Tag: Paul Nordman

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Where Grace Begins

“I was the one who damaged the car,” I confessed to my friend and his father. Together, they had built it to compete in the Soap Box Derby, and so some of us boys took turns one afternoon riding it down the inclined driveway. Sometime after we put the car away in the garage, however, I went back for more fun, but this time alone. Thinking the car was safely secured, I left it unattended for a moment, only to look up in helpless horror as it rolled down the driveway and into some concrete blocks, snapping a steering cable and tearing a hole in the side of the body. I rolled it back into the garage and didn’t say a word, somehow hoping in my nine-year-old mind that the damage would not be discovered. It was, of course, but I denied any culpability during the questioning that followed. Inside, however, I churned.

It doesn’t take us long in life to discover that truth is an immovable thing. It withstands not only blatant lies, but also subjective opinions and feelings that subtly challenge reality as though it can be eroded by our own desires. Though we cannot see truth, it is an unconquerable champion—we either accept it on its terms or wither and writhe before it in failed rebellion. (When will we ever learn?) Is this a bad thing? No, the immutability of truth is good for us, it is hope for us.

For truth is the starting point of grace. When do we receive forgiveness? Is it when we conceal a matter, or when we openly confess it? When do we abandon our agendas and turn toward God’s, when we coddle our feelings by justifying our wrongs, or when we come to terms with their moral offense and destructive results? And what are the consequences when we declare wrong to be right? The apostle John answers: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”1 In the mercy of God, He beckons to a place called, “truth,” where we confront our sin with confidence, experience God’s forgiveness with joy, and savor His grace in peace.

The apostle Paul taught us “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.”2 My friend and his father showed me this love by forgiving me for my carelessness and the damage that came from it. But I can’t help but think they were even more relieved at the dispelling of falsehood and our arrival at the point where truth reigns and grace begins.

Father, your Word is truth. Send your Spirit to guide me in all truth and to put behind me any notion or desire that would challenge it. Inspire me to speak truth in love and to respond to truth with grace, just as you have done with me. In the name of Jesus and in the power of the Spirit, I pray. Amen.

Christ in me is freedom.

1 1 John 1:8-10
2 1 Corinthians 13:6

Read today’s Scripture in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.

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Stride Right

One memorable scene in the Oscar-winning movie, Chariots of Fire, finds Eric Liddell explaining to his sister, Jenny, his deep sense of calling: “I believe that God made me for a purpose, for China, but He also made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure.” Liddell would go on to win the 400-meter event in the 1924 Olympics before devoting the rest of his life to mission work in China. As I think about his innermost convictions, I cannot help but feel what must have been his profound sense of freedom. Running a race or proclaiming Jesus’ love, neither was drudgery to Liddell, rather both were sources of joy, for God had “made” him for these, and he pursued each as one liberated and inspired by the truth of God’s forever forgiveness and indwelling presence.

While few of us are (or ever were) gifted track athletes, all of us have been loosed from the stymying weight of trying to be good enough for God in our own power. Jesus, who is righteous by nature, has truly made us one with Himself, and so His righteousness—His right standing before God—becomes our own. He who atoned for our sins lives in us, so we are completely and forever free to run in Him unfettered by our past and with clear direction for our future. “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles,” said the writer of Hebrews, “and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith …”1

So, too, we stride with purpose. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free,”2 wrote the apostle Paul, for Jesus liberated us not for us to return to the crippling ways of sin, but to empower us in liberty along a fresh course of meaning and impact. “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free,” he wrote, “But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”3

God has made each of us for a purpose. So, as we pace life’s course in a precious freedom of the soul, may we, too, feel His pleasure.

Father, you’ve done so much for me; help me to accept your love and grace. Show me my purposes in life and guide me as I pursue them today. Fill me with your Spirit, so that I do what is pleasing to you and helpful to others. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Christ in me is freedom.

1 Hebrews 12:1, 2
2 Galatians 5:1
3 Galatians 5:13, 14

[Read today’s Scripture in Galatians 5:1-6.]

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He Showed Us How

John didn’t get it. Who could blame him? As Jesus approached him at the Jordan River, all the Baptizer could muster was a humble inquiry rooted in puzzlement: “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” It was necessary, however, for the One who came from God to consecrate Himself to God, so as John baptized Jesus, the Father thundered His approval and the Spirit descended upon the Son. God was there in His fullness; Jesus’ work on Earth had begun.

We know why Jesus came—to redeem a people separated from God by sin. We know what He taught us what to do—love God with all we have and love others as we love ourselves (the entire law is wrapped up in these). But one thing that escaped me all these years is this: Jesus also modeled for us how to live reborn lives. Consider the ways He lived with and in the Holy Spirit of God. As Isaiah foretold, God put His Spirit in this long-promised Messiah,1 and in fact, the Spirit lived in Him.2 Jesus was taught by the “Spirit of wisdom … understanding … [and] knowledge,”3 also as Isaiah prophesied, and the Spirit led Jesus4 while He went about His Father’s work. Astoundingly, it was by the power of the Spirit that Jesus was raised from the dead.5 All of this commencing from the baptism at the Jordan, when the Spirit of God alit on the Son of God.

Just before His crucifixion, Jesus told His disciples, “It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”6 The Spirit had been Jesus’ friend—a faithful guide—and now Jesus was promising His presence with all who would believe. What then came of this promise? It should sound very familiar. God put His Spirit in us7 and His Spirit lives in us.8 He is to us, also, the Counselor would come and teach us, or “guide us in all truth.”9 The Spirit leads10 all who are children of God through Christ. “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.”11 All this commencing from the faith into which we are baptized—when the Spirit seals us in the Son, who did the will of the Father.12

How do we love God with all our might, not only in our heart, but also in our words and our actions? How do we love our neighbors in what we think, say and do? Not in our own power, will or wisdom, but by living this life the way Jesus did—going where the Spirit leads us and saying what He tells us to say, not just in the epic, pivotal points in our life, but even more so in every day encounters with people. Jesus showed us how.

Father, I confess that my natural inclination is to place my priorities above yours. Send your Spirit today to lead me, and grace me to recognize His voice and to follow Him, moment by moment. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Christ in me is salvation.

Read today’s Scripture in Matthew 3:13-17.

1 Isaiah 42:1
2 John 3:34
3 Isaiah 11:2
4 Luke 4:1
5 Romans 8:11
6 John 16:7
7 Ezekiel 36:27
8 1 Corinthians 3:16
9 John 16:13
10 Romans 8:14
11 Romans 8:11
12 Ephesians 1:13