Grace That Leads to Joy - Part 4

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Thursday, June 2, 2016

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.  Philippians 4:23^(NLT)

We are under the influence of grace that changes us while leading us to joy.  So far we’ve seen that grace can help us see the joy in the midst of tragedy, that it will make you joyfully-grateful, and help you become a joyful giver. 

And now…

Grace makes you a joyful glorifier of God.

Now all glory to God our Father forever and ever! Amen.  Philippians 4:20 (NLT)

It seems Paul often stopped to praise God from whom all blessings flow.  We also ought to give praise instead of gripe persistently. 

Considering the fact that God deserves our praise, and we are created for Him, and not ourselves, it ought to be without question.  However, we don't even have the ability to glorify God, except that He gives that also! 

Danny West^[2] tells how he tried time and again when he was a teenager to ring the bell.  It was one of those contraptions that had a slam-board and a bell at the top.  You slap that board with a hammer, and the weight flies upward to ring the bell.  He never could ring it, no matter how hard he tried. 

Ringing that bell became a driving passion.  Even with all his adrenaline flowing and his friends rooting him on, he could not ring that bell. 

We have the same problem in doing church. 

There is not anything we can do, including worship, except by the grace of God.  We religiously do our rituals, pay our tithes, and go through the cultural rites – but where is the joy?  I am not saying we ought to cancel the church services.  However, it seems we ought to be a little more like Paul, and recount the blessings till we cannot but stop and sing the Doxology!

For You Today

How’s it going in worship – do you occupy a pew, or worship with everything ounce of your being the eternal Creator and Sustainer of the Universe who loves you enough to die for you?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today…have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO

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[1] Title Image: By Meghana Kulkarni from Pune, India (Happiness), via Wikimedia Commons

[2]West, Danny, PROCLAIM MAGAZINE

Grace That Leads to Joy - Part 3

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                                                                       Wednesday, June 1, 2016

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.  Philippians 4:23^(NLT)

So far this week we’ve seen that there can, indeed be joy in life, and even in the face of tragedy, and that it can even make you joyfully-grateful that God allows such things.  Further,

Grace makes you a joyful giver

As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I first brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia.  No other church did this.  Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once.  I don’t say this because I want a gift from you.  Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness.  At the moment I have all I need—and more!  I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus.  They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God.  And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.    Philippians 4:15-19^(NLT)

Giving is a touchy subject!  It is particularly so for those who have not yet gotten the idea that it is a joy to give.  But giving is never a touchy subject when the right conditions exist:

People give when hearts are touched

I have a friend who manages to put a few dollars away each month for the purpose of finding God's needy spot.  He prays about this money, that God will direct him to the need.  This is a heart that is touched with compassion and enthusiasm for the gospel.  I can tell it gives him a lot of joy to be able to give.  One church member confided in me that giving just a dollar or two above her tithe to help a needy child gave her more joy than anything else she does.  When your heart is touched with compassion for the needs of people, you give joyfully.  But then,

People give sacrificially when the heart is transferred (to God)

There is a difference in the joy of a gift, and a sacrificial gift.  Paul's pride and joy, the Philippian group were examples of sacrificial giving.  Richard Melick wrote:  Their giving was exemplary because they gave out of 'rock-bottom poverty.^[2] 

What is it like to give sacrificially? 

A man who had been laid-off from his job for four years gave his wife a dishwasher at Christmas.  What a gift!  But there's more...the old house they lived in had its original wiring, and could not have handled the required installation.  There was no spot big enough in the kitchen for such a machine.  And they had not been able to meet even the interest payment on their mortgage in six months.  No large box appeared; no new plumbing or wiring.  There was just a small handwritten note on the branch of somebody's castaway Christmas tree:

"For one year I will wash all of the dirty dishes in this household.  Every one!"

And he did!^[3] 

Now, that's sacrificial (by most men's standards)!  And sacrifice only comes under the influence of love. 

I have a coupon booklet that I will always treasure.  It is from my three kids.  It was given to me one Father's Day.  The kids had no money because of "U.I.S." (Under the Influence of Seminary).  So they gave me 21 different slips of paper as handwritten credit vouchers.  One voucher was good for a car wash.  Another was good for a "no-gripe lawnmower usage" (I think the girls blackmailed my son into that one.)  Still another was for a whole day of kids being good without Dad having to remind anybody.  I want to tell you, I've never cashed a single coupon; they are too precious to me.  Those kids loved me, and gave sacrificially.  When you transfer your heart to God you will give sacrificially, and love it!

For You Today

God gave the ultimate in sacrificial gifts nailed to crossbeams on the town garbage dump outside of Jerusalem.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today…have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO

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[1] Title Image: By Meghana Kulkarni from Pune, India (Happiness), via Wikimedia Commons

[2]Melick, Richard R., Jr., THE NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARY, 158

[3]Rogers, Judy, GUIDEPOSTS (Dec 1988)

Grace That Leads to Joy - Part 2

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Tuesday, May 31, 2016

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.  Philippians 4:23^(NLT)

Yesterday I told you about the 22 year old boy named Ricky who died in an accident, and how, in the face of terrible pain, there was joy – peace that passes understanding. 

I can imagine that was something like the joy Paul felt, sitting in a Roman jail.  He and Ricky had similarities; both were educated, energetic, and ambitious.  In their respective fields they were tops! 

But Paul had lived his life, accomplishing much for the cause of Christ, and now he was in prison, in danger of being executed as a common criminal – all because of his faithfulness!  And in the middle of all that, Paul would say joy. 

I want you to know, beloved; there is only one thing in this entire universe that can make a person joyful in the midst of that kind of circumstance:  It is the grace of Almighty God. 

Grace makes you joyfully grateful

 Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty.  Philippians 4:14^(NLT)

For others' participation

            Paul was grateful for the gift brought by Epaphroditus.  None of the other churches had shared in the financial needs of his ministry, and Paul was joyfully grateful because the Philippian church had a proper sense of why they were giving. 

It was not just for Paul's sake; they knew they were ministering with their gifts.  With the gifts God gives each of us, as Maxie Dunham wrote ...we act on behalf of each other, knowing that we are acting for the sake of God."^[2] 

In the daily arena of life God provides that which we cannot do for ourselves.  Margaret Trudeau, wife of Canada's Pierre Trudeau wrote in her autobiography of meeting Britain's Queen Elizabeth:

I was wearing a brand-new haute-couture suit and very high-heeled shoes.  I was extremely nervous.  As I sank into a deep curtsy, it became crystal clear to both of us that I was not going to make it up again.  Without altering her expression by as much as a flicker, the queen strengthened her grasp, tensed all the muscles of her right arm, and drew me up to my feet with a grip of iron, smiling steadily all the while.^[3]

For God's purpose

Paul was working to see the gospel spread; that was his call from God.  The circumstances were not wonderful, but he could see the purpose of God being worked-out, even in his misery. 

And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News.  Philippians 2:12^(NLT)

Paul could see.  That means he was able to look past the circumstances, and see God's hand at work.  Often I am blind in this area.  I sometimes seem to live my life succumbing to the principle that it’s tough to remember you were sent to drain the swamp when you are surrounded by alligators.  What I SEE is the circumstance – great big green, saw-toothed, nasty gators.  What I really need to remember is that those circumstances are often what God has to work with, considering the material (me) He has to start with.

Even more important is that, those circumstances which He allows to pile up in my face are there by His design to accomplish His purpose.  I can trust better when my will is surrendered to His purpose. 

I can be joyfully-grateful that He loves me that much!

For You Today

Are you joyfully-grateful for some of the tough things you’re facing?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today…have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO

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[1] Title Image: By Meghana Kulkarni from Pune, India (Happiness), via Wikimedia Commons

[2]Dunham, Maxie D., THE COMMUNICATOR'S COMMENTARY VOL. 8, (Waco, Word Inc., 1982), 320

[3]Trudeau, Margaret, BEYOND REASON, (Paddington Press, As quoted in Reader's Digest)

Grace That Leads to Joy - Part 1

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Monday, May 30, 2016

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.  Philippians 4:23^(NLT)

This week we are going to investigate the joy Paul described to the Philippian church, the kind of joy that only the grace of God can bring.  All throughout this letter to the Philippian church Paul's theme has been joy. 

Indeed, rejoicing was his life. 

But sometimes tragedy will test even the strongest faith.

A number of years ago I stood with Ricky’s family, a 22 year-old boy, who had been killed in a freak accident, when another vehicle locked bumpers trying to pass him.  It flipped Ricky’s car off the road and he died instantly. 

Looking into the casket; it was hard to imagine joy. 

His mother and Dad shared with me their son's great plans for the future:  Master's degree, advancement, family, and his love for the Lord; it was an incredible tragedy how his life had been snuffed out. 

His parents told me how Ricky worked hard every day, never late; how he went to school nights, and how hard he studied.  It was hard to conjure-up joy amidst all the stock phrases people nervously utter at such times; words won't do! 

There was lots of hugging and remembering at the funeral home.  But I knew that would pass.  In the morning there would be a funeral service, and soon we would be at the cemetery, ready to lower a young man into a grave, when he hadn't even begun to live. 

Joy was AWOL! 

And so I asked the Lord to speak to my heart, so I could speak to this broken-hearted family.  Often I'm a poor listener, so the Lord waited until I walked out on the platform for the service.  It was the faces of the young people; most of whom I'd never seen before.  The faces were streaming with tears, disbelief and stunned silence.  The faces were grieving as those with no hope. 

The Lord then spoke to my heart and the one-sided conversation went thus:

            Russell, among those young people are those who have left me out.

A few have never even heard the gospel. 

Tell them I love them.

What a privilege!  I not only rediscovered joy – I was downright happy!  This gave meaning to Ricky's death.  His friends were sitting there, wishing for some kind of meaning – any kind of sense in the madness and chaos of losing their friend.  They were facing the reality that if it could happen to Ricky, so young, strong, bright and alive – well it could happen to anyone! 

And their attention was focused toward the pulpit, God's sacred desk.  It was the grace of God that spoke to my heart telling me to tell them; it was the grace of God that covered that building with joy that day in the face of tragedy.

Awesome responsibility...Incredible joy!

For You Today

Have you ever felt joy in the midst of a terrible loss?  In this same letter to the church, Paul called it the peace that passes understanding; you can’t possibly explain it, but you sure know it’s there!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today…have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO

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[1] Title Image: By Meghana Kulkarni from Pune, India (Happiness), via Wikimedia Commons