Charisa Stories

Tag: righteousness

  • DIY is bad theology

    Joni and I watch a lot of HGTV shows together. I love how they take a house that is dysfunctional and ugly and make it useful and beautiful. The process is intriguing. 

    Identity the problem. Come up with a new plan. Demo the old stuff. Rebuild with hard work. 

    Results? Amazing. 

    Too often we take that process and convert it into a do-it-yourself project to grow as followers of Jesus. The results? Not so amazing.

    I tried executing the DIY blueprint over and over. 

    I am dysfunctional. Check. I have identified the problem. I believe God has a plan for my life. Check. 

    Now I need to rebuild my spiritual dwelling place. This is where I veered off the Biblical script. I thought the self-demolition of my sinful behaviors and personal remodeling of my life would be based on my hard work.

    Bad plan. Jesus doesn’t remodel a messed up structure. He builds a completely new one on the day the contract is signed.

    ”So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away – look, what is new has come!“ (2 Corinthians5:17, NET)

    Not recreated. A NEW creation. We are not remodeled. Jesus came to create a brand new structure. And that new house is built on the firm foundation of Jesus.

    Honestly, I am not sure if I didn’t understood that process or just couldn’t trust it. I tried self-demolition of my fleshly behaviors. It seemed to work for a bit. But as I returned to my DIY rebuild there were new walls of wrong actions and bad motive structures that needed removing. It felt like every time I reviewed my spiritual house there was more junk to be dealt with. This DIY show went on for season after season.

    I kept thinking if I put the right plan in place and worked diligently I would see a beautiful improvement in my spiritual house.

    On the sidelines the enemy told me I would not be having these problems if I would;

    • Read God’s Word more faithfully
    • Pray more fervently
    • Love and serve others more consistently
    • Tell others about Jesus
    • Give more to the church

    All of those things on that list are good and valuable. But that list is not what makes you righteous. You are righteous because of Christ. 

    Period. 

    When you trust that and believe that you have a new identity as a new creation then the list above becomes a grateful desire and not a begrudging obligation to try and be better. All of the guilt and shame and sin that used to define you is no longer true. That old house is demolished. You are a new structure. New life has begun. 

    My life was changed over four decades ago when I decided to trust Jesus as my Lord and Savior. It took me way too long to understand that I was completely remade as a new creation at that very moment. I spent many frustrating years trying to fix something that Jesus had already fixed. My life was completely revamped when I began to fully understand who I am in Christ and that I just need to live my life daily trusting in His grace and love.  

    My DIY days are over. Now my desire is build on the foundation of Jesus and decorate my spiritual home with truth, love, and grace. 

    Remind yourself daily who you are. You are a new creation when you trusted in the finished work of Jesus. Your sin was completely demoed on the Cross. God has delivered righteousness to that new structure on day one. Your yard sign says you are a saint. I know. Your neighbors might be surprised but they don’t see what God sees. Jesus has built a new life.

    My job became so much better. Live joyfully and without condemnation. Trust His new creation and enjoy the beauty of forgiveness and grace. I can’t do it myself.


  • The Most Dangerous Theft of All?

    The Most Dangerous Theft of All?

    Identity theft is a huge problem. It is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States and recent stats suggest that as many as 15 million cases occurred in the past year. The rise of identity theft has produced a number of companies that protect you from criminals that might steal your good name and credit rating. A few years ago one of my card numbers was compromised and some low life was merrily buying electronic gear on my tab in Malaysia. Fortunately that was fairly easily resolved since I could prove I was safely hunkered down in North Texas when the purchases were made.

    It occurred to me that another identity theft occurs in the lives of Christians all the time and there seems to be very little uproar about it. I pondered if I could start a company to protect followers of Jesus from this serious and sometimes tragic crime. The crime is Christian identity theft. Any follower of Jesus has the potential to fall victim. The target of this scam is the truth found in the Second Letter to the Church at Corinth.

    This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (2nd Corinthians, 5:17)

    Because of Christ you have a new identity. You are righteous because of Him and not because of trying to do more right “stuff”. You are a saint and there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. It is a liberating and joyous message. But there is a problem. Satan hates that message of hope and change. And so he goes about trying to “steal’ our identity in Christ. I am afraid we make it all too easy because we find it difficult to really trust that we are changed. When we fail the old messages are instantly cued and start playing loudly.

    You will never change.
    You always do that.
    I can’t believe you did that again.
    What is wrong with you?
    And then you start blaming yourself and thinking you would not be having these problems if you were (pick one or more):

    1. Reading God’s Word more faithfully
    2. Praying more fervently
    3. Loving and serving others more consistently
    4. Telling others about Jesus
    5. Giving more time or money to the church

    All of those things on that list are good and valuable. But that list is not what makes you righteous. You are righteous because of Christ. Period. When you trust that and believe that you have a new identity then the list above becomes a grateful desire and not a begrudging obligation to try and be better. All of the guilt and shame and sin that used to define you is no longer true. That old life is gone. You are a new creation. New life has begun. All of those accusations that Satan (and others who are quite happy to help) hurl your way are no longer true about you.

    My life was changed over 50 years ago when I decided to trust Jesus as my Lord and Savior. It has just been in the past twelve years that I have begun to fully understand who I am in Christ and that I live my life daily in grace. The ministry Trueface changed my view on identity and this statement from my friend John Lynch rocked my world.

    If you are a Christian, God is not interested in changing you. That has already happened. You were changed when you trusted Christ. You were imputed with His righteousness. Your very spiritual DNA was rewritten and you became a new person. So the change happened right away. God is now interested in maturing you into what is already true about you.

    That has been my journey for the past several years. When the accuser starts I simply remind myself that those things are no longer true about me. I have a new identity. I focus on what is true about me.

    Protect your identity in Christ with even more fervor than you protect your financial identity. Look in the mirror each day and remind yourself of these things.

    My identity is in Christ.
    I am a new person.
    God sees me as a saint.
    I am righteous because of Christ.
    I am changed. That has already happened and that is what is true about me.


    A new life has begun. Live it joyfully and without condemnation. That is your identity. Guard it zealously.

  • Are You Doing Enough for Jesus?

    Are You Doing Enough for Jesus?

    I grew up in legalism. We were taught accurately that you were saved by grace. And then it went South. We then were taught that sanctification came through grit. You had to work hard to stay in good standing with God. I used to laugh at this bumper sticker.

    “Jesus is coming soon. Look busy.”

    The application of that theology was anything but amusing. To grow in faith I had to do more. Try harder. Pray more. Read the Bible more. Have more devotional time. Stay busy for God and you will grow in faith. All of those things are good when properly utilized. But there is a problem in self-effort as your plan for sanctification. Nowhere in Scripture will you find this command.

    Be busy and know that I am God.

    Our busyness does not please God. Our faith pleases Him. We can’t have faith and trust in someone we are too busy to know intimately. David wrote this timeless truth in Psalm 46.


    Be still, and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)

    Growing in faith is not about scurrying about to do more for Jesus. We are saved by grace and we grow more like Jesus by abiding in His grace.

    My personal belief is that one of the biggest and most damaging mistakes that the church makes with new believers is not teaching clearly and continually what happens when you put your faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. It seems that we too often get young Christians immediately into studies and activities. We subtly (or in my own experience, not so subtly) program them to believe that growth is about doing more right things. That righteousness somehow requires busyness for Jesus. We imply that change can only happen when you are trying hard and being disciplined for God.

    The truth is that a dramatic change has already happened when you make that faith commitment to follow Jesus. Let’s just hit the highlights. Scripture tells you that you now have a new identity. You are literally a new creation. You have imputed righteousness of Christ. That is a nice theological term that simply means that God sees you as righteous because of your relationship with Jesus. That’s it. Nothing you have done or ever will do earns that righteousness. It is a gift of grace.

    You have everything you need to grow in Christ at the moment you put your faith in Him. Yet I spent years looking for the keys to growing in faith. Finally I realized I had the keys in my pocket from day one. I was changed completely when I trusted Christ. The trick is living out of that truth. Instead of feeling shame when I fall short I now see a different picture.

    I see Jesus putting His arm around me and explaining that I have been changed. I see Him telling me that my sins are completely forgiven. I see Him explaining to me that all of those things that used to be true about me are no longer true. That no matter what the Accuser might say those things are dead and buried at the Cross. I see Jesus telling me that I have the Holy Spirit to comfort me and provide an unshakeable source of strength. That I don’t have to grit my teeth and try harder to win favor and please Him. That sin does not have power over me anymore. That if I trust Him and let God love me I will please Him. My faith and trust is what pleases Him.


    So let’s disabuse ourselves today of the notion that busyness is somehow related to godliness. My growth happens when I live out of what Jesus has already done instead of worrying about what I need to do to earn His favor. I think that is why Jesus can say this in the Gospel of Matthew.

    “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30, NLT)

    That is my prayer for today. To let Jesus teach me with gentleness. To learn from His humility. And to find rest in Him.

  • What Triggered Jesus?

    What Triggered Jesus?

    I am fascinated and more than a little convicted when I look at the behaviors that caused Jesus to react with anger or harsh words. Let’s first look at a few examples that prompted grace and not condemnation.

    A woman caught in adultery is dragged before Jesus with the demand that he condone the law that she should be killed for her sin. His reaction? Jesus knelt down, wrote in the sand, and challenged the persons without any sin to hurl the first rock.

    When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said.
    And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” (John 8, NLT)

    Jesus had compassion on a person who was deeply shamed and in need of forgiveness for sin. He did not excuse her transgression. He commanded her to go and change her behavior but He did not condemn or lecture.

    Story after story was told of people chasing after Jesus to hear His teaching and seek His healing in word and touch. One example of an egregious attempt to get His attention is told in Luke 5. Jesus was teaching to a packed house when a bizarre interruption occurred.

    Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus, but they couldn’t reach him because of the crowd. So they went up to the roof and took off some tiles. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

    I imagine my response would be something along these lines. “What in the Sam Hill are you doing? Can’t you wait until we take a break?” Jesus saw that they were not selfishly trying to jump the line. He saw their hearts.

    Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.”

    He commanded the man to pick up his mat and go. Much to the amazement of the witnesses the paralyzed man did exactly that.

    Time after time Jesus was harangued to heal someone when He was exhausted. He never responded in frustration.
    He dined with people who clearly violated His moral teachings. He recruited a tax collector who had betrayed and financially oppressed his own people. He allowed a woman of questionable reputation to anoint His feet with perfume. He violated every cultural standard by talking to and sharing the hope of salvation with a woman who had lived with multiple men. These acts brought condemnation from the religious leaders who saw religion as performance based keeping of rules.

    Jesus did not recoil from sin and demand groveling repentance before the person was worthy to win forgiveness. He looked on the heart of the person in sin and responded with healing grace.

    But one sin did trigger Jesus on a consistent basis and I need to take note and examine my own heart. The most harsh words from Jesus were usually directed at religious hypocrites. We have no shortage of hypocrisy in our churches and in our culture today.

    The word hypocrite comes from the Greek word hyprokrites, meaning one who plays a part, an actor. Probably no word is more destructively used in describing Christians than hypocrite. André Gide once defined a true hypocrite as the “one who ceases to perceive his deception, the one who lies with sincerity.”

    My first instinct when a Christian leader engages in inappropriate behavior is to pull out my hypocrite hammer to smite them. My first reaction should be to ask God to shine a light in my own dark places to see if a similar lack of discernment lives in my heart. The truth is that response is not a given.

    One of Christ’s severest rebukes concerned the hypocrisy of the Pharisees (Matthew 6). These religious leaders liked to be seen and heard when praying, recognized when giving, and pitied when fasting. Had the Jerusalem Broadcasting Network been on the air, you just know that some slick-haired Pharisees would have hosted the prime-time programs.

    Today the church condemns those who live immoral lives while we churchgoers too often engage in gossip and selfishness and bigotry. The unchurched stand by in amazed, bemused, cynical, or angry observance of our hypocrisy. And they lose respect for our message.

    Ironically the people most uncomfortable around Jesus were the religious, the churchgoers as it were.

    “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too. 

    “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness. (All texts from NLT)

    Is it any wonder that Jesus was so reviled by the religious establishment? Jesus came to fulfill the law and provide a way for me (and you) to be reconciled to God. Jesus provides the opportunity for a relationship with God through faith and grace. The Pharisees, like many of the religious leaders that our culture criticizes, controlled by demanding legalistic works and by fear of punishment. 

    So why don’t the followers of Jesus communicate the grace of God more effectively? That is too often the heartbreaking shortcoming of the church. 

    Tim Keller writes brilliantly about how we confuse righteousness with moralism.

    “Sin and evil are self-centeredness and pride that lead to oppression against others, but there are two forms of this. One form is being very bad and breaking all the rules, and the other form is being very good and keeping all the rules and becoming self-righteous.”

    My righteous can only be because of Christ. I am sobered that Jesus was consistently triggered by hypocrisy. If I am going to be a light to others I need to focus on my heart and allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate my areas of hypocrisy. I don’t want to just look good on the outside. I want my heart to be clean by the redeeming power of God’s gift of redemptive grace.

  • Who (or What) Are You Serving?

    Who (or What) Are You Serving?

    Recent news headlines and Old Testament daily readings generated today’s musing. I read the story of the Israelite people turning again and again from the God who had faithfully provided for and protected them. They decided to take control and follow man-made gods and worthless idols. I immediately flexed my judgement muscle and wondered how they could be so foolish? Then a quite voice in my head said “not so fast my child”.

    Followers of Jesus in this country have been blessed with freedom of worship and expression for decades with very little push back. That is changing and I fear we are reacting a lot like the Israelite people did in the desert. We want to take control. We are prone to take our eyes off of God and put our hope in other places. Nothing that is happening is a surprise to our Sovereign God. His plan for mankind will be accomplished and He is our only reliable hope for the future. Hear me out. I am not saying we shouldn’t be active and concerned citizens who love the land God has given us. I am saying we must do those things through the lens of God’s Word. We must respond while heeding His commands for how His children should behave when we represent Him.

    I thought about some seriously head and heart messing stuff I have been reading from Tim Keller. Keller wrote a thought provoking definition of idolatry and how we can substitute even good things for God.

    “Sin is building your life and meaning on anything, even a very good thing, more than on God. Whatever we build our life on will drive us and enslave us. Sin is primarily idolatry.” (Tim Keller, “Talking About Idolatry in a Postmodern Age,” www.thegospelcoalition.org)

    That is disturbing for a guy who was taught from childhood that sin is simply a list to check off to validate my righteousness. That list contained but was not limited to movies, liquor, cigarettes, dancing, shacking up, long hair and rock and roll. I thought I was doing pretty well on the idolatry commandment.

    Tim Keller’s definition of sin takes all of the fun out of self-righteous comparison and judging. Idolatry is building your life on anything more that God. I once built my own political idols. I am embarrassed to confess that for a season of my life it consumed my heart and thoughts more than God. It doesn’t matter if the idol was an elephant or a donkey. The sin was placing my hope in the ideology of a political system and not on the foundational truth of God. It is no surprise that it was a time of frustration, anxiousness, and anger. It is also not a surprise that God seemed distant.

    My grace epiphany changed me. I realized I could not place my faith or hope in fallible people. History shows us that the politics of man change constantly. Only God is unchanging, loving, and faithful. From that day on I decided I would not forget where my hope is found. I determined to pray that no matter how much I might be anxious about something my God can use events for His plan. And that means praying for those who I disagree with and not making them my enemies. God is in control. How could you have seen how God would use the evil actions of Joseph’s brothers when they sold him into slavery? His brothers were convinced that Joseph would exact revenge. His response of grace and understanding of God’s sovereignty is a blueprint for all of us.

    “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. (Genesis 50:19-20, NLT)

    Where I place my hope will define my actions and reactions. I wrote this in Waking Up Slowly. My worth is not in always being right or being the smartest guy in the room. My worth is defined by being a child of God and a friend of Jesus. When I keep my eyes on Jesus, I maintain a better perspective on every area of my life. It is a hard truth to admit that we often worship the things of this world because they really can be good things. God in His loving grace does not desire for us to be deprived of good and pleasurable things. He simply wants us to place them in proper order and to understand they are sources of happiness and not the source of joy. Later in the passage Paul gives one key to avoiding idolatry and where our identity should be found.

    Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him. In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and He lives in all of us. (Colossians 3:10-11, NLT)

    Your assignment is to take a moment to read verses 12-17 to see what the results of this action might look like. There will not be a quiz.

    Another key is to remember a campfire song from the Jesus movement that was, to borrow the approach of Law and Order, “ripped” from the Gospel of Matthew. (Matthew 6:33)

    Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;
    and all these things shall be added unto you.
    Allelu, alleluia

    Everybody is going to serve somebody or something. Who (or what) are you centering your life on today? There is no other hope that I can trust like hope in Jesus.

  • Ready for the Spiritual Battle? You can be.

    Ready for the Spiritual Battle? You can be.

    This week I taught a lesson from Ephesians about spiritual battles. You likely know the passage about putting on the armor of God.

    A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

    Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
    (Ephesians 6:10-18, NLT)

    The idea of a cosmic heavenly battle is daunting and a more than a little scary. The good news is that God, as usual, has prepared a plan for us. The plan involves consciously and consistently putting on the armor of God representing the list below.

    • Truth.
    • The righteousness of Christ.
    • The peace that comes from the Good News of the Gospel.
    • Faith.
    • Salvation.
    • And the powerful Word of God.

    When we put on those things we are armed for battle. A couple of things really stood out as I studied this familiar passage.

    I have always focused on the battle part and for me that meant a scene from Bravehart. You put on the armor and then you charge bravely to defeat the enemy. That is not what God says to do. What Paul tells us to do is counterintuitive. He tells us to stand.

    Ephesians 6:11…stand firm.

    Ephesians 6:13…Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.

    Ephesians 6:14…Stand your ground.

    That really hit me. Satan spends so much time telling us we are not doing enough or not doing it well enough. We have been taught or we believe we have been taught that spiritual maturity is measured by activity. Sometimes we are told to follow. Sometimes to pursue. Sometimes to flee. Again, activity and works are critical to the functioning of the body of Christ but this time there is a new strategy. Paul is saying the battle is already won and we just need to stand. Don’t go all Bravehart and charge. Stand your ground against the enemy.

    Stand.

    You don’t have to charge into a conflict that has been decided. We are conquerors because of Christ. Jesus has already done what we don’t have the strength to do and we don’t have to charge forward with a spiritual suicide mission. Jesus has already won the victory.

    Paul knew a lot about the strategy and techniques of Roman soldiers. He might well have been chained to one as he wrote this. Roman military historian Vegetius writes that the smallest Roman security force was a unit made up of 16 men spaced evenly over 36 square yards. Each soldier had about 6 square feet to defend. The soldiers focused only on that six foot square and not allowing a single enemy soldier to enter their territory.

    I love this image. This principle was so helpful for me when I look at the spiritual battles in the world. It is so overwhelming to look at all of the unrest, disunity, and lies in the world. I don’t have to do be responsible for all of that. I have to defend my six square feet of spiritual influence. Stand my ground. Don’t worry about the entire battlefield. Focus on my assignment. I am responsible for my six square feet of family, friends, workmates, social media interactions, and treatment of others.

    It is not me against the forces of evil. That is God’s battle. He has equipped me to stand firm and defend my space with confidence and boldness. I am confident and secure in His plan.

  • What Do Real Christians Do?

    What Do Real Christians Do?

    Recently I passed a highway billboard with this message.

    Real Christians Obey Jesus.

    I get the intent of the message. Too many folks leave their Sunday Lesson in the parking lot as they drive to lunch. But exactly what does it mean to be a “real Christian”? We subtly (or in my own experience, not so subtly) program Christians to believe that growth is about doing more right things. That righteousness somehow involves my extraordinary efforts for Jesus. We imply that change can only happen when you are trying hard and being disciplined for God. The truth is that a dramatic change has already happened when you make that faith commitment to follow Jesus. I think one of the biggest problems in the church is that we don’t teach clearly and repetitively what happens at the very moment we put our faith in the finished work of Christ.

    Let’s just hit the highlights. Scripture tells you that at that moment you have a new identity. You are literally a new creation. God sees you as righteous because of your relationship with Jesus. That’s it. Nothing you have done or ever will do earns that righteousness. It is a gift of grace. You are a saint. Redeemed. Adopted as His beloved child. Right then. Before you do a single thing. You are changed completely when you trust Christ.

    The trick is living out of that truth. Instead of exhausting effort to try and change I now see Jesus putting His arm around me and explaining that I have been already been changed. I see Him telling me that my sins are completely forgiven. I see Him explaining to me that all of those things that used to be true about me are no longer true. That no matter what the Accuser might say those things are dead and buried at the Cross. I don’t have to grit my teeth and try harder to win favor and please Him. That sin does not have power over me anymore.  That if I trust Him and let God love me I will please Him. My faith and trust is what pleases Him according to God’s Word.

    All I need to do to be a “real” Christian is to believe and trust that. I have been a follower of Jesus for five decades. During stretches of that journey you would have been hard pressed to see if that my faith was real. What potential judges would not have seen was that Jesus was slowly and patiently working in my life to make me more in His image. I am a very different person today than I was in my early walk. It was never helpful to have someone point out that “if I was a real Christian” I would be doing this or that. What did help was having grace filled believers come along side me, believe in me, and help me find the gift of grace that Jesus offers. Those are the people you remember with gratitude and joy.

    Jesus talks about how we limit our ability to have peace when we don’t allow Him to provide us with strength. He didn’t mention a harness of legalism and works. He talked instead about a yoke, and that His yoke is “easy.”

    Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”  (Matthew 11:28-30, NLT)

    Jesus wants you to don His yoke. Trust Him. Have faith. He has done the heavy lifting already. Rest in Him.  Learn how to be humble and gentle in spirit. Quit trying so dadgum (that may not be in the Greek) hard and serve out of grateful love. Jesus tells us when we believe those truths, our burdens are light. The walk with Him is easy and natural.

    Being a “real” Christian means beginning each day with a profound sense of gratitude that Jesus offered me this gift of grace. A “real” Christian would never, never, never take advantage of a God who loves you so much that such a sacrifice was made.

    I do believe a “real” Christian obeys Jesus but it is so critical to clarify why and how. I obey out of gratitude for His grace. I love Him because He loved me first. Jesus loved me when I was unlovable. Forgave me when I was unforgivable. How hard is it to follow and obey someone who loves you like that? Not hard at all. And that is real.

    Excerpts from Waking Up Slowly