Grace, Sovereignty and Free Will

by Beverly Kay

Thinking about God, life and love has always been a part of who I am. Steeped in Scripture in a family that encouraged me to think, ask questions and look at all sides of a situation I grew up a practical theologian. Often I don’t have the academic terms of reference for what I believe, but for me a belief has very little value if it doesn’t truly have an effect on how I live. As I listen to others, or read books, what is said will either ring true in my spirit as lining up with Scripture or there will be an uneasiness that leads me to dig and discover where the fine line of balanced Truth really is. Sometimes that is a short journey. Some things I have wrestled with for a long time. The balance between God’s Gracious Sovereignty and the free will of the human soul is one of those long term struggles. I see the differing sides of the issue, but my heart seeks the balanced Truth, not the easy proof texting that often takes place in this discussion.

Lately, because I work at the reader’s advisory desk at our public library, I have found myself reading a lot of fiction. My goal is to help other readers who want to read something beautiful, real and wholesome. Sometimes that is a challenge, but I have often been pleasantly surprised! Historical fiction is my favourite, especially when the author digs long and hard to present things as honestly and factually as possible even though their main characters are usually invented. I have found that most authors write from their own theological and philosophical frame of reference. Anything less would be a challenge for truly gifted writing flows from the soul and speaks to others.

I just finished a book that began its story in WWII London, England just before the blitz. It was the story of choices, living with the consequences, striving to redeem oneself and the ultimate reality that all along God’s grace was giving opportunities to stop and choose something beyond our own selfish will. My soul resonated with some of the statements made by the main characters, and as I read the conversation with the author segment at the end, I saw why.

The author was asked, “In your mind, does fate or providence determine the outcome?” My heart sang, “YES!” to the core of Meissner’s response. “I believe we’ve been given a free will to choose and that God in His providence sees all and knows all but doesn’t do all.” She gave an example from the book when the oldest sister was reflecting back on a key choice she had made, realizing that at this turning point the she had been given an opportunity by God NOT to make a choice that would prove disastrous, Meissner makes this summation: “God doesn’t make the decision for her; she does. That is the terrifying beauty of free moral choice.” The other reality that was emphasized by this story is that each of our choices affects not only ourselves, but also people around us.

As I pondered this viewpoint, I came to rest on these two thoughts. The first is that God in His gracious sovereignty has opened to us the opportunity to join Him on the Way, to embrace the Truth and receive His Life through Jesus our Saviour. He knew exactly what we needed for salvation and redemption and He provided it all. But scripture makes it very clear that it is ONLY those who believe and receive His Son: walking in the Way, living in the Truth and sharing in the Life that are given the right to be called sons and daughters of God. He has given us the open door, we have to choose whether we will co-operate with His Grace and receive all that is ours in Christ Jesus.

Secondly, as we daily choose to live the Life, speak the Truth and walk in the Way, we are being instruments of God’s grace in the lives of others. As we allow God’s Kingdom to come and His will to be done in and through our lives, then we are truly salt and light. We share in the ministry of God’s reconciliation and grace; we open a door to give another the opportunity to choose God’s Way, Truth and Life over their own blind, selfish desires. God cheers us on, encouraging us to choose “His good pleasing and perfect will” over our own, but the choice is still ours to choose. May we daily choose Life and Truth over death and lies, and encourage others to do so as well. Grace in the Journey my friends!  

Wisdom: Blessings for Life and Ministry

by Beverly Kay

After coming away from a weekend around the table with the Study Commission on Doctrine; after looking at the areas of concern our pastor’s face daily in the front lines of ministry; after becoming more fully aware of the current financial needs of the FMCiC (or of our local church, or personal family); after praying over fellow ministers in the Family who are battling disease or broken bodies I have become keenly aware of our great need to ask God for wisdom.

As the Lord would have it, I find my own personal quiet times with Him have brought me to the Book of Proverbs. Today I carefully studied the principles for life found in the father’s admonition to find, gain, preserve; to hold tightly to Wisdom. As I looked into the face of Wisdom and its many benefits, I felt compelled to share my insights with my fellow followers that we might all be encouraged to understand the depth of our need, and the breadth of blessing that comes through this great gift of our God.

What is Wisdom? Its root is in the ability to be wise; to have good judgment, sound (full, complete council), to be prudent. Wisdom is the power to judge rightly based on full council of knowledge, experience, and understanding. It is following the soundest, surest, most beneficial course of action. In other words, as a Christ follower, to gain wisdom it takes time, perseverance, and determination to pursue and never settle for anything short of God’s very best course of action.

Why make the effort and take the time to pursue wisdom? Although this is far from exhaustive, looking at Proverbs chapter 3, verses 13 – 26 reveals that the list of blessings for our lives and ministries is great. Wisdom is (14) more profitable, yielding greater benefits than either silver or gold. Wisdom is (15) of greater value to our lives than rubies. Wisdom is (18) a tree of Life and a source of blessing to those who embrace, fully accepting its authority in our lives.

Wisdom is accompanied (13, 21) by understanding (insight), and discernment (the ability to separate and clearly recognize differences), and therefore are Life for us. Wisdom, understanding, and knowledge were in God, with God and used by God as He laid the foundation of the earth, gave order to the heavens, and separated the waters on the earth so that we might know good life on this planet (19, 20). Therefore it seems only logical that we will need them to safely journey through the troubles and trials, temptations and theories that we will face while we endeavor to do Kingdom work in a fallen world.

If we preserve sound judgment and discernment (protecting it, keeping it from corruption – 21) then our lives are blessed with safety (23), sure footing (23), rest (24) and peace (lack of fear – 17, 25) due to a confidence that is ours in the Lord (26), Who is at work through wisdom to keep our feet from being caught up in the snare (trap, danger, twisted truths) of the enemy. As a believer, this confidence can be sure because of the guarantee of all that is ours in Christ Jesus. Colossians chapter 2, verses 1-4 reveal to us that we “may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that we may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden ALL the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Paul wrestled in prayer for the believers that they would be unified by the complete understanding that can be ours as we are untied with Christ, us in Him and His Word (spoken, written, Holy Spirit illuminated) in us (John 15:7) Paul’s purpose was that “no one may deceive you by carefully crafted arguments.”

I must confess, my experience is limited; my knowledge incomplete; my understanding often restricted by my own bias. Only in Christ Jesus can we have fullness of understanding, and gain the deep treasures of wisdom. James reminds us that we can freely come, and ask God for wisdom, who gives generously to all without finding fault (James 1:5). God’s desire is that we would be mature and not lack no good thing necessary for living out the Life that we have in Christ. He wants us to discover the sure path, to never settle for anything less than His best response or course of action.

As we move forward in Life and in ministry, I pray that we will become workmen approved by God, who always seek to rightly handle the Word of Truth (II Timothy 2: 15, 16). That we would fully submit to its authority in our lives, being influenced through it by wisdom over the trends, godless chatter or carefully crafted arguments that would trip us up, cripple our faith and cause us to move and act based on fear rather than boldly walking in the confidence and blessings of godly wisdom. Be rich and abundantly fruitful in your walk with God, as you gain, preserve and walk in godly wisdom no matter what it is that you are facing or wrestling with these days in your journey with Jesus.

Forgiving Ourselves?

by Beverly Kay

Over the summer months I have been wrestling with a concept that is very prevalent in current secular thinking, trying to see if it matches up with Biblical Truths regarding the power of forgiveness. The concept that I am grappling with is that of forgiving ourselves. As people in our world strive to deal with guilt or self-loathing, very often they are encouraged to not be so hard on themselves, after all being human means making mistakes. Nobody is perfect, so they are told to simply forgive themselves and move on. Somehow, this teaching just doesn’t sit right with me. It seems to smack of self justification. If I have the power to forgive and justify myself, then I don’t need a Saviour to pay my debt and to reconcile me with my Maker. As I have searched scripture there seems to be only two types of forgiveness mentioned.

The first is the forgiveness that comes from God Himself, made available to us through the atoning sacrifice of Christ Jesus our Lord. We receive this forgiveness when we agree with God about two things. First we must agree with God that our action or attitude is truly sinful, it has broken the law of God and it bares the weight of penalty. This is just as real in our lives as breaking a traffic law and having to pay the fine. If we lie, or steal, or covet, or walk in pride, etc. then we are guilty of sin. The penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23) Secondly, we must agree with God that the penalty for our sin has been paid for, that the death of Christ on the cross is sufficient payment for our sin. It is in agreeing with God that we are forgiven, cleansed, made new because of the gift of grace offered to us in Christ Jesus. In receiving this gift of Grace we find freedom from guilt and condemnation that had been ours because of sin. That is the good news of the Gospel that Paul shares in Romans 8:1&2, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” We cannot short cut to forgiveness of self. We have no authority apart from Christ Jesus to be set free from the law of sin and death put in place by God in the garden.

The second form of forgiveness comes only after we have received the first. This is the authority in Christ Jesus to forgive others who have sinned against us. As children of God, through our faith in Christ Jesus (John 1:12), we are to become like our Heavenly Father (Ephesians 5:1&2). As we live out this life of love, we are called to be “kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” As God’s children we are to extend to others the same grace and mercy that we have received from our Father. We cannot absolve someone else of their sin, but we have the joy of refusing to hold their sins against them, extending to them love rather than seeking revenge or hating them in our hearts.

It is so easy to allow the subtle twisting of God’s truth by the world to enter into our thinking and our council of others. Let us strive to remain in alignment with the truth of scripture, and remember there is only One who has the power to forgive, and that is God Himself. It is only by His power at work in us that we have the authority to forgive others, and to revel in the joy that comes as we receive freedom from our sin through faith in the work of Christ Jesus on the cross!

Wrestling with Thoughts about Things that Hinder

by Beverly Kay

One of the congregations in our region recently went into transition. When the pastor came here, his family had to find accommodations because this local church had felt the need to sell their parsonage at one point. Churches without a parsonage are no longer an unusual situation. Actually there was a season when pastors were strongly encouraged to buy their own homes so that they had some equity when they came to retirement. Fine, but this is now one more thing for pastors and their families to consider when in the process of seeking God’s direction for their ministry and life – the sale or rental of their house, carrying a mortgage.

Okay, so maybe that is life in the 21st century. And I will grant that with or without owning one’s home there is always risk and an element of faith in picking up and moving, trusting God to meet all one’s needs in the process. And it is true that pastors are not the Levitical Priesthood who were not to have an inheritance of their own land, but were to receive the LORD God Himself as their inheritance, trusting the provisions for their needs to come from the rest of God’s people. But somehow in trying to make sure that we rightly provide for the retirement years of our pastors and missionaries, I have this feeling that we have been too easily motivated by fears rather than faith. Often choice seem to have been birthed out of old hurts and resentments, rather than out of a life fully surrendered to the good and perfect will of God for our lives.

There seem to be more things that have snuck in to keep a pastor’s family from openly and honestly seeking God’s direction for their ministry and that of their congregation. I have often heard concerns about where children are in their education and an unwillingness to up root them. I have seen some refusing to leave a position yet because of a spouse’s great job with benefits and pension they weren’t willing to let go of. Others have looked to move to a particular region because of a desire to be closer to aging parents. Where is the faith factor; the willingness to forsake all to follow whenever and wherever God leads us, trusting that He will supply all our needs and those of our family? Aren’t we called, as Disciples of Christ to seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness, not worrying about the things that the unbeliever chases after? Aren’t we called to deny ourselves, to take up our cross and follow Him? Aren’t we encouraged to throw off everything that hinders (along with those sins that so easily entangle) to run the race set out before us (not the path we have chosen) while we let Christ be our leader, our example of the fully surrendered life?

How can we have healthy, fruitful churches if our spiritual leaders are tied down by earthly bonds? How can we disciple others to follow after Christ if we are following our own goals and dreams, rather than submitting them to the Father’s will? Maybe we need to return to letting the Bible dictate how we lead rather than common business practices of our day. Just some thoughts as I wrestle with where we are at as Pastoral leaders in this post-modern era.

Joining in the Miracle of New Life

I just came inside and washed the dirt off my hands, dirt that I collected while rejoicing in the miracle of new life!

Kevin had called me away from the routine job of chasing dust bunnies out from under my bed to show me the first signs of spring, the fronds of grape hyacinth and crocus, as well as the leaves of tulips and daffodils. We walked around the house together delighting in being able to identify what was soon to come, the blooms of spring!

When what to our wondering eyes should appear among the bleached and withered leaves of last years tiger lilies?? Two glorious blooms; two tiny purple crocus straining to catch the warmth of the sun!

I cried, "Get a picture! Quick post it to the world, the first signs of new life! Spring is here!!" Then I grabbed my hand garden rake and proceeded to spend an hour clearing away all the dead stuff of last year's glory: the old dead weeds, the withered perennial geranium, the bleached lily foliage, the lifeless hosta and sedum. All the old had to be cleaned up, clipped back and cleared away, so that the new growth had free access to the sun!

As I bent and cleared and cleaned, my mind returned to the night before, when ladies gathered around a table and the Word to marvel at the miracle of Christ ~ resurrection life ~  John chapter 11. Here we saw Christ submit to the will of the Father and in allowing death to come, was able to reveal the glory of God in the life of Lazarus raised up from the tomb! We rejoiced in God's goodness and the hope we have of resurrection life as we believe in Christ. And then we were amazed that Christ asked the observers of this miracle to participate in it, to join in setting the raised life free from the bonds of death. They were told to remove the grave clothes of yesterday, so that he could be freed to live the life God had given him today.

As I stood in my garden, with dirt and death in my hands, I had to ask myself, am I willing to let go of the glory of last year’s life, last year’s victories, last year’s blessings, to rejoice in the new things God wants to do today?

Do I help others who have heard the voice of Christ and have been raised to new life remove the bonds of death, the old habits and fears of the past, so that they can fully enjoy the New Life, the Abundant Life that God has for them in the SON?

I thank God for the wonderful ways that He uses the things of this earth, the little glories, to teach about the Real Glories of Life in the Son!

May you be blessed as you willingly get your hands dirty, participating in the miracles of New Life that God has in store for you, for your family, for your church this year.

Serving Him by His Grace ~ Beverly Kay