A Life Worthy

By Grace One-a-Day Monday 3/23/20

Posted on March 23, 2020 by michaelMarch 23, 2020

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves…(Ephesians 2:8).

I teach middle school.

You’re welcome.

Anyway, one of the adorably nightmarish traits of middle-schoolers is that they have a mind like a steel sieve. I mean, I pour glorious, powerful, world-shaking-life-changing knowledge in, and I can almost literally see it leaking out. If I want my students to truly understand, well, anything, I need to present it roughly 32,000 times. So I focus on the most crucial, most essential concept, and I cover it over and again in every form and fashion I can think of.

Have you noticed how often Paul talks about grace?

Now, I’m not saying that Paul thinks of us as pubescent children who can’t seem to focus on anything but food and entertainment and the cute kid across the room, but–

No, wait–

That’s exactly what I’m saying.

Remember grace, Beloved.

Happy Monday

Trophies One-a-Day Friday 3/20/20

Posted on March 20, 2020 by michaelMarch 20, 2020

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 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 2:6-7).

So, when I read this carefully, it sounds like God is planning to use us to show how awesome and powerful his love is.

We’re his trophies.

I like this.

I used to have a few trophies, back in the day when they counted for something. Each one represented a success, a moment when I overcame the odds and the opposition to achieve victory. They brought memories of pain and toil and sweat and blisters and work and vision and anticipation and triumph and joy. I could tell you the story behind each race–whether you wanted to hear it or not.

One of these days we’ll all be at the wedding feast, doing wedding feast things, and God is going to call me up to the front and say, “Hey everybody. This is Michael. Let me tell you about this guy!” And the Lord of the Universe will share what a blithering, pathetic piece of fluff I was before his grace got hold of me and reeled me in. It won’t be at all embarrassing or shameful because we’ll be past all that nonsense, and everyone will laugh and weep and cheer and applaud God and his amazing, transforming, wonderful love.

I can’t wait.

So…if we’re trophies to show off God’s amazing goodness, aaand we are part of the Bride of Christ, does that make us trophy wives?

I gotta say, that feels a bit odd, but I’ll take it.

Happy Friday, Beloved.

Still Grace One-a-Day Thursday 3/19/20

Posted on March 19, 2020 by michaelMarch 19, 2020

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:5).

Again with the grace?

Yes, again with the grace.

You see, I don’t know about you, but when I take my eyes off grace–even for a moment–I start thinking that all this atoning-for-my-multiplicity-of-sins-growing-in-Christ-becoming-a-man-of-God-making-an-impact-on-the-world-becoming-the-awesomest-version-of-me-I-can-be stuff is actually, you know, on MY shoulders.

Which, of course, would crush me to powder pretty quickly.

Oh, by the way…when I said I don’t know about you?

I lied.

Embrace the grace, Beloved.

Happy Thursday

Life and Death One-a-Day Wednesday 3/18/20

Posted on March 18, 2020 by michaelMarch 18, 2020

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in transgressions… (Ephesians 2:5)

I like zombie movies.

Go ahead and judge. You won’t be the first; you won’t be the last.

I think one of the fascinations behind these shows is the idea that a person can exist in two states, alive and dead at the same time.

It’s morbid and gruesome and scary and even funny on the screen, and yet…

That is who we were. We walked around in a macabre mockery of life, when in reality we were dead.

In the shows, the zombies are beyond hope; the only thing to do is release them from the pretense of life and kill them for good.

Of course, these shows don’t consider God. God solves the dilemma not by destroying life, but by defeating Death.

Imagine that movie–Jesus healing the zombies.

I’d pay to see that.

Happy Wednesday, Beloved.

Mercy One-a-Day Tuesday 3/17/20

Posted on March 17, 2020 by michaelMarch 17, 2020

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy… (Ephesians 2:4)

So much mercy.

God is like Scrooge McDuck, with piles and piles of mercy, so much that you could dive into it, roll around in it, swim in it, practically drown in it

except that, you know…it’s the one thing keeping you afloat.

Of course, God doesn’t hoard his mercy. He spends it–rather lavishly, in fact.

On us

Happy Tuesday, Beloved

His Great Love One-a-Day Monday 3/16/20

Posted on March 16, 2020 by michaelMarch 16, 2020

But because of his great love for us… (Ephesians 2:4)

Stop

Wait

Woah, Nellie

Hold on a minute.

I know you have a bucket full of issues to deal with this morning, and I’ll let you get to it in just a moment, but first…

Think of all the ways we can finish the above verse.

Because of his great love for us…

we are his.

Because of his great love for us…

we are whole.

Because of his great love for us…

we are safe.

Because of his great love for us…

we have shelter and food and clothing and love and life and peace even when peace makes no sense at all…

You can go on from there…and then Monday might not seem so…Mondayish.

Happy Monday, Beloved.

Before One-a-Day Friday 3/13/20

Posted on March 13, 2020 by michaelMarch 13, 2020

All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest,we were by nature objects of wrath (Ephesians 2:3).

That was then.

This is now.

And…Someday’s coming!

Happy Friday, Beloved.

Spirit One-a-Day Thursday 3/12/20

Posted on March 12, 2020 by michaelMarch 12, 2020

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient (Ephesians 2:2) .

At the risk of being repetitive, redundant, and saying the same thing I’ve said before, allow me to point something out.

Those people out there, the ones without Christ, the ones who can make life so very difficult–they are not your enemy.

They are, in fact, being held captive by your Enemy.

They do not need your wrath.

They need rescue.

So, go out there today and be a rescue hero, ya?

Happy Thursday, Beloved.

The Way it Used to Be One-a-Day Wednesday 3/11/20

Posted on March 11, 2020 by michaelMarch 11, 2020

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air… (Ephesians 2:2)

You used to live for yourself.

You used to do what you wanted, be who you wanted.

You used to sit on the throne of your own life.

I mean, that’s what you thought.

Paul reminds us that we were never really in charge. That “freedom” that we thought we had was a lie. We served the king of the air, just as surely as if we had been chained. Like inmates in an asylum, we strutted around as if we wore crowns instead of straight jackets.

Toward the end of her life, my grandmother lived in a nursing home. Her dementia caused her to think that she was living on a cruise ship, travelling to exotic places and feasting at the finest tables. We ran with that because…why not? There was no convincing her otherwise, and her fantasy beat her reality by a large margin. Still, it was sad to see someone we loved lost in a lie.

Beloved, you are going to meet people today who are trapped in the lie. They serve the king of the air, though they don’t realize it.

Do not mock.

Do not despise.

Have mercy, even as our Lord has mercy, and remember that you once wore those same chains.

And, but for grace, you would wear them still.

Happy Wednesday, Beloved.

Dead One-a-Day Tuesday 3/10/20

Posted on March 10, 2020 by michaelMarch 10, 2020

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins… (Ephesians 2:1)

The key word here is were.

You were dead, crushed lifeless by the weight of the sin you chose and the sin that was yours by birthright. You were dead, without life or light or hope or breath.

Your past is death.

Your present? Your future?

Life

So much life

You have been taken from death and, at great cost, restored to life.

So live this day, Beloved.

Happy Tuesday