Charisa Stories

Tag: grace

  • Division Impacts The Power Of The Gospel

    My head explodes when I allow myself to wade into the political discourse between followers of Jesus Christ on Facebook, X, and other social media. There are important cultural issues that Christians need to prayerfully and gracefully seek God’s wisdom to address. What I read is rarely graceful and that makes me wonder how prayerful the messengers have been before hitting the send button. What gives you the right to judge the faith status of another believer because you disagree with them? I was wrong about many political things in my life but I did believe in Jesus (in spite of what some critics thought) and God patiently changed my heart.

    Because of the nature of social media a topic that should be thoughtfully debated instead becomes an us versus them. I can assure you that no one’s mind is changed by a name calling rant. If fact, that person is more likely to dig in even deeper to what may be incorrect opinions because of your unkind comments.

    These judgements of motives and personal attacks are so damaging to the message of grace that I hold so dear. Sometimes I try to imagine myself as a skeptical seeker looking to explore this Christianity thing. I am pretty sure if I stumbled on some of these mean-spirited threads I would run straight for the secular hills.

    The irony of this need to “win” the argument at the expense of Christian charity and love may be one more profoundly effective tactic of the enemy. The moment the Church is divided by culture instead of united in Christ is the moment our light for the message of the Gospel dims. Paul noted that God’s sovereignty can take any proclamation of the Gospel and use it for His glory.

    “It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. 16 They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News. 17 Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me. 18 But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice.” (Phillipians 1:15-18)

    I hope that most followers of Jesus wish to communicate the incredibly liberating forgiveness of the Gospel. I hope that most of us wish to be accurate in that communication. But I also hope that most of us wish to be gracious, kind, loving, and thoughtful toward all in the body who desire to celebrate Jesus. 

    When asked what the most important commandment was Jesus replied without hesitation.

    “And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.”

    And he added a second part…”Be accurate and angrily make sure others are accurate at all costs.”

    Hardly.

    His convicting command is well known.

    “The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these.” 

    Don’t hijack my point. Accuracy is important but you cannot love your neighbor as yourself by condescension, assigning of bad motives, and smug righteousness. 

    I wish followers of Jesus would proclaim what we are FOR more passionately than what we are against. What if we decided to spend all of our energy proclaiming that the Son of God came to earth as a human, lived a sinless life, was crucified as a sacrifice for my sin and yours and then was resurrected to show the ultimate victory over sin and death?

    What if we decided to be a little kinder, give a little more, serve a little more often, and commit to unity in our ranks?

    My concern is that the lack of unity is the single biggest problem in the universal church and, of course, in our individual fellowships. There is no more powerful community than a group of believers who live in unity. Nothing levels the playing field like genuinely following Jesus. 

    Famous preacher D.L. Moody had this warning. “I have never yet known the Spirit of God to work where the Lord’s people were divided.”

    The One that unites us is so much more important than the things that divide us. Can we commit to encountering others in grace based on our unity in Jesus Christ? 
    The choice is ours.

  • How Focused Time With God Enhances Spiritual Growth

    Every day I am gifted with 86,400 seconds of precious time. I cannot possibly use all of it wisely. But I can invest more of that daily gift into my relationships with God and others. I can’t draw interest on unused time to be used later.

    Time is far more valuable than the money we so doggedly pursue. I can lose all my money and make more later. But if I lose my time, it is gone forever. Solomon actually beat me to this message by about three thousand years, give or take. He decided that, all things considered, the best way to live is to enjoy the moment.

    “Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life.” (Ecclesiastes‬ ‭5‬:‭18‬ ‭NLT‬‬)


    Not to be maudlin, but that is the reality of this earthly existence. We don’t know if we have tomorrow or even the rest of today. Certainly we must be wise to plan and prepare for a long future. But we must also invest in now, in case that is all we are given. 

    Maybe the message that resonates the most for me is that we cannot receive postdated grace. We cannot order grace for the future. We receive grace in the now. Grace is God’s greatest gift of my being present with Him. When we are disconnected or distracted, we miss that blessing of real-time grace.

    If I had to write a one-sentence summary of what I learned on this odyssey, it would be very simple. Spend focused time with those you love and with your God. Speaker-writer Zig Ziglar wrote about spending time with loved ones. 

    “One of these days you will say either, ‘I wish I had,’ or ‘I’m glad I did.’”

    How heartbreaking would it be to find yourself at the end of this pilgrimage with the regret of “I wish I had” roiling in your soul? My heart’s desire is that I will gratefully say, “I’m glad I did.” If you want to give the very best present to your spouse, kids, friends, and God, the grace challenge is simple. 

    Be present.

    If a friend is suffering, you can show no greater love than to simply be there for him or her. Not offering great theological insight or stories of your own or other’s suffering. Just be present.

    When you talk to a friend, be present. Not looking around as if your friend is merely a temporary diversion before someone more compelling comes along. That is the best thing we can give to others. Nothing makes a person feel more valued than being fully present.

    And being fully present is the best worship we can give to God. We can sing and raise hands in worship to God, and that is good. We can talk about His love and forgiveness, and that is good. But nothing communicates our adoration for God more than being fully present with Him.

    The enemy will remind you over and over of all that needs to be done. He will remind you of past wounds and failures. It would be wise to remember something incredibly encouraging. Jesus has experienced exactly what you are going through right now. He was tempted in the desert by Satan. He was tired, hungry, and lonely. Jesus experienced the lies of the enemy and He conquered them with a simple strategy. Jesus focused on the Father and rebuked Satan with what? A powerful argument?

    Nope.

    Just

    Quoting Scripture was all that Jesus did to defeat the enemy. Satan has power, but it is limited. God has the authority, and Jesus used that power.

    My desire is to serve the Lord with single-heartedness. I cannot multitask and hope to be fully present with God. 

    Spiritual cynics might call quiet moments of presence with God and others unproductive time. I am learning that there is no more productive way we can spend our time. Everything that truly matters grows from that enriched soil of quiet presence in the Spirit.

    My heavenly Father is always present. I just need to show up for Him. That is the essence of spiritual growth for me. Just showing up in humility every day, seeking His presence.

    I will stumble in this journey to be present. I probably will need a refresher course often. But I am confident beyond confident of one truth that Paul wrote to the church at Philippi, which is true for you and me today.

    I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. (Philippians 1:6, NLT)

    One day I will wake up glorified in His eternal presence. I believe the epithet written on Ruth Graham’s tombstone will also describe my journey: “End of construction—thank you for your patience.”

  • Legalism Takes You Down A Lonely And Dead End Highway

    The start of my faith journey was mired in legalism. Starting down that rugged highway led me to years of sadness, tiredness, and performance bondage.

    I think that is why the song “Redeemed” recorded by Big Daddy Weave remains one of my favorite descriptions of what it means to understand the redemptive gift from Jesus. Lead singer Mike Weaver wrote Redeemed while feeling broken and inadequate despite recognizing God’s presence in his life. He said, “For as long as I can remember I have always never felt like I was enough.”

    I can so relate to the opening stanza of Redeemed.


    Seems like all I could see was the struggle
    Haunted by ghosts that lived in my past
    Bound up in shackles of all my failures
    Wondering how long is this gonna last…

    I remembered day after day of agonizing self-loathing because I kept failing. I did not understand the mercy of Jesus nor did I believe I could fall on His grace. I was taught that such an attitude showed a lack of obedience and a dependence on “cheap grace”. Somehow I missed that obvious scriptural message from Jesus to his followers because I was influenced by the preaching of shame. Mike Weaver wrote how Jesus responds when we surrender and finally listen to His message of grace.

    Then You look at this prisoner and say to me “son…Stop fighting a fight that’s already been won”

    I was released from that doctrinal prison after spending too many years not understanding the fight had already been won.

    Legalism takes the sweet Gospel of Jesus Christ and mixes in some “churchified” version of the law. Church by-laws can occupy equal footing with God’s Word. Righteousness is no longer about Christ but about right behavior as only they can define it. Legalism cherry picks verses that support behavioral control while conveniently ignoring dozens of verses about grace, forgiveness, kindness, love, gentleness and forbearance.

    Focusing on right behavior can make you moral and perhaps a good person. It does not make you righteous. Such focus is not much different (if at all) from an agnostic or sporadic church-goer who really tries hard to do right and moral things. Tim Keller wrote this provocative thought about legalism in his wonderful book “The Reason for God”.

    “The devil, if anything, prefers Pharisees—men and women who try to save themselves. They are more unhappy than either mature Christians or irreligious people, and they do a lot more spiritual damage.”

    I spent many long and frustrating years trying to do all the right things to be righteous. I got tired. I became discouraged. I reached the point of brokenness that allowed me turn over the keys to Christ. I reached the point where I no longer had to be right. I had reached the point where I didn’t want to wear a phony mask of holiness. I had reached the point where I was willing to trust God completely with everything about me. I had reached the point where I was ready for grace.

    The chorus from Redeemed lifts my heart in worship!

    I am redeemed, You set me free
    So I’ll shake off these heavy chains
    Wipe away every stain, now I’m not who I used to be
    I am redeemed, I’m redeemed

    If you are tired enough, discouraged enough, wounded enough, and ready to give up then I have a very odd statement to make.

    You are in a wonderful place.

    You are ready for grace.

    Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. (Romans 6, NLT)

    You are ready for change from the inside out. God is waiting for you to experience His grace. Legalism is a dead end street to misery. There is a better way to live.

    In freedom.

    In Christ.

    You are redeemed!

  • How Can Grace Change Our Faith Stat Sheet Completely?

    I lived for decades in the performance driven world of sports. We too often measured value not by character but by statistics like how many tackles for loss, field goal shooting percentage, or batting average. Character was a nice bonus but performance was king.

    I remembered a comment from former Northwestern University football coach Pat Fitzgerald about the impact of negative stats on a football player’s performance. Coaches often talk about the need to reduce “missed” tackles and they keep track of each miscue. Coach Fitzgerald had a different philosophy. His staff did not keep track of missed tackles at all. The staff evaluated each player by their effort even if it did not produce perfect results. His next comment stuck with me. “I don’t like to put negative results in their minds because you become what you think about.”

    It immediately hit me how profound that comment is for followers of Jesus. We tend to keep spiritual stats on failure. We beat ourselves up over “missed” opportunities. We fixate on what we have done instead of what Jesus has already done for us. We write our game plan to do better on the board.

    Don’t sin.
    Do better.
    Pray more.
    Study more Scripture.
    Be more forgiving.
    Less angry.
    More loving.

    And we try really, really hard to do all of those things. But the bad stats overwhelm and discourage us. We do sin. We don’t always forgive. We get angry. We don’t study or pray as much as we think we probably should. The net result is frustration and spiritual fatigue.

    I wrestled with idea of how we can deal with sin in my book Stay: Lessons My Dogs Taught Me about Life, Loss, and Grace. 

    In Hebrews the text tells us to “strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”

    Even though it sounds like a daunting and even impossible task, the author of Hebrews sums up how to do that in one powerful sentence: “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2, NLT).

    That is it.

    There is no other way to consistently live that life apart from keeping our eyes on Jesus.
    The same is true for me. When I keep my eyes on Jesus, I have the strength to be bold and the ability to produce fruit that is pleasing to God. When our rambunctious Labrador Maggie could not settle down, I told her to sit so she could focus on calming down and doing the right thing. When she stayed and regrouped, things went well for her. When my thought life and actions cannot settle down, I need the Holy Spirit to firmly but lovingly tell me to sit . . .stay . . . abide.

    Only then do I realize that I have turned my eyes away from Jesus. When I stay, I can focus on His peace, love, forgiveness, and grace, and have the ability to resist sin. If I am anxious, fearful, have doubts, or am sad, I need to sit, stay, and abide, looking at the One who initiates and perfects my faith.

    What a difference between that approach and what too many of us experience. We tend to address the sin first. Stop that! Quit! Do better! And by the way, Jesus loves you. Or worse, He will love you when you do better. Paul always took the grace exit instead. Remember who you are! You are saints! Beloved! Adopted! Redeemed! Those same truths are ours to claim as we keep our eyes on Jesus. When we quit fighting to get better and do that one simple thing, something amazing happens. We get better.

    We do become what we think about. It is always a pretty good game plan to think about Jesus. And His gift of grace eliminates our spiritual shortcoming stats. Thank you Lord!

  • Why Would You Want To Be A Troublesome Christian?

    Because of my career path in secular television I have a lot of people very dear to me who do not share my faith and hope in Jesus. Some are simply disinterested. Some think their good works will outweigh their bad deeds and they will be granted entry to Heaven. Some think that faith in God is a foolish pursuit that no intellectually honest person would consider. Some have witnessed horrible actions of people claiming to be Christians. Some have experienced harsh and legalistic religious types who make living a life of faith miserable and emotionally damaging. Some are pushed away by those who share sincere beliefs in a way that does not show the love of God. 

    Any combination of these factors can cause people to step away or not pursue what it means to follow Jesus. I get it. I have struggled with many of those things over my long journey of faith.

    Brennan Manning wrote this very convicting observation. “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” 

    It is easy to dismiss the hypocrite. No problem to ignore the angry and judgmental religious types. But before I came to faith I was troubled when I saw some Christians who displayed something different in their lives. I could not dismiss so readily the joy, peace, strength, courage, and love they modeled. They were “troublesome” Christians to me.  I could not ignore them because their lives were authentic and different (different good, not weird). 

    I wanted to be that kind of Christian. That is what any follower of Jesus should pray to become. Troublesome. When others look at your life they see kindness and grace when the circumstances call for anything but that response. That is troublesome to those observers. Or how about being a positive light when you are going through a difficult valley?
    Our spiritual season today is divisive because many in the church are losing focus on Jesus. You can be a “troublesome” Christian by listening to and loving those you disagree with. The truth must be presented through grace and love and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. There must be unity in Christ first and then we can pursue political reconciliation with the proper light to guide us.

    Another way to impact those around you is to love and serve without looking for anything in return. That is being a “troublesome” Christian by simply following the commandment of Jesus.

    “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
    ‭‭John‬ ‭13‬:‭34‬-‭35‬, NLT

    That was not a helpful suggestion. Jesus made that command the cornerstone of following Him and the powerful way to prove that to others. So that is my desire. To love others as I have been loved by Jesus and be a “troublesome” Christian to those who aren’t sure about following Him. You can Google yourself away from faith by looking to find people who claim to follow Jesus and have failed dramatically. The Enemy makes sure we find those people and then encourages us to focus on that. What the Enemy tries to hide are the millions of faithful and loving followers of Jesus who make a difference every day without any fanfare or credit. They can be troublesome to those who desire to dismiss Jesus. I encountered troublesome believers in my early season of doubt who caused me to examine why they were so different, loving, kind, and graceful. God used them to open my heart toward Him. I want to be a troublesome Christian that God can use for His glory. And I want every bit of the credit to go where it should go. 

    Jesus.

  • Recovering From Legalism Is A Challenge

    I was introduced to Christianity in a church that put a legalistic leash on my behavior. By strict rules they believed they could force me to live a holy life. You can imagine how that worked out for a teenager in the Sixties. Our denomination reminded me of characters from the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. We did not have the dreaded knights who said, “Ni” but we definitely had the dreaded congregants who said, “No.”

    I’m certain there were several volumes filled with things that were forbidden and, not surprisingly, most of them were man-made rules. Here is a sample platter of no-no’s I was asked to follow.

    NO movies. (Might have been in violation)
    NO drinking. (Too young so I got holiness points for this one)
    NO mixed swimming. (I kid you not)
    NO television. (The temptation of Mr Ed, The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction was too strong. Violation.)
    NO cards. (More holiness points)
    NO rock-and-roll music. (Definitely in violation)
    NO smoking. (Nailed this one)
    NO slacks for women.
    NO long hair for men. (Deduct holiness points)
    NO makeup for women.

    I remember asking my godly grandmother what she thought about the no makeup rule. She smiled and gave this memorable reply. “If the barn needs a coat of paint I think you should paint it.” She was my first dispenser of grace.

    It’s not surprising that it took me a long time to figure out freedom in Christ. Ironically, there are a few verses that strongly emphasized the word “no” in the New Testament that our moralists somehow overlooked. For example, this little “no” verse would have come in handy (capitalization and italics added for emphasis).

    There is NO condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. Romans 8:1-2, NLT

    That would have been a refreshing mist of grace to our parched flock. Or how about these “NO” verses?

    This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is NO fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:17-19, NIV

    “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” The second is this: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” There is NO commandment greater than these. Mark 12:30-31, NIV

    Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps NO record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 1 Corinthians 13:4-6, NLT

    I have been crucified with Christ and I NO longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing! Galatians 2:20-21, NIV

    That is a very different “no” list than the first one.

    NO condemnation.

    NO fear.

    NO commandment greater than to love God and your neighbor.

    NO record of wrongdoing when you love one another.

    NO longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.

    I can be holy because of Christ and not because of my anguished rule keeping. There is joy and freedom in that second list.

    NO kidding.

    Parts of this article excerpted from Stay: Lessons My Dogs Taught Me about Life, Loss, and Grace

  • Being A Light Of Love and Grace Can Help Change This Dark World

    I believe that God uses difficult circumstances to grow us in our faith. I will likely be canceled by some readers of this blog and that’s okay. Followers of Jesus need to focus on the life changing impact of the Gospel more than political rants. The lengthy political division in our nation has given us lots of opportunities to reevaluate priorities in our relationship with God and others. The frightening uncertainty of the past few years has also given followers of Jesus a chance to show how faith makes a difference in crisis. The results have been mixed. 

    I used to get angry and judgemental when those who identify as Christians didn’t live up to their title. Now I mainly feel sad at missed opportunities to show how Jesus makes a difference when we trust Him during trials. Christians should have a message of hope during this confusing and anxious season. Jesus followers should be demonstrating that trusting God gives peace and hope in dark times. A song by Thomas Rhett neatly summed up how Christians can be different in a good way. We are called to show a different path and a better way. 

    In a world full of hate, be a light
    When you do somebody wrong, make it right
    Don’t hide in the dark, you were born to shine
    In a world full of hate, be a light

    Jesus told His followers that we are to be a light to those around us.

    “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” (Matthew 5:14-16)

    I don’t know about you but those challenges from Jesus can feel daunting. Sometimes I don’t feel much like a light to the world. I feel more like the dimmest bulb in the Church Light Store. A quote from one of my favorite authors gave me hope.

    “Don’t shine so others can see you.  Shine so that through you, others can see Him.” ~C.S. Lewis

    For years I tried to patch the cracks with new disciplines and teeth gritting self-effort. Now I own each and every flaw and crack that allows the light of the Gospel into the dark corners of my soul. And when I am vulnerable to others they see that light shining right back through those same cracks of imperfection. And suddenly the command of Jesus is not so daunting because it has NOTHING to do with me. It is all about letting the light of the Gospel into my heart and sharing that light with others.

    “Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.””
    ‭‭John‬ ‭8‬:‭12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

    When I follow Jesus my good deeds flow out of gratitude and not begrudging obligation.

    Another of my favorite writers is 19th Century preacher Charles Spurgeon. He said this about the topic of light.

    “I would not give much for your religion unless it can be seen. Lamps do not talk, but they do shine.”

    Remember where your light comes from today and pray that you can be a light this week. Let your good deeds reflect the loving light of your Father. You might be amazed how much of a difference that can make. Way more than social media ranting.