You Bogeyed the Hole.....but the Game is Not Over!

So you think you blew it! You failed so badly that there is no point of return. You know in retrospect that you should have been heading north when you ended up WAY south of the destiny He had for you! Now you hang your head in shame just wondering how He will get you back on track.

But then you awake one morning and realize that He did something amazing. He took your epic fail and turned it into something for His Glory. He turned the shame into something that you cannot take credit for. The hard work that you did or thought you should do were all just distractions and things to take your eyes off from your relationship with your Heavenly Father. When you fell flat on your face in the mud with piggies eating around you, that's when you cried out and really NEEDED HIS GRACE! And that's when you got it.

When I got saved, I knew it was by grace but somehow when I was growing in the Lord, I got the idea that the process of maturing (called sanctification) was from my own hard work. And if I failed it was because I was out of His will or disobeying. It's true that not following what you know to be from Him can result in sorrow....but many young Christians are just convinced that anything that seems like sorrow is due to them not playing by the rules.

Here are the rules:

1) Your Heavenly Father loves you and knows you are really fragile. He sent Jesus knowing exactly how messed up you would be at this moment of your life.

2) You mess up and cry out for His GRACE and it flows to you....you didn't deserve it. But that's the game. You need GRACE and He gladly, freely gives it.

3) You continue to work for God's favor and good pleasure and you will be spinning your wheels for a very long time...trust me! Grace is undeserved....take advantage of it!

In my favorite Psalm 16 in verse 5 it states:

The Lord is my chosen and assigned portion, my cup; You hold and maintain my lot.

Remember from a previous post I explain about this word lot meaning like in a game of chance. The game has been rigged in your favor!!! You are just getting a taste of Grace and you realize it is so much bigger and better than you have given Him credit for.

God Has Rigged the Game in Your Favor

You bogeyed....you REALLY messed up! I dare you to ask the Father to reveal to you how He has planned to make this situation a neon sign for His glory and grace. The games not over and He has already made you victorious!

Where There is NO LAW there is No Transgression

I've been digging for gold nuggets in the book of Romans. Actually the gold nuggets are laying right on top for me to pick up and enjoy. The abundant life that Jesus spoke of just flows to me so freely now that I understand God's love lavished on me by what Jesus accomplished. I no longer see myself as having to pay back what He so willingly gave. No more trying to be justified by good works but fruit flowing from my life as a bi-product of being in Christ.

Today is Good Friday, the day on the calendar that we celebrate the sacrifice of our Savior Jesus the Messiah. He said, "It is finished." and I choose to believe that He finished the good work on the Cross so that I could live a life of no condemnation and filled with peace and joy. People on this planet are not interested in religion, but they will be drawn to the believers who are joy-filled and understand who they really are IN CHRIST.

For the promise to Abraham or his posterity, that he should inherit the world, did not come through observing the commands of the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.

If it is those clinging to the Law who are to be the heirs, then faith is made futile and empty of all meaning and the promise of God is made void (is annulled and has no power).

For the Law results in wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

Therefore, inheriting the promise is the outcome of faith and depends entirely on faith, in order that it might be given as an act of grace (unmerited favor), to make it stable and valid and guaranteed to all his descendants--not only to the devotees and supporter of the Law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. (Romans 4:13-16)

After reading this, my mind drifted with a nudge from the Holy Spirit.... I was thinking about the casino. The casino is on the property of the Saginaw/Chippewa Tribe of people. This is a sovereign nation. They have their own laws. I don't know all their laws, but one law is that it is legal to gamble there. If I'm standing on their property and choose to play black jack or poker or any other game of chance then there will be no negative consequences for me --accept that I might go home with less money. I am free to play any game available to me because their law says so.

I step on their property and I experience freedom from the law that would bring wrath upon me in my own country. I might bring with me my emotional or mental hangups about gambling, but the fact is that it is perfectly legal and my guilt or lack of guilt in my mind is of no consequence.

When I step off the property and back into my own country and if I decide to gamble and the authorities find out then there could be legal ramifications for me for breaking the law. The law in my own country says gambling is illegal. I am not free to partake. And feelings of guilt or feelings of freedom in this area really don't matter. If I gamble and get caught then their will be unpleasant consequences.

Same is true in the Spirit. I am now under grace. I am not clinging to the Law for my justification. Paul said in Hebrews 8:13 that the old covenant or the Law is obsolete. Since the Cross, we are under grace. My feelings on this matter my vary but the truth is that the old is gone and the new covenant is now how I am justified. I am not under the Law but under grace because of Jesus.

Jesus paid for my freedom. But sometimes I forget this fact and allow myself to be living under laws that no longer have precedence over me. It's like I forgot what country I live in. I am free but live like I'm under obligation. Jesus paid the price so I can live free but my mind continues to live under condemnation. And somehow when I live like I'm still under the law of sin and death it clings to me as much as I cling to it.

Paul said to strip off the old nature and put on the new. It's like changing clothes in the spirit but we don't do it by our good works but by believing we are re-generated. It's like believing you are dwelling in a place where the law is no longer your master.


Strip yourselves of your former nature [put off and discard your old unrenewed self] which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion; And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude],And put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God's image, [Godlike] in true righteousness and holiness. (Eph 4:22-24)

A Day of Small Beginnings

I'm thinking back to a day that was more than a decade ago. My small children had been sick. I had been sick. I was out of my normal routine of going to church, serving, praying, Bible meditation....etc.... In my mind I was out of touch with the Father. I was certain that I needed to do some major repenting of my sin.

I awoke on a mid-week morning with fear gripping my heart. I had realized that it had been two whole days and I had not had one single thought toward the Lord. I was feeling like a very bad 'Christian'. I sat up in my bed and said to the Lord, "I'm so sorry...ohhhh.... you must be so disappointed. I'm so ashamed.... I heard in my Spirit come to me in Jesus' Name.

I thought, "Oh good that will help!" It was like a light shining the direction I should go.

Now I always started and ended every prayer I ever spoke with "In the Name of Jesus...." I knew this was vital. I knew this was a key to God hearing me. Well, that was my thinking at the time.

So I scrunched up my face and got in a posture of being very sincere and very humble.... "O God, I come to you now in the Name of Jesus..." Then the Holy Spirit very distinctly and very abruptly spoke, "Yes, you do...." It was not harsh but more straight forward and almost with no emotional tone. It startled me and I opened my scrunched up eyes....

I started over... "Oh Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus..." Same thing, I hear firmly, "Yes, you do...." Again it was not punitive or rebuking-- just a simple statement. I was a little frustrated to be interrupted again....didn't God understand that I had to do my repenting before I was okay with Him again and I could get going on my busy mommy day?

A third time I tried being very holy and persisting in prayer, "Oh most Holy God, I come to you in the Name of Jesus...." YES YOU DO!"

Then in a matter of moments I get a download from Heaven about the heart of the Father. I didn't need to beg God to listen or try to be holy to get HIs attention. It was a 'Day of Small Beginnings' (Zech. 4:10) on an understanding of God's grace. I was so used to doing stuff to try to get God to bless me or at the very least rebuke the devourer from my life that I didn't really know how to come boldly before the Throne of Grace.

"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:6

I encourage any of you, to take this small step and know that it's all Jesus and what He accomplished for you and NONE of your good deeds that impress our Heavenly Father. "For it is by grace you have been saved and not works so that none of us can boast." Eph 2

I didn't get off the performance trap that day... but it was the beginning of a journey that has lead to Jesus plus nothing. :)