Bible Nook Archives

Grace

 The word Grace is used by many including Christians and non-Christians. The dictionary describes Grace in secular terms as mercy and clemency. In Theological terms it describes Grace as Divine Love and protection bestowed freely on mankind.

 God’s grace is 100% based on His merit, not ours. In fact, Jesus Christ is the only person who as ever had merit before God. God’s grace comes without guilt or obligation attached and places no onus on us to deserve it. If God expected us to repay even 1/1000^th of any of His gifts, it would no longer be grace.

 A good example of grace is giving a gift. When you give a gift to someone, you don’t give it to them and then take it back a week later when they don’t act the way you wanted them to. Furthermore, you don’t give them a receipt for a portion of the cost.  In both cases you would be considered an ungracious giver.

 God is glorified because He gets the credit for the grace. If we “deserved” it, WE would get the credit, not God. If God took His gift away from us because we did not deserve it, then the issue would still be our worth instead of God’s worth. We praise God for His unspeakable gifts (and we don’t look over our shoulders afraid that God waits for us to mess up so He can take them away)!

Memories

 My family and I share a lot of good memories. We have fun memories (sliding down hills on cardboard boxes), sad memories (death of beloved pets) and inspirational memories (family coming together during tough times). One of the things that makes these memories so wonderful is that they are mine for a lifetime and beyond. I will be able to take these memories with me to heaven and share them once again with my loved ones.

 As we build memories with our friends and families we are likewise to build memories with our Lord Jesus Christ. We carry these memories with us through our lives and take them to heaven also. These memories help us to know Christ personally and even to the point we would be able to recognize Him in a room full of many. We should fill our lives with happy and inspirational memories of our Saviour. My memories of Christ are the times He took me through situations I thought I’d never survive; He never left my side, even when I strayed; He consistently provides me with small blessings that make me smile and know He cares; He encourages me with perfectly timed Bible studies or words from another; and, He consistently shows me the answers to my prayers.

 All of these memories remind me that Christ is my friend. I look forward to being able to share these memories with Him.

 Biblical Principles for Life

I thought I would share some biblical principles with you that I have been using repeatedly over the last couple of weeks during my family's crisis with my mother and brother. Maybe you can find one to use to help you through your tough times.

 God NEVER makes a mistake.
God's timing is always perfect.
God will never cheat us out of anything.
God cannot fix the problem if we get in the way.
God cares about our pain and grief and provides comfort if we look to Him.
Christ is our friend, He does not want us to fail this walk; He will help us through it.
God knows more than we do about the entire situation and knows how it will all work out.
God knew about the problem and the solution before the universe was created.
God has given us this chance to encourage and comfort others through His Word.
We can use this circumstance to glorify Christ, witness to others, and strengthen our relationship with Him

A good leader will trust those he leads. He makes the necessary provisions, informs, instructs, encourages and then trusts his group to get the job done.

From our Bible Study this week – Luke 9 – we see that Jesus Christ delegated authority to His disciples to go heal and teach in His name. Jesus Christ made the necessary provisions, [verse 1- “...He gave them power and authority...], He informed the disciples of what they were to do, [verse 2 – “...preach the Kingdom of God and heal the sick...”], He instructed them, [verses 3-5 – “He told them...testimony against them.”], and He encouraged them, [verse 46b – “...Whoever welcomes Me,...For he who is the least among you all – he is the greatest.”]

He also trusted the disciples to get the job done. He didn’t micromanage them but instead left them to their jobs and gave them the opportunity to go forth and witness, or in some cases, to fail.

This is the same trust that Christ has placed in us. He has given us the provision (salvation and spiritual gifts), He has informed and instructed us (His word), He encourages us (answering prayers and revealing Himself to us), and now He trusts us. He trusts us to live our lives to glorify Him. He trusts us to fulfill His plan for our lives. Most importantly, He trusts us to be dependent on Him!

We should be overwhelmed with awe by the fact that The Creator of the entire universe has placed such trust in us and be motivated to take full advantage of His gracious provisions as we grow in the knowledge and love of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ"

 

Thankful for the Crumbs

 Matthew 15:21-28 – The Canaanite women in this passage showed great faith that the Lord would heal her daughter, even though she was not a Jew.  She knew that even “a crumb from the master’s table” would have an impact on her life.

 As believers in Christ, we see, acknowledge, and are thankful for the obvious blessings and timely provisions which God so graciously bestows on us. Sometimes though, we forget that God gives us crumbs as well. These crumbs, although they do not make or break our spiritual life, they do have impact on our lives.

Crumbs take the form of small pleasures in life. The things that make our day brighter: a close parking space on a rainy day, a friendly stranger who helps, the bargain that saved us an extra couple of dollars and even the exasperating raspberry jelly stain finally washing out of the cream colored shirt.

 These crumbs remind us that God is involved in every detail of our life. From the largest to the most miniscule. He has made plans and provisions in eternity past to provide for everything we need.

 Why would God care about the raspberry jelly?  Because, He cares about us and knows that we will be thankful when it finally comes out. We are called the "bride" of Christ and what loving husband does not enjoy doing the simple things that make his wife smile and think of him.

 Yes, God does give us crumbs, but with our proper attitude, even God's "crumbs" are tremendous feasts!

 Eph. 5:20 - "...always give thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.