Societies and cultures have always created rules that exclude certain portions of their culture.  The religious arena is no different.  A eunuch within the Jewish culture, because of their physical transformation, were not allowed to enter the temple courts beyond a certain point.  They didn’t have full access to worship the God in whom they believed and held sacred.  Our culture has done the same thing with Black people previously and the LGBTQ+ community in our present culture.  At times the religious community has taken great pride in keeping certain people outside of God’s acceptance of them because they did not conform to the rules or meet a certain criterion.  And so — even in today’s culture — the religious community has set up barriers to prevent certain people from entering into a full relationship with God until they have ‘cleaned up their act” enough to stand before God righteous and justified.

         Understanding God and God’s word comes because someone has been called to tell the story of God’s truth — that God sent his son into the world that all could, by faith in Jesus Christ — stand before God justified and righteous.  Even those who have previously been excluded from a relationship with God now have access to God by faith without condition.  There are some in our world today who still can’t handle God’s truth

• How has handling God’s truth made it easier for you to accept that all are welcome in God’s kingdom?
• What part of handling God’s truth do you still struggle with?
• What will it take for you to recognize the power of God’s grace and handle God’s truth?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Loving God, grant me your grace as I grow to understand and handle Your truth that all people are welcome within Your kingdom.

         Our human attempts to be perfect — to live without “ever” making a mistake — is an uphill battle fought by everyone.  We’re impacted by both the requirements established by God to live righteously before God and among one another and we’re impacted by laws that exist in our culture that establish the rules by which we can live with each other. But because we’re human, our human laws are sometimes slanted against certain groups of people making the fulfillment of those laws unjust.  Add to that the benefit of privilege and the impact that wealth has on society, there’s no way some people ever get a fair break.  And because we’re human, we’re prone to be disobedient to the law, whether man-made or God-given.  This means that it’s an uphill battle for everyone.

         Enter God who decides to level the playing field of life, making the crooked places straight and the rough places plain so that there is no benefit to wealth and privilege and no punishment for being poor and ignorant of the law.  Our overall failure to be obedient to the laws of God or the laws of the land are now placed within another realm of understanding called grace.

         From a spiritual perspective, both those who have been given the law to obey it and those who have not now all fall beneath the same umbrella of God’s unconditional love.  There are no more legalistic hills of obedience to climb accept one — faith — the one spiritual quality that is available to everyone.  And faith is not a hill to climb so much as it is a refreshing pool to wade in.  The comforts of grace release us all from having to live in obedience to laws we daily fail to keep.  Grace also invites us to accept freely that which God gives as a gift to all who believe.  And perhaps it is the simplicity of grace that makes it difficult for people to handle the truth of God.

• How difficult was it for you to accept that you are now justified (made righteous before God) by faith rather than being obedient to a set of laws?
• How important has grace become as a part of your relationship with God?
• How has realizing God’s grace helped you to handle God’s truth?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Gracious God, I thank you for the free gift of Your grace that comes by faith in Jesus Christ who — because of his faithfulness — has paid the price for my redemption

         Belief is something that we all come to about some things.  We gather our facts, hold them to be true, place our trust in them, and then act according to what we have come to believe.  But sometimes, the truth defies what we hold to be factual.  That’s especially true about God and Christ, obedience and grace, faith and trust.

         In “What’s So Amazing about Grace?”, Philip Yancey recounts his story about C. S. Lewis:

        During a British Conference on comparative religion, experts from around the world debated what — if any — belief  was unique to the Christian faith.

         They began by eliminating possibilities.  Incarnation?  Other religions had different versions of gods appearing in human form.  Resurrection?  Again, other religions had accounts of return from death.

         The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room.  “What’s the rumpus about?” he asked.  He then heard a reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity’s unique contribution among world religions.  Lewis responded, “Oh, that’s easy.  It’s grace.”  After some discussion, the conferees had to agree.

         The notion of God’s love coming to us free of charge, no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity.  The Buddhist eight-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of Karma, the Jewish covenant, and Muslim code of Law — each of these offers a way to earn approval.  Only Christianity dares to make God’s love unconditional.

         This is a truth of God that it’s difficult for many people to believe.  Perhaps because we’re always seeking to prove ourselves worthy of someone’s acceptance, it’s difficult for us to believe that the one who created us doesn’t require that kind of proof.  For many people it is ‘unbelievable’.  Yet, it is a truth that many find difficult to handle even though it’s a truth that we will have to embrace to receive the gift of eternal life through grace.

• What does handling the truth of God’s grace mean for you?
• Is that a truth that’s worth sharing with anyone you know?
• What do you believe would get people more excited about sharing that good news with others?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Merciful God, give me the courage to tell the story about Your unconditional love. Help me to explain that we do not stand before God clinging to our own obedience; we stand covered by the unconditional grace of God in Jesus Christ.