Lessons for Life with James Long, Jr.
Are you longing to find answers to the deeper issues of life? Join James, a pastor, counselor, and university professor with over 30 years of experience. Hear James as he tackles some of life's biggest questions and helps us find God's solutions to life's struggles. Learn the power of living by God's grace and for His glory. Experience the joy of forgiveness and freedom found in Jesus Christ alone. If you are on a search for freedom, you will love being part of this conversation. Subscribe, and enjoy the show!
Lessons for Life with James Long, Jr.
Understanding God's Grace: Beyond Performance and Striving
But understanding grace is just the beginning. Let's talk about gratitude as a potent response to such a divine gift. We'll explore how to genuinely honor this gift not with guilt, but with heartfelt appreciation, by spreading messages of grace and hope across platforms like blogs, YouTube, and Facebook. Introducing the I3A approach—issue, aim, adapt, and apply—as a tool for personal growth, we aim to equip you with practical steps for sharing insights and living out transformative grace. Our conversation wraps up with a sincere prayer for blessings, urging us to continually remember and share the Lord's incredible work in our lives. Don't miss the opportunity to have your life—and those around you—changed by God's amazing grace.
ABOUT JAMES AND LESSONS FOR LIFE
Are you longing to find answers to the deeper issues of life? Join Dr. James Long, Jr., a pastor, counselor, and university professor with over 30 years of experience. Hear James as he tackles some of life’s biggest questions and helps us find God’s solutions to life’s struggles. Learn the power of living by God’s grace and for His glory. Experience the joy of forgiveness and freedom found in Jesus Christ alone. If you are in search of freedom, you will love being part of this conversation. Subscribe, and enjoy the show!
Links
Website – https://jameslongjr.org/
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Apple Podcast – https://jameslongjr.org/applepodcast
Google Podcast – https://jameslongjr.org/googlepodcast
Hey everyone, it's James Long and welcome. Okay, I'm gonna share this blog that I just did this morning. You should be able to see this on our blog site and on our Facebook page. It is based on a quote by one of my favorite authors, jerry Bridges, and he said this your worst days are never so bad that you're beyond the reach of God's grace, and your best days are never so good that you're beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you're beyond the need of God's grace. And I don't know about you, but I found this verse, or this quote, so resonating with me.
Speaker 1:I found for years I lived on what I would call a good day bad day cycle. Have you ever been there? So what would happen is, if I had my devotions, if I wasn't sinning in any overt way, if I made really good or godly decisions, I actually thought that I had more of God's favor and that he enjoyed me more. And then I would look and I would have a bad day, maybe a bad day where I was sharp with my words, I missed my prayer time, I was selfish in my attitudes and I felt as though I had forfeited the love of God. I wonder how many of you have ever felt that way. What happens is that this toxic mindset leads to a cycle of striving and shame, and so we are constantly striving.
Speaker 1:And he actually talked about in his book the Discipline of Grace. He talked about being on a performance treadmill and that flawed thinking got me thinking that my acceptance before God was based on my performance. So when my performance was good, god accepted me, and when my performance was bad, god didn't. And so on my worst days, I felt that I was banished, banished from God, like put into the doghouse, and felt like he was constantly disappointed in me and maybe you feel that way as well. And what it did was this that God was so disappointed in me and so discouraged with me and didn't actually love me discouraged with me and didn't actually love me.
Speaker 1:And what Jesus became for me when I started to realize this, it was because he was more of this gracious person than I ever could ever imagine. He understood my need, and I understood my need now more and more, and then I recognized that it was God's law that demanded perfect righteousness not a righteousness that I could ever achieve and that I was standing not in my righteousness, but in the righteousness of Christ, and that Jesus lived the life that I could no longer live, and he died the death that I deserved See, when I could start to understand that it was all about Jesus. It was not about me that my relationship with God was not this up-and-down roller coaster. It was not about me that my relationship with God was not this up and down roller coaster, was on the settled work of the cross, the empty tomb, the resurrected Savior and the ascended Savior. That became such a huge foundation for me and it led me to these four life-transforming truths.
Speaker 1:One God's love is rooted in Christ, not my performance, not our performance. I need you to hear that. That's why, in Romans 8.1, it could say no, there is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus. We are not condemned. We're not under guilt. We're not under condemnation. We're not shackled any longer, ultimately, by sin. Yes, we still sin, but we are free from the condemning nature of sin. We're free from the wrath of God that was poured out on the person and work of Christ on the cross. So God's love is rooted for us not in our performance or up and down performance, but in Christ.
Speaker 1:The second revelation is this it's grace is not a concept, but a person. I think what I oftentimes did was I tended to believe that grace was all about what I needed to do, or it was just this principle, and it was more than that. It's about a person. Grace is found in the personal work of Christ. Look at this verse here in 2 Corinthians, for you know that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor so that you, by his poverty, might become rich. That's another thing about our website. So I love this hyperlink opportunity where you see a verse and you could just hyperlink over to it and you can read it right there as well. So God's love is rooted in Christ, not our performance.
Speaker 1:Second, grace is not a concept, but a person. Third, grace frees us from earning but empowers our effort. This is important. Grace frees us from earning but empowers our effort. This is important. Grace frees us from trying to earn our salvation. I don't earn God's favor, because that was done for us in Christ in Ephesians 2. For by grace you've been saved through faith, and this, not of your own doing, it is a gift of God. So that is that God gives us grace and he gives us the grace to stand. We don't earn that, but that doesn't mean that we stop our pursuit. It fuels our pursuit. Jesus Christ gives us the power. He lives in us.
Speaker 1:In Galatians, chapter two, verse 20. It says I've been crucified with Christ and I no longer live. But Christ lives in me and the life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me. Or here, in Philippians, chapter 2, it says Therefore, my beloved, as you've always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. So God's grace frees us from trying to earn it by that up and down performance, but it empowers us to live a righteous life.
Speaker 1:And then, fourth, god's grace transforms, not excuses. True grace doesn't lead to laziness and it doesn't lead to license the two extremes laziness where you're doing nothing, or license where you're doing whatever you want without thinking about God's standard. What it does is it compels us to holiness. And in 2 Corinthians 3, verse 18, it says this. It says we with unveiled faces. Behold in the glass, here we go, unveiled faces beholding the glory of the Lord are transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit, and what that verse is basically saying is that God is doing a transformative work in your life, that the Holy Spirit comes in you. He transforms you by the word to look more and more like Christ, step by step, day by day. That's what we'll call sanctification. Sanctification is the process where we are made more holy. Practically, justification is the doctrine where God declares you righteous, even though we're still sinners. He declares you righteous not because of your work, but because of Christ's work that he applies or credits to your account. And sanctification is a process by which we actually grow in holiness.
Speaker 1:So when Bridges was saying that your worst days are never so bad that you're beyond the need of God's grace or the reach of God's grace, and your best days are never so good that you're beyond the need of God's grace, what he was saying is that on your worst day, you are never beyond the grace of God, because God's grace is always amazing. His grace is greater than all our sins. But even on your best days, don't think that you're doing this on your own. You're never beyond the need of God's grace. That was one of these powerful quotes that have revolutionized my walk in life. So you'll see the rest of the blog post here. I want you to know that God's love is stronger than your worst day and deeper than your darkest failures. So just remind yourself of that. Let that so deeply enrich your life.
Speaker 1:Usually, with my blogs, I will give you some reflection or application questions, just questions to think about, like this one grace in your life. How does the truth that God's love is rooted in Christ, not your performance, challenge or encourage you? I really want you to take time. Journals are really important. I want you to take time to grab a journal and to open it up and to write in there. Take time to prayerfully go through these kind of questions the good day bad day mentality. In what ways have you fallen into the good day bad day mentality and how can understanding God's grace help you break free from this mindset? It's another one of those self-confronting ways, self-reflecting ways, letting the Holy Spirit open your heart as you open the Word and start to look at these areas. Maybe they're areas that you need to confess and ask God's forgiveness for Seeing Christ as your substitute.
Speaker 1:Reflect on how Jesus' obedience and sacrifice have changed your relationship with God, and how does this truth impact the way you approach your worst days. What are the ways that just understanding what Christ has done for you? He is your substitute, he stood in your place. He took God's wrath for your sins. How does that transform your life? His obedience becomes your obedience. That God actually looks at you and says you have a perfect record in my eyes. That's where justification comes in. And it's not your perfect record. It's your perfect record through the person and work of Christ. Grace frees us from earning, but empowers our effort. What is one area of your life where you need to shift from striving to resting in God's grace and pursuing holiness? Thriving to resting in God's grace and pursuing holiness it's another great question. And then how about this one? How does the transforming power of grace motivate you to pursue holiness, not out of guilt, but out of gratitude and love?
Speaker 1:I was thinking about a person who's a fire person and they go into a burning building building and somebody is maybe dead or unconscious and they can't get out on their own. And so that person goes in there and pulls them out of the building. And then what they do is they pump air into their lungs and they pump into their chest, pump their chest, and this person comes back to life. And what is it that the person does? The person that has been rescued? That person didn't make the choice to come out of there, but now the choice was made for them, as the fireman went in there and pulled them out of the fire and brought them back to life. And so what does the person do who was rescued? They are so thankful. There's such gratitude. They follow that person. They say I'll do whatever you want, I'll serve you. I mean, they almost become part of the family because this person has done this amazing thing.
Speaker 1:And if that is just one human being to another, what would it be if the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords has come here to rescue you and me? What can we do? Out of, not of guilt, but out of gratitude and love for what he has done for us? He has given us this amazing gift and out of gratitude and love for what he has done for us. He has given us this amazing gift and what can we do to serve him? And the last question I ask is who in your life needs to hear this message of God's grace and how can you share this hope with them? This week One, you can point them to this blog. You can share this blog right there with them. I've also told you about our YouTube channel, our Facebook channel.
Speaker 1:There are ways, maybe some of the verses that are here, maybe it's just sharing with them the quote. I honestly believe that God works in us, to work through us, and if you remember the I3A approach we talked about, issue aim, adapt and apply. This apply section is not only about sharing, you know, stabilizing your life and sustaining the changes, but the second piece of it is getting support, getting accountability in your life. But the third piece is to share what you've learned, and so I would encourage you to do that. Okay, and just once again, just tell you how thankful I am that you're part of our community.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for joining us, and I pray that the Lord would richly bless you. So let me pray for you all. So, Lord, bless and keep us, make your face to shine upon us and be gracious to us. Lift up your countenance upon us and grant us peace. Remind us of all that you've done to work in us and through us, bring glory, honor and majesty to your name. Through us, lord, in Jesus' name, we pray Amen. So once again, so thankful that you're here with us. Be blessed, take care everyone.
