6/20/2004

Thank you for taking the time to read this web-log. This is the first time I have done this, so please bear with me. I have this desire in my heart to share what I have learned, and am learning, with others, about the grace of Jesus Christ, both for salvation, and for living life every day.
I also have a burning desire to shout out the truth to a world dying to hear it, a world that is as alone and without grace as it possibly could be.

Fellow believers, you know that whenever you see someone who doesn't know Jesus Christ, you see a person without an eternal hope. Doesn't that make you want to do something about it?
Well, that is only part of the reason I am doing this. The other part has to do with the many believers who currently live the same desperate, hopeless life they lived before they met Jesus, the only difference being, now they are saved, and they cling to that because they believe there is nothing good for them here. This web page is about truth, and we will expose the truth, and we will expose Satan, and as many of his lies as we possibly can. Why? Because we are commanded to (see 1 Timothy 2:3-4).

Jesus came so that we would have life, and have it abundantly. He did not come so that we could try really hard, and at the end of the day, spend our prayer time moaning to God about how miserably we failed. The Gospel of Grace is not just about life in Heaven. It is also all about life here on earth. A person seeking to live life to the fullest won't find that life until he finds Jesus Christ, and he still won't find that full life until he realizes that grace is necessary and full each and every day. Do you find yourself still seeking that full, abundant life?

This web page will not be about checklists, and ten days to perfection, or the twenty sure-fire spiritual chants that will solve all of your temptations. This website is not about how to get rich in a godly manner, or how to use Jesus Christ to get what you want out of life. It is about truth, and sometimes the truth is a hard teaching. Find comfort in this; life is hard anyway, wouldn't you rather do it knowing the truth, knowing the best way, knowing you have hope each and every day? Or are you content to be led on by Satan and his lies, so long as it doesn't cost you too much?

There are some hard questions we need to ask ourselves, but if we claim to be followers of Christ, then we won't shy away from them, they will spur us on to the truth. Here's one now; If today Jesus told you that the rest of your life, you would have to beg to stay alive, that your job would be lost, your home, your family, and everything that could help you make a living, would you be thankful just to be alive, or would you beg for death instead? You see, the measure of a person's faith is not in what the Lord gives him. Rather, it is in how that person responds to the Lord no matter what the situation is. I have met some really loud Christians who claim they are doing the Christian life the right way because they are set for life, have huge retirement accounts, and tithe out of their excess. They believe that because they have been so blessed, they must be doing something right. The truth is, they may be doing something right. Or, they may not. Wealth and material blessings have nothing to do with how you walk before the Lord. Some of the poorest people I know walk far more closely, and in more dependence upon the Lord than the wealthy who claim righteousness because they have been blessed. So, you can see the truth. God gives to whom he chooses to give, and withholds from whom He chooses to withhold. Yes, obedience does lead to blessings from the Lord, but the truth is, those blessings don't always have much to do with material things.

Tonight, I just wanted to introduce this site, and start with a passage found in different forms at the beginning of just about all the Epistles to the churches of the New Testament. Galatians 1:3-4 reads, "Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father." Think about that passage for a few minutes.

When is the last time you were greeted in such a manner? Have you ever greeted someone else this way? For most, the answer will be no, and one of the excuses might be, "It just seems too churchy, too holier than thou." Well, that might be a good excuse if you belonged to the world. However, since almost all of the New Testament letters started with such a greeting, it is clear that none of the Apostles thought the greeting was too "holier than thou". We might follow their example, because I am of the opinion that the Church was never stronger nor holier than when these men still walked the face of this earth. I don't see too many miracles being performed, and except for a very few, I don't see many people leading thousands of people to Christ in a single day. Nor do I see people being raised from the dead. So, the Apostles are men we can look at as examples to follow.
Try greeting someone that way today, maybe in a letter, or whenever you see someone. I tried this greeting for an entire week with people I let the Holy Spirit lead me to, and the responses were amazing! Some of the people I greeted in this way actually cried tears of joy, so timely was the meeting of the words. I used the above passage from Galatians, and then explained to them why I was greeting them that way, and usually included some personal addition to that greeting, some thing that I knew about the other person that I wanted to encourage them in. You see, this greeting is all about truth, and especially about encouragement. Grace is encouragement for the rest of life here on earth, and when we see that, when we believe it, it may well reduce us to simple tears of joy.

So, today, think about grace, think not about how hard obeying the Lord is, think simply about how His grace is sufficient for you in any, and every circumstance. Think, and remember how you first felt when you realized that you would be in Heaven one day. Remember that feeling every day! There is no better way to live the abundant life than to live it constantly under and in the grace of God our Father, and of the Lord Jesus Christ. May that very grace be with you today, may you feel it in your heart, and in your body. May it lighten your burden, and encourage you in the seemingly impossible.

I am a man who needs the same grace you need. So, when you read this, remember that you are not reading the writings of an Apostle. You are reading the thoughts of a man somewhere who isn't all that different from you. Thank you.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Welcome to the world of blogging, brother. Thanks for your encouragements in the faith of Jesus Christ. May you love with the heart of the Father, and live with the faith of the Son.

Much love,

Bruce
http://weblogs.oxegen.us/ybmt/

Tom Reindl said...

Bruce,
Thank you for your comment. That alone is an encouragement to me. I will visit your blog soon. Again, thank you very much, my brother in Christ.

Tom