Amazing Grace
Throughout the whole old testament, we see the Israelites(as a nomadic tribe and also as a nation) fall. The reason for thier fall is always the same. They always forget WHO GOD IS when times are good and start to live like the other nations. And God always punishes them. But of course God always shows grace and deliver them from trouble when they repent and return to HIM.In deuteronomy 9 ....The Israelites are about to enter the promised land and Moses is giving his pre-entry speech.
Deuteronomy 9:5-6.....It is not because of your rightenousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possesion of thier land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you,to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Understand then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.
In this 2 verses (in fact the whole chapter 9) Moses was reminding the people not to think that God is with them because they are more righteous than the other nations but they are who they are(GOds ppl) because GOd out of HIS grace has chosen them to be his nation. The next part of chapter 9 reminds the Isrealites of thier sin so they can sense the reality of Moses's speech instead of just brushing it aside as an old man nagging. The speech made my Moses is very important as it will be his last address to the Israelites because Moses wasnt allowed to enter the promised land.
I guess as humans, we tend to be like the Israelites. We like to take credit for everything good that happens. It keeps our pride and ego up, and the sense of achievement is great. Moses's reminder to the Israeiltes is a good reminder to us too. We are nothing without GOd. We are who we are tday because out of HIs grace, God chose us to be HIS children. Not because we are smarter, or more civilised,etc etc...than the other ppl. If we achieve something, it is only because God out of his grace allows us to achieve it. We have no right to boast of it. 1 Corinthians 3:21-23....So let no one boast about men. For everything belongs to you, whether Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life, death, the present, or the future - everything belongs to you, but you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.....Everything belongs to GOD....The only thing we can boast about is Jesus. As it is writen in 2 Corinthians 10:17.....The person who boasts must boast in the Lord.
Ultimately GOd is supreme and if HE wants things to be done HE can do it without us. We are mere tools used by God to execute HIS plans and we should be grateful that God chose us(mere mortals) to execute HIS plans. We can do our duties well and achieve many things....but if our hearts are not right, all our achievements are in vain because our heart is not right before God....and our heart is what really matters to God.....
So how are we to respond to this?.....We are to respond to Gods grace with humility. Take Paul as an example...
1 Corinthians 15:9-10.....For I am the least of the apostles and not even fit to be called an apostle because I persecuted God's church. But by God's grace I am what I am, and his grace shown to me was not wasted. Instead, I worked harder than all the others - not I, of course, but God's grace that was with me.And so, whether it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
Look at how Paul responded....He says he is the least of the apostles because of his past sins....yet because of GOds grace he is what he is....and he worked hard for the glory of GOd...yet didnt take any credit for his achievements( end of vs 10)..........such humility is shown by Paul.
So ...Think abt it....are we serving God out of personal pride or out of gratefulness to God for his grace...are we responding to Gods grace in the right way....
Speaking of responding in the right way...think abt the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42....Martha was too involved in serving Jesus to the extend she complained to Jesus abt Mary who was sitting down at Jesus's feet listening to HIM speak. In the end God rebuked her and said Mary chose the better option which is to listen to HIM. But lets now focus on Martha....and look at the way she complained to Jesus....... "Lord, you do care that my sister has left me to do the work all by myself, don't you? Then tell her to help me.".....It was all about herself...she was full of herself. Even in Gods service....Jesus rebuked her...because her heart was not right. How sad isit to be rebuked by God while serving HIM...well....it all boils down to our hearts and attitude...AMEN
Deuteronomy 9:5-6.....It is not because of your rightenousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possesion of thier land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you,to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Understand then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.
In this 2 verses (in fact the whole chapter 9) Moses was reminding the people not to think that God is with them because they are more righteous than the other nations but they are who they are(GOds ppl) because GOd out of HIS grace has chosen them to be his nation. The next part of chapter 9 reminds the Isrealites of thier sin so they can sense the reality of Moses's speech instead of just brushing it aside as an old man nagging. The speech made my Moses is very important as it will be his last address to the Israelites because Moses wasnt allowed to enter the promised land.
I guess as humans, we tend to be like the Israelites. We like to take credit for everything good that happens. It keeps our pride and ego up, and the sense of achievement is great. Moses's reminder to the Israeiltes is a good reminder to us too. We are nothing without GOd. We are who we are tday because out of HIs grace, God chose us to be HIS children. Not because we are smarter, or more civilised,etc etc...than the other ppl. If we achieve something, it is only because God out of his grace allows us to achieve it. We have no right to boast of it. 1 Corinthians 3:21-23....So let no one boast about men. For everything belongs to you, whether Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life, death, the present, or the future - everything belongs to you, but you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.....Everything belongs to GOD....The only thing we can boast about is Jesus. As it is writen in 2 Corinthians 10:17.....The person who boasts must boast in the Lord.
Ultimately GOd is supreme and if HE wants things to be done HE can do it without us. We are mere tools used by God to execute HIS plans and we should be grateful that God chose us(mere mortals) to execute HIS plans. We can do our duties well and achieve many things....but if our hearts are not right, all our achievements are in vain because our heart is not right before God....and our heart is what really matters to God.....
So how are we to respond to this?.....We are to respond to Gods grace with humility. Take Paul as an example...
1 Corinthians 15:9-10.....For I am the least of the apostles and not even fit to be called an apostle because I persecuted God's church. But by God's grace I am what I am, and his grace shown to me was not wasted. Instead, I worked harder than all the others - not I, of course, but God's grace that was with me.And so, whether it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
Look at how Paul responded....He says he is the least of the apostles because of his past sins....yet because of GOds grace he is what he is....and he worked hard for the glory of GOd...yet didnt take any credit for his achievements( end of vs 10)..........such humility is shown by Paul.
So ...Think abt it....are we serving God out of personal pride or out of gratefulness to God for his grace...are we responding to Gods grace in the right way....
Speaking of responding in the right way...think abt the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42....Martha was too involved in serving Jesus to the extend she complained to Jesus abt Mary who was sitting down at Jesus's feet listening to HIM speak. In the end God rebuked her and said Mary chose the better option which is to listen to HIM. But lets now focus on Martha....and look at the way she complained to Jesus....... "Lord, you do care that my sister has left me to do the work all by myself, don't you? Then tell her to help me.".....It was all about herself...she was full of herself. Even in Gods service....Jesus rebuked her...because her heart was not right. How sad isit to be rebuked by God while serving HIM...well....it all boils down to our hearts and attitude...AMEN
posted by James Chan at 2:25 AM
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