”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.”  Ephesians 2:8-9

These verses are two of my favorites, and you have probably figured this out,  since I have written about them quite a few times.  Well, they came to mind awhile back when I was talking to someone I knew while shopping for camping stuff.  Boy, did she get worked up about the condition of the country.  I remember specifically one thing that she said a couple of times.  She said, “People today want something for nothing.  They don’t feel like they need to work for anything.  They think they are entitled to everything.”

As I made my escape I thought to myself, “I couldn’t get a word in edgewise,”  (that very seldom happens, so I thought I would mention it), but right after that thought, I thought to myself that there is one situation when many people do just the opposite of what she is saying.  A time when they refuse a free gift and instead think they must work for it.  That is when it comes to their salvation.  Isn’t that funny?  Not funny ha-ha.  Funny strange.  I think that the lady I was speaking to was correct that many people believe that their everyday needs should be met for free.  I think that sentiment  is probably worse than ever and is just a sign of the times.

We have all heard the phrase “entitlement society” before, but the truth of the matter is when it comes to salvation we are the “unentitlement society.”  We are “unentitled” to salvation and it needs to be free, because we can never earn it.  Even if it only cost a tiny bit of what was worth, we could not afford it.  Even if our “worthiness” was added into the equation, we could not afford it.  Even if all our good works were counted toward the payment, we could not afford it.  No matter what, we could not afford it; yet, ironically, no matter what, many will not accept the gift of salvation without trying to pay for it.

In America, especially, there is a strange dichotomy.  Although many may want “freebies” they are also told  that working hard will give them more “good” things in life and that doing nothing will bring more “bad” things in life. They hear the message, but are left to decide how to use it.  Some sit and wait to receive things on the backs of others and others work hard and carry the load for themselves and others.  The burden of salvation is only carried on the back of one Man.  The cults and “isms” and even some “non-believers” all have the same mantra.  “If I do enough, maybe I will be accepted into eternity by god.”  Right now we have some zealots that believe they can “kill” their way into heaven.  What we all must understand is that we can’t work our way into heaven with good deeds, bad deeds, or any deeds.  Yes, indeed, there is only one deed that can pay the price for our salvation and that deed took place on a wooden cross over 2,000 years ago.

This will come a shock to many but the lines, “He knows when you are sleeping. He knows when you’re awake.  He knows if you’ve been bad or good.  So be good for goodness sake,” is not about God’s plan for salvation.  It is important to understand the grace of God so that we can experience it, and also so we can share Jesus accurately with non-Christians. There are two things to keep in mind when we are sharing Jesus with others.  One, we can never be good enough to earn salvation and we can never be bad enough to be ineligible for salvation.  This salvation is based on God’s grace and we can only receive it, “lest we should boast.”

So in conclusion (yes, I can reach a conclusion) , we can never be good enough for salvation. The book of James (2:10-11) tells us if we break any one of God’s laws that we are guilty of breaking all of them and Jesus said in Matthew 5:27 that even if we only think sin, we are guilty of sin.  We cannot be perfect, yet God’s righteousness demands perfection. Since we are in the middle of baseball, let me put it this way.  We have to hit 1000% to get into heaven.  We can’t.  But there is designated hitter that will go to the plate for us who does hit 1000%.  Even if we hit .300 or .500 or .700, we will always fall short unless we use this designated hitter. Let’s encourage others to step out of the batter’s box and accept Substitute who has never failed.

There is a saying that says, “Nothing in life is free,” and what that means is that somewhere somebody has paid for it.  That is true.  And in the case of salvation it has been bought and paid for at great cost.  What a shame if it is not accepted.   The greatest thing that we can do is not try to earn salvation, but to say, “I give up. Christ, I accept what you did.”  That is what Ephesians is telling us.  The bases are loaded.  It’s the bottom of the ninth.  We are behind.  No one should allow pride to keep them in the batter’s box.  Here is a guarantee- we will all strike out.  Only Jesus who has already come through, will come through.  Go back to the dugout and watch Him do His thing, then come out and enjoy the win.

“Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show you great and mighty things, which you know not”   Jeremiah 33:3

God encourages us to pray. Many say that prayer is a pious exercise which has no influence except upon the mind engaged in it. That it is an act of obedience that really has minimal worth.  That a sovereign God will not respond to puny requests by mere mortals.  That, as it says in Julius Caesar, “our fate lies in the stars,” and we are just puppets and God is the puppet master.  But we know better. The Word refutes this idea a hundred times over.   In the passage above, Jehovah, the living God, distinctly promises to answer the prayers of His servant. Why would we think otherwise?

In Philippians we are told, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)  How can we receive peace from prayer if it is without power? How can an act of futility give us peace in the midst of difficulty?
If prayer is of no consequence, then why pray?  Is it a mere command like we use to give our faithful pet Buddy?  We told him to sit and he did, but he gets nothing out of it but the dog knowledge that he has obeyed us?  It would be the equivalent of us teaching him to bark for a treat, but he never gets a treat.  We just tell him, in our best dog language, that his reward is in obedience alone and we will just continue to have him bark and remain treatless. Of course, making any comparisons between God and us and a pooch is pretty futile, but the idea is similar.

Some people neglect prayer because they are not convinced of its authenticity.  Sadly it seems that prayer ebbs and flows in our life maybe more than any other Christian discipline.  The old saying, “Seven days without prayer makes one weak,” has more truth than not.  Early African converts to Christianity were earnest and regular in private devotions. Each one reportedly had a separate spot in the thicket where he would pour out his heart to God. Over time the paths to these places became well worn. As a result, if one of these believers began to neglect prayer, it was soon apparent to the others. They would kindly remind the negligent one, “Brother, the grass grows on your path.”  Unfortunately, too few of us have a well-worn path or a good friend to remind us if we  neglect it.

God says He will answer prayer and I believe Him.  He says He is totally sovereign and I believe Him.  He says we have free will and I believe Him.  That I can’t rectify some of this in my limited mind is not a reflection on Him, but on the vast gap between God’s thinking and my own.  Buddy understood me more than I understand God and Buddy didn’t understand me at all.  Even though Buddy didn’t understand me, he believed me.  If I touched a leash, he went  crazy knowing we were going for a walk.  How sad it would be, if I would just touch the leash and then walk away over and over.  My broken promise of a walk would finally weigh on him and he would stop believing me. Would God promise in His word that prayer is meaningful and then just walk away over and over? That does not fit the character of God

Let’s call upon God and admit no doubt that he always hears our prayers and that they are meaningful to Him.  Would He that made the ear, not hear?  Would He that gave parents a love for their children, not listen to the cries of His own children, as well!God will answer us in our anguish. He has wonders in store for us. What we have never seen, heard of, or dreamed of, He will do for us.

He will invent new blessings if need be.  He will ransack sea and land to feed us: He will send out angels from heaven to save us if our distress requires it. He will astound us with His grace and make us feel that it was never before done in this fashion. All He asks of us is that we will call upon Him. He cannot ask less of us, but he does not ask more.  We can know that we can call on Him and He will hear our cries and do great and mighty things.  Wear out your prayer path and see what He can do.

“This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness” Ecclesiastes 2:24b-26a

God, through the author of Ecclesiastes, has told us several things in these verses.  First of all, we find out that only from the hand of God can we receive sustenance. We may get our food in many ways. Some buy it, some grow it, some raise it, and some even go out and kill it. But ultimately we are just the middle man between God and our plates. When we give thanks before a meal, it should not be a generic utterance, a formality that just seems like the right thing to do, but a genuine recognition of the founder of the feast. Unfortunately, the secular recitation “Good bread, good meat, good grief, let’s eat,” or “rub-a-dub-dub, thanks for the grub, yea God,” might have more sincerity than some of our dutiful Christian utterances before meals.

Of course, God isn’t only the founder of the feast, but the provider of our peace. The writer asks us, “without Him, who can find enjoyment?” Can we enjoy things outside of God?  Undoubtedly. 

But true enjoyment comes from many of the things that God has provided us.  What good thing do we enjoy that God did not have a hand in?  There are none.  We enjoy a painting; who gifted the artist to paint it?  We are overwhelmed by the sight of a mountain; who created it?  We are exhilarated by a sport; who gave men and women the ability to play it?  But, of course, the question always arises- what about the sin that man enjoys?  Did God give us that?  No, God gives us the good and man in turn corrupts it.  Almost every good thing God gives us is distorted by man and made just a shadow of what it was meant to be. If we think the pathetic sinful perversion of some great gift God has given us can compete in ultimate joyfulness we are delusional.  How many sinful endeavors begin with delight and end in a plight. The truest joy comes from the knowing the creator of joy.

God goes on to tell us that those who seek after His kingdom will receive “the special gifts of wisdom, knowledge, and happiness.”  Knowledge is knowing and wisdom is knowing how to use our knowledge.  What is the result of that?  Happiness.  All the knowledge in the world is of no value if we don’t know how to use it.  All the wisdom in the world is useless without true knowledge.  I use to listen to a very intellectual show (I know, that is hard to believe) that every week pitted two people of totally different persuasions to politely duke it out for an hour and a half.  Awhile back I listened to an atheist scientist dialogue with a devout Christian scientist.  Both men were knowledgeable (they drove me to my dictionary several times), but as they spoke, I realized that though they both spoke in revered terms about creation, one man had the advantage of also being in awe of the creator.  There was a distinct difference in their tones.  One was amazed by the facts and the other amazed by the act that created the facts as well as the facts. I sensed that there was greater joy in getting to know the creator than just getting to know the creation.

The true message of these verses is that enjoyment is a gift of God. There is nothing  that we can possess, nothing we can do, nothing we can experience that can compete with those things given us from the hand of God. God wants to richly bless us and we can sit at His banquet table or settle for scraps.  It is wonderful to realize that God already has a seat saved for us.

In his first letter to Timothy, Paul said, “He richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” (1 Timothy 6:17)  It is God’s desire and intent that all the good things of life should contribute to our enjoyment.  We will only experience this world as God intended if we understand that true joy only comes from Him.  

“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Romans 1:19-21

Last night I was on the deck until almost midnight just looking at the sky. It was still really warm that late at night and I really enjoyed the peace and quiet.  It reminded me of the above verses, so I thought I would share them today.

Paul wrote  these words to the Romans in an attempt to show how many had replaced the creator with the creation as an object of worship.  Of course, like all of God’s Word, it is just as relevant today as it was in Paul’s time.  Actually, since the world is degrading with time, it is probably even more relevant today than it was in those years following Christ’s death.

When we look at the intricate detail of the smallest things in nature up to the huge and complex design of the whole universe and remain objective, our only conclusion is there must be a designer.   Unfortunately, the complexity and beauty of the creation have not pointed  people toward God, but toward worshiping the creation itself. We who live here in Oregon can easily find ourselves in that kind of a predicament.  It is so beautiful here we can lose sight of who has made things so beautiful here.

I have often hear the phrase, “I am spiritual, but not religious.  If I want to connect with God I go to the (insert favorite nature place here… river, mountain, camp, hike).”  And who can blame them?  There are so many places that are so serene and can give us such a variety of emotions- from peace to excitement.  But what we can never forget is this- although those might be places for worship, the places cannot be worshipped.  In other words, no one can object to us worshipping there, but the place cannot be the object  of our worship.

Every time we sit beneath a sky (like I did last night) it becomes a reminder, a lesson so to speak, about who God is. That reminder is what changed British Professor and Philosopher Anthony Flew in 2004.  He was regarded by many as the world’s most acclaimed atheist and when he renounced his atheism in favor of theism, it rocked the world of science as much as the church would have been rocked if Billy Graham suddenly renounced his Christian faith.  What was the basis of Flew’s conversion? The evidence around him.  He became fatigued by having to ignore the undeniable design of all we see in favor of a fortunate stroke of good luck that brought this altogether so nicely.

We should never allow ourselves not to be in awe of the world around us.  We should never take its beautiful design for granted.  But we must also remember why it is here – to point us toward God, and although it points to Him, it should not be confused with Him.  Paul says this two verses later when he writes, “Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man or birds or animals or reptiles (Rom 1:22-23).”  Creation represents the greatness of God, and without Him it would not exist.  Let’s never degrade God by putting His creation above Him who is the creator.  Check out the sky tonight and thank Him for the wonderful signposts He has made that emphatically, undeniably, and unquestionably point to Him.