Grace Upon Grace

Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 15:10, Ephesians 2:8, Romans 11:5-6, 2 Timothy 1:9

Grace Upon Grace: Favor I Don’t Deserve

Have you ever been given a gift or an opportunity that blew your mind? Something seemingly out of the blue that you were not expecting and, quite frankly, didn’t deserve? This happened to me many years ago when I was a very young and relatively inexperienced worship leader in the youth ministry at my church.

One afternoon my pastor called me into his office and asked if I’d lead the entire worship ministry at our church as the new worship pastor! It was a humbling experience that led me to doing what I do today. And all these years later, I get to live out my passion because of that opportunity. This is a perfect picture of God’s grace in my life.

I once heard a preacher describe grace as unmerited favor—favor you don’t deserve and didn’t earn. When we think about what Jesus did for us, that He gave everything for us, we realize that it was God’s grace in action for us. We don’t deserve it and there’s nothing we can do to earn it. He gives it to us freely!

In 1 Corinthians 15:10 NLT, the apostle Paul says it like this:

But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me—and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace.

Paul again perfectly sums this up in Ephesians 2:8 NLT:

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.

A gift! God’s grace is a gift.

When we embrace the grace that comes only from Jesus, it changes the game! In that surrender we stop trying to earn God’s love and instead respond to His grace with a life of worship. It’s then that we see His grace cover our entire lives.

I love the lyrics in the bridge of our song Grace Upon Grace. It says:

Grace in the driest desert

Grace when I’m feeling worn

Grace when I don’t believe it

Grace found at every turn

Grace in the deepest valley

Grace when the night is long

Grace found in every season

Grace has the final word

Grace breaks the power of darkness

Grace mends the wounded soul

Grace moving every mountain

Grace fills the deepest void

Grace overtakes my battles

Grace resurrects these bones

Grace lifts me from the ashes

Grace is my victory song

Every single one of us can connect to at least one or two of those lines. No matter what we’re facing, what we’re walking in, what is difficult or hard around us, God’s grace covers it! It’s simply up to us to surrender to Him and receive His grace!

Challenge

Today, grab a journal, listen to our song Grace Upon Grace, and reflect on the words. Think about the times God’s grace has shown up in your life. Write them down and thank God for the unmerited favor He has shown you.

Scriptures: Romans 8:1-2, Romans 8:26-28, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22, Psalms 5:11-12, Psalms 71:21-23

Free (This Joy): True Joy and Worship

To be honest, joy is something I haven’t always had in my life. I had a very tough upbringing that led to a lot of insecurity, hurt, and fear. I craved joy, but I tried to find it through relationships with others or getting attention. 

One day at my youth group I was randomly asked to play drums during worship. I didn’t know the songs and I didn’t really even know Jesus, but I just thought it was cool and I really loved music. 

During worship I really thought about the words and I started to think about my life. I went back to the hurt, the pain, and the bad things that I experienced as a child. And I realized that God had actually been there with me the whole time. It was in that moment that, for the first time, I experienced true joy. 

I couldn’t help but give my life to God and thank Him for what He had done—I was all in. In real time I was experiencing what verse one of Free (This Joy) talks about: 

I am stepping past the fear and doubt 

And there’s nothing that can hold me down 

’Cause I know 

You’re working for my good 

In worship, a lens shift happens. A beautiful shift, where the focus moves from our problems in the moment to His presence. You could be having a terrible day. You could be focusing too hard on the past. But the moment you enter worship, you start to see things more clearly through the highs and lows of life. 

When I think about all that God has done for me and how He’s been there for me in every season of life, I can’t help but feel joy and freedom. 

Hallelujah 

I’ve never been so free 

Joy is a daily choice that we get to make. In my life I’ve found that I experience true joy through worship. 

When you choose joy, you experience true worship.

When you choose worship, you experience true joy.

Scriptures: Jeremiah 23:23, Deuteronomy 31:8, Romans 8:38-39, Psalms 119:105

All Around Us: The Relentless Love of God

One time when I was 6 years old, while at the grocery store with my mom I spotted the Pop-Tart aisle. Naturally, I ran as fast as I could to grab some blueberry Pop-Tarts, but as I turned around excitedly to show my mom … she was gone. I couldn’t find her anywhere. I was terrified, feeling completely alone. Little did I know, my mom was literally in the aisle next to me. She knew exactly where I was. 

We can feel the same way with God sometimes: We’re running around feeling scared and alone. We feel as though God has left us. What we don’t realize is that God is with us the whole time. 

On the flip side, I’ve definitely been the person trying to run and hide from God. There have been times I’ve thought God could never forgive me for the things I’ve done—that I was unworthy of being in the presence of God. 

And because of the shame I had, I built up walls in my life. I didn’t want to let other people in, much less let God in. But the love and grace of God tore those walls down. I know that when I fall, He picks me up, dusts me off, and continues to love me through it all. 

And even when I run from Him, He never leaves my side. He will never leave your side. He will bring you peace beyond your understanding, joy without limits, and unrelenting love. Because you are chosen. You are forgiven. You are loved.

Scriptures: Isaiah 53:3-5, Ephesians 2:4-10, John 19:28-30, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 8:10-11, Psalms 51:10-12, Philippians 1:6

Finished Work of Christ

What is the work that Christ finished? 

In the very beginning, there was true communion and relationship with our Creator, our Guide. Everything was perfect until the first man and woman decided that autonomy from God was more valuable than a deep dependency on Him. This is where sin began. What they thought was freedom from God did not free them at all. This decision led to a death sentence for all of humanity. Humans had separated themselves from God. 

But God, who is so rich in mercy, began His plan not only to forgive our sin, but to restore our relationship with Him. Throughout the Old Testament we see signs and prophecies pointing toward Jesus. The rituals and sacrifices of the old covenant were only temporary measures, but then Jesus came to earth: fully man and fully God. He didn’t think of equality with the Father as something to cling to, but selflessly allowed His body to be crushed and broken. His blood, poured out for our sins, flowed from His body as He spoke His last words and took His final breath. 

“It is finished.”

The price of sin is death—mine and yours. We owed a debt that we could not pay. Jesus shared with His disciples that the most potent expression of love is laying one’s life down for a friend. And He didn’t use words alone; He displayed His love for us with action. The God of the universe took the weight of every sin that would ever be committed upon His shoulders and paid the price of our sin once and for all. And to anyone who asks for His grace and forgiveness, the ledger that tallies our debt is cleared. 

This is the best news we’ve ever received. And the story doesn’t even end there. At dawn on the third day, Jesus rose again, and He promises this same resurrection power to anyone who puts their faith in Him. The old passes away and He makes us new. We celebrate the finished work of Christ—the one who is our strength for today and our hope for tomorrow. 

For some of you, this gospel truth is something you’ve heard a million times. You may even feel a little desensitized to it. I encourage you to take a moment to remember what life was like before you encountered Jesus. I felt unlovable, unforgivable, and unfinished. But then God loved me and forgave me, and He’s now actively working in my life to perfect and complete my faith. We celebrate that His redemptive work on the cross is finished, even as we humbly ask that He continue His life-giving work in our hearts and lives. 

Pray

Because of Your finished work, I have hope. Thank You for loving me. Continue what You’ve begun in my life. It belongs to You. Amen.

Scriptures: Ephesians 3:16-19, 1 John 4:7-19, Ephesians 2:10, Psalms 139:7-12, Romans 8:38-39

Like Your Love: Changing Me, Changing Everything

Blaise Pascal once said, “The heart has its reasons for which reason knows nothing.” We live in a world relentlessly pursuing that which our reason and intellect can confirm. We want proof, and anything else leaves us wanting. Or does it? 

I remember holding my wife’s hand for the very first time, and knowing we were never meant to be alone. Could I prove it? No. But I knew it. 

I remember locking eyes with my daughter for the first time, and knowing in an instant that love was the bedrock of everything. Could I prove it? No. But again I knew it, and I was willing to live the rest of my life pursuing it. There are some things that can only be experienced, and it’s only in experiencing them that our eyes are opened to their reality-shifting truth. 

An earlier memory I have is of being a little boy eaten up with anxiety and depression, and then reading that I was God’s handiwork, that He made me and loves me. I was overwhelmed by the truth that I was held in an inescapable love. Can I prove it? No. Is it true? I’d bet my life on it. 

As 1 John 4:8 tells us, God is love. Friend, my prayer for you today is that you would allow God’s Spirit to lead your heart to a deeper sense that you are held in the arms of love. God, in Jesus, has shown that you matter, and that you are loved. 

I’ve experienced God’s love. It has changed me. And if the love of Jesus has changed me, it can change everything. It has the power to move us toward radical forgiveness, a relentless pursuit of justice, and fresh mercy every day. It has the power to transform us and our world. 

Let His love be born anew in you today, that you might be changed—and change the world around you. 

Pray

God of goodness, I come into Your presence so aware of my human frailty, and yet overwhelmed by Your love for me. I thank You that there is no experience that I can walk through where Your love cannot reach me. If I climb the highest mountain, You are there, and yet if I find myself in the darkest valley of my life, You are there. Teach me today to love You more. Help me to rest in that love that asks nothing more than the simple trusting heart of a child. 

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:15-17

New Future

Where would I be without the new life that I get to live in Christ? It’s honestly hard to imagine.

I’ll be real, though. I think what saddens me the most about myself and other Christ followers is when we fail to step into the reality of our new future, new mercies, new grace, and new life in Christ every single day. Do you remember when He first transformed your heart? It was so fresh that it felt like your eyes had been opened for the first time. Everything felt new, looked new, and was full of new joy and life. But over time, after that initial life change took place, perhaps you began to lose that fiery passion and zeal that you once had. Maybe it returns at times, but you wish you could experience that first moment of salvation again.

Where it all went wrong for me—and I’ll tell you, what I’m about to say is very countercultural—is when I started to put the pressure of my “new future” and my calling onto myself. What if I don’t get this new future right? What if I don’t live out my calling? What if I commit my time to the wrong thing? What if I don’t serve enough? What if I take it for granted? I immediately made it about me. I moved on from the free gift of being made new and straight to prioritizing what I could do for God instead of prioritizing being with God.

After a lot of burnout, identity issues, striving, and proving, I realized that, unfortunately, I had gotten it all wrong. I think I loved the idea of being used by God more than I liked being with God.

And then it dawned on me. In my weakness and humanity, I had failed to see what the Scripture really said:

He died for everyone so that those who receive His new life will no longer live for themselves. 2 Corinthians 5:15 NLT

It’s His new life! It’s not even my life to be concerned about anymore. I’m not supposed to live for myself. I had been chasing “my calling,” but the greatest calling had already been set before me at the moment of salvation: choosing to die to my own life and pick up the life of Christ. It’s Christ in us that makes us new. It’s His life that we get to live from.

And man, did that take the pressure off! When we realize that we have to die to ourselves and our motives, wants, needs, thoughts, feelings, and desires every day, and pick up those of Jesus, we begin to see the world, ourselves, and others in a completely different way. We get to bring a little piece of heaven to earth in the real life that can only be found in Christ. And it’s all free!

Pray:

God, forgive me for when I try to take up my old life instead of the life of Christ. Restore to me the joy and freedom that come with allowing Christ to live in me. Remind me daily to lay down my life and pick up the life of Christ, so that every morning is a chance to live out my new future. In Jesus’ name, amen!

Scriptures: John 14:1-6, Romans 6:6, John 10:9-11, Romans 8:18-23, Philippians 4:4-8

Inheritance: From Slave to Heir

When you think about the spiritual inheritance that you receive for being a follower of Jesus, is heaven the first thing to pop into your head? The mansion that Jesus is preparing, crowns filled with jewels, the golden streets, and being in God’s unfiltered presence … These things are absolutely true and of course a significant part of our inheritance as believers—but far too often we forget that we have an inheritance that we can experience on this side of eternity as well. 

We were all born into separation from God. From the point of conception, we’ve been subject to the brutal consequences of sin. The Word says that we were slaves to sin. And what comes along with sin? Pain, suffering, anger, anxiety, disease, and death. And we’re just scratching the surface. Apart from Christ, we can do nothing good. 

“The enemy comes onlyto steal and kill and destroy …” If I’m being honest, most of the time when I quote John 10:10, I stop there; but that’s only the first half of the verse. Jesus then goes on to say, “I have come so that you may have life and have it to the full.” Jesus, in all His goodness, laid down His life for the slave—so that the slave can be called a child. A son and a daughter. Heirs to the Most High King. 

An inheritance is always preceded by a death. Well, guess what? That death happened over 2,000 years ago, which means that our inheritance began when Christ said, “It is finished.”

The countless promises woven throughout God’s Word are for right now.We don’t just reap the benefits of following Jesus when our heart stops beating. We have the Holy Spirit living in us right now. We can have life to the fullest today. 

Jesus is the inheritance. His never-ending love, joy, peace, and kindness are available to you right in this very moment. Yes, we are called to die with Christ and share in His suffering, and sin still sucks, but we weren’t made to be miserable. That wasn’t the design. The plan has always been for us to be in communion with God. To have a relationship with our loving Creator. But it requires taking every thought captive, focusing our heart and attention on Jesus, and walking in step with the Holy Spirit. 

You were a slave to sin, but you’re now invited to be a child of the King—and heir to His countless benefits. Step into that invitation and live life to the fullest.