{"id":6568,"date":"2018-06-11T15:12:42","date_gmt":"2018-06-11T23:12:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/?p=6568"},"modified":"2018-06-26T15:18:21","modified_gmt":"2018-06-26T23:18:21","slug":"a-word-of-grace-june-11-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/a-word-of-grace-june-11-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"A Word of Grace – June 11, 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Dear Friends,<\/p>\n

I had to skip last week\u2019s message due to computer problems.<\/p>\n

My focus on grace arises in no small part from my imperfections magnified by a strong will. I have no doubt that I am a sinner in need of grace and I have a lifetime of sins and failures to prove the point.<\/p>\n

Someone asked me recently how I was able to get through crises with equanimity. \u201cI have acquired a lot of scars just by living,\u201d I said. \u201cEvery one of those scars represents a lesson learned. Learn enough lessons and you know the crisis du jour<\/em> will not be the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

I work with some wonderful young executives who are intelligent, well-trained and devoted to Christ in their service. No one really knows the scars of another unless they are on display somehow. But my young friends do not seem to have many, and that can be a can be a hindrance to them.<\/p>\n

Sometimes I am working through a problem with one of them and I sense the heightened concern of someone who has never seen the far side of a failure \u2013 you know, the place where you tell God, \u201cThank you for your mercy in getting me through that tight spot, but please help me never do that again!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve never been in trouble before, have you?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n

\u201cExcuse me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have never made a big mistake or done something major for which you were criticized, punished and had to ask for mercy and forgiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d they typically answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am sorry,\u201d I said, because I have been in a lot of trouble of my own making and some that was not my making and it has taught me something that I could learn in no other way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGod is merciful and his love is constant. Nothing we can do can make him love us less or more. He knows we will do the right thing for the right reason if we learn to trust his love for us as a sure thing and return that love. The relationship between God and us can withstand anything because his desire for us is fierce and strong.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother thing I\u2019ve learned is that there is nothing he won\u2019t bring us through. He knows what we need and will fix, replace, or move us past broken things. We live another day and make it through our darkest nights by his grace. With him, failure is never the last word.”<\/p>\n

I am not trivializing their problems and concerns when I tell them these things. We face complex issues of finance and operations that would subject leaders of any age and experience to crushing stress. Some days we are reduced to praying for the Lord to show us handholds and footholds just to laboriously climb over the obstacles.<\/p>\n

Recently, I talked to some of them about the strength I take from one of the most powerful Scripture verses I know \u2013 \u201cThe Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want\u201d (Ps 23:1). This is a complete statement of God\u2019s sovereign grace.<\/p>\n

It all begins with our reverent acknowledgment of \u201cThe Lord.\u201d The Hebrew word for \u201cThe Lord\u201d in this context is Jehovah<\/em>. David is writing about the Lord God Almighty, not some simpering comforter described in pre-printed calligraphy on the back of a funeral program.<\/p>\n

To say, \u201cThe Lord\u201d is to say we are under his authority, living by his power. Those who bow their knees and confess he is Lord are yielding to him in all things. This is our starting point for serving God well. As Solomon wrote, \u201cThe fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom\u201d (Prov 1:7). Eugene Peterson paraphrases it this way, \u201cStart with God, the first step in learning is bowing down to God\u201d (The Message<\/em>).<\/p>\n

David focuses the role of God in our lives by the statement, \u201cThe Lord is my shepherd\u201d meaning One who rules over our lives with guidance, protection, healing, provision, and the close companionship of a loving friend who has our best interests in mind.<\/p>\n

To pray, \u201cThe Lord is my shepherd\u201d is to acknowledge that we are in a deep and true personal relationship with our God who loves us, and kindly reigns in our lives by always seeking and leading us to what is best for us.<\/p>\n

Because \u201cThe Lord is our shepherd, we shall not want,\u201d David concluded. Here is a surprising but relevant point for leadership; the Hebrew word for \u201cwant\u201d can be used in several meanings such as \u201clack,\u201d \u201cfail\u201d or \u201close.\u201d<\/p>\n

This has a special grace for those who fear failure. With the Lord Jehovah as our shepherd, ruler, guide, healer and provider, we will not be failures or losers. \u201cI shall not want,\u201d means the Lord\u2019s purpose will be fulfilled in us and through us.<\/p>\n

In the three-fold interlock of relationship, Our Shepherd unconditionally loves us, and we love him in return; we depend on him for our very life, and we obey his instructions to us as an expression of our love and gratitude. We can never be failures or losers in such a relationship.<\/p>\n

The hymn writer Henry Baker described this truth\u2014
\nThe King of love my Shepherd is<\/em>
\nWhose goodness faileth never;<\/em>
\nI nothing lack if I am His<\/em>
\nAnd He is mine forever.<\/em><\/p>\n

The radical question I asked my young friends, and I am asking you, is \u201cDo you believe, truly believe, that the \u201cLord is my shepherd, I shall not want.\u201d Each of us must answer that question for ourselves. May the Lord, in his great mercy, lead us to the right answer. Amen.
\n\u201cO taste and see that the Lord is good. Happy are those who take refuge in him\u201d (Ps 34:8).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Under the mercy of Christ,<\/p>\n

Kent<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Please note that the content and viewpoints of Mr. Hansen are his own and are not necessarily those of the C.S. Lewis Foundation. We have not edited his writing in any substantial way and have permission from him to post his content.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013<\/p>\n

\"KentKent Hansen is a Christian attorney, author and speaker. He practices corporate law and is the managing attorney of the firm of Clayson, Mann, Yaeger & Hansen in Corona, California. Kent also serves as the general counsel of Loma Linda University and Medical Center in Loma Linda, California.<\/p>\n

Finding God\u2019s grace revealed in the ordinary experiences of life, spiritual renewal in Christ and prayer are Kent\u2019s passions. He has written two books,\u00a0Grace at 30,000 Feet and Other Unexpected Places<\/em>\u00a0published by Review & Herald in 2002 and\u00a0Cleansing Fire, Healing Streams: Experiencing God\u2019s Love Through Prayer<\/em>, published by Pacific Press in spring 2007. Many of his stories and essays about God\u2019s encompassing love have been published in magazines and journals. Kent is often found on the hiking trails of the southern California mountains, following major league baseball, playing the piano or writing his weekly email devotional, \u201cA Word of Grace for Your Monday\u201d that is read by men and women from Alask<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Friends, I had to skip last week\u2019s message due to computer problems. My focus on grace arises in no small part from my imperfections magnified by a strong will. I have no doubt that I am a sinner in need of grace and I have a lifetime of sins and failures to prove the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[226,225],"tags":[649,227],"class_list":["post-6568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-word-of-grace","category-devotional","tag-a-word-of-grace","tag-kent-hansen"],"yoast_head":"\nA Word of Grace - June 11, 2018 - Living the Legacy of C.S. 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