Receiving More Grace

Even though Grace is a free gift from God through His Son and there is no limit to His Grace on God's side, there are limits on our side that block the flow of His Grace into our lives.  The Good News is there is more Grace and as those barriers come down we will receive more.  In a Conference, Joaquin Evans said, "What if it is easier than you think?"  This struck me because I have often thought that at times growing in God is this difficult process, partly because I have had fears, strongholds, and broken parts of my heart that have resisted.  I am beginning to see that if there are delays in receiving the freedom and love of God through the Holy Spirit it is not because God is limiting the flow of His Grace and Love.  One barrier to God pouring out His Spirit in our lives is pride.  A former boss and mentor once called Pride, the mother of all obstacles to Grace.  I believe Pride, which is really self-sufficiency or an identity we build apart from Father's Love and who we are in Christ, is at the root of an Orphan Heart.  It was Lucifer's desire to have the kind of worship that God received and to be someone apart from who he was in God that led to his rebellion and the birth of the first orphan spirit.  Pride is a denial of our absolute dependence on God to meet our needs.  Lucifer was dependent on God for his identity, position, and value in the Universe, it was pride of not wanting to be in his God-given place that led to the development of an orphan spirit and finally rebellion that led to him being removed from his place in heaven.  In 17 years of ministry, I have seen pride do great damage in people's lives, relationships, and destinies.  This root of an orphan heart has led husbands to continue to deny their responsibility for damage to their marriages, families, and hearts of their children.  This pride may come out in defensiveness, avoidance, blaming, controlling, angry outbursts, or making excuses.  A subtle form of pride is when we deny the depth of our needs and then it begins to come out in us seeking to meet these real needs through counterfeit affections.  Jesus elevated those who experienced life with a desperate hunger, He said the "poor in spirit" are blessed and even that theirs in the "kingdom of heaven."  God's ultimate cure for pride is humility, first the humility of the life of Jesus and even His humiliation on the cross on our behalf, and then His Spirit working in us to lead us to humble ourselves under His mighty hand (1 Peter 5:5-6).  Walking as a beloved son or daughter of God means walking in humility and even an ongoing honesty of our weakness and dependence on God.  In Ezekiel 36 God is prophesying the coming of a New Covenant when He would turn our heart of stone into a heart of flesh, an orphan heart is one that has stony or hardened places.  It is a soft and tender heart to God and to the suffering of others that is a heart that can both give and receive Grace.  As I come into a meeting or worship time where the manifest Presence of God is there, I can immediately begin to recognize the places in my heart where there is still hardness or pride.  These places or pride or hardness are often protection for the more vulnerable, needy, or broken places in my heart.  Yet the Father's great love beckons us to humble ourselves, admit our deep need for His love, and receive more of His great Grace.  There is always more and Father has done everything to reach us in Jesus Christ, even transforming our identity so we can respond to this love that has reached across every barrier that man has fallen into.  We will let go pride, a dimension of an orphan heart, and embrace the softening of our hearts by walking in humility.

I have included a video clip on "Pride vs. Humility" by Mark Driscoll, who recently has resigned from his position over the Acts 29 network of churches.  I don't agree with his attack on people being amazing (he calls it a "snowflake"), I celebrate people's identity "in Christ" and who they are created in the image of God.  Self-esteem built upon our own opinions, the strokes of this world, or our achievements will not stand.  I am standing against our tendency in the Body of Christ to crucify our leaders who fall.  I do believe Mark Driscoll needs to humble himself but where is the Grace in the Body of Christ to love the broken, those who sin, and those who fail.  We are all among these leaders because we are painfully human.  Can we see Christ in this man not only in the gifts God gave him, His preaching of the Word, but also his life that needs redemption like everyone of us do.  Amazing that when Mark Driscoll preaches about humility everyone is okay, when pride in his life is exposed and the damage of his sin seen we want to call him a "false prophet" and drag out every reason to discredit his ministry.  This is a sad sight in the Body of Christ, I grieve for this man and his family and pray for people to come around him to speak the truth in love bringing him home to the loving arms of our Father.
A Humble son,
Bret