Fighting For Grace
3/26/17
How much do we know about grace and what God did for us so that we may live under this covering? How many of us take grace for granted and toy with this truth? Do we even respect grace enough to conform our lives under its truth so that we may refer to it as Grace instead of grace? It is a proven fact that God gave us this covering at a high, high price for that is how important His concerns are for us, so why cannot we deem His Grace important enough to return the same respect to Him? Jesus would come back to earth all over again if God asked Him, but because of the high price that Jesus paid when He was here the first time, the second visit will not be one of sacrifice but one of a triumphant return through the lineage of Grace.
A few years back I experienced an event that still both haunts me and brings me joy at the same time. It is a personal story that occurred one evening and while the majority of these personal events were physical there were some spiritual aspects that still blow my mind when I think about it. The event takes place in two neighborhoods, one in my own and the other in my parent’s yet while both instances played out at different times, they both connect during that evening. The spiritual aspect is the one that is hard to explain for many of us would skip it but it is a process that if thought about for some time cannot be explained away.
The first event that took place occurred over at my parent’s house after the sun had gone down and things seemed to be in the quiet mode. We were watching a movie at the house when the phone rang. It was one of my parent’s neighbors calling and saying that my parent’s house alarm had gone off and that it was on for a few minutes but then ceased. My parents were out of town and the neighbors know to call me if anything goes on that is “alarming” at their house. My wife paused the movie both of us put decent clothes on and then drove over to see what had triggered the alarm. When we got to the house no such indication was on the alarm pad that the alarm had been triggered. We spent over a ½ an hour combing through every room in their house and found no sign of wrongdoing or any evidence that the alarm went off. We called mom and dad anyway and told them about the incident, they immediately called the alarm company and the company representative stated that they had no indication that their alarm had been tripped.
We then closed up shop again and double checked the area once more before setting the alarm again and proceeded to drive back across town to our home. We could not figure out why this had occurred and both of us continued to stew about the incident for the rest of the evening; in fact, it was hard to concentrate on the movie for such thoughts running through our minds. The remaining evening was uneventful with the exception that it was about an hour past our bedtime. Bonnie went upstairs to help our high school student out with some project in her room and I was just doing some goofing off things until I was ready to go to bed. The office is on the lower level, the main floor comes next and then the upstairs where the two of three bedrooms are. As I reached the main floor I looked out the large window of the living room and noticed a small flicker of light behind the curtains of the house across the street. At that second I did not think too much about it for there was almost always some type of colored light on after the curtains were drawn.
I quickly bypassed any more thought about what my eyes saw across the street until I made my way up to the bedroom and looked out the window of the bedroom and saw a more distinguishable light flickering behind the curtain, and through the curtain. It was obvious that a fire had started in that room and was not being attended to properly. Now, I did not really know all the details of the family that lived in that house but I did know a few things concerning their habits and as soon as my eyes and brain focused on what was transpiring I had a good idea of what had occurred. I immediately told Bonnie to call 911 and say that there was a fire on our street, she did. I put my shoes back on and ran out the door. My eyes saw that the fire was quickly spreading in the old house for it was now coming out of the window as soon that the glass shattered.
I saw the son of the mother come walking out which confirmed that at least one person would be getting out that night. A problem child he was up until that evening but at that moment it did not matter, I wanted everyone to be out of the house. It was clear that the fire would engulf the old house before the fire department arrived and since I knew who lived there and how many would be inside I did not have to worry too much about others inside. The son came out and I immediately grabbed him and started walking away from the house, sat him on the concrete wall at the end of the driveway and asked him if his mother was still inside. He mumbled yes and as I told him to sit there and not move the first oxygen tank exploded which prompted me to get him up and move him across the street. This took a bit more time than I wished because the fire inside was quickly spreading and I knew if I did not get back over there his elderly mother would be trapped.
As I sat him down again I again told him to stay there and as I began to run back over and he asked me if I could get his cigarettes and oxygen tank. I ignored that question and continued my run and as soon as I got ½ way up the driveway the mother appeared from the front door. I grabbed her too by the arm and we walked across the street all the while I was asking if there was anyone else in the house as the first police car arrived. I informed the police officer that all occupants were out but I did not have time to notify their next door neighbors of what was going on, for I was in constant battle with the son trying to keep him sat down and entering back in the house to get his cigarettes, a process in which I found very frustrating.
As the fire engine sirens approached our neighborhood awoke and began making sure everyone else was safe and free of harm, just as a community should act. The fire was put out after a while and the festivities died down as the onlookers finally showed up. I looked at the scene and could not help but wonder why things happened as they did but it was at that moment that God dropped a message in my heart concerning what had occurred. What He stated was that if Bonnie and I had not been interrupted and had not gone over to my parent’s house for that time, we would have been in bed and the people’s lives across the street could have been affected differently. I have no idea how their lives would have changed but in some manner important to them and to their family, along with the neighbors involved, things might have gone differently if we were not still up that night. I am by no means trying to beef up my ego or place any heroic status over myself, just stating what transpired that evening. And why does this story concern fighting for grace?
I have not really thought much about that night some years ago, and as time has passed my thoughts of it have grown more distant, that is until this morning when on my way to work God dropped this message and this event into my heart. God shared with us a while back about the violence of grace and how important it was that Jesus went through all of the agonizing settings that He did in order for us to receive the eternal grace needed in the eyes of God. Yet, over time we have watered down this grace and placed into our hearts as a story that occurred long ago without having absolute authority and direct meaning. We have become glazed with the world that we have forgotten the rawness of Jesus’ act for our eternity and have placed it in the back of our heart’s shelf instead of it being the standard by which we live.
If we really comprehended the truth about what God’s Word says about Jesus and His obedience to His Father concerning this eternal event, we would have no problem in identifying grace with the exact same sacrificial manner that Jesus did. Jesus defended this act by giving Himself willingly for our eternity. Jesus is the ONLY one that could have accomplished this act and He fought for our lives on that day like never before. Is not Jesus the One that we are supposed to be serving and being a witness for to the dying world? So, why don’t we fight for the Grace we live under as He fought to provide and to fulfill such a covering?
It sickens me to watch churches defend the world and its death procedures on a daily basis all the while throwing out the standards of God at the same time. This can only be a reflection of what lies within our hearts and how we truly feel about God and His Will over and for our lives. I strongly believe that if we love something we shall fight for it and as for me and my house shall defend and promote the God of Israel and His Son until we take our last breath. But when you look at the world and many Christians, what do you see them defending? Lies, sexual miscalculations, worldly life and any other article of secular clothing that they can place on their bodies, minds, and hearts is what they fight for. Yes, they are fighting but their fight is not to stay under the Grace that Jesus provided, but for their own grace in the eyes of the world.
God did not promise a bed of roses if we chose Him and His Ways. All throughout the Bible, we study people’s lives being turned upside down because of the choices that they made, both on the individual level and nation level. It is through this toughness that Grace was given to us and it should be through this same type of toughness that we should fight for Grace. Grace is a direct product of God’s Kingdom and the sole instrument by which we are redeemed, how dare we prostitute it down to a worldly level! It is now and here that God showed me exactly why He wanted me to share this article with you and it is all because we have fallen into the same trap of unbelief as our neighbors across the street did. I am not demeaning them or their existence in any manner; however, there is a condition here that needs to be made aware of and taken to heart for it is the same condition that this nation and the majority of the world harbors in their hearts.
We have for too long lived in our worldly habits that we now do not even realize that we have problems that will end life as we know it if not corrected immediately. While no one died in the house fire that evening, the son of the house suffered from an end stage illness which through the process of the house burning, advanced his death to approximately two weeks after the fire. While the mother did not suffer much physical damage from the fire, her mental anguish was devastating for her entire possessions in life went up in flames. The world that she knew about for decades was now changed forever and once she left that neighborhood, she would never return to it again to live. Does this story and its end result bring back to anyone’s memory of a couple of examples that occurred in the Bible?
I thank God every day that no one perished in that fire and up until this morning I did not put the connection together about Grace and what lesson was learned that evening. I do not know why God waited for years down the road to show me this truth but His timing is impeccable as always. When I went over and risked my life to make sure those two people were out and safe it represented a caring person who wanted nothing to come about a life. I knew that their possessions would not survive but I did not care about those articles, only their lives. What one considered to be important to him was a mere obstacle that had no meaning at that moment, only his life meant something. It is through this act that God provided Grace for us because He understands just how important life is and it is His job to provide us with every bit of truth so that we choose His Grace and not the lies of the world.
I could have stood outside and watched the house burn and did nothing to ensure that the neighbors were out in time. No one would have said anything bad about my non-action and while some questions may have been asked in the eyes of the locals I would have done nothing wrong. God could have chosen to allow Jesus to continue to walk this earth and since He had a perfect and unblemished bloodline while He was on earth, just might be alive today but in truth the choice aspect of God would have been taken out of the equation and a look of slavery and obligation to serve Him would be put into place. This is the definition of Grace and how we should have the will to fight for such a protection over us. We cannot change our lives in any manner, for I am still a sinner and you are still a sinner.
Grace is given to us through the shedding of Jesus’ blood on the cross, through the beatings that He suffered with at the hands of the soldiers, along with the piercing crown of thorns on His head and not to mention the spear thrust in His side – an act I find intriguingly prophetic and comparative to the act that God did to create the female. All in told Jesus endured these acts because He loved you and me, people who do not deserve any place in God’s home and heart, yet He did so to be with us for eternity. To say that we are just living under Grace and at the same time not pursuing God with all of our hearts is a lie.
God wants us to understand that if we accept His Grace in our lives that He is faithful and just to keep a watch over our lives. God understands that we are in a dire setting because of what and who we are but when we thumb our noses and hearts at the One who can change our lives, we place ourselves in a greater incidence for disaster. I have no idea if what my actions did the night of the fire changed any of the hearts of the family living in that house, but I do know that this message that God has shared with us is designed for us to think about our lives in the same manner as the lives of that family. God also understands that if we continue to live as such our lives will be turned inside out through a set of serious devastations that will not only alter our nation but the entire course of the world. It is the responsibility of the Church to provide this truth and warning to those who are in need of peace, healing, truth, tranquility and happiness. God has allowed such devastating acts to occur to His beloved and uniquely created nation of Israel, so what makes us believe that He will not do the same today?
Why can’t we fight for this Grace as Jesus did? If we are doing what Jesus commanded us to do properly, we should fight with this type of love and enthusiasm as Jesus did. Walking in the Bible is not a game or a presentation that has no meaning, yet we believe as such and it is through our actions that we are projecting this lie to the world. It is time for us to study closer the Word of God and to listen to the voice of God, then OBEY His voice for not only was it through Jesus’ love for us that He died for us but also it was His obedience to His Father that provided the necessary covering for His children. We have no choice but to fight for this Grace and when God means to fight for His Grace that means to understand its content fully and to proclaim its life and light to the dying world.
DLB
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