Author: Colleen Craig

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Means of Grace… What’s That?

Dear sister,

“Means of grace.”  If you are like me you think, well, grace is unmerited favor, we deserve God’s wrath but get salvation.  The means of that salvation is through Christ’s death on the cross. Done.  Simple. Let’s go have coffee.  But upon further inquiry, I have learned that the “means of grace” is not the way to salvation but rather the continuing grace we receive as we live in the already/not yet tension of our Christian life, the tension of still fighting our sin while God sees us as sanctified saints.

Put on your thinking caps sisters!  Once you put your faith in Christ alone for your salvation, nothing or no one can snatch you out of God’s hand (John 10:27-30).  Furthermore, Paul writes to the Ephesians in his first chapter about who they are in Christ.  It is a rich and enriching chapter to read as it claims us as adopted in Christ with all the spiritual rights of a first born son, that we are saints, that we are brought near to God, and so many others!  Yet Paul also writes of himself as the chief of all sinners (1 Tim 1:15) and one who does what he doesn’t want to do and doesn’t do what he should do (Rom 7:15-20).  What? You see, we are sealed Saints, yes! But it won’t be fully realized until heaven.  In the meantime, our hearts battle our dying sin nature.  We get discouraged, hopeless, and even bitter over our sin.  This is where the “means of grace” comes in.

God in His wisdom and kindness has given us ways to be encouraged in the faith to fight sin.  He has given us provisions to reassure us on our sanctification voyage.  This “means of grace” or provision can be scripture, fellowship with other believers, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, the local church, and sermons, just to name a few. These are what the Lord uses to teach us about Himself and about how to grow spiritually.  They seem so simple and common yet if we neglect these provisions we find ourselves tired, having a lack of hope, and empty of encouragement.

I remember taking a job that made me miss Sunday morning church.  I thought to myself, “No big deal, I have other times to meet with people or read my Bible.”  Can I admit something?  I was dry and lonely.  I wasn’t face to face with people who could encourage me to fight my sin another day, or who could look at my face and just pray for me, or who could call me out on my sin.  I needed that!  I also have attended churches who rarely give the Lord’s Supper.  I didn’t realize how much I needed it until I started going to a church where they give it every week.  I’m faced to keep short account of my sin as well as tasting the elements that remind me of what my sin cost Christ.  His forgiveness refreshes my soul now every week!

Oh sisters, don’t neglect these means of grace.  They are a gift of the Lord to help us on this sanctification journey.  This blog is a means of grace!  We encourage each other by reminding us each month of impactful truths.  Yes, God saves us in His grace, but He also provides encouragement to us as we travel this world filled with brokenness that tries to bring us down.  Now let’s go have coffee and discuss what we have learned.

Your Sister,

Colleen

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Bold From Broken

Simon Peter must have had red hair.  His loud, obnoxious, and no filter personality fits with what I know about red heads…probably because I am one. The gospel of Luke was influenced mostly by Peter as Luke travelled with Peter a lot after the resurrection and I can only imagine the history that Peter poured out to this detail oriented doctor.  What we are told is that Peter was a fisherman that left his full nets of fish to follow a stranger that called him.  He was so sure of this man being the Messiah that he trusted him with his life and sustenance.  Yet throughout the gospel, we read how he would confess his faith in Jesus…and then waiver a few verses later.  “Who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God (Lk 9:20).” Yet we find out in Matt 16:22-23, this same confessor told this Christ that he cannot die and be raised again a few moments after his amazing confession. Jesus then rebuked him strongly.

Then the time came for Jesus to die.  Despite the fact he told Peter over and over again that it must happen, Peter missed it. Peter proudly told Jesus in Luke 22:33-34 that he was ready to go both to prison and to death for Jesus even though Jesus had told him that Peter will deny Him three times. Jesus then called him to stay with him in the garden while he prayed but Peter fell asleep. He tried two more times and still, he could not keep his eyes open to comfort his master.  Then Jesus was taken.  Peter followed him to the courtyard and this great confessor melted under the boast of a little girl saying that he was with Jesus.  He answered her by cursing himself!  Then the rooster crowed.  Worse than that, Luke declares that Jesus turned and looked at Peter at the final echoes of the crow (Lk 22:61).  Oh my heart!  Yes!  I have done that too!  Boldly claimed my trust in Christ yet fold in the painful throws of adversary.  I balk at Peter, yet then realize how my faith wanes when circumstances don’t play out like I thought they would.

Will Peter ever get it? Will his faith remain in this Messiah despite what he sees or thinks will happen?

Jesus dies.  The earth shakes.  The skies darken.  The curtain is torn in two.  Dead people are now alive again and walking around Jerusalem.  Peter hides with the other disciples. What is going on!?!?! Friday ends, Saturday ends, then Sunday begins.

Suddenly a gate rattles and the disciples hear Mary yelling at them to open it!  They go to the women at the gate and listen as they hysterically proclaim that the tomb is empty!  They went to prepare the body, but now it isn’t there!  Peter ran to the tomb (Lk 24:12).  I’m sure he stood amazed in wonder.  What happened?  Could it be? Can he believe it to be true?  He went back to the other disciples to tell them what he saw.

Then suddenly, Jesus appeared!  He spoke to them! They freaked out and thought he was a ghost (Lk 24:36-43)! These men who walked with him for three years and heard him say he had to die and be raised, were in shock when it actually happened.  Jesus showed his hands, his side, and even ate to prove to them he was alive!  I can see Peter standing with his mouth open and heart full!  I can imagine him falling at his feet in sorrow for his disbelief yet shaking in the excitement of his presence!  He’s ALIVE! Death had been conquered! Forgiveness had been gifted to him, to Peter!  To all that trust in Christ!  The final sacrifice had been made!  Jesus walked them again through scripture, from the fall, through the prophets, that this must happen for man to be restored to God (Lk 24:44-49).  Then they watched Him ascend back to heaven to his rightful place next to the Father.

Peter changed.  He no longer doubted.  He travelled the world to tell everyone about this Christ.  He died by hanging on a cross…yet he did not want to die like his Savior, so he asked to be crucified upside down!  Who does that for a lie?  The resurrection changed everything for Peter!

How about you and me sister? Have you thought about how powerful this resurrection is?  How life changing it is?  It changed the calendar.  It changed the day we worship to Sunday. No other god out there has made this resurrection claim.  They can’t! They are all still in the grave! Our faith means nothing if this resurrection did not happen. We have no hope of being restored to our creator without it.  This brash, bold Peter who flipped his alliances so easily in the beginning never doubted again.  I want my red-headed personality to be like that!  To never doubt in the dark again what I have seen in the light!  The resurrection has changed me too!

Blessings and Grace,

Colleen

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The Gift of Creation and Its Salvation

Right after High school I attended a Bible school that lies in the Adirondack mountains in upstate New York. Every opportunity I could get I would grab my bike and ride along the snake-like country road to climb the trails in a nearby park.  I hiked up to the top…or close too it if people were there…and choose a rock to place myself and backpack so I could simply listen to silence.  Then pray.  I’d even sing praise songs as loud as I could to the swaying trees and slapping streams.  As the day would gray toward night, the largeness of this creation began to close in and I would rush home, refreshed from the time.

In the Lord’s Providence, I grew up in a camper family that explored natural parks, campgrounds, and many creation wonders.  I have traveled to numerous continents and seen climates from glaciers to rushing waterfalls in tropical rain forests, from the rocks of Petra to the islands of Thailand.  I have eaten food from all over the world – injera bread in Ethiopia, fruit in Thailand, sushi in japan, falafel in Israel, to chocolate in Switzerland.  I once petted a tiger in Asia and dodged lions and bull elephants in the Serengeti.  Yet even in all this I have barely beheld the beauty of God’s creation.

Oddly enough, one of my most powerful encounters with God’s creation happened while I was visiting Louisville, Kentucky after living in Thailand for a number of years.  When I got out of the car for the first time it was at night.  I looked up into the sky and asked my future husband, “do you hear that?”  “Silence!”  No noisy city or light pollution.  I could see the starry sky that I grew up under.  I was in awe and invigorated.  I was quietly enjoying the stars that millions of others have seen since God threw them into the sky.  I was smelling the fresh air that the beautiful trees provided by taking in our carbon dioxide and giving us back the precious oxygen we need.  Every sense God has given us to engage in His creation was being stimulated.  The only response that seemed right was worship.  Not worship in the creation, but worship in the Creator who fashioned this world and Universe with more vibrant colors, tastes, sounds, textures, and aromas that we won’t truly appreciate until heaven.  He could have only made one kind of everything, but instead he created a wheel of sensational beauty.  And all of it is according to His order and wisdom.

Sweet sister, not all of us will be able to experience all the varieties of God’s creation, yet look around you.  Look at the eyes of your loved one, stroke your dear pet’s fur or scales, look up at the moon and stars at night, slow down and savor your food and drink, take a walk at sunset, buy a National Geographic and be marveled at God’s creativity.  Let your kids wake up your sense of wonder at an ant line, butterfly wings, and dirt!  And then…THEN, lift up your hands to thank and Praise God for these precious gifts.  And know that God’s greatest creation, you and me, was so precious to Him that He became like us, took on our form lived the life perfectly, so He could die the death we deserved in order to save His most exquisite creation.  He not only went to great lengths to let His creation experience an effervescent world, He died to save it.

Maltbie D. Babcock penned it best with this great hymn:

This is my Father’s world,
And to my list’ning ears
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world:
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas—
His hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father’s world:
The birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white,
Declare their Maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world:
He shines in all that’s fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass,
He speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father’s world:
Oh, let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world,
The battle is not done:
Jesus who died shall be satisfied,
And earth and Heav’n be one.

Your sister in Christ,

Colleen

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Compassion For Today

Dear sister,

If I’m honest, I’d tell you I hate going through trials.  Hate it.  Yet it is in trials when I really need to cling to the character of God.  One of His many character facets is compassion.  He is a compassionate God.  But what does that mean and how can it help us in the depths of despair?  Sister, let us look to scripture to help us figure out why the compassion of God matters to us today.

Biblically, compassion seems to imply empathy (sympathy or understanding) with action.  In the Old Testament, God often had compassion on Israel after they had disobeyed Him.  He had compassion on them and forgave them of their sin or gave them relief from a trial.  Micah 7:19 says, “He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” In Lamentations, Jeremiah writes, “but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love (3:32).”  As we move to the New Testament, compassion is mostly used just before Jesus healed, fed, or taught people (Mark 6:34, 8:2; Lk 10:33).  So scripture seems to teach that God’s compassion is most given when sin, sickness, or physical ailments abound.  When these people were in their most need, God had compassion.  He felt deep sorrow and pain with them and then met their genuine need.  He healed, fed, cast out demons, and forgave sins, not because they earned it, but out of His compassionate love, grace, and mercy.

We serve a God who sees.  In fact, that is one of his names, El Roi.  He sees us in our despair, however that looks in our lives.  Perhaps you need Him to help provide for your family?  Or for Him to heal a sickness that threatens you or a loved one?  Maybe you need Him to see a spiritual or mental anguish that needs to be released? Does God still see us and give His compassion to us today?

Yes, sweet sister!  The same God that healed the leper, that touched the woman that bled, that forgave Israel for her spiritual adultery can answer your prayer today.  He sees your pain and sadness and still acts on it with His compassion.  But there is also a dig deeper way that He has shown His compassion.

God has seen His broken creation groan under the curse of Adam for thousands of years.  Millions of deaths, untold numbers of sickness, pain, and sadness that we thought were unseen.  Yet God had compassion on this creation that once was good and sent His Son, Jesus, to come and live the life that we could never live, by obeying God perfectly.  Then Jesus died the death that we deserve because of our sin.  God’s action was killing His beloved Son.  Yet Jesus did not stay in the grave, He rose again three days later cancelling our penalty of death forever!  His compassion results in our forgiveness and eternal life!  What hope that gives us in our sufferings!  That God’s compassion will end all sorrow, pain, and suffering.  We will see Jesus face to face and only have joy forever in heaven with Him!  Yes!  God’s compassion matters to us today!

Your sister in Christ,

Colleen

 

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Steadfastness and Endurance Through Tears

Breast-feeding was painful. It was hard. Every time my daughter would try and latch on tears of pain would flood down my cheeks. Parts of me were bleeding and getting infected that I never thought was possible. I had sores that would tear every 3-4 hours as my baby girl fed unaware of my grinding teeth and cringing toes. Barrett told me I could quit but the echoes of words from other mom’s would ring in my ears. Their faces would be contorted in remembered pain as they told me it would get better. I didn’t understand why God created this good gift of life giving nutrients to be so hard…or impossible for some. Yet the promise that this suffering would end gave me the steadfastness and endurance to continue…even in the tears.

You may not be able to relate to this example, but I know, sweet sister, that you have your own example of a trial or dark time where someone desires to comfort you with words that it will end. Maybe when you hear the word “cancer”, or you are so depressed you can’t get out of bed. Perhaps singleness is your struggle or your distant spouse. Do you face your plight with patience? Are you willing to accept or tolerate a delay to the end of your suffering without getting angry or upset? When your comforters come to help you look past the struggle to a hope of a future ending…or simply to remind you of being with Jesus in heaven forever…how do you respond? Do you grind your teeth and cringe your toes to press on or do you give up all hope?

We serve a God who defines longsuffering and patience. His creation chose independence shortly after He gave them paradise, yet instead of striking them dead at that moment, He had a plan that would save them forever. He gave them a sacrificial system, which filled all their senses of the cost of their sin. They would touch it as they brought their sheep to the temple, hear it in the screams of the sheep being led to slaughter, smell it as flesh burned, and see it as the smoke rose upward. This delayed His wrath toward His people for thousands of years until in the fullness of time, He sent His son to be the final sacrifice. He would be the perfect, sinless sacrifice that ended all sacrifice. God was patient with His wrath only to put it all on His own son for our gain. And now the Son sits at the right hand of the Father patiently waiting to come back one last time, to redeem all His people for all eternity. The Father knows the right time again. Yet, He patiently waits for the gospel to be told to all people, tribes, and nations. He hears the screams of the persecuted and welcomes them home with open arms. His heart breaks as the curse continues to take His image bearers with disease, famine, war, terror, and accidents. Yet His plan is perfect and He is patient to the end.

Oh, how I long to set my hope in the truth of this good news! That my pain here on earth will end, if not in a certain season, then at my resurrection. That I can suffer long because my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. That my anger at my circumstance will be squashed in the fact that my God knows, sees, and hears my pleas and His plan is good. Oh God! Give me this patience to endure my trial! And thank you for forgiving me when my eyes leave you and dwell on my short-term suffering. Give me friends that will encourage me to endure, despite the pain. And please, make me that friend too.

Your Sister in Christ,

Colleen