The Manger

As I ponder the Christmas story today, I think of the manger. The place where a young mother laid her baby. These are the thoughts that come to my mind as push the animals out of the way and peek into the manger.

Made by man, to hold the maker of man.

Animal feeder holding the bread of life.

No room anywhere in the world for this baby, except here.

Giving a resting place for the One who would be peace and eternal rest.

Entrance into a world for the King of Kings.

Rough edges of a bed that would become the rough edges of the cross.

 

Luke 2:12

"This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

What do you see today?

Chasing After Hearts,

Glenda Johnson

Grace; Small Thought, Huge Implication

A woman has a daughter who is really walking down a dangerous path. She is using drugs and is living on the street, and pays for her drug habit by prostitution. The mother's heart is broken for her daughter. She is also angry with the choices this child of hers has made.

She cannot let this child into her home because she cannot have this kind of behavior there. It would destroy the rest of the family. What is this mother to do?

The girl cannot get into rehab, she has no money. She cannot get away from her pimp for she has no power over him. She cannot even see that she is destroying her life because her mind and body is set on serving the drugs that have seduced her.

This child will surely die if something does not happen.

As the mother watches her child she knows what she must do.

First: The mother pays the bill for a rehab center in full, for as long as the treatment might take, whether 1mo, 6 mo, 20 years.

Second: The mother purchases a house that she pays in full for this child to live in once she is clean. The provisions  for the rest of her life are set up and all her needs will be met.

Third: The mother has someone who will take this offer to her daughter and walk her to the door of the rehab center and wait while she gets well. This person will then take the child to the home prepared for her and help her as she learns to walk in her new clean life.

My question for you is this;

Is grace found in the treatment and home and the friend provided? Or is grace found in the fact that the mother chose to make this offer?

Jerry Bridges wrote:
It was BECAUSE of His grace that God the Father sent His only Son to die in our place. To say it another way, Christ's death was the RESULT of God's grace; grace IS NOT the result of Christ's death. BECAUSE Christ completely satisfied the justice of God, we can now experience the grace of God.

Ephesians 2:8-9

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
  not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

The plan to send Jesus is the ultimate act of grace.

May I challenge your heart with this; grace did not happen on the cross of Jesus. The true picture of God's grace was that He chose to reach down to make a way for us to be reconciled with Him, before we even knew we needed Him.

Just like the mother in the story above, God cared too much to allow His child to remain helpless.
However, neither the daughter in the above story, or the daughter writing this blog, or the daughter reading this blog, can experience the benefits of the grace offered without accepting the gift.

That is where we pick up the story of grace next time.

Chasing After Their Hearts,

Glenda Johnson
womanaftergod@gmail.com
http://www.twitter.com/GlendaJohnson63
http://www.facebook.com/BibleBowlGlenda

I Just Can't Do It On My Own!

I sat at the beach Friday in Ocean City, MD. The sun was shining, a cool breeze was blowing and the waves were gently crashing onto the shore. It was just wonderful. I could see water as far as the furthest horizon.

As I was looking over the ocean it occurred to me that while I am actually a very good swimmer, I would never get very far heading out to swim across it.  I would have as much success trying to swim across the Atlantic ocean as I would trying to keep the the covenant of the Law. Remember the Ten Commandments? They are the basis of the Mosaic covenant with God. Take a look:
Exodus 20:1-20

And God spoke all these words, saying,
 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
 "You shall have no other gods before me.
  "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
  You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,
  but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
  "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
  "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
  Six days you shall labor, and do all your work,
  but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.
  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
  "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
  "You shall not murder.
  "You shall not commit adultery.
  "You shall not steal.
 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
  "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's."
  Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off
 and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die."
  Moses said to the people, "Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin."

The problem is, no one could keep from breaking these laws, and therefore sinning against God. No one.

Romans 3:23  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God  
I might do alright for a little while, then, wham! Just like getting a cramp while swimming, I sin and sink again .
Then I find something kinda scary in Galatians;


Galatians 3:10

Certainly, there is a curse on all who rely on their own efforts to live according to a set of standards because Scripture says, "Whoever doesn't obey everything that is written in Moses' Teachings is cursed."

Not only do I have to keep God's commands, but I have to keep all of them. ALL OF THEM. ALL THE TIME. Like swimming across the ocean, it can't be done.

The great thing is that God's grace is bigger than the ocean, and bigger than my sin and inability to keep His law.

I am glad that the Mosaic covenant was just temporary. It was put in place to prepare God's people for the second covenant. It was there to show us we could not keep it and needed help.

We needed a Savior. So while we were still enemies of God, His great graciousness sent the only thing that could bridge the gap of the ocean size vastness of our sin, Jesus.

Tomorrow, the grace that sent Jesus.

Until then, remember, God knows you cannot make it on your own in this world. His grace will provide everything you need. You don't (can't) have to go it alone.

Chase after His Heart!!

Chasing Their Hearts,

Glenda Johnson
womanaftergod@gmail.com
http://www.twitter.com/GlendaJohnson63
http://www.facebook.com/BibleBowlGlenda