Grace Upon Grace

This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture that reject fear in any form. Fear is seen as a spiritual force used by Satan to keep people down. The focus is on championing faith as an allegiance to God and accepting His word as truth. Grace is emphasized as an unmerited favor that cannot be earned. The importance of listening to the spirit rather than the flesh is highlighted, as well as the role of the Holy Spirit in sanctification. The rewards of peace and hope are discussed, along with the promises of a future home with God. The message is that God loves us unconditionally and His love casts out fear. Welcome to Fear No Fear. Grace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit embrace you today. This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture. We reject fear in any and all forms. Fear is a spiritual force, the currency of darkness and ignorance. It's what we inherited when Adam gave up his faith and Satan uses it to keep people down. His only weapon is words. If he can get you believing or looking at words of fear, he's got you. Instead, we champion faith as an allegiance to God, as a belief and trust and loyalty to the Lord God Almighty. We accept the evidence of his word as unvarnished truth, as is, just as it's written. We get close to his perfect love through the word, and perfect love casts out fear. 1 John 4.18 All scripture is taken from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Visit eBible.org Romans 5.1 Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have our access by faith into this grace in which we stand. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God. This is about the most beautiful circle that there is. By faith, we access Jesus, which puts us under grace, which justifies us in our faith, which gives us peace with God, which we get through Jesus, who we access through faith, which puts us under grace, and it goes on and on. Grace is unmerited favor. We can't earn it. We don't deserve it. We can't buy it. We can't attain it. It is a gift bestowed completely from the outside. Why is it unmerited? Because if you could keep each and every one of the 613 commandments and statues in the law as given to us by Moses with your actions and words, you would not be able to keep them completely and honestly in your heart of hearts. That makes it wrongful motivation, not faith, and that makes it sin. Hebrews 11.6 and Romans 14.23 If you keep a law because you don't want to be wrong, that's a fear motivation. If you keep a law so you don't get smote, that's a fear motivation. If you keep a law because it's a law, that's compliance, not faith. If you want to transgress, a sin of thought, but you don't do it because it's wrong, that's compliance and not faith. But wait, you say, if you're going by this kind of list, then no amount of keeping really is keeping the law and we all sin. Rightio! For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3.23 We all sin in some way in our heart when we are trying to stick to rules and regulations. We can do everything right on the outside and resent or sin mentally on the inside. Ever undress someone with your eyes? Sin. Why? Because it's a sexual thought, one about whom you are not covenanted before God in a just the two of you, one male, one female union. Genesis 2.18-24 and Matthew 19.4-6 Jesus paid the price for sin because we sin. We're not sinners by nature, we're sinners by choice, which means we could choose not to. But what makes us choose sin? A soul that by habit listens to the flesh because the spirit we were supposed to have was dead. Our eternal righteous spirit was dead. It died the moment the humanity fell. Our souls, heart, mind, emotions, needed input to determine the correct course of action. Because we had a dead spirit, the only thing it could listen to is the flesh. The flesh is selfish. The flesh is corrupt. The flesh is bent towards sin because it has the same evil inclination as the rest of physical creation. For all have sinned. Basically, without that eternal righteous spirit, we are toast. Without faith, it is impossible to be well-pleasing to Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Hebrews 11.6 God rewards our faith with grace. How do we get faith? Grace. Cool and mind-bending as well. It is the grace of the Lord that gives us the faith to believe in Jesus and be rewarded with grace. For I say through the grace that was given me to everyone who is amongst you, not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think reasonably, as God has apportioned to each person a measure of faith. Romans 12.3 How is it that we got that grace in the first place? From His fullness, we all received grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. John 1.16-17 So if we believe that God exists and that He rewards us with grace, that is how we receive the equal measure of faith, which enables us to receive the rewards of the Lord, which is the grace by which our sin is wiped away. It is also the grace by which we are resurrected into Jesus after dying to sin and receiving His perfect, eternal, righteous Spirit. He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. You were healed by His wounds. 1 Peter 2.24 Sealed into Jesus' righteous Spirit, Ephesians 1.13, we have the same option to choose that the first Adam had, to submit and obey, or rebel and disobey. Everything pleasing to God is obedience. Everything that displeases God is disobedient. Faith pleases God, and everything else does not. Our souls is where we have choice. We decide what emotions to have, what actions to take, what words to say, and what thoughts to entertain. Thoughts can come at us. Feelings can come at us once, twice, a thousand times. If we do nothing with them beyond identify and push away, they are not a sin. When we identify and then expand on them, revel in them, or roll them around, then they become sin unless they are faith-based and all about the Lord and His good things. There is intent to sin. It is a choice. It's like the five-second rule for food, except there isn't a time limit. Thought arrives. Identify thought as good or bad. Reject bad means no sin. Thought arrives. Identify thought as good or bad. Dwell on and play with bad means sin. When we listen to our spirit, we have the tool we need to identify things that are good or bad. Our flesh is an input system. Feelings and sensations, whether they are physical or mental, they come into our minds and we need to evaluate them. Is there worth here or not? Is this something that is good or something that I don't want? Worry, anxiety, depression, sickness, lack, negativity, stress, conflict, vulnerability, and everything else about the human systems that we have built up over the eons are not things that we need to accept. Now, we may choose to because they are useful, like accepting that arbitrary money values are part of the world system. In other words, we need to deal with money. We may choose to because they are for the societal good, like obeying traffic laws, returning library books, and tipping for a service above and beyond the basics. But why should I accept the idea that I have to have conflict with my spouse? Why should I accept the idea that my teenagers have to be horned up and at the mercy of their hormones? Why should I accept the idea that sex is part of every relationship and a requirement in order to be with somebody? Even more, why should I accept the idea that sexual release is a need and has to be submitted to in order to have good mental health? I mean, I don't want to get into all the nitty-gritty, but if we have our minds, hearts, and emotions founded on and set upon and guided by our eternal righteous spirit, we have all good choices to choose from. We do not have to choose flesh decisions. We can choose all 100% spirit choices. The problem is twofold. Number one, we have an ingrained habit of listening to our flesh. That can be changed. We can retrain ourselves over time. We can develop new habits. We can get better patterns in our minds. We can get better source material into our hearts. This is in no way instantaneous. This is a lifelong journey where we need to take each and every negative habit, each and every piece of information that we logged into our heads that we should not have, every single action or word or idea that was the basis for a habit developing, and take it to the cross where we can crucify it beside Jesus and gain cleansing from it by the blood of Jesus, which purifies us from all unrighteousness, peace by very specific peace. 1 John 1.7. It is the process of sanctification. It is led by the Lord himself, and it takes a lifetime to achieve. But in Jesus, we will achieve it. That sounds so hard, you might say. Well, yeah, it isn't easy straight. But we were never promised that. Jesus told us to take up our cross and follow him, Matthew 16.24. Crucifixion is a horrific punishment, incredibly painful and inescapable once begun. It is a final solution. That is what Jesus has called us to. But we have no way of ever remembering every single thing that needs to be taken to the cross. We have no way of ever getting each and every piece of ick out of us and into death where it belongs. That is why Jesus sent his Holy Spirit. I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, that he may be with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world can't receive, for it doesn't see him and doesn't know him. You know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. John 14.16-17. Jesus sent us his Spirit to be used in conjunction with himself. Jesus is the Word, John 1.14. The Word has its own properties. Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that each person who belongs to God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3.16-17. We can take the Word and put it into our hearts and into our minds. With that repository that we daily replenish, the Holy Spirit can bring to mind what we need to do and say and get rid of based on the Word, in order for us to day by day, step by step, get sanctified, cleansed, and renewed until our souls are as pure and righteous as our spirits, which will be finalized as we stand before the Father's throne in heaven. The Word is the will of the Father. It is our lodestone and guidepost. He will never say anything to us that is contrary to the Word. He will never ask us to violate a principle of the Word. Everything works together and bounces off each other and blends and reunites until we know that we know that we know that we know that we are in the will of the Father. Doing what he has shown us and saying what he has told us to say, and walking just like Jesus did. John 5.19 We can do it in Jesus because it is Jesus who does it in us. Philippians 1.3-6 The Word sanctifies us. John 17.17 It is the refiner's fire that burns away the dross. Malachi 3.2 Which sounds great, but if you watch the process, you know that it is not pain-free. The plus side is that the pain is but a moment, just like persecution is. 2 Corinthians 4.17 And our tears will be wiped away by the hand of Jesus himself. Revelation 21.4 Anyone who has ever tried to groom a little child knows all about the tears, protestations, horror, oh, the horror and the travailing that happens as you try and wipe a face. Take care of acne, deal with skin issues, or clean an ear out. You'd think they were on the rack in a medieval dungeon, as his beloved children were exactly the same. But it is temporary, it never lasts, and we do get his rewards. One reward we get is peace. His peace, not worldly peace. Peace that passes understanding. Peace that flies in the face of everything around us, laughing in the face of the storm as we are tossed about the hurricane in a wooden dinghy. Why? Because we have the sense inside of us that we will not be capsized, that we will not be flung out, that we will not be shattered or broken upon the rocks, that we are safer than if we were in a massive ocean liner or cargo carrier. Peace that is based on one true faith. Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen, for by this the elders obtained approval. By faith we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible. Hebrews 11, 1-3. We are basing our faith on the Lord, not the world. On what our spirits call true, not what the world calls true. On what our spirit emotes, not what our flesh feels. It is the best kind of peace. Jesus had it in the storm on the Galilean Sea. Paul had it in his persecutions. We can have it too. It is word peace, founded on word truth. It doesn't change, it isn't malleable, it is based on the eternal nature of Yahweh God Almighty and can be trusted like nothing else in this life can. Another reward we get is hope, eager expectation, not wishing for a good outcome, but eagerly looking down the road for the delivery that we have been promised and that we know is coming any day now. That is a hope the world does not have, does not understand, and is scared of a little. It is the hope of glory. We have been made a promise by the God who cannot lie, by the embodiment of truth, by the righteous, ever-merciful Lord. We have a home, a place we can go to, to feel all those feelings we associate with home, security, welcome, peace, familiarity and comfort. That home is at the throne of the Most High God. We can go there, inhabit there, dwell there. The day is coming. Soon and very soon we are going to meet the King. Jesus said He was coming for us. He cannot lie. Behold, I am coming soon. My reward is with me to repay each man according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter in by the gates into the city. Outside of the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify these things to you for the assemblies. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star. Revelation 22, 12-16 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will receive you to myself, that where I am, you may be there also. You know where I go, and you know the way. John 14, 3-4 These are awesome promises. These are an exceedingly great reward. They are our hope. They are coming to us. They are on the way. Revelation 22, 20 tells us that Jesus Himself said, Yes, I am coming soon. And He is. Amen. Our daily affirmation of God's love is Ephesians 1, 3-10 Okay, get this. We have been given every spiritual blessing that is from the heavenly places. We have been designated to be holy and without defect before the Father in His perfect love. We have been adopted as children. We have been put into Jesus Himself. We are the good pleasure of His desire. We are empowered to give praise to the glory of His grace. We have been given favor freely. We have been given redemption. We have all wisdom and all prudence abounding toward us. We have revealed to us the mystery of His will. We have in Jesus, by Jesus, and through Jesus, the sum of all things in the heavens and on the earth administered to the fullness of times. That is a hefty package of things we have, don't you agree? Do you know when we were given them? Before the foundation of the world. You think about that. We didn't exist. The stuff that we are made of didn't exist. The elements that make up the stuff that we are made of didn't exist. We were not even a blueprint the way we think of them. We were an idea in the Father's mind, fully formed as if we existed already, but not even spoken of. No words formed or spoken. An idea. That's when we got all of that. By any stretch of the imagination, there is absolutely and utterly no way that we could ever imagine that anything could possibly be said to have been earned by us. But we were given it. All of it. What got that for us? Grace. By grace, we are given the God kind of faith which enables us to believe that not only does Yahweh exist, but that He rewards. When we choose to believe in Jesus, by whom, in whom, and through whom our reward has its existence, we are resurrected into Jesus' eternal righteous spirit, gaining back that which died when we betrayed the command of God in the garden. Our new spirit is sealed by the Holy Spirit at the moment of our salvation and baptism into Jesus, becoming our promise, our down payment, a promissory note of more to come, our free sample to keep of the banquet that will be ours as we arrive, sanctified at the endless end that is Jesus, the source of our new beginning, the Alpha Omega, the spotless Lamb, the Anointed One, our Lord and Savior. That is grace. That is love. As we close, remember that you have earth. You are precious and valuable. Declare this. Today, God loves that I, now you, fill in the blank. Was it a meal you made? A smile you gave? Did you get out of bed? Read? Put on socks? There's no wrong answers here. There is no end to God's love and no end to the things about you that He loves each and every day. Pick one. And remember, the Lord loves you just because you're you. 1 John 4, 9-10 tells us, By this, God's love was revealed in us, that God has sent His only-born Son into the world, that we might live through Him. And this is love. Not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. His perfect love turned away God's wrath because of sin. And it casts out our fear, too. See verses 18 and 19. We love because He first loved us. He just loves us. Can't get enough of us. And that is wonderful. See you next time.