Harry Durgin; Kilauea eruption; September 29, 2021; Mauna Loa strip road.

When Barnabas arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord. (Acts 11:23)

When we walk into a room, into a situation, or experience something ourselves, are we apt to see the grace of God, or are we more likely to see problems we must address?

Seeing the grace of God leads us to worship Him. Focusing on problems is apt to center us on ourselves.

The absolute requirement to see God’s grace

The absolute requirement to see God’s grace is to be His child, for Him to have rescued us from the domain of darkness, to be called out of darkness, and to be transferred to the kingdom of His beloved Son, into His marvelous light. (Colossians 1:13, 1 Peter 2:9)

Barnabas was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. (Acts 11:24)

We will more often, more consistently, see the grace of God in all circumstances, as we grow in the Lord.

We need to practice!

We are to discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness. (1 Timothy 4:7)

We are to practice having our senses trained to discern good and evil. (Hebrews 5:14)

We are to practice the things [we] have learned and received and heard and seen in me (Paul). (Philippians 4:9)

Ideas

Before you get out of bed, ask the Lord to make you conscious of Him through the day.

When you encounter various situations, seek the Lord. Ask Him to show you Himself in that circumstance.

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We want to see the grace of God. Father, help us see.

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Iam self-critical, and the verses telling us to examine ourselves always result in my seeing my sins. (Which I need, of course, but God blesses me also.)

I do regularly list God’s blessings to me.

But I don’t regularly examine my life to see God’s myriad grace in my life (apart from His awesome saving work). I am missing encouragement, joy, and gratitude.

I need to look for:

How I’ve grown spiritually.

His protection.

His providence.

How has God:

Worked in me to please Him more?

Taught me to walk in a manner more worthy of Him?

Brought people and circumstances into my life that helped me and others?

His grace in my life:

I can think of times He kept me safe, when left to myself I would have been hurt or at risk. I remember reaching just the right physician on call on a Sunday who ended up changing the course of an illness for a loved one. I know I am living a more mature spiritual life. I remember times I felt His pleasure at my obedience. Things I used to think about are no longer on my mind. Some sinful behaviors are now rare, if ever.

This is evidence that He is working in me to want to do His will and to actually do His will (Philippians 2:13). And I rejoice that He will keep working in me until I am taken to glory (Philippians 1:6). And it is evidence about His miraculous providence.

And now

While I will still work to identify sins confess it, and tackle it with His power, I am also going to watch for His grace in my daily walk. And thank Him!

Certainly, I will keep watching for sin, but I am now determined to watch for His daily grace as well.

Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. (Matthew 6:33)

That is a command!

The Bible mentions a number of good things when we seek Him first: We find Him (Deuteronomy 4:29, Jeremiah 29:13), We’re glad (1 Chronicles 16:10), We rejoice (Psalm 40:16), We don’t worry (Matthew 6:33-34).

How?

We’re humans, so we need to learn HOW to seek Him first. This is a process of becoming increasingly godly, habitually seeking Him first. How do we learn this?

First: We have to decide we are going to seek Him first. Determine. Resolve. Set our minds. This is probably the hardest step. The resolution has to stay in place regardless of temptations, habits, fatigue, whatever.

Second: We have to have Him top of mind. One way to do that is step 3, but you may have additional ideas. (This doesn’t mean we don’t pay attention to our families, our jobs, our schooling, but He is in mind throughout.)

Third: We need to study His Word and keep mulling it over. Memorizing is helpful and then we can recall what we’ve memorized and recite verses to ourselves.

Fourth: Pray! Pray He will recall Himself to our minds throughout the day. Pray that our resolution holds.

Impossible?

Seeking Him first is a daunting command, I’m actually overwhelmed thinking about how to do this. But He has commanded it, so I know He will enable me to keep His command. More than that, He has already given us everything we need for life and godliness. Already! (2 Peter 1:3)

So my first step is to set my mind to keep His command.

God’s love for His children* knows no bounds; His love for His children is infinite and eternal. He has a plan to make us into the image of His Son, glorifying us, and He is working in us to that end. (Philippians 1:6, 2:13).

And there’s more!

We also experience special times, special instances of His love, just because He loves us. We’ll feel His love when we know we’ve done what He asked, or in a special time with a loved one, or a beautiful sunset, or just feeling especially well, or …. (you fill in that sentence!)

I am so grateful for what He has done to give me eternal life. I am also grateful for times of “just cuz He loves me.”

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*God created all of us, but only believers enter into a Father/child relationship with Him. (John 1:12, 1 John 3:1-2)

Winston Churchill gave a famous commencement speech: “Never give up. Never give up. Never give up.”

Jesus told us that also: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. (Matthew 7:7)

The verb tenses are present, active, imperatives. So what Jesus said was:

Keep on asking.

Keep on seeking.

Keep on knocking.

Never give up.

Press on!

My dad was in the Navy in WWII, and was on the beach at Iwo Jima on D-Day. He and his men completed their mission, came under machine gun fire, their landing craft was disabled, and it took more than a day for them to make their way to a ship and then to get back to their own ship. All the time in wet clothes.

When the flag was raised on Mount Suribachi, the smaller flag and then the larger replacement flag, ships’ horns rang out. But there was more than a month left of hard fighting.

The flag on Mount Suribachi was not a flag of victory, it was a flag of hope.

We currently live under a flag of hope. God’s kingdom is in believers, and we know, we know, His victory is coming. We know Christ will reign.

But we are in a hard fight right now. Victory isn’t yet achieved, but victory is certain.

Press on — fight on — in hope.

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Acartoon character was turned away at the pearly gate. “But it wasn’t gluttony, it was just the munchies.”

We may excuse our sin. It’s “just munchies,” rather than a heart issue. We need to call sin, “Sin!” We need to name it.

We might “solve” the apparent problem without having a change of heart, without repenting where it is needed.

Perhaps we work on “curb appeal,” ignoring that we are building on sand.

Our New Year’s resolutions may indicate areas that need God’s scalpel, core issues that need honest examination and repentance, rather than just “improvement.”

Perhaps a goal for weight loss should prompt more than a resolution to stop eating so many carbs. Is there underlying sin? Is food a substitute for dealing with anxiety or anything other than seeking the Lord? People can be normal weight and still love food in a sinful way.

Perhaps a resolution relating to temper or speech has an underlying issue of anger, which needs confession and repentance. A person might solve their speech, but seethe underneath, and have their anger come out in other ways.

If you do New Year’s resolutions, there may be unexpected hints where you need to reflect and repent. At least, that is what I found.

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This is not to dismiss resolutions! For example Ezra set his heart to study the law of Yahweh, practice it and teach it! Ezra 7:10

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Father, please show me my sins. Please help me be honest with myself. Please help me not excuse myself or minimize my need. Please help me confess and repent. Thank You that You promise to forgive and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! (Philippians 4:4)

We are commanded to rejoice in the Lord. To rejoice in the Lord always.

We are to keep on rejoicing. (1 Peter 4:13)

Christmas is a great day to rejoice, a day to celebrate good news of great joy. (Luke 2:10)

Today we rejoice about unimaginable, eternal, stupendous good news!

God is with us (Immanuel) (Matthew 1:23),

God came in the flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory (John 1:14),

Jesus showed us the Father, being the radiance of His (the Father’s) glory and the exact representation of His nature (Hebrews 1:3),

Jesus is the Savior of all who believe (John 3:15).

These are truths, yet beyond our ability to grasp fully. But let’s try!

Rejoice!

This year, let’s determine to keep on rejoicing.

Good news is meaningful and welcome when we’re suffering from bad news.

The last two weeks, this blog talked about the trouble in the world (What is Happening in the World?) and about death (Sudden Death). Sin abounds. Rejection of the Almighty, Creator God is rampant. Eternal condemnation awaits those who spurn God’s Savior.

Next Sunday, though, is Christmas!

Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11)

As we prepare for Christmas, we need to see the glorious, awesome, stupendous, eternal good news in light of the enormity of the bad news. The more we understand the depth of sin, the more wonderful is the good news of God sending a Savior.

People need to know about the bad news before they know they need good news. They need to know they are sinners subject to the wrath of God before they know they need a Savior.

That is why God sent John the Baptist to make ready the way of the LORD (Matthew 3:3). Repent! John the Baptist said “Repent!” And he didn’t hold back, calling the Pharisees and Sadducees “you brood of vipers.” (Matthew 3:7)

For those of us who are believers (praise God!), we also need the good news of the power of the Savior, the good news of our indwelling Holy Spirit. We see the sin in ourselves and have both the desire and the ability, through our Lord, increasingly to walk in a manner worthy of Him. That is good news indeed!

Rejoice!

Avery fit marathoner died of a heart attack. A newly-wed man died in his sleep. A parking control officer was shot in his head from behind. And many more suddenly died.

Wham! And each woke up in eternity, some to eternal life, some to a resurrection of condemnation. Some to glorious good news, some to eternal disaster.

It is given to us to die once and then the judgment. (Hebrews 9:27)

We do not know when we’ll have our last day, so be ready.

If you have not recognized your sins against your Creator, have not turned to God in repentance, and have not placed your belief and trust in Jesus Christ, please deal with that now, while you have time. Be ready. Don’t die in unbelief.

If you are in Christ, hallelujah!

For believers, there is still a call to be ready. For however much time we have left, let’s seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Let’s pursue increasing godliness. Let’s whole-heartedly serve Him.

This season is a great time to proclaim Him. “Merry Christmas” can be the start of a conversation about the Lord. Asking the question: “Are you ready for Christmas” can lead into explaining why Jesus Christ was born.

Let’s get ready to celebrate Christmas!