GRACE WALK - Weekly Devotional

[Brother Love]

GRACE WALK - Weekly Devotional

Loving the Unloveable



A Boston-Globe article reported this past December that New Hampshire's state drug abuse and prevention program was turned down for a $17 million grant for one reason alone. The Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration said that the state’s application for the grant was typed with smaller margins than permitted. The state of New Hampshire wasn’t given a second chance. The decision of the Administration was final. Sorry folks, no help available for drug addicts in New Hampshire. The margins weren’t right.


When I read about this incident on the Internet, it reminded me of some of the victims of legalism I’ve met along the way. The law doesn’t care about people. Rules are the only thing that matter to the legalist.


There was the pastor who told me about how one night his wife never came home from work while they were in seminary. He laid awake worrying and praying all night. He had already called the police the next morning when his wife finally called. She informed him that she had been having an affair with somebody at work and had spent the night with that man. She called to tell her seminary-student-husband that she was leaving him.


The young man went to school that morning broken hearted. Due to what had happened, he arrived late. He spoke to the professor of the class he had missed and asked permission to make up the test which had been given that day in class. Despite the fact that he shared the painful details of the night before, his professor told him that to give him a chance to make up the test would be against the rules. He advised this broken hearted student that he needed to speak to the academic dean to get special permission.


When he spoke to the academic dean, he was told that he would immediately be expelled from school because he wouldn’t be allowed to continue his preparation for the pastorate if he was divorced. After all, if he couldn’t hold a marriage together, how could he lead a church? Not so much as an encouraging word was offered.


I’m reminded of another friend – Frank. His wife’s brother was diagnosed with AIDs. Frank and Betty lovingly brought her brother into their home to care for him. Frank was a pastor. His church couldn’t handle it. After all, it was the man’s misbehavior that had brought on the AIDs disease to start with.


Even in my own family, I once asked a staff member in a church we attended years ago if he would have someone in the young adult department of the church reach out to my son who had suffered a serious, life-threatening accident. “Is he in a small group?” I was asked. “No,” I responded. “That’s what he needs to do,” I was told. “He needs to get into a small group.” Our small groups are set up to minister to each other.” My son never got the contact. I guess membership in the small group really was important in that church.


Rules, procedures, regulations – that’s what the law is all about.

But that’s not what Jesus is about. He’s about people. His focus is relationships, not rules. What matters to Him is love, not laws.


I think Jesus would have wept over the young pastor whose wife left him. I believe that Jesus is proud of Frank and Betty for how they cared for her brother. I believe Jesus loved my son in his need even when the church wouldn’t give him the time of day.


I believe Jesus cares about drug addicts and homosexuals, about divorcees and outcasts. I think Jesus passionately loves the ones that repulse the rule-keeping, self-righteous pharisees. I’m glad Jesus isn’t like some people who go to church every Sunday.


Do you want Jesus to live through you? Then love somebody that others don’t tend to love. Reach out to the one who has nothing to offer in return. Love them unconditionally. Love them generously. Love them passionately. When you do so, your Father will smile with pleasure – because you’ll be acting just like His Son.



Steve McVey is the President of Grace Walk Ministries, a discipleship ministry located in Atlanta, GA. If you have been sent this devotional by a friend and want to know more about Grace Walk Ministries, visit our web site at www.gracewalk.org.


This devotional may be duplicated if printed with no changes in its entirety and with the following acknowledgment: “Copyright, 2004,used by permission. Steve McVey, Grace Walk Ministries, www.gracewalk.org ”



 

[Brother Love]

GRACE WALK - Weekly Devotional


Let's Do Less For God


 
 

Let’s do less for God. I believe we would be much more content and He would be pleased by our making that decision. Before you call me a heretic, consider this fact: God never asks us to do anything for Him. He doesn’t need us to do anything for Him. The Bible says that “He is not served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives life and breath to all things” (Acts 17:25) God doesn’t need anything. And even if He did, He wouldn’t let us know about it. “If I were hungry, I wouldn’t tell you,” He says in Psalms 50:12. Our call as believers isn’t to do something for God, but rather is a call to God Himself.


The essence of the Christian life isn’t doing things for Him. It’s all about knowing Him. Jesus defined the meaning of salvation when He prayed to His Father, “This is eternal life, that they many know You and the One whom You have sent” (John 17:3). Christianity is knowing Him. We are called to be the bride of Christ, not His maid.


Does this mean that Christian service is somehow unimportant? Of course not! However, service is to be the overflow of the intimate relationship we enjoy with Him. It comes naturally (or more accurately, supernaturally ) for us to serve Christ when we love Him. The early disciples didn’t evangelize for God. They said, “We cannot [help] but speak the things we have seen and heard” (Acts 4"20). Service is to the life of one who is in love with Jesus as planting is to a farmer or sailing is to a sailor. The activity flows from our identity.


We aren’t to do things for God. We are to rest in Him and allow Him to do it Himself through us. “Faithful is He who calls you, who will also do it ” says the Bible. Dead religion demands that we do more. Grace calls us to rest in His life and love and trust Him to do through us whatever He wants. We are simply the vessel through which He operates. Let’s do less for God and watch Him do more through us.



Steve McVey is the President of Grace Walk Ministries, a discipleship ministry located in Atlanta, GA. If you have been sent this devotional by a friend and want to know more about Grace Walk Ministries, visit our web site at www.gracewalk.org.


This devotional may be duplicated if printed with no changes in its entirety and with the following acknowledgment: “Copyright, 2004,used by permission. Steve McVey, Grace Walk Ministries, www.gracewalk.org ”



 
 
 

 

[Brother Love]

GRACE WALK - Weekly Devotional

The Passion of the Christ



In the recent interview Mel Gibson did with Diane Sawyer about his film, The Passion of the Christ, he revealed that he was only onscreen in the movie one time – actually only a part of him was in the scene. At the point in the story when Jesus is being nailed to the cross, it was Gibson’s left arm and hand seen driving the nail into the hand of Christ.


When asked why he chose to assume that role in the film, Mel Gibson indicated that it was because he saw himself as first in the line of culpability for the crucifixion of Christ. He openly acknowledged his own guilt and blame for the death of Jesus. “Who did kill Christ?” Sawyer asked. “We all did,” Gibson responded as Sawyer blankly stared at him as if he were speaking a Martian language.


The story of the passion of Christ – it is the crux of the gospel. The suffering, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the centerpiece of history. The events of three days that occurred two millennia ago will forever be the focal point of time and eternity. Throughout the ages to come, the angels’ words will reverberate, filling every corner of the universe: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” In response, every created thing in existence will cry out, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever!” (See Revelation 5:12-13)


Gibson’s confession that he sees himself as first in the line of those guilty for the death of Jesus is a confession which fits us all. Left to ourselves, we are all born without a trace of hope that we might find favor with Almighty God. But the cross changes that. Embedded in the cross of Jesus Christ is a call – it is an invitation to come back home; to return to the Father’s house. It is a call to enter into union with divine life and be transformed into somebody new. (See 2 Corinthians 5:17)


Some people hear the call. Others never will. Jesus said that nobody could ever come to God unless God Himself (through the Holy Spirit) draws them to Him. Do you sense a pull toward Christ? That inner pull you sense is the voice of God gently and lovingly inviting you to come to Him.


Some people put the gospels alongside “other histories” of the time of Jesus. They look at the cross, but don’t see. They simply can’t hear the loving invitation that pours out of Calvary’s hill. To them, it’s only an ancient story.


As you watch the film – as you think about the cross – listen. It’s not simply a historical story being retold. It is an eternal story shouting out a present-day invitation to those who are able to hear. You may hear a message other’s won’t hear. You may see something others don’t see. If so, be glad. Be very glad. Because that same Christ who died that brutal death is reaching out to you in love. Reach up, responding in faith, and He will pick you up. He will give you new life and will begin to carry you toward home.


If you have been forwarded this devotional article by a friend who is a Christian, be assured it is because they value your friendship. Maybe this article can be the basis of discussion between you two about the cross of Jesus Christ and its relevance today.


Steve McVey is the President of Grace Walk Ministries, a discipleship ministry located in Atlanta, GA. If you have been sent this devotional by a friend and want to know more about Grace Walk Ministries, visit our web site at www.gracewalk.org.


This devotional may be duplicated if printed with no changes in its entirety and with the following acknowledgment: “Copyright, 2004,used by permission. Steve McVey, Grace Walk Ministries, www.gracewalk.org ”



2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

[Brother Love]

GRACE WALK - Weekly Devotional


Religion’s Rubber Checks


It was the very beginning of Grace Walk Ministries. I had been on television for the past hour hosting a “Christian talk show,” as a guest host when someone from the station came to me during a break. They gave me a telephone number and said, “This man just called. He said he saw you on the air and wants to talk to you about making a large donation to your ministry. Give him a call when you’re off the air.”


My mind raced as I wondered about who the man was and why he would call me with such an offer, since we had never met. The program ended and I tentatively dialed the number. When he answered, I introduced myself. “ Oh yes! Dr. McVey! My name is (John Doe) and I want to talk to you as soon as possible. I’ve recently received a large sum of money from a law settlement and have been praying about how to disburse it. I’ve seen you on TV before, but tonight I realized that your ministry should receive a part of this money.”


We arranged to meet in the lobby of the hotel where I was staying. When I met the man, he was friendly and obviously enthused about my ministry. He explained how he was giving a part of the money to Grace Walk, part of it to Focus on the Family and part to the Billy Graham Association. He explained how he had won an injury lawsuit and felt that he should give fifty thousand dollars to each of these ministries. Fifty thousand dollars? my mind excitedly asked. That would cover every expense necessary to get Grace Walk Ministries going and even leave money to develop conference materials, tapes, . . . in my mind I began to spend the money.


We talked for about a half hour. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out his checkbook. I watched in disbelief, barely about to contain myself as he wrote a check payable to Grace Walk Ministries, in the amount of $50,000. He handed me the check. At that time, that was a larger check than I’d ever seen in my life. I profusely thanked him and he left.


I slept little that night. My mind raced as I thought about the miracle I had just seen. I couldn’t wait to fly home the next day and deposit the check and tell my family about what had happened and call the printer to tell him to go ahead with the job I hadn’t been able to afford until now and by needed office equipment and . . . The list of how the money could be used raced through my mind.


The next morning, for “some reason” I thought about calling the bank where the man’s account was held before leaving Pittsburgh to return to Atlanta. I found the number in the telephone book and dialed the number. After several recorded voice prompts, I reached an automated voice asking for the account number on the check I wanted to verify. I nervously pressed in the number on the check. “Please enter the amount of the check,” the prompt continued. 5-0-0-0-0 I excitedly pressed. “We’re sorry, but there are no sufficient funds for this check.” the cold, computer voice responded.


My heart began to sink. Nervously I tried again, this time using the number 40,000 dollars. “We’re sorry, but there are no sufficient funds for this check,” the voice answered again. I tired again – 30,000. Same response. 20,000? No. 10,000? Sorry. 1,000? I finally worked my way down to discover that the check would have only been good if it had been written for less than a hundred dollars.


Did this guy knowingly write me a bad check? I thought. Maybe he has to transfer some funds and hasn’t had a chance to do it yet. I immediately decided that I would call him and ask about it because I couldn’t stand the prolonged suspense of waiting. I dialed the number I had used the first time I called and he immediately answered.


As calmly as I could speak, I explained to him what had happened. What? he answered in disbelief. I wrote that check to you in faith! My Father owns everything and if that bank doesn’t realize that, then this world is in worse shape than even I have known!


“So you don’t have money in the bank to cover the check?” I asked. Money in the bank? I told you – my Father owns everything! That means that I own everything, he answered. Those people are in serious trouble if they don’t even recognize God’s authority!


I quickly thanked him and hung up. Later I thought that I should have felt sorry for the man at that moment. But I didn’t. I only felt sorry for me. My hopes had been dashed as quickly as they had been raised. It was a rubber check and there was no hope that it would ever be any good.


That man’s check reminds me of the promises of empty legalistic religion. Dead religion makes great promises about how it can change your life. It offers great hope that things can be different, that it can meet all your needs. But in reality, it is bankrupt. It attempts to draw from an empty account.


An authentic relationship with Jesus Christ is the answer to our needs. Only He can satisfy the deepest longings of our heart. Does your life seem empty? Don’t try to get your needs met from religious activity. Only Jesus can satisfy your hunger. Look to Him. He’ll never give you a rubber check. He always keeps His promises. In Him, you are rich.




Steve McVey is the President of Grace Walk Ministries, a discipleship ministry located in Atlanta, GA. If you have been sent this devotional by a friend and want to know more about Grace Walk Ministries, visit our web site at www.gracewalk.org.


This devotional may be duplicated if printed with no changes in its entirety and with the following acknowledgment: “Copyright, 2004,used by permission. Steve McVey, Grace Walk Ministries, www.gracewalk.org ”


2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

 

[Brother Love]

GRACE WALK - Weekly Devotional

The Cure for Inconsistency



“The one consistency of my Christian experience is inconsistency. The desire to be consistent in the Christian walk is inherent to the new nature of the believer. However, my own vulnerability toward spiritual failure is inescapable.”


These words were written in my spiritual journal early in 1990. I read them now and feel sorry for that sincere pastor. My heart was in the right place, but my head was filled with legalism. My journal continues:


“The holy desire for consistent consecration gives way under the weight of the old nature. The flame of spiritual desire flickers with determination against the cold winds of carnality until finally a damp blast snuffs it out. In the days that follow, my soul sits enveloped by darkness.


In the midst of all the negative emotions, there is a restlessness, a yearning to be restored to fellowship with God. The desire to confess and be restored is real, but voices whisper from the darkness, pointing out the frequency of my failure and the folly of forgiveness for one who is so given to inconsistency.”


Do you want to know what my failure was that prompted this journal entry? Sounds like it might have been adultery, or stealing money from the church, or even killing a church member (a thought that had crossed my mind a few times during my years as a pastor). No, the failure was none of those. My sin? I hadn’t been doing my daily Bible reading. So I saw myself as a sorry excuse for a Christian and a hypocrite as a pastor.


I review those words written almost fifteen years ago and I want to shout back to myself in the past, “Steve! Relax! Your Father isn’t upset with you! Stop setting a standard higher for yourself than Almighty God sets for you. Jesus is the standard and you have Him! The issue isn’t about how well you perform or don’t perform. The bottom line is this: YOUR FATHER LOVES YOU UNCONDITIONALLY!


Steve, that sense of broken fellowship in your mind is your deal, not God’s. His lovingkindness is everlasting. Nothing will change that, not even neglecting to read your Bible. That old nature you think squelches your holy desire? That isn’t your old nature! The old nature is dead. It’s only your flesh and the power of indwelling sin “messing with your mind.” Affirm the truth! Christ is your life, no matter what you do or don’t do.”


Thankfully, the man I was in those days was coming to brokenness. He would eventually learn that his Christian walk didn’t revolve around how well he did certain things. The Christian life revolves around Jesus. Nothing else – just Jesus.


Are you stuck in the place I was during those days? If so, relax. The Christian life isn’t about you. It never has been. It’s about Jesus. He will accomplish in you what He wants to do in the way He wants to do it and when He wants to do it. So quit trying to be God. The uniform doesn’t fit you well. God loves you just like you are. He loves you so much that He may let you struggle until there’s no energy left in you to struggle. Then you’ll be in a position to hear Him lovingly say, “I never asked you to knock yourself out for Me. I only asked you to receive my love. Now, rest here in My arms.”


Ironically, it was when I learned to give up and simply rest in His arms that I began to want to read my Bible and do all the other things associated with a Christian lifestyle. It’s not a matter of self discipline that wins the battle with inconsistency. Consistency happens miraculously by His grace. You can’t make it happen. So just rest in His arms and enjoy your grace walk.




Steve McVey is the President of Grace Walk Ministries, a discipleship ministry located in Atlanta, GA. If you have been sent this devotional by a friend and want to know more about Grace Walk Ministries, visit our web site at www.gracewalk.org.


This devotional may be duplicated if printed with no changes in its entirety and with the following acknowledgment: “Copyright, 2004,used by permission. Steve McVey, Grace Walk Ministries, www.gracewalk.org ”

 

[Brother Love]

GRACE WALK - Weekly Devotional


Dead To Sin



“Would you like to come to the party on Friday night?” the teen was asked. Knowing that drugs would flow at this particular party, the young Christian girl answered, “I won’t be able to be there.” “Why not?” her friend persisted. “Because I’m dead,” the Christian simply answered.


We’re dead. That’s what the Bible teaches. Romans 6:6 says that the old self you were in Adam died with Jesus Christ. Colossians 3:3 says that we died with Him. That has everything to do with the freedom we can now enjoy over sin.


When Corrie Ten Boom was imprisoned with her sister, Betsy, in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II, the Lord spoke to Betsy one day and told her that by the new year they would both be free. Free from the cruel tyranny of the guards that tormented them daily.


By the time the new year came, Betsy had died. Was she free from the power of the guards? Of course she was. That’s what happened to you. Sin controlled you before you knew Christ, but because you died with Him, it has no power over you anymore.


Paul wrote in Romans 6:14 that “sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.” By God’s grace, you have been set free from sin’s authority through your own death. You died with Jesus Christ. Consider yourself to be dead to sin, but alive to God through Jesus Christ. That’s what the Bible says about the matter.




Steve McVey is the President of Grace Walk Ministries, a discipleship ministry located in Atlanta, GA. If you have been sent this devotional by a friend and want to know more about Grace Walk Ministries, visit our web site at www.gracewalk.org.


This devotional may be duplicated if printed with no changes in its entirety and with the following acknowledgment: “Copyright, 2004,used by permission. Steve McVey, Grace Walk Ministries, www.gracewalk.org ”

[Brother Love]

GRACE WALK - Weekly Devotional



The Hidden Voice


Jimmy Buffet ministered to me last week. I’m not kidding, it’s true. While I was already familiar with and enjoyed some of his songs, I’ve never even owned a Jimmy Buffet album. On a trip with some friends who had brought along one of his albums, they played a song and – bang! – it hit me right between the eyes as a message from Jesus.

The lyrics are from his song “Barometer Soup” and say:

Follow in my wake, You’ve not that much at stake,
For I have plowed the seas, And smoothed the troubled waters.
Come along, let’s have some fun, The hard work has been done,
We’ll barrel roll into the sun – just for starters.



I know some will reject the idea that God could speak to me through a Jimmy Buffet song. After all, “it’s secular music” they may protest. But I don’t’ care. I know what I know and I know that I heard the voice of Jesus in the message of that song. The Bible says that the earth is the Lord’s and all that’s in it. (Psalm 24:1) I guess that includes C.D.s recorded by Jimmy Buffet.


I like the verse in John 11:51 where the Bible tells us something Caiphas said about one man dying for the whole nation of Israel. The verse says: “He didn’t say this of his own accord, but as Chief Priest that year, he unwittingly prophesied that Jesus was about to die sacrificially for the nation.” He unwittingly said something motivated by God. Imagine that.


Can God move through the talents, abilities, words and actions of people today and cause them to unwittingly say or do something that might have deeper meaning to Christians than they even know or intend? I believe that He can and does.


Dead religion tries to put God in a box and allow us to only meet Him there. But God won’t fit in the box. His life and love come bursting out all over the universe to those who have eyes to see. I love seeing and hearing Him in unexpected places. It’s a thrill when He hides His voice from the world and allows His chosen ones to hear Him in unsuspecting places where the world doesn’t even recognize it’s Him.


I like “Christian music” as much as the next guy, but I’d encourage you to expand your borders and look and listen — really look and listen. You might be surprised at where you hear your Savior’s voice.

I need to run now. I hear Jimmy calling.



Steve McVey is the President of Grace Walk Ministries, a discipleship ministry located in Atlanta, GA. If you have been sent this devotional by a friend and want to know more about Grace Walk Ministries, visit our web site at www.gracewalk.org.


This devotional may be duplicated if printed with no changes in its entirety and with the following acknowledgment: “Copyright, 2004,used by permission. Steve McVey, Grace Walk Ministries, www.gracewalk.org ”


 

[Brother Love]

GRACE WALK - Weekly Devotional


All Things New



Our family sawThe Passion this past weekend and, like everybody who has seen it, were deeply moved by the graphic portrayal of the sacrifice made by Christ at the cross. The cross of Jesus Christ is the crux of time and eternity.


While the whole movie was stirring, one line touched me deeply. The scene was where Jesus was carrying his cross down the Via Dolorosa while the taunting soldiers and jeering crowd surrounded Him. Mary, His mother, watched from a distance as Jesus fell under the heavy load of the cross.


As she watched Him fall, Mary’s thoughts returned to a time when Jesus was a little boy and had fallen, scrapping His knee. She had run to Him, and picked Him up, saying, “I”m here.” Now, as He fell on the way to the cross, her maternal love and instinct took over as she ran to his side. “I’m here,” Mary said, with tears streaming down her cheeks. Jesus lifted His head, looked at His mother and said, “Mother, I make all things new.”


“I make all things new.” What a great description of the essence of the meaning of the cross. The cross of Jesus is the source of so many new things between man and God. These new things are all a part of the New Covenant (Testament) that was inaugurated by the shedding of His blood.

Consider a few of the things that Jesus made new by his death:


~ A New Identity – Now we aren’t sinners who are trying to gain God’s favor by behaving in the right way. We are saints who are, at every moment, in good standing with God because of the cross. We may still sin at times, but God never condemns us. (Romans 8:1) He loves us unconditionally because of the sacrifice of Christ for our sins. As a Christian, you are God’s child and nothing will ever change that fact.


~ A New Way To Live – The cross has delivered us from the demands of religion. It is interesting to note that the main reason why the religious leaders wanted to crucify Him was because He wasn’t religious enough to satisfy them. Religion demands that we do particular things in order to satisfy God. The grace of God expressed by the cross declares that God doesn’t require us to live a life of religion, but rather live in relationship with Him. God isn’t interested in you becoming more religious. He’s just interested in you.


~ A New Hope – The hope offered by the cross is that Easter will follow . . . and it did. The death of Jesus is half the story. His resurrection is the final scene of this eternal drama. The fact that Jesus rose from the dead gives us a new hope. It offers the hope of life, both for now and eternity. The very reason for Jesus Christ coming to this earth was to give us life (see John 10:10). An abundant life is the birthright of every person who trusts in Him. Do you have life?


The Passion of Christ is a biblical love story. Jesus loved you so much that He determined He would rather die than live without you – so He did. Receive His life. Live out of that life each day. As you do, you will increasingly learn that He really did make all things new.




Steve McVey is the President of Grace Walk Ministries, a discipleship ministry located in Atlanta, GA. If you have been sent this devotional by a friend and want to know more about Grace Walk Ministries, visit our web site at www.gracewalk.org.


This devotional may be duplicated if printed with no changes in its entirety and with the following acknowledgment: “Copyright, 2004,used by permission. Steve McVey, Grace Walk Ministries, www.gracewalk.org ”

 

[Brother Love]

GRACE WALK - Weekly Devotional

Forgiving Those Who Hurt Us

I watched Tammy Faye Messner on Larry King this past week. Say what you will about her past or present lifestyle, she hit the nail on the head when Larry asked her about her relationship to those who hurt her during the PTL ordeal. She explained that the way she has moved beyond those horrific days has been through forgiveness. “Forgiveness is the best gift you can give yourself,” she said.


She compared the bondage of unforgiveness with the ancient practice of forcing a murderer to carry his victim on his back while his body decomposes. In the end, the victim would cause the death of the murderer due to disease. “Maybe you’re carrying somebody on your back,” Tammy Faye exhorted viewers. “If so, put them down!”


Forgiveness is the deliberate choice to release a person from any obligation they have toward you as a result of any offense they have committed against you. Unforgiveness is like a cancer that slowly eats away at you. It usually doesn’t hurt your offender, only you.


Buddy Hackett once said, “I've had a few arguments with people, but I never carry a grudge. You know why? While you're carrying a grudge, they're out dancing.” He’s right. To refuse to forgive is to allow the hurt which was done to you continue to control and debilitate you. The other person goes right on with their life while you sentence yourself to prison.


Is there someone you need to forgive? C.S. Lewis said, "We all agree that forgiveness is a beautiful idea until we have to practice it." How does one practice forgiveness? It is a choice. You don’t forgive people because you feel like it. Forgiveness doesn’t come from the emotions, but from the will. To say that we can’t forgive somebody is to believe a lie. You can forgive anybody.


What is our reason for forgiving others? It’s the fact that we ourselves have been forgiven for so much. Only a Pharisee will fail to recognize that fact. General Oglethorpe once said to John Wesley, "I never forgive and I never forget." To which Wesley replied, "Then, Sir, I hope you never sin.” The truth is that we have all sinned and, if God has forgiven us, we can forgive others.


The Apostle Paul wrote,"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32). We can forgive because we have been forgiven.


“But they don’t deserve to be forgiven!” you may protest. Of course they don’t. Forgiveness is an act of grace. If they deserved it, it wouldn’t be forgiveness. It would be justice.


“But they aren’t sorry!” some may insist. So what? They don’t have to be sorry for us to forgive. Forgiveness initiates with our choice, not another person’s regret about their actions.


“But I don’t want them in my life!” somebody might argue. Don’t mistakenly think that just because you forgive someone, you must now make them your best friend. To truly forgive and yet decide that the relationship doesn’t need to continue are two decisions that can be totally compatible with each other.


There are many excuses we can give for refusing to forgive those who have hurt us, but here is no good reason. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you if you hold unforgiveness in your heart toward anybody. If you do, forgive! It is a key to freedom. I’ve met many who regretted that they allowed bitterness to effectively destroy them, but I’ve never met anybody who said they were sorry that they chose to forgive.


The Bible says to “forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you” (Colossians 3:13, The Message). Will you do it?



Steve McVey is the President of Grace Walk Ministries, a discipleship ministry located in Atlanta, GA. If you have been sent this devotional by a friend and want to know more about Grace Walk Ministries, visit our web site at www.gracewalk.org.


This devotional may be duplicated if printed with no changes in its entirety and with the following acknowledgment: “Copyright, 2004,used by permission. Steve McVey, Grace Walk Ministries, www.gracewalk.org ”



 

[Brother Love]

GRACE WALK - Weekly Devotional

Golfing In Grace

Other men often ask me if I play golf. I’m never quite sure about how to answer that question. Can one really be said to play golf if he consistently shoots one hundred, and doesn’t even count his bad shots? Is it still considered playing golf if you need to take a compass with you so that you can find your way out of the woods back into the fairway at almost every hole?

I’ve almost wondered if the Apostle Paul was a golfer when we wrote in Romans 7:15, “I don’t understand myself at all. I’m not doing the things I want to do, but keep doing the things I hate.” A serious examination of the verse proves his statement had nothing to do with golf, but at first glance one might wonder. I’ve expressed that same sentiment on the golf course many times.

Strangely enough, I hated golf when I first began to play. It was embarrassing to play with men who were required to wait while I was in the woods searching for my ball, or fishing it out of the water hazard. Before I learned to take so many balls in my bag, I felt badly when it became necessary for them to give me a ball from their bag at practically every hole so that I could finish the game.

I determined that I was going to play golf well. So I tried hard. I would square off, address the ball, say a short prayer, and swing – I’d swing with all my might. My plan was to make the green in two strokes, if not one.

However my golf ball, obviously possessed by an evil spirit, would react the same way every time. It would slice and immediately find the nearest entrance into the woods. Sometimes my club would barely hit the top of the ball on the tee, causing it to fall off the tee and gently roll twenty or thirty feet in front of me. Meanwhile, my playing partner would have knocked his ball out of sight. I felt like he must be thinking I was a little girl, wearing laced underwear and everything. No mancould possible play golf that terribly.

My blood pressure would shoot straight up and I would find myself at times wondering if there really is a God. I felt like a pastor friend, who said that he is so bad at golf that he eventually gave it up and started preaching against it as a sin. But, I would determine to try harder on the next hole. I resolved to hit with greater force– to hit straighter, more accurate. But the next hole would produce the same results.

One day, on the back nine, an epiphany came to me. I was standing on a tee box, waiting for my playing partner to hit his perfect shot. I began to look around at the surrounding scenery on this hole. The natural landscape around me was beautiful. Have you been on a golf course? They are some of the prettiest places you’ll ever see in life.

As I moved through the back nine holes, I found myself not thinking about my game so much as I was enjoying the beauty that surrounded me. I was lulled away from the thought of my score and caught up in the beauty of the course. My score was already so high that I knew I would once again be in triple digits, so I decided to forget my score and just enjoy the beautiful spring day. So I did.

When I came home that day, for the first time, I was relaxed and in a good mood. I hadn’t played a perfect game, but I had enjoyed a perfect day. Ever since that time, I don’t go to the golf course to play a good game of golf. I go to enjoy the companionship of the friends who endure my game and to enjoy the beauty of it all.

My golf game and my Christian life are a lot alike. When I try hard to live the Christian life, I always find myself off the fairway where life is intended to be played. I find myself in the woods of sin (defined biblically as “missing the mark”), discouragement, frustration. However, if I just relax and realize that I don’t have to have a perfect score in my Christian walk, I really enjoy life. Some people view golf as a sport. I view it as a game.

Some think the Christian life is a test. The Bible teaches it is a rest. (See Matthew 11:28) As you move down the fairway of life, take the lesson I’ve learned about the Christian life on the golf course. Don’t try so hard. Just relax and enjoy the game. Don’t miss the Life by trying to succeed at life. Christ sometimes gets lost in what many call “Christianity.”

Jesus isn’t upset when you don’t shoot par. He just wants you to enjoy spending your day with Him. He wants to show you the beauty that surrounds you as the two of you move through life’s course together. Don’t try to hit the ball so hard. Just relax and swing a natural, slower swing. It’s not up to you to hit straight or far by sheer strength. Let the club do the work it was created to do. And don’t keep your own score anymore, because Jesus doesn’t. Just relax, and enjoy the game.

Although it’s January, it’s a little warmer outside today. I think I may call a friend and go play golf. I can predict my score already, but who cares? I just want to play the game and enjoy the company of my friend for another day.
 


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2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

[Brother Love]

GRACE WALK - Weekly Devotional

Ozzy Osbourne And Peace

 
A few weeks ago, Barbara Walters hosted a television special called, The Ten Most Fascinating People of 2002. One of the people she interviewed was Ozzy Osbourne. Ozzy’s wife, Sharon, has recently been going through chemotherapy treatments for colon cancer.


Ozzy broke down in tears as he discussed that great trial of their lives. Within the context of their discussion of that crisis, as well as other issues of his life, Barbara Walters asked Osbourne, “Do you have peace?” Without hesitation, he answered, “No, I don’t. I would give anything to have peace.”

I couldn’t help but be touched by both his demeanor and his honest response to her question. I’ve never been a fan of Ozzy Osbourne and, in fact, forbade my children from listening to him when they were small. I find his music repulsive, sometimes even evil. However, as I watched this program I saw beyond the music and got a glimpse of the man. What I saw was a man just like you and me – a man who, at the deepest level of his being, wants one thing more than anything else. He wants peace.

Ozzy Osbourne is one of the most famous rock singers who has ever recorded a song. Crowds throng him when he goes out in public. He has more money than most of us can dream of ever having. He lives in a luxurious home on the beach. By the world’s standards, he has it all. But he lacks one thing – peace.

Do you have peace? Early Christians used the words “grace and peace” as a common greeting when they saw each other. The Apostle Paul began most of his epistles with this common salutation. The word grace (charis) was a Greek greeting that communicated the idea of receiving unexpected and undeserved benefits in a person’s life. “Peace” (shalom) is the Hebrew word which denotes an overall sense of well being in life.

God wants us to know His peace, but the gateway to peace is His grace. God’s grace comes to us in the person of Jesus Christ. As we trust Him to be our very life, we will experience what Paul called, “the peace of God that passes all understanding.” We will discover the reality of the Bible’s promise that “[Jesus] Himself is our peace.”

Are you facing trials in your own life? The source of peace in any circumstance is Jesus Christ. Ozzy said that he would give anything to have peace. However, the truth of the matter is that we don’t have to give anything to possess it. God has already given everything necessary for us to know peace when He gave Himself as a sacrifice for our sin.

Don’t restlessly struggle in your circumstances. Trust Jesus Christ and find peace that surpasses all understanding. Pray right now, casting yourself and your circumstances completely onto Jesus. He will be your peace. And while you’re praying, pray for Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne. Like us, they’re hungry for God’s peace too.
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Steve McVey is the President of Grace Walk Ministries, a discipleship ministry located in Atlanta, GA. If you have been sent this devotional by a friend and want to know more about Grace Walk Ministries, visit our web site at www.gracewalk.org.


This devotional may be duplicated if printed with no changes in its entirety and with the following acknowledgment: “Copyright, 2004,used by permission. Steve McVey, Grace Walk Ministries, www.gracewalk.org ”[/b]



2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.  

[2nd Timothy]

Great story!

This caught my eye, believe it or not, because back in my rock days (far from the Lord) I almost auditioned for Ozzy when he was looking for a guitarist.   My mom was mortified when I told her I was thinking about it...lol   I never did thanfully, but now when I look back at that, I too wonder about Ozzy and his family's eternity.   Our God can do anything, and I pray that God would send someone into their lives to share the good news of the Lords grace and peace with them.  What a living testimony that could turn out to be!

Grace and Peace!

[Brother Love]

Great story!

This caught my eye, believe it or not, because back in my rock days (far from the Lord) I almost auditioned for Ozzy when he was looking for a guitarist.   My mom was mortified when I told her I was thinking about it...lol   I never did thanfully, but now when I look back at that, I too wonder about Ozzy and his family's eternity.   Our God can do anything, and I pray that God would send someone into their lives to share the good news of the Lords grace and peace with them.  What a living testimony that could turn out to be!

Grace and Peace!

Thanks 2T





2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.  

[Brother Love]

GRACE WALK - Weekly Devotional

Disapointment

 
Dr. Lenore Campbell wrote, “Early in my career as a doctor I went to see a patient who was coming out of anesthesia. Far off church chimes sounded and the patient murmured, ‘I must be in heaven.’ Then she saw me. ‘No, I can't be,’ she said. ‘There's Dr. Campbell.’"


Disappointment – we’ve all had to deal with it at times, haven’t we? Even people who have been known as successes in life have faced disappointment. Alexander the Great conquered Persia, but broke down and wept because his troops were too exhausted to push on to India. John Quincy Adams, sixth President of the U.S. wrote in his diary: "My life has been spent in vain and idle aspirations, and in ceaseless rejected prayers that something would be the result of my existence beneficial to my species." Robert Louis Stevenson wrote words that continue to delight and enrich our lives, and yet what did he write for his epitaph? "Here lies one who meant well, who tried a little, and failed much."


Everybody faces disappointment, but how are Christians to deal with it? The answer boils down to trust in Jesus Christ. That means not just professing our trust, but practicing it. When we know that He is Life, the sting of disappointment finds a healing salve in the truth of His Word.


I have found a particular verse in the Bible to be a good antidote to disappointment in my circumstances. It is found in Philippians 1:6, where Paul wrote: “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” This verse is a reminder that the flow of our lives isn’t up to us, but rests on the shoulders of God Himself. This verse promises that He started His work in you and He will be the one to sustain it. At the risk of oversimplifying the matter, “God’s going to do what God’s going to do.”


We get into trouble when we think that our agenda has to be fulfilled in life. It isn’t up to us to fulfill our plans. That’s God’s business. Our role is simply to trust Him in every circumstance.


Are there disappointments you face in your own life today? Place them into the hands of a sovereign God who loves you and already has the details of life worked out for you. It’s okay to feel disappointment. That’s normal, but don’t be dominated by it. Instead, acknowledge your feelings to the Lord and then lay your expectations at His feet. Then move forward, being assured that He has your best interest at heart and will work out all things for your ultimate good and His highest glory.


Steve McVey is the President of Grace Walk Ministries, a discipleship ministry located in Atlanta, GA. If you have been sent this devotional by a friend and want to know more about Grace Walk Ministries, visit our web site at www.gracewalk.org.


This devotional may be duplicated if printed with no changes in its entirety and with the following acknowledgment: “Copyright, 2004,used by permission. Steve McVey, Grace Walk Ministries, www.gracewalk.org ”



2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.    

[Brother Love]

GRACE WALK - Weekly Devotional


The Grace to Shut Up
 



 
“I just say whatever is on my mind,” a person who was expressing an opinion in an animated way recently said to me. I didn’t respond to the comment, but couldn’t help but think about the Bible verse that says, “A fool uttereth his whole mind, but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards” (Proverbs 29:11, KJV).


When I was young man I felt an internal mandate to not only express my opinion, but also to convince others that mine was the right way to see a matter. I’m not sure if it’s simply a matter of maturing with age or maturing in grace, or maybe a combination of the two, but I don’t feel the need to always make others agree with me anymore. To the contrary, I find myself often saying nothing at times when my thoughts may be in direct contradiction to what somebody may be expressing to me.


The Bible makes it clear that there is a virtue in learning when and how to be quiet. James wrote that we should be quick to hear, but slow to speak. (See James 4:19) Paul wrote to “let your speech be always with grace” (Colossians 4:6). Another time he taught that we should study to be quiet and mind our own business. (See 1 Thessalonians 4:11)


Highly opinionated babblers can be trying at times. I know because I used to be one. Maybe I still am at times, I’m not sure. I do know that I’m a verbal processor who tends to sort through things by talking about them. I recognize that I need grace to enable me to shut-up sometimes.


When I see opinionated, non-stop talkers like the one I mentioned in the first paragraph, I occasionally ask myself, “Do I still act like that at times?” That’s certainly not what I want.


Do you say too much, too often? If so, pray for God’s grace to flow through your actions in such a way as to cause you to know when to say nothing and then enable you to do it. Sometimes grace never looks better than when it enable us to simply shut-up.



Steve McVey is the President of Grace Walk Ministries, a discipleship ministry located in Atlanta, GA. If you have been sent this devotional by a friend and want to know more about Grace Walk Ministries, visit our web site at www.gracewalk.org.


This devotional may be duplicated if printed with no changes in its entirety and with the following acknowledgment: “Copyright, 2004,used by permission. Steve McVey, Grace Walk Ministries, www.gracewalk.org ”
 



2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.