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1 Peter 1:6, 1 Peter 4:7

All Sufficient Grace!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
March 17, 2025

The Greek word “poikilos” is an adjective used twice by Peter in his first letter to the Christians. It is translated as “multifaceted” or “multicolored” and is used, as adjectives are, to describe something. In his first use of the word, 1 Peter 1:6, Peter describes the kinds of sufferings or trials that believers may have to endure. They are “multifaceted.” Some translations just use the word “various,” like the ESV. It says, “In this, you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials.” The NIV uses “all kinds of trials” in its translation. The word is descriptive of the kinds of trials that face all believers in every generation. We have many different kinds of trials in life. We have physical trials. Our bodies get sick, and we often get hurt. We have emotional struggles in relationships and we hurt and offend each other in this life. We have spiritual battles that we all fight and sometimes lose. We have trials on the job, with our finances, with health and the list could go on and on. The fact is, as Peter tells us, we have “many different kinds of trials.”

The second time poikilos is used by Peter is in chapter 4 and verse 10. It, too, is an adjective modifying a noun. But this time, instead of modifying the noun “trials,” it modifies the noun “grace.” There are many kinds of trials, and there are many kinds of graces (if you will!). I hope you grasp the wonderful parallel. For every kind of trial you and I might face in life, God has a particular kind of grace specifically given for that trial. The multifaceted trials of life are counteracted by the multifaceted grace of God.

Paul once prayed deeply for a “thorn in the flesh” to be removed from him. As a matter of fact, 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 tells us, “I prayed to the lord three times for it to be removed. And God said to me, ‘My Grace is sufficient for you.’” When we go through various trials, they sometimes become all we can see in our lives. We are consumed by them. We lay awake at night and worry about them and fret over them. But God instructs Paul to take his focus off his various trials and put them on God’s multifaceted Grace. God’s grace will get us through it all. Peter said it was only for “a little while,” and Paul recognized that it was these very trials that God would use to make him stronger. God shows us his multifaceted graces in many different ways. That’s part of His eternal plan. Paul says, “… in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:7

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Romans 6:23, 1 John 5:13, Romans 11:29

The Gift of God!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
March 16, 2025

When I was a child, I’d wrestle with my best friend sometimes, who would give me something and then want to take it back. When I first heard the term “Indian giver” I had enough experience to know what that meant. The term is probably not used anymore, or at least I don’t hear it like I did when I was growing up. Yet it’s still in the dictionary, and Merriam-Webster defines it as “a person who gives something to another and then takes it back or expects an equivalent in return.” It had its origin, according to Webster, around 1848. I always thought that Indians were the ones who would give and then want to take back, but it’s most likely referring to the treaties America made with the various Indian tribes, giving them certain land and then deciding to take the land back. (I’m not sure of any of this!)

You might not know that the word for “grace” and the word for “gift” are from the same Greek root word. When Paul tells the Ephesians that “you are saved by grace,” he means that it is a free gift. Paul tells the Romans in Romans 6:23, “The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” I’ve spoken to people who have accepted Jesus into their lives but still struggle with doubts. They are searching for assurance of their salvation. How can I know for certain that I’m saved? I always use the same verse when I speak to people about assurance. It’s 1 John 5:13, which says, “I’ve written these things to you who believe in Jesus Christ so that you will know for certain that you have everlasting life.”

The Bible teaches that every believer is eternally secure. However, it’s possible to be saved but still struggle with assurance of that salvation. J. V. McGee differentiates between eternal security and assurance. He writes, “…they are two sides of the same subject. It’s like two sides of a door. Eternal security is the exterior—that’s the outside of the door. Assurance is the inside of the door, and that’s internal. Eternal security is objective—it depends on that which is on the outside of us. It doesn’t depend on anything inside of us. Assurance depends on the inside. It is subjective. Eternal security is not an experience at all. Assurance is experienced. And eternal security is theological, while assurance is psychological.” Assurance is experienced when we take God totally at His Word. He will never renege on His promises. The objective truth of the Bible becomes the subjective experience of the believer, and we learn to rest comfortably in God’s promises. God is not an Indian Giver, so to speak. Paull tells us, “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” Romans 11:29

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Hebrews 4:16, James 4:6

Grace to the Humble!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
March 15, 2025

Just as we have many different kinds of trials in life, God has available every kind of grace we need to get through any and every situation. There are many different situations in our lives that require grace. But grace must always be received and accepted. Jesus, the Apostle John teaches us, is “full of grace.” There’s enough for everyone and for every situation. But the writer of Hebrews teaches us that we must appropriate that grace. It speaks to us about Jesus being one who is familiar with every kind of suffering because he went through it all. He’s not some distant deity lording it over his subjects with a lightning bolt raised over his head. He’s familiar with our sufferings. Hebrews 4:16 then instructs us, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Some people don’t need any help with anything in life. In the 1960s, there was a famous commercial in which a woman was cooking something, and when her mother suggested that it could use more salt, the woman came completely unglued and screamed, “Mother, PLEASE! I’d rather do it myself!”  I remember my mother teasing us with that phrase whenever we had advice about how she ran the household. It became a joke. The commercial was for an alternative-to-aspirin pain reliever called Anacin. It’s difficult to accept the help we might need at times. God often administers grace directly to us from his storehouse, but he very often administers grace to us through others. He administers grace to us and through us in many different ways. But we must come forward to get it. James 4:6 tells his audience that “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

The proud do not think they need grace. They are confident in their own abilities and think they can manage the world and all its different kinds of trials on their own. They have their life together, they don’t need any help, and they’d much rather do it themselves. Since salvation is always by grace through faith, one must first understand that they need to be saved before they can be saved. This is an integral part of repentance. Indeed, our salvation is a free gift, but it must be received. John, after telling us that Jesus is full of grace, goes on to tell us also that it’s only “those who receive Him” that get to be named “children of God.” In the life of a believer, grace is also something that comes only to the humble. Many believers are too proud to accept the help from others also. I’m sure you heard the old joke about the man who crawled up on his roof to escape the flood. He prayed that God would deliver him. Three different people came by one in a boat, one in a helicopter, and one in a life jacket. He refused them all, saying that God would save him. He drowned and when he complained to God, God responded, “I sent you a boat, a helicopter and a life-jacket, what more did you want?”

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Acts 17:24-25

An Unknown God

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
March 14, 2025

During my years as pastor of several different churches, I would hear someone tell me we “need someone to…” and then express a ministry that would be wonderful to add to the agenda of the church. My standard answer has been, “When can you start?” That seems to change the passion for the idea a lot. Yet, it’s easy to look around at our world and at people in our church and sense the many different kinds of needs that are out there. We all have needs! We can recognize the needs of others easily also because we know what it’s like to have an unmet need. Living in a world of perceived unmet needs arouses guilt in us for not meeting those needs. I’ve often used guilt as a means to motivate people to serve in the Church. But we really don’t want a “needs-based” ministry at any church. I don’t want to say we “need this…” or we “need that….” I don’t think God intends for us to serve him out of need!

Did you know that God doesn’t need us? Acts 17:24 and 25 say this, “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” God doesn’t need us. He has angels by the millions to fulfill any desire he might have. He has rocks that will worship Him if we don’t. He has donkeys to instruct wayward sinners if we don’t (See Numbers 22). All nature is under His command.  He doesn’t need me to draw my sword to defend him in any way. He has legions of angels that will take up his cause whenever he calls them. He has resources beyond all this that we probably don’t even know of or could understand if we did. This truth that Paul so powerfully told to the Athenians who worshipped and served every kind of God imaginable was a truth that he attributed to “an unknown God.” I often feel that the God of all “grace” and “love” is still an “unknown” God to me as I wrestle with guilt over what I leave undone in my life. I know individuals locked into abusive relationships because someone “needs them.” Guilt drives them to continue to meet the perceived needs of others. Many see their service to God in a similar light.

While all the idols were dependent upon their worshippers, this so-called “unknown God” was a God who didn’t need anything or anybody. He was completely sufficient in and of Himself. This God doesn’t need us, but through the grace of this almighty God, He “wants us.” He does not want you in order to add you to his list of slaves. He’s looking for a bride. The Church is the bride of Christ, not the slave. He wants to pour out his love to us. We are children of God and heirs to the promises, not slaves serving under the legal system. God’s grace sets us free from a legalistic, guilt-motivated service to a love-based, passion-inspired service that brings to us the fulfillment and meaning in our lives that is missing. God has graciously blessed us with the gifts of service he has given us so that we can receive even more Grace from God! When we love and serve others from this motive, we are a blessing, and we receive an even greater blessing.

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Ephesians 1:3, Philippians 4:11, Philippians 4:1:, 2 Peter 1:2-3

I Need! I Need!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
March 13, 2025

In “What About Bob,” Bill Murray plays the neediest person in the world. He looks at his counselor, played by Richard Dreyfus, and cries, “I want… I want…. I need… I need….. give me… give me… give me!” It’s a funny line the way Murray says it and I’ve often used it in family situations as a joke or a rebuke of someone who said something that sounded like that! When I act needy, my family members will give me the line! There was a man like Bob in a church I attended years ago.  From the moment I walked in the door, he was in my face asking for advice. Often he would follow me around the foyer and even into the sanctuary up to my seat talking, telling me stories about his week. Every sentence he spoke ended with “and….” so that he could pick up on it when he came up with something else. Eventually, I notice he stops to catch his breath, and I guiltily make a flimsy excuse to get away. Often, I would see him lingering around my area, waiting to catch me again. Whenever I think of this guy, I think of Bill Murray’s “I need…. I need….give me….give me…!!” You might know someone just like that!

Every once in a while, I catch myself being Bill Murray! I don’t want to be that way, but sometimes I feel I “need something” also! I need to remember that I really don’t have any needs that have not been met or are not being met by God through Christ Jesus because of His ministering Grace to my life. Paul tells us in Ephesians (1:3), “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing…” Now, I know I have all my “spiritual” needs met, but I have other needs, and they are often unfulfilled. But God’s grace goes there also! Peter says, “May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness…(2 Peter 1:2-3). Paul thanks the Philippians for their gift and tells them how helpful it was, but then he adds, “I’m not saying that because I need anything. I have learned to be content no matter what happens to me” (4:11).

If these verses aren’t clear enough, let me move on to Philippians 4:19. After Paul explains his contentment even while in prison, he goes on to say, “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” The attitude of contentment should be ours as we trust our lives, past, present, and future, to God. “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”

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2 Peter 3:13

Growing in Grace!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
March 12, 2025

Someone once said that a diet of grace is a weak and insipid meal. What is needed is a large helping of “meat” which to them represented the exhortation to good works and witnessing. If I study the passage that talks about the difference between the “milk” and the “meat” in the 5th Chapter of Hebrews, I’d argue that it’s just the opposite. A works-based religion of “do this” and “don’t do that” is the milk, but the meat is the teaching about the grace of God. In the first two verses of Chapter Six, the writer concludes, “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.”

We don’t become better people or more mature Christians by following a legalistic mindset. We become mature Christians by opening our hearts and lives to the Grace of God and letting that truly transform us from within. Peter closes his 2nd Letter with an exhortation to all believers. He writes in 3:13, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.” Commenting on the distinction between growing through grace versus growing through works, one writer said, “It is performance-based legalism that is the true junk food which should carry a spiritual warning on its slick and attractive packages. The gospel of Jesus Christ is clear—all that we do, both evil and good, is worthless in God’s sight. The only eternal good in us is produced by God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. …Kick your religion to the curb! Repent of thinking you can please God on the basis of your deeds! Surrender to God’s grace, relinquish the mirage of control that you think you have, and trust in God—implicitly, without reservation.”

Notice Peter’s last phrase as He closes his 2nd Letter. He says, “To Him (Jesus) be the glory both now and forever.” Legalistic systems of performance always represent a focus on my effort or my deed and often result in praise to us, not to Christ. We still fall for the old lie that it’s our performance that pleases God. It’s very easy for me to preach salvation by grace through faith alone and then make a performance based acceptance system typical in the life of the church. When performance is the system practiced in a church family, confusion abounds, legalism flourishes, and the church ceases to be a means of true healing for the lost, hurting, and truly hungry in the world. Jesus is the bread of life and the living water!

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Acts 4:33, Galatians 5:25

Mega-Grace!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
March 11, 2025

The Greek word for “great” is mega! You know it as we use it to measure large or huge quantities like megatons. Luke tells us in Acts 4:33 that the Apostles had “mega-power” and “mega-grace.” He writes, “And with great power, the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.” The NIV uses the phrase “much grace.” When we think of the idea of sharing our faith with others, sharing our faith story with others, it is very often reduced to a “mega-work” rather than a “mega-grace” experience. We’re often exhorted to tell others that we are ambassadors for Christ, our mission is to make disciples, etc. Of course, these are true, but testifying to the love of God expressed through His Son Jesus should never be done from a guilt or compulsory motif. It becomes a work that is displeasing to God. God does not desire our sacrifices and services. He wants our hearts.

There is a radical difference between testifying to God’s love from a “grace” relationship with God and testifying to God’s love from a “works” relationship with God. One writer said this: When the concept of our relationship to God is service-oriented, we will relate to Him as a divine Employer who scrutinizes our activity to make sure it is up to standard. Our focus will be on our performance as we attempt to do the things we believe He requires. This mindset reflects a legalistic view of the Christian life, a view that’s erroneous. God doesn’t want us to focus on our service to Him. When grace rules our lives, we focus on Him. In doing so, we experience intimacy in such a way that service becomes a natural overflow of the love relationship we have with Him. When we focus on our performance, Christian service becomes perfunctory and lifeless. When we are obsessed with Him, our service is literally energized with divine life. It is only from this understanding that we truly worship God.

The appreciation of God’s love for us, as expressed on Calvary’s Cross, must remain the motivation behind our work and service. It must not be motivated out of guilt or performed as a compulsory task. Service is truly a joyful experience! Paul actually tells the Galatians that it’s a dance. He writes in 5:25, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” The mega-fruits of the spirit are nourished, watered, and fertilized by God’s mega-grace. As far as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self control go there is no “law” regarding these things, they are the fruits that grow from God’s Spirit indwelling our lives. Our walk with the Spirit is a dance. The Spirit leads and we follow with all the love and joy imaginable. We only need allow him to lead.

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Luke 6:32-36

Like Father, Like Son!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
March 10, 2025

I hate to admit it, but the older I get, the more I see my father when I look in the mirror. I’m 78; he passed away at 64, but he had a much tougher life than I’ve had. I can remember the way he yawned. I yawn like that. I remember the way he carried a handkerchief and would blow his nose with one hand because he was always busy with the other. I find myself doing that also. I hear my dad laugh when I laugh. He had a weird sense of humor. Some say I have one, too! My friend and my dad’s cousin, Mary Ellen, told me the last time I saw her, I reminded her of my dad. She lived next door to Dad as they grew up on 47th and Seward and knew him all her life. She said that she’d know just by looking at me that I was Chuck’s kid. The family resemblance was undeniable. Even though he wasn’t perfect, I still liked being told I was like my father in some ways.

As sons and daughters of our heavenly father, it’s not the physical appearance that identifies us as God’s offspring. It’s the way we live. The greatest characteristic that identifies us as children of God is that, like God, our relationships with others are characterized by mercy and grace. In Luke 6:35, Jesus tells us to “love our enemies.” You might remember that “love” in the Bible is often referring to “actions” rather than feelings. It is used that way in this passage. It’s how we treat others who have hurt us, offended us, or otherwise deserve some sort of retaliation. When we are gracious, we identify with God’s character. We do what God does. We treat others as God treats us. We are “like God” in a moral, family sense. That’s how we distinguish ourselves as God’s children. In the preceding passage of Luke, Jesus said, “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount.”

Grace and Mercy in our relationships with others is what marks us as children of God. Even the sinners of the world give back what they get in life, but only God’s children give good when they get something bad! Mercy and grace go together. Mercy is when you do not get the judgment that you deserve, and grace takes it a step further in that instead of getting retaliation, we do something good for another. In the passage following “love your enemies,” Jesus says, “… and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:35-36).

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