CWW Week 21 - Day 2 - Conquering The Dragon

Scripture

Romans 4:4-8 in the New King James Version (NKJV) reads:

4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.
5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,
6 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
And whose sins are covered;
8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”

In this passage, Paul is emphasising that righteousness comes through faith, not through works. He cites David to highlight that even in the Old Testament, the blessedness of forgiveness and being considered righteous before God is a matter of faith rather than human effort.

Devotional

So how does God treat Christians who make mistakes?

Before we go any further let’s put this into a very clear perspective. We all make mistakes regardless of our faith position. You will not find one single living being on this planet that does not make mistakes and regularly.

You can be forgiven for thinking that there’s no point to this journey, that we are all done and dusted. But look at the effort that has gone into the teachings and prophesies, the sacrifice and wilderness journeying. What does it all mean if the only means of salvation is a self centred and un-achievable perfection?

God’s amazing grace gives us the opportunity to put our salvation in the safe. It’s guaranteed and that box can be ticked because we accept the merits of Christ to underpin this journey on the road less travelled.

We don’t have to earn it. It’s a gift that comes without a catch or fine print.

What Paul is saying in the language of the day is this. When working for your employer, you are guaranteed of your wage for works performed. Your pay packet is not a gift it’s the obligation from your employer in return for your works. But for those who believe in Christ who justifies them who make mistakes, then that person’s faith is credited to them in the form of righteousness. If this understanding is not foundational then the mistakes we make will be as lashes from a whip rather than golden opportunities to grow and develop our characters.

Our problem is that we view mistakes as failures instead of opportunities to grow. God loves us and wants us to grow just as a loving father would want the same for his children. When our infant children stumble through their first steps and fall repeatedly, do we chastise and criticise them? Do we punish and belittle them? No. We encourage and support them knowing that they are a work in progress.

Why would our God of love be any different, and if He was that kind of tyrannical parent, what incentive would their be to spend eternity with Him in Heaven?

The blessings flow when we understand the depth and breadth of God’s amazing grace and use that confidence to continue to develop our character.

When I was a pilot working for the airline, for many of us the most dreaded part of our work cycle was our quarterly simulator sessions where we had to demonstrate our proficiency in all manner of difficult scenarios.

If you did not perform to a standard then you were removed from flying duties until you could. It was incredibly stressful. When I received a roster for the month with a scheduled simulator rostered, my entire demeanour changed. My wife Michelle would often comment, “You have a simulator coming up haven’t you?” It was that noticeable and pre sim nerves were a common expression amongst us all.

One day my co-pilot and I arrived at the simulator building to start our day of torture. As we made a coffee in the kitchen before our briefing, our Check Captain walked in smiling. He stepped in between us and put his arms around our shoulders and said. “I have good news for you boys. You have already passed your simulator so lets get into the box and have fun while we learn.” It was the best performance we ever flew and we learned so much. The simulator was a teaching tool to give you experiences without jeopardy. What we learned in the simulator was multi faceted. We learned what the aeroplane was capable of and what we were capable of. We learned that the standard operating procedures could be relied upon just as we can rely on the Bible in our Christian walk, and we always walked away from the session with confidence and strength.

This is what God is doing in all His power through Jesus, to convince you of. You have passed if you love Jesus, so now can we embrace Him and use the Holy Spirit to give us our best simulator session ever?

Jesus as the architect of our lives, loves us so much that he pulls the blueprint of our lives out every day. He lays the plan on the drafting table and redraws it around every mistake we made the day before. That’s why we can say in faith, that while there is life, there is hope. We must continue to give Him the opportunity to perfect us in His power.

Questions.

1. Do you fear some of life’s situations where you know you will be tested?
2. Would you relax into that more if you knew that you win either way even if you make a mistake?
3. Are you prepared to accept God’s amazing grace and get on with life as He intended?

Prayer.

Dear Lord, Papa God.

You have allowed me to see my mistakes as gifts. Papa you have created an environment for me to reach Your potential in my life here on earth to fit me for an eternity with you in Heaven. Lord I look forward to graduation day and I commit my greatest desire in doing what You require.

Strengthen me O Lord and prepare me is my prayer in your precious name Papa. Amen.

Have a great simulator today with Jesus.

Graham Hood.