Fluency

Amazing grace. Unmerited mercy.

It truly is amazing that God’s grace and mercy don’t have limits.

Can you imaging what it would be like if God only had a set amount of grace? And what a weight of despair or hopelessness would overcome you if God’s mercy was only given out on certain days or up to a certain quota.

Lamentations 3:21-24
21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”

To wake up in the morning and realize that God’s steadfast love didn’t cease over night, that His mercy didn’t run out, that every morning there is as much grace, love and mercy as you might need—that is truly amazing and utterly unmerited.

Some worry, even warn, that we should not talk about grace and mercy in these terms for fear of “letting people off the hook.” And some will take grace for granted and some will abuse mercy. But who are we to seek to limit God’s grace and mercy? If anyone takes it for granted, they are taking God for granted—and He can take care of Himself. And if anyone abuse mercy, they are abusing God’s gift—and He is the one wronged, not us.

Oh, that we would be a people of grace and mercy.

I don’t want to limit God’s grace and mercy—I need all I can get!

I want to wake up each morning thanking God for His renewed grace and reservoir of mercy. The more I understand His character, the more I understand what grace and mercy are, the more I should worship. And worship includes obedience.

Take grace for granted? Abuse mercy? I probably will.

But praise God He grants grace and never ceases giving mercy.

Oh, may I live ever to honor, to obey, to praise Him, the one whose grace I abuse and whose mercy I require constantly.

Last week I was pleasantly surprised.  Actually, more than just pleasantly–I was stirred.

We attend the Psalms of David performance at the Living Waters Theater (run by Sight and Sound).

It was Friday evening after a long week and not only was I tiered; my expectations for the show were low.  But I was sure glad I went.

The performance by 14 very talented singers, musicians and dancers is in two parts.  The first half traces the life of David through Psalms and song.  The second half traces the history of hymnity/worship from Gregorian chant to contemporary worship.

The staging, costumes, acting, singing and music were very well done.  I would say that the level of talent is greater in this small show than in the larger productions at Sight and Sound (personal observation).  The show was just the right length (about an hour and a half).  The performers seemed to enjoy what they were doing and connected well with the audience.  I would have liked to see them go one more step in the history of worship.  They stopped with a couple well know but calm worship choruses.  It would have been educational if they had included one more, well, upbeat perhaps rockier song  (though they are probably aiming at their audience).

The performance while entertaining was also inspiring and uplifting.   I left the theater worshiping God.

Now I can’t wait to take my boys.

This past week I taught our men’s ministry Bible study. The topic is Living as Real Men in a Godless Society.

Our aim is to lay a biblical foundation that will enable men to examine the influence of our culture and rather than allowing our culture to squeeze us, choosing to allow the Bible to establish a world view from which we can live to honor God and influence others.

The series was developed in conjunction with Dave Muchmore. But when we developed the series we didn’t know our schedules. So this past week I was to teach Psalm 47–a psalm I had never studied or taught before.

What a wonderful, though unfamiliar Psalm.

I continue to be amazed at the depth of God’s Word. And I am thankful that it is alive and active and that it continues to challenge me.

Psalm 47 is an enthronement Psalm tied to Psalm 46 (a more well known psalm).

Psalm 46 celebrates God’s defeat of the nations to secure Israel. Psalm 47 continues to the bigger picture, that eventually all the nations will gather to worship God.

Psalm 47 serves as a wonderful call to worship God because of His sovereignty. He is superior to all other “gods” and since He is the Most High and great king He won’t allow any competition. He is powerful and reigns over the whole earth.

In light of the attributes and actions of God He is most worthy of worship.

But the worship Psalm 47 calls us to is not passive or passionless, it is dynamic and probably loud.

1 Clap your hands, all peoples!
Shout to God with loud songs of joy!

5 God has gone up with a shout,
the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.

6 Sing praises to God, sing praises!
Sing praises to our King, sing praises!

In light of who God is, what He has done and what He will do–we are to worship him wholeheartedly.  There is excitement, urgency, community and joy in this wholehearted worship.

May we be wholehearted worshippers.
May our worship be well pleasing to God, the Host High, the Great King, our King.

I rarely recommend a movie–everyone’s tastes are different and there are not that many movies worth recommending. But . . .

I would like to recommend the movie, The Ultimate Gift, based on the novel by the same name written by Jim Stovall.

I don’t want to “blow the ending” but the story is about a series of gifts given as a part of an inheritance.

The gifts of work, family, love, dreams, laughter, giving (value), friends, learning, money, problems (dealing with lose), gratitude and the gift of a day.

We normally would not think of these as “gifts” but what greater gifts could we give than values?

The movie resonated with me because of my goals, part of my mission, is to leave a legacy.

Family Missions Statement
Our desire is to give God maximum glory and advance a LEGACY by
a growing and authentic walk with Him as LORD
maintaining a LOVING family life filled with LAUGHTER
developing as discerning LEARNERS
and LEADING by investing our involvements and influence in others.

And this movie provides some concepts around which to leave a legacy.

This is not a “Christian” movie.  That is, it does not speak much of faith, though the concept is present.  It doesn’t share the gospel.  And the wonderful message of grace through the cross, the greatest legacy we can leave our children, is not present.

So enjoy it and see how you can leave a legacy.

In writing devotionals this week, I was taking a look at the seven churches addressed in book of Revelation.

John was very systematic in addressing the churches. He followed this pattern:

Address or Greeting
Descriptive title of the Lord from the vision of chapter 1
Commendation
Criticism, complaint, or condemnation
Instruction or Warning
Exhortation
Promise

Since the pattern is so clear, it is easy to see anomalies.

For example, there is only one church who did not receive commendation–Laodicea (Revelation 3:15-17). Their self-sufficiency led to indifference which blinded them to their own needs and the needs of others.

The reminder to us–we are totally dependent on the Lord and should therefore live not only by faith but surrender. Which should excite us, because we are dependent on the One who can supply all that is needed and more importantly, what is best. (See more in Friday’s post of Devotional.Calvarychurch.org)

But there was another anomaly. There where two church that did not receive criticism or condemnation.

First, Smyrna (Revelation 2:8-11) a church that was suffering under persecution.

The key lesson–the church with the most to complain about or the strongest pressure to compromise did not.

In our society we face very little true persecution.  So how do we handle opposition?

We should expect suffering and remain steadfast.

Writing those words is difficult.  I don’t like suffering.  I really don’t want to suffer.

Second, Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7-13) a church who had withstood pressure from outside.

The key lesson–no matter the outside pressure, the changes in society, we must remain faithful.
True Success takes time.  Faithfulness is not a sprint.

We must not become weary; we must keep being faithful–faithful in purity and faithful in truth.

I’ve been enjoying writing on Fluency for almost 6 months now.   I have to admit it has been more about creating a discipline in me to continually stay in God’s Word–think deeply about God, His Word, the church and the world around me–than writing to be read.  But it has been fun to interact with those who have commented.

Along with Fluency I am also starting a second blog  http://devotional.calvarychurch.org.  This blog will serve to supply devotionals related to the coordinated curriculum on the book of Romans that I have been creating for all the Adult Bible Fellowship Classes at Calvary Church.  Along with the Sunday morning study my hope is that people will “live in Romans” for a full year.  This will hopefully include preparing for class by using Personal Bible Study preparation sheets (PBS) and reviewing and applying the truths learned through reading devotionals written by the church staff, elders, deacons, ABF teachers, missionaries and any others I could get to write.  (There are also generic handouts and will be audio files of the lessons in future weeks.)

I have had the privilege of writing a number of the devotionals for Romans.  Some of which originally appeared on Fluency.  But rather than double post, I would encourage anyone who is reading Fluency to also begin reading devotional.calvarychurch.org.  The easiest way is to subscribe by email or use a blog reader.

I would love your feedback on the new site as much as I want your continued feedback on this site.

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (ESV)

We can not renew our minds without the Word.
We can not renew our minds without reflecting on the Word.

We will not change without the word and reflection on the Word.

But some would say “I find that my mind and memory don’t work as well as they used to. I can’t remember as easily and I can’t keep track of details as quickly as I once did.”

But just like any other muscle, we can exercise our brains, our minds and memories.

The more we tell a story, the easier it is to recall the details.
The more we sing a song, the easier it is to recall the words.
The more we quote a verse, the easier and more naturally we use it.

It may not be easy, but it will be productive.

And even if we can’t memorize every word, the more we rehearse a verse, the more we meditate on the message of a passage the more likely we are to live its truth.

There is no short cut. It takes time. It takes purposefulness. It takes quite or at least less noise.

So mediate on God’s Word–exercise your mind, develop your memory, be transformed.