It All Comes Down to Grace

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Andy Stoddard

Ok, today’s reading is one of those passages that you need to get. Really, this is one of those readings that is just key. Understanding this is so important to your faith, to your life, to your view of God, your view of yourself, everything, everything, everything.

Listen to what it says in Ephesians 2: 8-10:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Dr. Barry Bryant was one of my main professors in seminary. And Dr. Bryant used to always tell us this – “You tell me what you think about grace, and I can tell you what you think about everything else.”

Grace is so key to faith. It is so key to understanding God, us, our calling, our salvation, our Christian walk. Everything.

Look at what it says today. We are saved by grace. Not by works. So no man can boast. We are not saved by anything that we can do.

Seriously. You need to understand that. You aren’t saved by your actions. You don’t have to “do” anything. “Doing” something isn’t the key, isn’t the point.

If there was something that you can “do” to save yourself, Jesus came for nothing. It’s all on Him. All on Him. All on Him.

Not your actions. Your faithfulness. None of this. It’s all grace.

We are saved by grace through faith. You have to understand that.

But then, look what it says. We are created for good works. Wait, what? We aren’t saved by works, yet, we are created for them?

Yep. You were created; you were made for a relationship with God. That relationship starts with grace. You are saved by grace.

And then, once we come to saving (or justifying) grace, grace doesn’t end there. Grace isn’t just God’s mercy of salvation towards us. Grace is the empowerment of salvation.

So, we are saved by grace (not by works) but when we come to faith that same grace that saves us then compels us to be faithful. To chase after God. To know Him. Serve Him. Follow Him. We must. We have to.

Grace demands it! We need to understand that, as well!

We are not saved by works, but we are created for works.

We are saved by His grace and saved for His work. All by His grace.

His grace saves us.

His grace calls us.

His grace empowers us to work.

Grace.

You tell me what you think about grace, and I can tell you what you think about everything else. Grace. It all comes down to grace.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones, and you thought our app, you can now watch our worship services from Asbury too!

Open Our Eyes

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Andy Stoddard

Sometimes we need to have God open our eyes. We can miss so many amazing things. We can miss the beauty of creation. We can miss the simple joys of life. We can miss the things that God wants to show us, the things that God wants us to see.

We can miss His truth. We can miss the things that in life that are true. Things that are good. Things that are pure. Things that are noble.

We can miss the things, the real things, which we need to see.

Now, I don’t think we miss these things because we want to miss them. We miss them because we are busy. Or we aren’t looking for them. Or our attention is elsewhere.

We just don’t see.

Today we need to pray for our God to open our eyes. Open our eyes to see what is really real. Open our eyes to what we see in Ephesians 1: 16-20:

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,

We need to have our eyes opened (or I like how it says here, the eyes of our hearts enlightened) to know the hope that we’ve been called to. The riches of our inheritance. The greatness of His power to us.

We have so much power at our disposal. We have so much strength on our hands. We have so much that we can do. We have the very God of all of heaven on our side, working with us; working for us, calling us.

We have hope in every situation. We can believe, no matter how dark it is. We can have peace, no matter how bad it may seem. We can live, even when we don’t know how.

We have all these things. All of them.

Not through our power or might. But through Jesus. Through His power. His might. His strength. His grace.

Through Him.

It’s there. We just have to open our eyes to see it.

Today, may He open our eyes. May we see what we can do; what we can be, all through Him.

Today, may we see things, as they really are. May we see.

If We Have Jesus, it’s Going to be Ok

Posted on January 8, 2015 by Andy Stoddard

Yesterday we read on of the letters to the seven churches in Revelation, today we read another. Today, we read in Revelation 2: 8-11 the letter to the church in Smyrna. Listen to what it says:

“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life. ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’

A couple of things that jump out to me about this letter, and many of the letters in this first part of Revelation. First, notice this part at the beginning – “I know your tribulation and poverty (but you are rich).”

What does it mean to poor and what does it mean to be rich? We think of wealth in terms of possessions. To be rich means to have much, to be poor means to have little. Here, we see John say – you are poor. But you are really rich.

Why?

Because you have Jesus. If you have Him, and you are poor (in the world’s eyes) then you are really rich. If you don’t have him and are rich (in the world’s eyes) then you are poor.

Our worth, our wealth, it never comes from material possessions. It comes from Jesus. I have always liked the quote by Patrick Meagher – “Some people are so poor, all they have is money.”

Today the people are reminded. Yes, you are poor. But you are rich, because you have Jesus. That’s a great reminder for us today. If we have Jesus, we really have all we need.

And the second thing that jumped out to me is when he says, you are going to be tested. Don’t give up, don’t quit.

Sometimes we can think that if we face opposition or troubles, then it’s not what we should do. We are reminded here – no. When are being faithful. When we are doing right. When we are trying, we will face opposition. It will happen.

Don’t give up when the times are tough. God is good. God is there. Don’t quit. He won’t leave you, no matter what.

In all of this, if we have Jesus, it’s going to be ok.

When They Frustrate Us

Posted on December 17, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

Are you ever tempted to look at someone and say – you know better! Why are you doing that? Why do you keep making the same mistakes? Come on, man, you know better than to do that!

I’m sure each of us has felt that way. We may have felt that way with our kids before. Maybe someone in our family. Or with a friend. A co-worker. Someone.

We can get so frustrated. We want to give up on them, don’t we?

What do we do then? What do we do when we want to give up someone?

Listen to what Paul tells us today in Romans 15: 1-3:

We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.

Paul says this – when you want to give up one someone, remember. We don’t live for ourselves. We live to serve and help others. We don’t live for us.

It’s so easy to get frustrated with others. With their weakness. With their mistakes. With their stuff. They can really irritate us. But remember what Paul said. We don’t live for us.

We live for Jesus. And we live for others. We live to point them to Jesus. And that’s one of the keys. As Paul says, Jesus didn’t live to please Himself, He lived for His prose. To point us to His Father.

And you know, you know Jesus must get frustrated with us sometimes, huh? At our weakness. Our faults. Our mistakes. Our stuff.

And how does He respond? He loves. So should we.

He loved us in our weakness and mistakes.

We are to love to love them, in their weakness and mistakes. Because love points to Jesus. And only Jesus can help. Only Jesus can change.

Be patient. You can only do that through Jesus and His spirit. Love them. Point them to Jesus.

And let Him change them. That’s not your job. That’s His job. Let Him do His work. Your job is just to point to Him, in all things.

Faith is Like Rebounding

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

One of the comparisons that I’ve made many times about faith and life is this. Faith is a lot like rebounding.

Wait, what? Faith is like rebounding? Exactly.

In basketball, one of the things I always enjoyed doing was rebounding. I guess as a football player, I like the physicality of rebounding, of going for the ball, of trying beat the other guy for it. That was always my favorite part of playing basketball. Rebounding.

And I don’t know much about; there are many, much smarter basketball coaches that could tell you a ton about rebounding. But this is what I do know. It’s about positioning. It’s about getting between your guy and the ball.

If you put yourself in the proper position, something good will happen. If you put yourself in the position between your guy and the ball, you will either get the ball or your guy will jump “over the back” and foul you, and you’ll get free throws (if you are in the bonus #basketballgeek).

In other words, if you are in the right position, something good will happen. You put yourself in the right position; you will either get the ball or get fouled. Something good will happen.

And that’s how it is with faith. Do you want to hear God? Do you want to know God? Put yourself in the right position. If you put yourself in the right position, something good will happen.

It’s just like rebounding. It’s about putting yourself in the right position. Here at Asbury we talk about praying, reading your Bible and going to church. In other words, putting yourself in a position to hear God.

And He will speak. He will.

Listen to what it says today in 2 Peter 1: 5-8:

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Make every effort to put yourself in the right position. Surround yourself with virtue. Knowledge. Self Control. Steadfastness. Godliness. Brotherly affection. Love.

Do these right things. Put yourself int hat position. These things don’t save you. But the strengthen you. They allow you to hear God. Don’t these things puts you in the right position.

And in doing these things, you will hear God. You will.

Faith is like rebounding. It’s about being the right position. Today, are you placing yourself in that right position. If you will, you will hear God. Today, let’s put ourselves in that position.

What are You For?

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

When we think about the world we live in, it can be a scary place, can’t it? We can feel overwhelmed by challenges, worries, fears, doubts.

We can feel like there is much evil in the world, many things that are wrong, things are against. Things that we feel like we must speak out against and oppose. We can feel like that’s what we are supposed to do.

And, in a world full of evil, we do have to stand for what we believe. But here’s the thing, standing against evil isn’t the totality of our duty and our calling. There’s more. Listen to what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5: 11:

Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.

I don’t just want to stand against what is wrong. I want to persuade others to do what is right. I heard Tim Keller say at a lecture recently, “it isn’t just that we proclaim the Gospel, it is that we are to persuade people to follow it and love it.”

I don’t just want to be know for what I’m against. I want to be known for what I am for. Jesus.

Today, we are not just to be against something. We are called to be for something. I don’t want to just stand against sin (as important as that is); I want to convince people, persuade people to follow Jesus.

Well, how do we do that? First, with our lives. If we are going to convince people to follow Jesus, we have to follow Him ourselves. There must be something different about us that makes folks want to follow Him.

Second, with our love. As we love folks as He loves them, they will want to know Him. They will. They will. They will want to know this Jesus that causes others to radically love others.

Today, that’s our calling. Not just to be against the evils of this world. But to persuade others to follow our Jesus.

Today may we live, may we love. And as we do that, may we give glory to our saviour!

A New Thing

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

Yesterday we talked about getting out of a rut, how God is in the midst of doing a new thing. In this season of Advent, we have to ask ourselves, do we really believe that God is, doing something new?

Sunday, at Asbury, I said this – don’t give me your Christian answer; give me your real answer. Your Christian answer is what you think we have to give as good people. Your real answer is what you really think and believe.

And here’s the thing. God knows what you are thinking. God knows what you believe. God knows what’s on your heart.

So, let me ask you, do we really believe that God is going to do something new in our lives? Or do we think that things are going to always remain the same, remain as they are now? Or could God possibly do something new in our lives?

Listen to what it says today in Revelation 21: 2-5:

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

God is making all things new. All things. Me. You. All things.

You know what the new work God wants to do is? You. Me. He wants to make us new. He wants to restore us. Remake us. Change us.

Remove the dirt of the past. Remove the shame and sin of the past. Remove the brokenness of the past. Make us new.

That’s what He wants to do for you and in you today. Not just forgive you. Make you new.

Today, you can be new. You can be different. You can start over. You can begin again. You can leave the past and the old behind. You can be new.

That’s where all this is headed. That’s what God wants to do. That’s what God will do. He will make all things new.

And He wants to start today with me and with you. Today, through grace, mercy, and love, God wants to make us new.

Today, will we let Him? Will let us, through His Holy Spirit, make us new?

Stuck in a Rut

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

Ruts are dangerous. Ruts leave us feel like we are doing the same thing, over and over again, each day. Nothing new. Nothing different. Nothing exciting. Nothing to be hopeful about.

Nothing. Every day, its same thing, over and over again.

It’s a sad thing, a bad thing, when we don’t expect anything different. Is that how you feel today? Do you enter this day, this new week, this season thinking, oh things will never change.

It is what it is. Nothing different. Nothing new. Same thing, different day. Lather, risen, repeat. Every day.

We feel like that a lot, don’t week. If that’s you, listen to what Isaiah 43: 18-19 says:

“Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.

God says – I’m doing a new thing. Just because it’s always been the same, doesn’t mean that it will stay the same. Just because you feel stuck in a rut doesn’t mean that you will stay there. Just because things haven’t changed don’t mean that they won’t change yet.

This is the season of Advent. In this season, that leads us to Christmas, we remember God’s promises like this one. He is doing a new thing. He is bringing new life. He has great things in store. Great new things.

Do you believe that? Do you believe that God can still do new things? Do you expect new things? Do you hope in new things? Or are we at the point in life; in faith, where we really don’t hope for those type of things any more. We are just stuck in our rut.

God is not done with you yet. God is not done with the world yet. God is not finished with us yet. He isn’t.

A new thing is coming.

Do you believe that? Do you believe that God is in the midst of doing a new thing? He is. We stop believing that sometimes. We lose hope. We give up. We don’t think that it will happen.

Don’t lose hope. Don’t give up. Don’t quit. God is in the midst of a new thing. He is.

He is going to make all things new. Do you believe? Keep believe. Have you forgotten? Remember what we read. Are you exhausted? Hold tight to God. A new thing is coming. It is.

God is going to do a new work in your life. Keep believing. Keep hoping. Keep knowing. He is.

No matter how strong the rut you’re stuck in is, God is stronger.

He is going to do a new thing.

Idolatry?

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

One of the constant Biblical commands is that we should not worship idols. That’s something that we hear over and again in scripture. Don’t worship idols. Don’t bow down to them. Worship God only. Don’t worship or serve idols.

And problem, we think, man, that’s the easiest of the 10 Commandments to follow. I’ve never worshiped a false God. We don’t have a family idol. There aren’t any idols in ours home.

Sweet. I’m good.

But here’s the thing about that. Idolatry is not what we make it. It’s not about just worshiping an “idol” but, it’s about placing our hope, our security, our lives around something.

The thing that we worship is the thing that we build our lives around.

So, to ask ourselves if we are tempted by idolatry, we don’t need to walk around our home, looking for false idols. We need to ask ourselves, what do we build our lives around? Where is our hope?

Is it in God? Or something else.

Listen to what it says in Psalm 115: 1-4:

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases.
Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.

The work of human hands. We may not have “false gods” made of human hands in our lives, but so many of the things in life that we turn to for home and security, they are things that we have made, things that we have earned, things that we can attain.

They are human in origin.

They are not God. They are made by human hands. And the will fail us.

Tim Keller said – An idol is anything that you turn to and say, “Save me.”

So today, in your life, where do you find your worth and your hope. Don’t give me the “Christian” answer, you know, the one you have to give; are supposed to give.

Where does your life say that you find your hope and your worth? If your hope and worth is in anything of this world, that thing will fail you.

If your hope and worth is in the True God of Heaven, then you have nothing to fear.

Today, what are the idols in our lives that we need to get rid up?

Dealing With Difficult People

Posted on December 3, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

Many years ago before I entered the ministry I worked with someone that was quite difficult. I just didn’t understand them; they didn’t always do the job properly, not a a lot of work ethic, they just drove me crazy.

But yet, they were a believer. They loved Jesus. They really did have a great faith. And yet they were so difficult to work work with.

What could I do? What was I do to? I’ll tell you what I did to make it better. I wrote this passage out and stuck in on my computer Philippians 2: 2-4:

complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

My job was to, as best I could, humble myself and serve them. That’s crazy. I didn’t need to serve them. They needed to do their job better. That’s what I told myself.

But here was the reality. I didn’t hire them; I couldn’t fire them. And all I could do was do the best that I could to work with them.

And the only way that I could get my job done to the best of my ability was change my attitude. And they only way I could change my attitude was to look at Jesus.

Who served. Who was humble. Who cared. Even through He didn’t have to. He chose to. Because He loved.

And when love someone we serve them.

But sometimes, when serve someone, we grow to love them. Sometimes we have to serve someone before we actually grow into that. Serving others changes us.

Now, I’d like to say that it all worked out and he changed his attitude and became a better worker. He didn’t. He was eventually let go. But I’ll tell you what. Working through that made me a better Christian.

And for that, I’m thankful.

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