written by Stephan Joubert
I’m sold out to Philip Yancey’s definition of grace. He says that there is nothing we can do to make God love us less, and there is nothing we can do to make God love us more. He loves us regardless. God loves us on Christ’s behalf. He loves us despite ourselves and not because of who we are. God’s unmentionable love is never performance-driven, but always relationship-driven. Listen again… He doesn’t look at who does the most for Him and then loves those people more. Even less does He love us more for obedience and less when we fail.
God is our Father. That’s why his love for us happens without that performance clause that’s flourishing everywhere in the business world. Grace is nothing different than God’s free caring for us. Grace is a godly verb. It tells us that Jesus is on our heels with a handful of goodness. That’s why grace is a rest-word for you and me. Now then, stop running. Go rest in God’s arms.
written by Stephan Joubert
In the film Black Hawk Down an officer looks at a vehicle filled with wounded soldiers. Then he spots a private named Othic and orders him to drive. Othic responds: “But, I’m shot, Colonel!” Then the colonel reacts with an amazing truth: “Everybody’s shot! Drive!” What a metaphor for our own lives.
We all get wounded sometimes. Everybody’s shot, actually! But we can still drive, because God’s gracious and forgiving. He’s not like us. When He forgives us we stay forgiven. God doesn’t have the time or the energy to keep on reminding us of the wrongs of yesterday or the day before. No, He already pushed them out of the way because Jesus keeps on clearing our records.
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written by Stephan Joubert
- Once, I did not have role models saturated by grace in my life. No longer. Now I am a full-time student of God’s grace, and my examples are ordinary people who model God’s grace in their daily lives.
- Once my mentors were public personas with impressive CV’s that I admired from a distance. Now, I’m a student of God’s grace and I’m inspired by real life followers of Jesus in my circle of friends.
- Once, my life was rational and carefully planned. Now, as student of God’s grace, life’s a daily novelty in the loving arms of a gracious God.
- Once I talked and wrote mostly about God. No longer. As a student of God’s grace, I try to listen more to God. Silence has become a precious new discovery on the road of my spiritual formation.
- Once, I had to know as much as possible. No longer. As a student of God’s grace, I don’t need to know nearly as much as I thought I did.
- Once I was in control, or at least, I thought I was. No longer. As a student of God’s amazing grace I try to really live one day at a time. Now every day is a new adventure and every person I meet a would-be blessing in human form, or a new follower of Jesus.
