He Is Coming With The Clouds .
Revelation 1:7 (NIV)

Look, he is coming with the clouds,and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.

I received this verse in my daily email subscription. Any time I read anything from Revelation, I go to one resource or another to try to comprehend the meaning. Well, 20 minutes later, I'm back at the computer! I was tempted to switch to another verse that might be considered more uplifting, but decided against it as this is obviously the verse I am intended to study today.

My Bible Readers Companion spends a couple of pages talking about the various interpretations of Revelation. Throughout history scholars have considered it prophecy about the end times, but disagreed about whether or not it was literal or figurative. Well, if you know anything about me, I could spend days-even weeks-studying just that argument!

Ultimately I decided that mankind spends a great deal of time debating scripture! We dissect it and analyze it and put it all in historical perspective and beat it to death until it resembles what we think it says--or want it to say.

As our Sunday school class has spent the last several months studying the parables of Jesus, we have discovered that those parables are timeless. With only the slightest explanation of the context--eliminating the context as a distraction--we can very clearly understand the message of Jesus today.

This verse is pretty clear to my mind: WE are the ones who pierced Him. Not only those who placed Jesus on the Cross, but all of mankind, throughout past and future history! Every time we sin against God, we become-again and again and again--one of those who added to Christ's burden.

He became God's offering to us and yet we are the ones who should be offering ourselves up to Him. The mourning in this verse speaks very loudly and clearly to me: I will mourn a thousand years at the end of time before I can even work up the courage to look God in the eye. I will grieve so deeply, my sorrow and distress at my own sinful nature will pour over me like a waterfall or an avalanche.

When we get to heaven we still won't be able to grasp the beauty and power of God. Even in His presence--or should I say especially in His presence--we will be overwhelmed. Yes, we will mourn because of Him--that we caused the need for His sacrifice; that we forget His sacrifice; that we defy His sacrifice.

Jesus gave up divinity to walk among us. I don't think we'll fully grasp the enormity of His sacrifice until we glimpse it for ourselves in heaven.

My prayer today is that you remember God's gift to each of us. And that you offer grace to everyone you meet.

Mary

Labels: grace, Jesus, mary moss, Revelation, worship for the weekday

  ¶ 6:39 AM

  Grace Gives Righteousness .
Jeremiah 23:5-65.

"Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: `The Lord is our righteousness.'

2 Corinthians 5:20-21

20. So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

I looked up the word righteousness at dictionary.com. For the word righteous I found, “morally upright; without guilt or sin; adhering to moral principles.” For moral I found, “founded on the fundamental principles of right conduct rather than on legalities” Synonyms or the word moral include upright, honest, straightforward, open, virtuous and honorable. If my admittedly limited grammar recall is correct, righteousness is the embodiment of all of these qualities. It is the state of being morally upright, adhering to moral principles, honest, straightforward, open, virtuous and honorable.

Becoming the righteousness of God, then, seems like a pretty tall order. Actually, it is as tall order! I don’t know about any of you, but I struggle with any individual quality listed, let alone living is a way that is all-encompassing. Fortunately for us, The Lord is our righteousness. Christ is righteousness on our behalf, in our stead. God’s grace made that provision for us over 2000 years ago. Christ also serves as the example for us. Since he was righteousness itself, we only need to read the Bible to discover the qualities God demands of his children.

It would be so easy to become discouraged or dismayed at the prospect of trying to achieve this state of being. I’m more prone to “righteous indignation” that I am to righteousness! But we have hope! Freegrace.net states, “In the matter of justification Christ is all (Acts 13:38-39). His work, only his work, without any contribution whatsoever from us, makes us righteous in the sight of God. God looks upon all who believe as though the life which Christ lived had been lived by us. He graciously accepts, blesses, and rewards us as though all that Christ has done had been done by us, his believing people. God so perfectly imputes the righteousness of Christ to us that we are called by this very name (Jer. 33:15-16).”

As ambassadors for Christ we are to attempt to live righteously. Even though at first glance the world is far from moral, virtuous, honorable, upright and Christ-like, our faith tells us otherwise. We are to reconcile ourselves to God by admitting, accepting, acknowledging our sinfulness. In that way we allow the Holy Spirit to enter us and aid us in our effort to live righteously. We all have a long way to go—some of us have farther than others. We need not live without hope though, because Christ has already done the hard work to achieve perfection on our behalf.

Clearly grace is tied intricately and inseparably with righteousness.

My prayer today is that you make one small change in your life that moves you closer to true righteousness through Christ. And that you rejoice in God’s grace, which saves us in our failed efforts to do so.

Mary

Labels: grace, righteous, righteousness

  ¶ 10:35 AM

  The Gift of Grace Ephesians 2:7-10

We are saved by grace, through faith; this salvation is not from what we do, it is a gift from God; Salvation comes from faith and not by works, so that no one can boast about what they did to get to heaven.

James 2:14, 17

“Dear brothers and sisters, what's the use of saying you have faith if you don't prove it by your actions? That kind of faith can't save anyone. … So you see, it isn't enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn't show itself by good deeds is no faith at all—it is dead and useless.”

Do these two passages seem to contradict each other? In the first passage, we read we’re saved by grace, and not by what we do. In the second, we read that faith without works is dead and useless. Hmmm. So which is the one by which we should live? Which one do we follow? Of course, you know I’m going to say both!

What I take away from these two scripture passages is that first of all, we are indeed saved by grace—God’s grace. We have the unspeakably generous gift of his grace in spite of our inherent sinfulness and propensity to demonstrate all the worse characteristics of humanity. Our faith that we have already received God’s grace and so are assured of a future with him in heaven is borne our by how we live our lives. We are not to ever think we have earned the prize because of our own doing. No, we have won it in spite of ourselves!

So how does the passage from James fit into the picture? We’ve already declared we trust and believe that God’s grace is unconditional—available merely by believing it is so. James addresses what should be our natural response to being saved by God’s grace. Think of the Good Samaritan, think of those from modern times who risk everything to help someone else or to take a stand on an important issue. Think about the person who holds the door for you when your arms are full. Think of allowing someone with 2 items go in front of you in the grocery store because you have a cart full.

We don’t have to be missionaries and live a life of poverty far from home in order to live out our faith. James tells us that it’s wonderful to have faith! God is pleased that you believe his promise! Acting upon that faith is a natural response to our gratitude and joy that we are saved! When we have faith, we cannot help but want to share it with the world!

So let’s review. We have this astounding gift of grace from God, freely given and offered without condition or cost. Our natural response to the gift is to share it with others. Not that we are not saved without sharing it, but that we cannot help but declare God’s unspeakable generosity and mercy. Faith without works means we haven’t fully grasped or embraced the gift of grace. It is so incredible that we just can’t wrap our minds around the why of it. There is no love on earth that equals God’s love for us. That’s the why. God made us to be his. He longs for us. He gave us a no-fail way to get to heaven so we could be with him at the end of time.

Psalm 51:15-1715. O Lord, open my lips, That my mouth may declare Thy praise. 16. For Thou dost not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; Thou art not pleased with burnt offering. 17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.

My prayer today is that your faith is demonstrated by your works. And that your works cause others to ask you “why?”

Mary

Labels: faith, grace, praise, works

  ¶ 6:10 AM

  Seek Poverty .
Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

1 Samuel 17:39

David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. "I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off.

David was preparing to fight Goliath – a “giant” – the representative of a tribe of giants. Of course Saul’s natural instinct was to arm David with his (Saul’s) armor. Saul’s armor would have been extraordinary I’m sure and designed to protect Saul’s life against all forms of attack. David had faith in himself and his own natural abilities, though. He felt weighed down and knew he would be encumbered by the unfamiliar armor.

No, David needed to be unencumbered by man’s tools, weapons, armor and ideas. He needed to trust in God—the God who had given him the expert ability to use that slingshot—and the God he somehow knew had hand-picked him for this task. David didn’t need worldly protection! He had divine protection.

The world is very busy telling us what we need and what we should have. If you watch any television at all you know that there is a pill for whatever ails you. Retail therapy cures all ills and acquiring more and bigger and better things will make your life more enjoyable. Those messages are hard to ignore. Americans live in a bubble, surrounded by those who want us to don man’s armor.

Too often, we heed the advice of the drug companies, the car companies, the furniture stores, the “once-in-a-lifetime, going-out-of-business” sales. We buy a new car, start looking for a bigger, more expensive house, eat fast food-but now it’s healthier-and never seek God and His understanding, His will for us, His desires for our lives.

My husband and I were talking last night about a revelation he had recently. His comment really struck me at the time because of its profundity and it has stuck in my mind since. He said we should seek poverty. Seek poverty. Now isn’t that counter to what “the world” tells us? In truth vast numbers of people living in the world today live in poverty. They live in abject poverty, squalor. They are on the verge of starvation. They literally live in poverty.

But I think my husband was speaking to something a little different. We have learned so well to rely upon God and his understanding in the past year. We have had no choice. Since he lost his job over a year ago, my husband has worked steadily, but in many different part time and temporary jobs in search of the one that was a good fit. Without the regular full time income and benefits, we’ve been forced to evaluate our lives and what is essential to us.

What we have discovered is that in spite of our lack of substantial income, we have thrived spiritually. Our relationship has grown deeper, stronger more spiritual. Both of us now strive to discover what lessons God wants us to learn and how he wants us to apply them to our lives and to our ministry as believers.

I don’t know what the future holds for us. I do know that God has it all under control and has already lain out the path he wants us to follow-individually and as a couple. Sometimes I am impatient. Sometimes I try to don the world’s armor. But it is very heavy and awkward compared to the easy, light burden and yoke of faith.

My prayer today is that you seek poverty. And that you rejoice in the abundance of God’s gift to you—His grace.

Mary

Labels: abundance, faith, grace, poverty

  ¶ 6:17 AM

  Here Am I! .
2 Timothy 3:1-5

1. But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of stress. 2. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3. inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, fierce, haters of good, 4. treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5. holding the form of religion but denying the power of it. Avoid such people.

1 Chronicles 16:35

Say also: "Deliver us, O God of our salvation, and gather and save us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise.

Year after year I think to myself that surely things can’t get much worse in the world. Year after year I’m proven wrong! I never cease to be amazed at human capacity to destroy and defile not just each other, but everything in our wake. The anger and arrogance, recklessness and blatant lack of awareness of who we are and whose we are is stunning. And year after year we manage to escalate our mindless, soulless disregard for each other and our world to a new level.

Isn’t that the first response to the evening news? Threats of yet another war somewhere in a land far away, the latest escapades of a spoiled and misguided movie star, drought, famine, starvation, earthquakes, bridge collapses, HIV/AIDS, ethnic cleansing, global warming and on and on and on. Do you ever find yourself thinking these must be the last days? Where are the lovers of God? Where are the peacemakers and the healers? What happened to our life?

Well, I have a feeling we haven’t hit rock bottom yet! Sadly, we’re not even close to bottom! So what is our alternative to being victimized and sucked in to the ways of the world? How do we live a life worthy of God’s grace when all around us there is a glaring lack of evidence that it even exists? I think the verse from Chronicles would be a good place to start. Call out to God for our deliverance; our personal deliverance, and the deliverance of God’s world.

There are plenty of reasons to adopt a woe is me attitude. I can understand why so many may be hopeless and disillusioned. At first glance it does appear as if God has left us alone and on our own. That’s why it’s so important to surround ourselves with other Christians. Without a church family and a faith community, we have no place to go, no comfort or reassurance, no hope for the future. Unless we can counter what the world tells us with a reminder of what Christ tells us, we can become hopeless, distraught, afraid and discouraged.

Timothy was written a couple of thousand years ago! And the world is still here. Mankind is still alive and kicking! Somehow we’ve managed to survive. God’s incredible grace has sustained us through the ages. God has sent to live among us today people like Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela, medical missionaries and doctors without borders, The Red Cross and volunteer aid workers, prayer warriors and nameless, faceless saints whose names we’ll never know. God’s people are in the world. They labor for His kingdom. They are doing something to make this world a better place to live in.

We are called to be a people apart. Not separate from the world, but apart from it. We are to live by a higher calling. We are to be the face of God to a fallen and sin-filled world. We are to be the difference. We are to call out to God on behalf of those who cannot or will not do so.

”He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”[Micah 6:8] “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me."[Isaiah 6:8]

The world is calling out for you. Pick a cause; make a donation; say a prayer. Do something. Be the one who does justice, loves kindness and walks humbly with your God.

My prayer today is that you will respond “Here am I!” when the world calls out. And that you give thanks to God’s holy name and rejoice in His praise.

Mary

Labels: drought, faith, famine, grace, HIV/AIDS, justice, kindness, missionary, war

  ¶ 6:11 AM