Tag: light

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Characteristics of God: More Grace

I am, on my own, very slow to give grace to others, and even slower to give grace to myself. I could very easily slip into a spiral of regret, and have a few times. But giving grace is something that becomes much easier when I started to understand how much grace God willingly gives me, constantly. Denying grace towards myself keeps me stuck, blocking me from living in freedom. In surrendering to God’s grace, I can acknowledge that I did the best I could for what I knew and was capable of at the time.

Surrendering to the work of Jesus on the cross for me, and being sure and confident of His love, allows me to be more forgiving, loving, grace-full, and more fully myself. It has been the best possible decision for my life with the King. That decision needs to happen in my heart not just every new year, but every single new day. The best part is, God freely gives His grace to everyone. Jesus is enough, more than enough, to make up for our imperfections. He lends us His righteousness, His holiness, and His blood so that we, jars of clay (2 Corinthians 4:7), can approach the Father as His adopted sons and daughters. He loves us more than we can think or imagine! In Jesus, we have no more reasons to regret or live in shame. He provides freedom from these burdens because of His amazing, all-encompassing grace.

I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine

Isaiah prophesied about Jesus and what He would mean for us long before He was born. The grace of God nearly glimmers off the pages of Isaiah; today I’m focusing especially on chapters 41-43. God’s steadfast love is palpable in the prophet’s words, “fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). God’s promises are full of love and grace; in this verse He offers His presence, His strength, His help, and His righteousness—to us—to you and to me! To everyone that believes in Jesus, He not only claims us as His own, but He also calls Himself ours. We are beholden to Him, and He choses to make Himself beholden to us! Through faith in Jesus, we are adopted into the family of His chosen people, Israel (Isaiah 41:8; Ephesians 1:5).

How is this possible? Nothing is impossible with God, “...I [God] will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water” (Isaiah 41:18b). With God, everything can turn around, even when all seems lost or hopeless. I’ve seen it happen many times, with hearts being changed, with lives being saved, or with seemingly no way out of a bad situation, God can and does make a way, by His grace. The Bible is full of God’s promises to His people, evidences of His incredible grace.

God doesn’t give up on us.

His grace has no end. If you think you’re too far gone for God, you’re simply mistaken. God’s grace is always, always there for you. “Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: ‘I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness” (Isaiah 42:5-7). As we read here, God gave us breath, and our spirits, and the light of the world in Jesus. He has invested His whole heart into loving us all and making a way for us to thrive; by His grace He will never, ever give up on you.

With a new year ahead, it’s a great time to remember God’s will is to make all things new (Revelation 21:5), not because we are somehow “old” or not good enough as we are, but because that was His design for us from the beginning. We are to be “being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16), from the inside. Isaiah prophesied, ” ‘. . . Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.’ Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the end of the earth, . . .” (Isaiah 42:9-10a). God is interested in doing new things, and I’m excited to continue inviting God to renew, restore, and sanctify me, day by day. There is nothing you or I can do to earn that gift; the only response is to praise Him for it.

Even when we fail to love God, as Israel did, by failing to walk with Him and failing to obey Him (Isaiah 42:24), He is pleased to redeem us because of His possessive and caring love towards us. Isaiah continues, “But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you” . . . ‘ (Isaiah 43: 1-2). Did you catch it too? We are already redeemed, already claimed as His own. We are promised His presence and protection, even when the circumstances are as dire and serious as flood or flames.

The grace of God is protective and unique

When we know that the character of God is gracious to such a great level beyond understanding, it inspires the awe and wonder that He deserves. His grace is so great that He made us, chooses us, loves us, and calls us His. “I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior” (Isaiah 43:11). He stepped in when nothing and no one else could to save us from the destructiveness of sin in our world and in our hearts. God’s grace to deliver us is why we are able to have hope (2 Corinthians 1:10). “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins” (Isaiah 43:25). God doesn’t remember our sins. Do we?

We can let the shame and burdens go too; they aren’t for holding onto, they are for releasing and allowing God’s grace to cover. Let Him cover you in His love. Halleluiah for the opportunity God’s grace gives us! May 2026 be a year of praising and worshiping God, and may we be overflowing with gratitude and with the grace that God generously provides!

” . . .. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. . . .” (Isaiah 42:16c).

“‘You are my witnesses,’ declares the Lord, ‘and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me” . . .’ (Isaiah 43:10).

“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” (Isaiah 43:18-19).

Thank you for spending some of your time journeying with me. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to Life with the King, and like & follow the Facebook page; it truly helps me continue writing this blog. Grace and peace.

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Justice, Jesus, and the Human Heart

The shockwaves of the nation have hit my heart deeply. They have exposed the lurking darkness within each one of us. The ugliness has made clear that we’re not where we need to be. We’re not treating every human equally. We’re not loving our neighbors as ourselves.

2020 seems to have brought the perfect storm of tragedy, and I’m still reeling. I’m still processing. But I hope to start in this post to express the grief I’m feeling for and with my brothers and sisters, and to point to the hope Jesus provides us, even still. I willingly join with Christ, my brothers, and my sisters, in the suffering that comes with standing for both justice and mercy. It seems to me to be the only way to leave the darkness behind for good. 

“Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer” (2 Timothy 2:3-4). 

This has nothing to do with politics, and everything to do with people. Where there are people suffering, God is there. As God’s people we need to be there too. We will know and feel what His heart feels as His Spirit dwells within us. Walking with Jesus means walking not only outside of the affairs of the world, but also straight into the affairs of the heart. There is no place more earthly than the heart, and God is now allowing this battleground, where evil has long prevailed, to be stormed. While it is not our job to change others’ hearts, for only God can do that, it is our job to speak truth in love. Speaking truth in love is just, loving, and humble. 

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). 

After hundreds of years of His people in slavery, God called Moses to lead them out of their oppressive conditions and treatment in Egypt. I believe God is calling our country and the world to face the oppression inflicted upon one another, whether that’s physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, economically, opportunistically, or otherwise. All of it needs to be reexamined; all of it needs to be changed for the better. And we can do better because Jesus made a way for hearts to be changed, purified by His blood, and set on the good of all.

Jesus is the Way to love our neighbors as ourselves.

God said to Cain of the sin in his heart, “you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:7). 2000 years have passed since Jesus made a way to be set free from that sin. If we are free of it, why is it still lingering? Sin forms habits too. But habits can be broken. In fact, studies have shown that it takes only about 21 days to break most habits. The events of these past weeks have been a challenge to individually break the habit of seeing others as less than ourselves. 

We must make a new habit, that of loving others as ourselves. It is one of the two highest commands of God (Matthew 22:39). And He has made a Way for us to rule over our human tendency for sin and to love instead. He has made it possible, we must intentionally break the ingrained habit and make it our reality. This true reality of loving our neighbors as we walk in the Kingdom of God is where we can live and be fully alive.  

“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:37-39).  

It is not a time to be afraid, the life lived for and in the Kingdom is better than any other life we may be used to or comfortable with. In the Kingdom of God, we are no longer bound to the life for a life system of justice. We see this with Israel, the firstborn of God, being spared in exchange for the death of the firstborn of Egypt. Jesus ended that cycle when He became the ultimate sacrifice for our sin. 

Deaths and animal sacrifice no longer need to occur to atone for our sin, because Jesus, the sinless One, broke our cycle of brokenness. Jesus brought a Way to the entire earth that rescues our sinful, arrogant, prideful, prejudiced souls from the darkness, and brings them to the light in Him. By His power, and only by His power, we can overcome sin and death. 

“So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:26-28). 

Right before the 10th and final plague God brought upon Egypt, He reassured Moses: “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Pharaoh will not listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt’” (Exodus 11:9). My prayer is that all of these horrors, all of this pain and suffering, all of the oppression and bondage in sin and darkness would powerfully bring to light the wonder of God to us in our land. As God’s sovereignty and wonder was made apparent in Egypt, may it be made apparent and bring Him all the glory in our world today. May we take comfort and joy in the fact that God multiplies His wonders out of the most dire situations. 

Friends, let’s keep our eyes on the light of the Lord’s promises, even in the midst of deepest darkness. 

“But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24). 

“With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with each other in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:2-3). 

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). 

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