Lisa notes

When we don’t believe in grace

By LisaNotes September 30, 2015 Knowing God, Knowing God_J.I.Packer 7 Comments

justification_packer

I went to church for years and never understood it. Never heard much about it. And surely never believed much in it.

Grace. 

I finally discovered it, and wow! Now I can’t hear enough about grace and the freedom it brings me.

But why are there many in our churches who still don’t believe in grace?

“The thought means nothing to them; it does not touch their experience at all. Talk to them about the church’s heating, or last year’s accounts, and they are with you at once; but speak to them about the realities to which the word ‘grace’ points, and their attitude is one of deferential blankness. . . .

They do not accuse you of talking nonsense, but . . . the longer they have lived without it the surer they are that at their stage of life they do not really need it.”
– J. I. Packer

In chapter 13, “The Grace of God,” in Knowing God, J. I. Packer suggests these four reasons why many can’t grasp grace.

4 reasons we don’t appreciate grace:

1. We think we’re good enough without it.

Instead of us being made in the image of God, we tend to create God in the image of us. And we think highly of ourselves. We’re pretty good people, yes?

“Modern man, conscious of his tremendous scientific achievements in recent years, naturally inclines to a high opinion of himself. He views material wealth as in any case more important than moral character.”

2. We see no need for it.

We’d rather put off any thoughts of punishment. Ignore evil as much as possible. So we assume God feels like that, too. With no worldview of punishment, who needs grace to counter it?

3. We believe we can talk our way out of trouble.

Who can say no to us? Aren’t we capable of repairing our own relationships—even with God? We have the power within ourselves, right?

“. . . by putting God in a position where He cannot say ‘no’ any more. Ancient pagans thought to do this by multiplying gifts and sacrifices; modern pagans seek to do it by churchmanship and morality.”

4. We think God is obligated to love us anyway.

To quote a French freethinker, “God will forgive—that’s his job.” We feel he is bound to show us pity because of who he is.

But, but, but . . .

As Packer points out, we aren’t as good as we think we are.

We are guilty, unclean. So we do need grace to cover our otherwise deserved punishment. God is the one with the power, not us, to mend our broken relationship with him. We are dependent upon him for mercy—he doesn’t owe it to us—but by his own choice and goodness, he gives it to us.

“Justification is the truly dramatic transition from the status of a condemned criminal awaiting a terrible sentence to that of an heir awaiting a fabulous inheritance.”

Thank God for his grace.
Believe it.
Receive it.

Be changed by it.

“For love awakens love in return.”

* * *

Are you early or late to grace? I’m late, but better late than never! Please share in the comments.

Previous chapters:

Next week:

  • Chapter 15 and 16, “The Wrath of God” and “Goodness and Severity”

Knowing-God-Packer-summary

Upcoming 31 days series: Tools to memorize a Bible chapter

By LisaNotes September 29, 2015 31 Days Memorize Bible Chapter 6 Comments

31-Days-Memorize-Bible-Chapter_Lisanotes

Do you want the right words to tell yourself, or share with others, right when you need them, day or night?

Take 31 days and memorize a section of scripture to keep in your head and your heart at all times.

Memorizing Bible verses isn’t just for kids. We adults need it, too. Not just for the words themselves. But for the God underneath the words.

Beginning Thursday, October 1 – October 31, I’ll share memorization tools and one small step a day of how to memorize a chapter of the Bible.

If you’re interested, invest a few moments each day for 31 days, and come away with a message of truth embedded in your heart for years ahead.

It’s easier than you think. You’ll benefit more than you imagine.

2 ways to get it:

1. To receive the daily email in your inbox, subscribe here.
2. Or bookmark this landing page, then return for daily links as they’re added.

* * *

For more 31 Days series, go here on Thursday and find MANY great blogs and topics to follow for the month of October. I learn new and amazing things every year.

Are you writing a 31 Days series, too? Please tell us about it here.

31-days-archive-button

Admit you don’t know

By LisaNotes September 28, 2015 Community, My stories 38 Comments

Until you admit you don't know, you may never know.

 

I knew there would be three of them on Thursday morning. And at least three of us.

We regular volunteers were to tag up with a newbie volunteer and walk them through the halls, handing out free groceries together to each resident at the public housing complex.

The three new people wanted to experience it now for themselves, so they could later bring back a larger group in November and do it on their own.

Not being a risk-taker type, I always have a little fear in these situations. What if I’m paired with a strange one? A super quiet one? An overly loud one?

But as God would have it, he paired me up with the one I needed most.

That Thursday morning, it was with Patrick, the president of the Boys and Girls Clubs of North Alabama. I knew I’d hit the jackpot.

With my daughter Jenna teaching Kindergarten this year at a Title 1 school, I’ve met her students and have fallen in love with them. But their life experiences are so different than my own.

I knew Patrick would know about her kids.

And he did.

He had been one himself.

He grew up in the projects in our town. Until 8th grade, he lived right across the street from where we were volunteering that very morning. He knew poverty. He knew about being black in a white world.

And I didn’t. But I wanted to.

So as we knocked doors together and distributed groceries, I asked him. I began with the obvious, “I’m a white woman in a middle-class world. I want to make a difference but I don’t know how. I’d love your advice.”

Oh, my. Patrick lit up. He was very gracious. He told me stories. He shared his own history. He encouraged me with things I could encourage Jenna with, and could use myself.

He explained how lack of exposure hurts these kids.

  • They can’t relate to “the sunset on the beach” when they’re questioned about it on a standardized test.
  • They miss their own awards day when they can’t pay the fine on a book they lost during the year.
  • They often don’t have someone asking them when they get home each afternoon, “Tell me about your day.”

So what do we do?

We plant seeds of learning, patiently, trusting they’ll make a difference.
We set high expectations for them, greater than what is set at home.
We give them hugs and love and consistency.

One child at a time.

Patrick’s mother did that for him. She expected him to make good grades. She eventually got him out of the projects. He went on to college and graduated.

When he was a senior in college and was asked, “What are you going to do next?” he knew his answer. “I have to go home. I have to go back and make a difference.”

And he has. For years. And he wants to continue making even more of a difference.

When we finished our time together passing out groceries, he had a question for me. What time did I usually volunteer during the week? Could he send over a few of the teens from the Boys and Girls Clubs to help? I told him I’d love that.

I rode home that afternoon in tears, thanking God for the way he puts people in our lives, people who know more than we do and who are willing to share their knowledge.

But unless and until we admit we don’t know, we really may never know.

All we have to do is ask.

* * *

Who have you asked recently about something you didn’t know? Or has someone asked you? Please share in the comments.

Not just for kids–adults need it too {Scripture Memory}

By LisaNotes September 24, 2015 31 Days Memorize Bible Chapter 34 Comments

adults-need-scripture-memory

I used to think it would be too hard.

I could barely memorize one verse. How (or why?) would I memorize a whole chapter?

And then I tried it. At the prompting of my friend Sharon (who knew it was possible!), I joined a group of ladies from church to memorize Colossians 3 in 2004. And surprisingly, it was easier to memorize a whole chapter than just random verses here and there.

Since then I’ve kept going.

Seek to hear what the Lord is speaking to you underneath the scriptures, one word at a time.

I found a powerful group at Do Not Depart who also are committed to memorizing scripture. Together we’ve learned chapter after chapter.

31 Day Series

Here is a new Write31 series:  Tools to Memorize a Bible Chapter.

I’m sharing tips that have worked for me and can work for you.

Bookmark this 31 Days home page and return to it for all the links as you go.

If you’ve always wanted to put scripture into your head for instant access, this series gives you tools to walk through it, one small step at a time.

At the end of 31 days, you’ll not only have memorized a chapter of the Bible, but you’ll have a working pattern to memorize any chapter or portion of scripture that you choose.

Memorizing scripture is a spiritual discipline we often leave to the kids. But we adults benefit just as much, if not more. Sustained time with God, meditating on specific truths for days and weeks at a time, is a rich experience for each of us, regardless of our age.

* * *

Did you memorize scripture as a child? As an adult? Please share your experience in the comments.

Why doesn’t God give up on us?

By LisaNotes September 23, 2015 Knowing God, Knowing God_J.I.Packer 27 Comments

Love-among-men-J.I.Packer

She is the tiniest little thing. Casey’s new baby daughter was tucked in close to her mama’s chest as we went over our songs for worship Sunday morning. Her tiny little eyes quickly closed into a deep sleep as the band played and the choir sang.

She is easy to love. It’s not a hard decision to choose to love her.

But us? We grown-ups aren’t always as easy to love. 

So why does God keep up the hard work of loving us anyway?

In chapter 12 “The Love of God” in J. I. Packer’s Knowing God, Packer explains that “God is love” is as deep into the mystery of God’s nature as man can go.

“The love which God shows to men, and which Christians know and rejoice in, is a revelation of His own inner being. . . .

Contemplating His love, we are to look into His heart. We shall stand on holy ground; we need the grace of reverence, that we may tread it without sin.”

God’s love is unfolded through Packer in this succession:

1. God’s love is an exercise of his goodness.
God practices his goodness through loving us. Packer calls it “His cosmic generosity.” God’s goodness prompts him to deal with us better than we deserve.

2. God is good to love sinners.
We recognize this as grace and mercy, ideas that are totally foreign to the natural give-and-take of relationships.

“There was nothing whatever in the objects of His love to call it forth; nothing in man could attract or prompt it. Love among men is awakened by something in the beloved, but the love of God is free, spontaneous, unvoiced, uncaused. God loves men because He has chosen to love them.”

3. God is good to love this sinner.
His love isn’t just in general; it’s specific. To me. To you.

4. God’s love is in our best interest.
I agree. I believe God does what is best for our good and his glory.

[But I disagree with Packer here: he states that “those who truly love are only happy when those whom they love are truly happy also. So it is with God in His love for man.” God is only happy when I’m happy? Well, maybe. But I think God maintains his peace and contentment within himself regardless of outside forces, including my happiness or lack of it. I don’t see his happiness as conditional upon mine.]

5. God’s love to sinners is expressed through his gift of Jesus to us.
If, as Packer states, “the measure of love is how much it gives,” then God really loves us. [I’m not sure that’s always the truest measure, however, but I don’t want to nitpick.] We all know John 3:16, that God loved us so much that he gave his Son, part of himself. That is the ultimate gift.

6. God’s love is fulfilled through a covenant relationship.
I like how Packer phrases this: “two parties are permanently pledged to each other.”

The greatness of God’s love as seen through these six characteristics shows his love isn’t contingent on how lovable we are, but on how great he is. 

God doesn’t love us just because of who we are, but because of who he is. 

It’s easy for me to look at Casey’s sweet baby girl and love her when she’s asleep and cuddly and so adorable. But Casey loves her in a bigger way: even when she’s spitting up and crying and refusing to sleep—because of who Casey is. She’s the mother. She is love.

I’m glad it’s that same way—yet a million times more!—with God’s love for us. He loves us regardless of how high or low our adorable factor is, even when we mess up and act ugly, because he’s still our daddy.

He doesn’t just love. He is love.

* * *

Is it difficult for you to understand the love of God? What’s the closest you’ve come? Please share.

We’re reading through Knowing God via Challies. Grab a copy and read along.

Previous chapters:

Next chapters:

  • Chapter 13, “The Grace of God”
  • Chapter 14, “God the Judge”

Knowing-God-Packer-summary

Books I recommend – September 2015

By LisaNotes September 22, 2015 Books I Recommend 25 Comments

books-recommend-september-2015-blog

BOOKS I RECOMMEND

1. The Word Exchange
by Alena Graedon

the-word-exchange

An intriguing dystopian novel based on the “death of print” and the written word. (Let’s hope it remains fiction.) Great for word lovers. The chapters aren’t numbered, but alphabetized. The protagonist works with her father in printing the last edition of the North American Dictionary of the English Language, when things go awry and “word flu” hits. Parts of the novel were difficult to read as the characters grew sicker and lost their vocabulary and had to make up their own words. (You’ll see the word aphasia often.) But you could always figure out their intent (proof of an intelligent author who is good with words herself!).

“When I got back here, I had to lie down. Zat a headache that could have killed a dog. And gwy, I slept for hours and woke up suffering, my head hot and huge, like a pluke, my throat sookh. Zabad achy and stomach sick. I should probably visit a clinic. See if I trebbow more medicine.”

2. Anna Karenina
by Leo Tolstoy

Anna-Karenina

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

I started this classic Russian novel in June, and I just now finished! The intermingling of storylines with very minimal tangents for a novel of this era kept me hooked until the very end. As usual when I read novels like this, I had to read SparkNotes alongside it to help me keep the characters straight. (The worst thing? In a totally unrelated non-fiction book I was reading a month ago, the first line of that book revealed the ending of this book! Ugh! I guess they assumed everyone should know the ending of Anna Karenina by now? I didn’t.)

3. The Invisible Girls
A Memoir
by Sarah Thebarge

the-invisible-girls

This relatively young author (27 at the time) shares this memoir of her struggle with breast cancer (so sad) and her finding purpose again after encountering and befriending a family of Somali refugees on the subway in Oregon.

“I was going to start writing my story—because writing helped me process my experiences, and because crafting a narrative out of my losses was a way of redeeming the pain.

And I was going to try to find God again. Or maybe give Him the chance to find me? I still wasn’t sure who had lost whom.”

4. A Quest for More
Living for Something Bigger than You
by Paul David Tripp

Quest-for-More

Mixed reaction to this one. Tripp’s writing can get repetitive, and I disagree with some of his theology (i.e., I don’t believe in the “anger of grace”). However, his main point is a great one—that big kingdom living is much more satisfying than settling for my little self-kingdom life.

“We can do big kingdom things (ministry to others) with little kingdom motives (for respect or acceptance).”

5. Feathers
by Jacqueline Woodson

Feathers

Frannie is an African-American elementary student in 1971 when a new white boy enters her classroom, the Jesus Boy. This Newbery Award winning novel shows how Frannie’s world becomes enlarged as she starts seeing life from others’ viewpoints. It’s a short book but it will give you a lot to think about.

I’M READING NOW

6. Life in Motion
An Unlikely Ballerina
by Misty Copeland

Life-in-Motion

Even if you’ve only seen Misty Copeland dance on this commercial, I’m sure you’ll agree she’s amazing. She’s the first (and only, so far) African-American ballerina soloist with the American Ballet Theatre, which is a huge accomplishment. Her memoir chronicles her winding journey there.

7. A Curious Mind
The Secret to a Bigger Life
by Brian Grazer

curious-mind

The author is a Hollywood producer who determined early in life to have numerous “curiosity conversations” with accomplished strangers who were not involved in Hollywood movie-moving.

“Curiosity is itself a form of power, and also a form of courage.”

8. Knowing God
by J. I. Packer

Encouraging, challenging, and sometimes controversial, this theological classic makes you think. A group is reading two chapters a week with Tim Challies and sharing our thoughts on a Facebook group. I’m posting weekly summaries here.

Knowing-God-Packer-summary

* * *

Once a month we share what’s on our nightstand at 5 Minutes for Books.

What are you reading this month? Please share here.

Whats-on-Your-Nightstand-at-_5-minut

My books on Goodreads
Previous reading lists