Don’t Frustrate Another Man’s Grace

Grace is defined as ‘the freely given, unmerited favour and love of God’. Another definition coined by Pastor James for grace whilst I attended FGC-UK 2015 was “a steady current of God’s power. Undeserved, unearned and unmerited.”

Grace has two faces; forgiveness and correction. We tend to consume ourselves in reverence and awe of God’s unlimited forgiveness and eternal mercies through his love for us. We say confess, repent (turn from) your old ways and God will forgive you, which he will (1 John 1:9).

However we tend to forget that our actions have consequences. Yes Jesus Christ came to take away our sins, many scriptures throughout the Bible support this. We can continually admit our wrongs and God gives us grace to outwork the sin habits we have endured since the beginning (Psalm 51:5). We do not want to be seen as frustrating the grace of God (Galatians 2:11-21). God WILL deal with the behaviours and attitudes within us that do not reflect him.

Throughout the history of man, from creation we have turned from God to look another way. Time and time again we read stories seeing God’s love and forgiveness but we never look beyond it. We somehow miss the part where God dealt with mans corrupt nature even though he forgave them.

Genesis 2:15-17 is God’s instruction to Adam to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 3 speaks of Adam and Eve disobeying this instruction and sin (doing wrong against God) entering into all humanity. Verses 7-19 speak of the CONSEQUENCES of disobeying what God had said. Verses 21-24 show that God put them out of the original place where he dwelt with them.

God forgave man, he loved man, he was gracious towards man but God still corrected man. God is a just God, a God of order and justice. He disciplines those he loves (Proverbs 3:12).

After Moses led the people out of Egypt, they complained and eventually worshipped a golden calf. Exodus 32 tells of this story and yet again, even after Moses pleaded with God on behalf of the people, God still punished their behaviour (verses 33-35).

I could go back and forth with this from the Bible. Noah and the flood, Jonah and the people of Nineveh, Sodom and Gomorrah; the list is endless. God always sent someone to warn people of what would happen if they did not truly repent when you look through the Old Testament.

Nehemiah 9:28-31 (NLT);

“But as soon as they were at peace, your people again committed evil in your sight, and once more you let their enemies conquer them. Yet whenever your people turned and cried to you again for help, you listened once more from heaven. In your wonderful mercy, you rescued them many times! “You warned them to return to your Law, but they became proud and obstinate and disobeyed your commands. They did not follow your regulations, by which people will find life if only they obey. They stubbornly turned their backs on you and refused to listen. In your love, you were patient with them for many years. You sent your Spirit, who warned them through the prophets. But still they wouldn’t listen! So once again you allowed the peoples of the land to conquer them. 31 But in your great mercy, you did not destroy them completely or abandon them forever. What a gracious and merciful God you are!

God continually forgives and loves man but he never condones sin. He never accepts the wrong behaviour of people. It is not his nature. When people do wrong, he addresses it and then moves on.

My question to you is WHY DO WE CONDONE RATHER THAN CHALLENGE PEOPLE’S WRONG BEHAVIOURS AND ATTITUDES WHEN GOD DOESN’T? Whether you follow Christianity or not, this question can still be asked in society.

Not only did God warn people in the Old Testament about changing, this theme carried through to Jesus in the New Testament.

John 8:1-11 is the story where Jesus saves the prostitute from being stoned. In verse 11 Jesus tells the woman to go but SIN NO MORE. Again just like the Old Testament, he doesn’t condone her actions.

Jesus always corrected people wherever he went. He would teach in the synagogues and throughout the lands whilst also performing miracles. When he did not agree with people’s behaviours he challenged them, in particular the Pharisees. When people’s natures turned the temple into something it was never meant to be, Jesus became angry and yet again did not condone their actions (John 2:13-16).

Again I ask you WHY DO WE CONDONE RATHER THAN CHALLENGE PEOPLE’S WRONG BEHAVIOURS AND ATTITUDES WHEN GOD DOESN’T? Jesus did not condone it either.

Luke 17:1-4 (The Message);

He said to his disciples, “Hard trials and temptations are bound to come, but too bad for whoever brings them on! Better to wear a millstone necklace and take a swim in the deep blue sea than give even one of these dear little ones a hard time! “Be alert. If you see your friend going wrong, correct him. If he responds, forgive him. Even if it’s personal against you and repeated seven times through the day, and seven times he says, ‘I’m sorry, I won’t do it again,’ forgive him.”

 Matthew 7:12 says that we should do things to people what we want done to ourselves. Did you know that you could also frustrate one man’s grace to another?

In order to frustrate a person you must make their plans or efforts to become worthless or of no avail. To disappoint or thwart them. Other words for ‘thwart’ are baffle, confuse, cramp, double cross, obstruct, prevent, restrain, hold up, and upset.

If we can frustrate God’s grace by never truly repenting, letting the Holy Spirit change us then how can we not frustrate man’s grace? We are partakers in God’s grace (Philippians 1:7).

God does not put up with our bad behaviours and attitudes. He says he will hand us over to them if we do not change (Romans 1:28).

So why should we accept it? Why should we use the fruits of the spirit out of context in order to be nice and super-spiritual when the Bible clearly says that we should address it? Paul was one of the people in the New Testament that would write letters to the churches and individuals, not only encouraging them but also correcting them where needed.

We are to have the fruits of the Spirit but still operate in the dimension of love when correcting others or being corrected ourselves (Galatians 6:1). The Holy Spirit helps us by giving us the strength we need. He helps us when we are to make allowances for one another (Colossians 3:13). The Holy Spirit does not condone it. This does not mean we will not grow weary or tired of purposeful or ignorant unchanged behaviours and attitudes within each other.

Jesus tells us to be in the world, not of it (Romans 12:2), we are not like the world because he is not like the world (John 17:16). So why do we allow it?

This does not mean that we go around exploiting, judging and speaking out of term people’s business; there is a time and place for how we are to deal with things (Ecclesiastes 3). We need wisdom (James 1:5) for how to deal with situations, knowing if we are to say something and if so, when and where. Prayer and timing is key. I do not believe that we are supposed to stay silent and accept what God does not accept.

Matthew 18:12-17 & James 5:13-18 gives us tips on how to deal with these situations. It is important that we carry the nature of God inside of us. We forgive but never condone sin habits from an unchanged internal nature.

Lets think about how we respond to one another, in love but also correcting each other to continue in the life God truly has for us.

People who accept discipline are on the pathway to life,
    but those who ignore correction will go astray. (Proverbs 10:17)

Sometimes Only Beauty Can Talk To Your Beast

Disney characters are not my usual choice of subject matter but I must admit that my mind has presently become enchanted by the story of ‘Beauty and the Beast‘.

A witch places a curse upon a handsome Prince turning him into a beast because of the horror of his character. An old man is held captive by the beast due to an accident and his daughter Belle goes on a rescue mission to get her father back but falls into a much bigger adventure; falling in love and releasing the Beast from his curse.

This tale has a happy ending but life does not always grant us such a wish. Although this story is make-believe, it also mirrors human reality.  We are allured into a display of unconditional love. The fierce awakened heart of Belle vs the dead heart of the Beast.

Belle’s beauty not only entices the natural eye but is also within. Beauty is defined in the dictionary as;

The quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, colour, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest).

It is a personality and character trait, not just an external mark. Belle’s internal beauty not only accepts but unrestrictedly loves. The bravery of her heart pours out love and life to the Beast who is cold and uninviting in nature.

What I love about both characters other than their vast differences is their need for each other. Life must meet with death.

Life can cause us to become like the Beast; ugly. Part of our nature, our character turns wild in order to cope with how we have handled life. We can become cold on the inside whilst operating as normal in society. Externally we have it all going on but internally we are or have died.

We can bring the term ‘living dead’ to life, physically alive but internally sleeping.  The Beast was as fine as can be. He operated in all his powers and duties as Prince but a part of him was quite dead on the inside.

The thought came to me recently that we all need beauty in our lives. Pure and true love brings forth a deeper beauty that outshines its external counterpart. The kind of love that melts hearts and is not destructive or lustful. Belle’s warm heart and loving nature freed an enslaved Prince from his cruel and selfish nature. We all need a nature in life that causes us to become better.

This can be seen in the relationship of Phoebe and Cole in the TV series Charmed. Cole is a half human/ half demon (Belthazor) sent to kill Phoebe and her sisters who are witches. Cole falls in love with Phoebe and it is this love that not only saves Phoebe and her sisters but also Cole. The beauty of love from Phoebe takes over and helps the beast inside Cole.

 

Again this happens  in the film Dracula: Untold. In order to protect his kingdom Prince Vlad becomes a monster (vampire). When the beast inside of him becomes stronger it is his wife who calms the beast through love by reminding him of who he really is.

These examples show beauty and love through the vessel of a woman but I want us to look beyond gender and see that the real beauty is expressed through their internal nature. This beauty within them and a ‘knowing’ of who they are paves way for unconditional love, continuous persistence and strength to accept those they love. Out of this strength a hope and grace is released which empowers them to walk alongside a beast nature until the original nature comes back.

Sometimes it is hard to talk to a beast but love can break through. On our good and bad days we can all become like the Hulk. Kind words, encouragement, wise counsel and advice; anything that awakens us inside is important. Not a quick fix pill but a character and nature that transforms us into who we really are.

The beast transformed back into the Prince but had changed his nature. Cole eventually lost Phoebe due to his dark side and lived in regret, never losing or forgetting his love for her. A battle caused Prince Vlad to lose his wife and he became a monster for eternity.

We always have a choice in the matter of who we become. We cannot control life circumstances or guarantee our endings but we can choose who we are. We must allow beauty to transform us when presented with it in its true form, accept true love. Finding this is a process but your journey with true beauty and love must begin.