6).
We were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we may be children of God, in the Son of God. We are loved, and we are filled with the fullness of God in Christ, which is love. So who we are is loved by our Father, and we are made complete by this love, not worldly love or acceptance. Love is the stuff we are made out of, and is what we should be about. Not only are we to be fruitful, be productive and fill the earth, but we are to do so with love that has been poured into us, by His Holy Spirit,—born again by the same Spirit of Christ. It’s the only true way to live, and be in the likeness of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit, Who is Christ in us, beckons us to allow Him to express Himself through us.
Our outward nature is an expression of what’s bred within. Left to our own devices we can be destructive, self righteous, critical of ourselves and others. We all need help and are a working progress. Let’s take the focus off all the wrong we do, or should not do and put on rose-colored glasses of all the good we can attain.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit(Galatians 5:22-25).
Easier said than done, right? Of course. But, apart from Christ we can do nothing (John 15). Let us purpose to strive to attain what we have already obtained, in love. To love the Lord our God with all of our being, strength, soul and mind, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. There’s no room to stumble in love, nor to look down on ourselves and others, because we are all loved. Only then, can we live to our full potential and understand our existential purpose .
We can be our worst critics and we will kick ourselves for missing the mark, no matter how hard we tried-choosing to overlook all the things we did well. Approval is a human need, that impacts our self esteem and motivation. Sometimes, I can get hung up on the things that I have not done so well. Replaying scenes of how I could have done better, how others reacted, and what impact I may have had on others. Consequently, I may have a hard time focusing on my present roles, losing valuable time and often not catching a wink. In practice, that’s not going to change the cycle of life, time isn’t going to wait for me, nor is it going to reverse the past. Morning is going to roll in whether I feel like it or not. I have to pluck up, haul myself out of bed and get with the program.
My name is Eileen Thugi formerly Mwanyiky. I’m the author of the book “You’re Up.” I live in Massachusetts, I’m married and have two children. Like many, we try to make an impression and it matters how we perform. Our kids, spouses, our daily hobnobbing and just about every time we speak or do, we leave an impression. I’m a Registered Dental Hygienist and as one can imagine I spend time with many people, from all walks of life, and age groups. It’s a part of my identity, but I’m not my profession as I’m my passion, values, struggles, relationships, and the character I choose to play routinely. I’m a born-again Christian who takes the Word of God to be more valuable than the wisdom, knowledge and skills any profession and education can offer me. My identity is found in The LORD Jesus Christ and is a working progress, with the help of the promptings of His Holy Spirit.
I have found one motivation, and one ultimate outcome, that can get me past my foibles, humble me, and stimulate me to get up each morning and do it again. I’m living a lifetime performance for the Highest Glory, not my own or anyone else’s. I choose to do better, think higher, move forward, because I’m the very work of One who is high above everything I know. Yet willing to admit my failures, He gives more grace, and the instructions on how to dust myself up and get back at it again. You’re up each day you draw a breath, and every moment you have an audience.You or those around you are the audience. My book gives hope and renewed thinking of viewing our daily lives, routines, our encounters as a performance for a glory that is beyond our own and others.
Recent Comments