| Dear
One,
"Oh, Marcy! I've felt so barren
lately and it scares me that I can feel this way again after discovering
the grace walk." These first few lines of Kelly’s e-mail quickly
caught my attention. "I don't wake up in the morning and
consciously say ‘I'm not going to depend on You today, Jesus’ but as
the day goes on, I'm aware of things that I say and do that are
certainly not consistent with who I am. I long to live in the
resurrection power of Christ living through me and some times I think
that the only way that this can ‘work’ is if I'm not around other
people where I can blow it in my thoughts and reactions. Even though
there have been some hard things to deal with in the three years since
coming to understand Christ as my Life, I've gotten through them knowing
that He is all I need and sufficient to meet anything that I face. Now I
feel like I'm in the desert again and living out of my own strength,
though I am seeking to live out of His."
Kelly and I met at a Living Grace-Fully
women’s conference earlier this year. We had time to visit during the
conference and I really enjoyed getting to know her. As I thought back
to our time together, I could easily remember her warm smile and
sparkling eyes and was sad to think that both had probably faded to some
degree over the past couple of months. As I continued reading her
e-mail, I began to understand the anxious feelings that she seemed to be
experiencing. But it was the last sentence or two that really pulled at
my heartstrings. "Do you ever reach the point that dependence is
like breathing or am I always going to struggle? It seems like everybody
else knows something about living the Christian life that I still
haven't figured out yet!" Sounded like my friend had a desperate
longing to rest in what Jesus has already done on her behalf but for
some reason she was still struggling. Hmmm, struggling to rest.
Doesn’t quite make sense, does it? Well, let me assure you of one
thing – Kelly is not alone.
Matter of fact, I’ve recently
received a number of letters, e-mails and telephone calls from some
pretty tired and frustrated folks. Somewhere down the line, the
Exchanged Life, the Abundant Life, the Walk of Faith doesn’t seem to
be "working" anymore. It appears as if something is missing
– apparently something is keeping them from experiencing the abundance
that they already have in Christ Jesus. But how can that be?
Well, I would like for you to consider
something. Is it possible that we aren’t "missing" anything
in this walk of faith but that the problem is that we are "adding
to" our walk of faith? Adding what, you might ask? Our own efforts
– they might look differently than before we were introduced to the
grace of God – perhaps more spiritual, more grace-full – but they
are still our finishing touches to the grace of God. And, you know what?
If you and I aren’t convinced that He has done it all, we will
undoubtedly feel the need to jump in and help Jesus complete the work
that He began in you and me (Philippians 1:6).
So, here’s my question: Are you
really convinced that you have been made righteous through the finished
work of Christ Jesus by the cross? In other words, do you believe that
you are in right standing with God and that there is nothing that you
can do to add to your right standing with God, there is nothing that you
can do to diminish your right standing with God and there is nothing you
can do to maintain your right standing with God? Dear friend, are you
convinced?
Hmmm, perhaps you aren’t quite sure
what righteousness really means for you. Maybe you’ve always thought
of His righteousness as just another spiritual characteristic that you
have in Christ Jesus. Like a personality trait – righteousness is a
good thing to have but you also have a heavy dose of blamelessness,
forgiveness, holiness, too. But did you know that in scripture after
scripture (Matthew 5:45; Mark 2:17; Romans 1:18; Romans 5:19; 1 Timothy
1:9) the words righteous and unrighteous are used to differentiate
between the lost and the saved, between those who are in Christ or those
who are in Adam? Don’t hesitate to take a look through the first seven
chapters of the book of Romans and you’ll see how important
righteousness is to God!
Did you know that the word righteous is
defined in Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary as "the sum
total of the requirements of God"? WOW! That means that the sum
total of all the requirements of God have been met in His righteousness
which is now our righteousness! Do you know what that means? We can take
God at His word and rest in the incredible sum total of what He has
done!
Once you are convinced that He has
righted you, that He has done it all, you can rest knowing that He has
also taken on the task of maturing you up. Philippians 1:6 says that He
will complete the work that He began in you and me, and Philippians 2:13
assures us that it is God who is at work in you and me, both to will and
to work for His good pleasure. Can you see that He has placed the
responsibility on Himself for not only working in us but also giving us
the "want to"? Dear one, either He lives inside of you and me
and He is doing the willing and the working and the completing or He
doesn’t. There is no middle ground.
So, when you think that the Grace Walk,
the Abundant Life, the Walk of Faith is faltering or sputtering, think
on this: Are you absolutely certain that you are right with God and that
He is right with you? Are you positive that there is nothing that you
can do to add to His finished work? ARE YOU CONVINCED?
I think that you might want to ponder
that basic question for awhile. As I mentioned before, if you are not
convinced that you are 100%, totally right with God and that He is 100%,
totally right with you, then you will find yourself acting in a way that
is not profitable for you (1 Corinthians 6:12):
- You may do something to assure
yourself that you are right with God,
- You may be inspired to do something
to try to make yourself right before others (good luck, that’s an
uphill battle), or
- You might take a crack at trying to
make others right before you and God (you might as well give up on
that one right now)
These three kinds of behavior are what
I will talk about in two additional teachings. I think that you will be
interested to see how our unbelief (not believing that we are truly
right with God) can be displayed through us. So, I ask you to consider
the things that I have shared with you in this teaching, don’t
hesitate to look up additional scripture references and let’s make a
date to get together in a couple of weeks.
To Kelly and the rest who are tired and
frustrated – take heart in this. "But to the one who does not
work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is
reckoned as righteousness." (Romans 4:5)
I love you,
Marcy
marcy@gospelfortoday.org
P. S.
If you’ve enjoyed this teaching, there is a wonderful teaching on our
website that might be encouraging to you as well. It just happens to be
written by my husband, John, and is entitled "Are
You Right With God?"
P.P.S.
Read Part 2 of the Walk of Faith series entitled, "Choice
After Choice"
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