Working for Grace

 "I just need enough grace till I can get my act together..."

No sooner had those words left my mouth than I realized that I had a really faulty concept of grace.  Let me rephrase that:  I knew the definition of grace, but it hadn't penetrated my reality.  So I decided to reflect a little bit on that statement and its implications.

God's Grace

The Bible clearly portrays grace as a free gift, no strings attached... unless you want to count the step of accepting His grace, which sometimes is the hardest part.  A quick study of this concept of grace yielded these results (I understand that this is just a brief glimpse as truly the entire Bible is filled with the story of God's grace!):

Right after the famous "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" verse in Romans 3:23, the writer goes on to say "and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

"And if [God's people are chosen] by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace."  Rom. 11:6

" I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"  Gal. 2:21

And of course the famous Eph. 2:8-9:  "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast."

The Rub

So if I know what the Bible says about grace, where did I get an idea that I had to earn grace?  The problem is, we humans are so used to conditional grace.  Forgiving someone who sins against us 7 times.  The people in our lives have a certain number of chances to get their act together and if they fail, they're done.  Lives used up.  You lose.  People must show that they are making a good effort.  Each year must be better than the next.  Constant improvement and productivity is the standard.  And unfortunately, the standard that we require of others is one that we are incapable of sustaining ourselves.

Implications

The Bible speaks about this dichotomy of needing grace but refusing it to others.  And it's not pretty. Matt 6:14-15:  "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."  In other words, don't hold people to a standard that you wouldn't want God to apply to you.

A Sanctified Perspective on To-Do Lists

My to-do list sometimes looks like sheer torture... other times they're about as exciting as watching paint dry.   Whatever the case, I generally cringe when I think about it.  And I would imagine that it's the same for you.  When was the last time you looked at your to-do list and thought, "Boy, this is gonna be fun!"  or "What an awesome day I have in store for me!" or "I wish that these 20 tasks weren't the only things I get to do today... maybe I can think up more!"?  The truth is, sometimes it takes all of our strength to just plow through our to-do lists.

However, lately God has been teaching me an important lesson about the tasks He has given me for each day:  I am to do them joyfully, as working to the Lord, not for men (Col. 3:23) and to do anything I do for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31).  As I keep these verses in mind, it has challenged me to be praying throughout the day that God would give me a correct perspective and a cheerful attitude as I do tasks that at best might seem mundane and at worst downright difficult.  And the crazy thing is, that doesn't change my tasks at all, but it changes my attitude!  And God gives me the strength to complete what I have before me each day... for His glory!

Here's a great song for getting pumped up in the morning to hit that to-do list.  Do Everything:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEqdDdvFXZ0

If you're liked this post, here are some other blog posts/resources that would also be an encouragement:
The poem "If"  http://carodeemer.blogspot.com/2011/04/if.html
Book review of Do Hard Things:  http://carodeemer.blogspot.com/2010/08/do-hard-things.html

Saint Patrick's Prayer... and Mine!!

Christ be with me

Christ before me

Christ behind me

Christ in me

Christ beneath me

Christ above me

Christ on my right

Christ on my left

Christ where I lie

Christ where I sit

Christ where I arise

Christ in the heart of every man

who thinks of me

Christ in the mouth of every man

who speaks of me

Christ in every eye that sees me

Christ in every ear that hears me

Salvation is of the Lord.

What is your Paralysis?

A couple of days ago I read Matthew 9:1-8 which talks about how Jesus healed a paralytic man.  We all know the story and focus many times on the faith of the man's friends in bringing him before Jesus.  What God really spoke to me about, though, was the two things that Jesus granted the man: spiritual healing and physical healing.  The teachers of the law were furious at first when Jesus forgave the man's sins.  It wasn't until Jesus said, "Get up, take your mat, and go home" that everyone was "filled with awe and praised God."

It is easy to look at that story and criticize the onlookers lack of faith, their shallowness; but I wonder what that man was happier about: forgiven sins or being able to walk?  Now, the text really says nothing on the matter, so we can't know.  But the question isn't so much, "What mattered most to him?" as "What would matter most to us in the same situation?"  If we could only have one thing, would we wish to have our deepest dreams fulfilled, a new lease on life?  Or would we run home rejoicing that our sins were forgiven and our relationship with God restored?  Now, for those who are reading this and have already had Christ cleanse them from their sin, I think that the same reasoning still applies.  Do we seek Christ for what He can do for us or for who He is to us?  Food for thought.

Resolved

Thinking about New Year's resolutions can either be a scary undertaking or a reason to hope.  Or, if you're like me, it can be a little of both.  Taking on some of my biggest challenges, giving myself freedom to dream, and holding myself to a higher standard are exciting; things I look forward to with anticipation of gaining more ground and growth.  However, they are also scary as I consider the past, littered with broken resolutions, and wonder why I could hope that this year will be any different.  But I'm sure going to try.

Here are a few resources that are encouraging me:

-Reading through Jonathan Edwards resolutions (talk about a high standard!!)  -- http://www.apuritansmind.com/the-christian-walk/jonathan-edwards-resolutions/
-Continuing the process of creating a "Rule of Life", or set of ideals by which I wish to live (made attainable by being divided into practical, measurable goals)
- Reading Jon Acuff's blog posts about what he has termed the "Finish Year"  http://www.jonacuff.com/blog/
- The blessing of being surrounded by many like-minded people who also want to see me succeed and grow.  Based in Mexico as well as the States, these dear friends and family pray for me and keep me accountable.
- And most importantly, I know that God gives second chances.  His mercies are new every morning and every new year.  Since He wants me to mature, God will also give me the strength and encouragement I need along the way... and He is patient and forgiving when I am not perfect.  :-)

Writing is not so hard...

Dear anyone who is still reading this dusty old thing,

I am going to try to start writing here again at least once every 2 weeks.  I might write more... but we're going to start small and manageable.  I am going to try to keep my posts between 5-250 words so that they aren't overwhelming for me (yet still are long enough to say something).

So, there's the first blog post of hopefully many to come.  Feel free to keep me accountable to this.  I know of one friend who most certainly will and does.  I don't have a half a doubt that she knows who shes...

Sincerely,
Carolyn

A Ministry for This Year

Please forgive the extremely long break in posting.  I expect that this post will be sufficiently long to make up for the wait though...  :-)

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Another factor that gave me more peace about staying in Mexico was that my potential ministry options for this year were really developing while on the other hand, I didn't have any definite stateside plans.

Here is a glimpse of what my ministry looks like for this year:

Discipleship groups-- One of my main ministries this year will be working with evangelism and descipleship on Mexico's "UNAM" university campus.  The organization I will be working with is called "Compa" (companerismo estudiantil) and it is the Mexican counterpart of InterVarsity in the US. (http://www.intervarsity.org/)  I am looking forward to developing relationships through this group and by God's grace, having the opportunity to strengthen them in their faith and get them connected with the local church where I am serving as well.
Please pray that God would guide me in my involvement here so that I can come as a learner and aide, not eclipse the work that Christian students are doing already.

My church is called "La Fuente" and in addition to my involvement on Sundays, I am also attending a Thursday-night "Alpha" course.  It focuses on the basics of the Christian faith and is geared towards new believers and seekers.  Many people in this group got involved because of student outreaches on the campus!  :-)  One such outreach is another ministry I am involved in: an English conversation group on Friday afternoons at the university.  This is a very enjoyable ministry as it gives me a chance to put my English to good use!  :-)  Just being on such an enormous campus is exciting in and of itself, but to be a small part of the work that God is doing here is even more thrilling!

Please pray that God would bring more people to Himself as a result of this outreach and that I would be an encouragement to this wonderful church!

Outside of my college ministry involvement, my time is mostly consumed with being a leader for this year's YearOut team.  It has been so exciting to get to walk with them through a process I have recently experienced!  I loved being a facilitator this summer and am really looking forward to the opportunity to do the same thing in this upcoming year.  It is certainly proving to be a lot of work, but God is sustaining me and teaching me so many new things!
Please pray that God would develop in my the leadership skills that this role requires... and that I would be a blessing to others as a facilitator.

A surprise when I arrived in Mexico a few weeks ago is that I have been chosen to be a leader for this year's Honduras trip.  We had our first meeting this past Saturday and it is exciting and slightly overwhelming looking ahead to this upcoming year.
Please pray that God would assemble the team He wants to have in Honduras and that we would also be able to make plans with the Honduran pastors we will be serving alongside.