Rest In God’s Grace

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God’s grace is never earned. It is a gift! When we rest in God’s grace, our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ will be evident. We joyfully celebrate the Father’s love, seated unified together in the heavenly realms!

A Vision ~ September 30, 2017

Tilted Works

One morning while I was still laying in bed, I asked God to show me anything that needed to change in my life. With my eyes closed, I saw what looked like black and white clip art. It was a male executive in a black suit, white shirt and black tie. He was holding a briefcase and taking a step forward. I noticed an odd thing about the picture. The whole image was tilted to the man’s left. “Work,” and “unstable” were the thoughts that came to my mind.

From the time I was born again into Christ, I loved Jesus deeply and followed Him the best way I knew how. But as time went by, I allowed the enemy to belittle me and my heart became bruised. I feared what people might think of me so I worked hard to try and measure up in the eyes of others. This affected my spiritual life as well.

The Martha Mindset

Like Mary I was a worshiper of Jesus. But the Lord showed me that I was stepping into a Martha lifestyle. I am so thankful for God’s grace and the kind way that He leads us back to His feet.

As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42 NLT

The Prodigal Son

The parable of the prodigal son is similar to the Mary & Martha story in many ways. The younger son took his inheritance, left home and lived wildly until the money ran out. When he was about to starve to death he repented of what he had done. He knew his dad’s employees were well taken care of so he decided to go home and humbly ask his dad for a job. The father ran toward his boy, threw his arms around him and kissed him. He lavished gifts upon his prodigal son and ordered a fine celebration to welcome him home.

But sadly, the older brother was enraged. He refused to be seated with the family and celebrate his brother’s homecoming. Instead, he angrily listed all the bad things his younger brother had done. He declared how hard he had worked for his dad all those years, and claimed that his dad had never thrown him a party. The father begged him to come join them but the older son would not even come into the room.

Martha & The Older Brother

There are four things in these two scripture passages that are glaringly similar.

• A works-driven lifestyle
• Anger with a brother or sister
• Refusing to be seated (The Beautiful Dream)
• Not being able to see what is right in front of you.

Both Martha and “the older brother” were judgmental, jealous, proud, demanding and seeking recognition. They were focused on their performance and the performance of those around them. They were wrongly convinced that they were right and the others were wrong. These attitude sins had blinded them so much that they couldn’t see what was in full view the whole time.

Be Seated In Grace

Martha had the Magnificent King of Kings, the Savior and lover of her soul right there in her own home. Yet her spiritual blindness caused her to miss the opportunity of a lifetime, to sit restfully at Jesus’ feet. Because Jesus loved her, He seized the opportunity to correct Martha.

I rebuke and punish all whom I love. Be in earnest, then, and turn from your sins. Listen! I stand at the door and knock; if any hear my voice and open the door, I will come into their house and eat with them, and they will eat with me. Revelation 3:19-20 GNT

Jesus wants to come into our homes and be seated with us at the supper table. I believe this is the secret place that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 6:6. Jesus himself experienced this place with the Father as He often retreated to a private place of prayer. In Revelation 3:20 Jesus invites us to stop everything to sit and rest with Him in personal fellowship and be refilled with His grace.

Mary was eager to pull away from works and embrace the powerful presence of her Lord. She wasn’t trying to get out of work and she wasn’t lazy. If she had been, Jesus would have called her out as well! Mary knew she had this chance to sit with her Messiah and she took it! She perceived what was important in that moment.

The Father’s Heart

The older brother sat and ate with his father every single meal, but he foolishly spent his days trying to earn his seat at the father’s table when it was freely his all along! Because of his own pride, he didn’t see or experience the powerful love and generosity of his own father.

While his brother was away, there was an empty chair, but the oldest son did not love like his father. He grew more and more critical and judgmental of his brother as time went by. He had every opportunity to learn from his father’s heart, but he didn’t. If he had though, his father would not have run to meet the prodigal son by himself. Even though the older brother had not left the house while his brother was gone he had certainly left his father’s heart. The same can happen to us if we fail to sit next to our Father’s heart and be filled with His love.

Jesus took our place on the cross and paid the penalty of our sin so that we could come Home to our Heavenly Father! There is nothing we can do to earn a place at this Table. Jesus alone made this possible through His extravagant grace! Let us rejoice together and rest in the love and grace of our Father!

Self-Righteous Works Vs. Grace

A works-based mindset demands fairness and law over grace and forgiveness. Every self-righteous person needs to see that none of us deserve the Father’s Table! And yet, He loves us and pleads with us to come back into His presence and love our brothers and sisters in Christ!

When we humbly understand our position in Christ, His love and grace flow effortlessly out to others. We stop frantically looking for things to do for God to earn His favor. Finally, we take our seat at His Table, relishing the beauty of His Presence and absorbing His character. It is only in receiving His undeserved grace that we can become effective in glorifying Him with our lives.

Be Seated

God invites us to the Lord’s Supper Table to share the bread and the cup. It is in this place of humility and obedience that we can see grace clearly and be at peace with one other. As the prodigals come home repenting, let’s cover their shame with our Father’s robe of grace, put a ring on their fingers and rejoice with them!

I chose to face the clip-art man in the vision and to change. The Lord has walked me through a beautiful journey of learning to rest in His grace. This journey has drawn me closer to the Father’s heart!

The temptation to fall away from grace can be very subtle. It can sneak into your soul through the critical words and actions of others. Or you may adopt ungodly philosophies of the world without realizing it. There are so many ways it can happen.

If you don’t stay close to the Holy Spirit through personal prayer and reading or listening to God’s Word, self-righteousness can creep in unnoticed and coil itself around your spiritual eyes. But it is not inevitable, and it is not irreversible. The Father is always watching and waiting with arms open wide, ready to welcome you Home. You can stay close to Jesus by sitting at His feet every day!

Prayer

Lord, I pray that we see more lovers of God eagerly sitting at the feet of Jesus. May the Father’s children turn back around from their self-imposed work to sit in joyful unity at the Family Table. I pray, Lord, for eye salve so we can see through Your eyes of grace. In Jesus name, amen!

God loves you so much and He invites you to know Him personally. For a better understanding of who Jesus is and how you can answer His invitation of love and grace, go to Meet Jesus on the main menu bar.