Grace recognized. I came across this phrase a few months ago. I loved it immediately and the more I have sat with it, the more I have come to appreciate it. Grace is a word we hear and use a lot. The authors of scripture use it as a greeting and as a goodbye. Have you ever said, “We will see you tomorrow, by the grace of God.” Have you stopped to weigh just what that word means?

In the Greek: charis- as a gift or blessing brought to man by Jesus Christ; derived from the Greek verb chairō, meaning to rejoice or be glad. {Friends, do you see that? The definition of joy, chara, includes the phrase grace recognized. It. Is. All. Connected. }

In the New Testament, chairs primarily refers to the unmerited favor and kindness of God towards humanity. It encompasses the idea of divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration and sanctification [the process of being made holy/action or process of being freed from sin or purified. Charis is often associated with the concept of salvation as it is by grace through faith believers are saved. It also denotes the graciousness of God in bestowing gifts and blessings upon his people, as well as the grace that believers are to extend to others.

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The coolest thing about Jesus…after the whole He died for our sins thing, of course…is that he is fully aware that we are going to mess up.
We have a new rooster, Louis. He crows all the time. Happy? Crows. Disgruntled? Crows. Freaked out by the stupid bird dogs that sometimes circle the coop if left unattended? Crows. Demanding treats? Crows. There is no rhyme or reason. It is not a strictly sunrise thing. All the crowing reminded me of Peter and how Jesus told him he would deny him three times by the time the rooster crowed. I have always thought that meant by morning. What I now know is that it could have been in 15 minutes.
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There is a story in Luke 4 about Jesus going back to his home church. He has just been baptized and in the desert. He is beginning his public ministry. He reads scripture during the service. (FYI he was probably asked by the priest to do this. This was his priest after all. He grew up at this synagogue.) Luke tells us that “the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him.” They were impressed by his reading. Can you imagine hearing Jesus read a portion of Isaiah that is referring to him? Can you imagine the inflection and authority he would have given the passage? I am sure the people had never heard the scripture read in such a way before. And they were surprised. They commented, “isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

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For we have this hope as an anchor…

Hope in the Greek means not only hope, but also expectation, trust, confidence. Is that how you define hope? Or do you think of it as more of wishful thinking? If you hope for something do you expect for it to happen? Are you confident?

The writer of Hebrews tells us that we have hope as an anchor and Warren Wiersbe goes further to say anchored heavenward. Our anchor is in heaven. Does that change how you view hope? Christ as our hope means we have assurance, a confidence, because of the certainty of God’s faithfulness. A faithfulness that he will fulfill his promises. We know he is a God that will do what he says he will do. Doesn’t that give hope in and of itself?

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Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds… James 1:2

Well, that’s happy isn’t it. How in the heck are you supposed to count it as joy when you are fighting for your life?

By remembering who your joy is rooted in. Our joy is in Christ and he is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He is our anchor. So when trials come, we know they are going to, that’s where we go. He is our safe place to come up for air. No one lives a perfect, unbothered life all the time. Be prepared for trials by knowing where you can turn.

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The Bible does not promise us happiness. It does promise joy. Yes, there is a difference. Happiness is a feeling. Joy is a state of being. The Greek word used in the New Testament for joy is chara and "it is used to describe a deep abiding sense of joy and gladness that is rooted in spiritual realities rather than external circumstances. It is often associated with the presence of the Holy Spirit and the believer’s relationship with God. It is characterized by a sense of inner peace and contentment that transcends worldly troubles.” https://biblehub.com/greek/5479.htm

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Satisfied. That is what we are striving for, right? If you could just get to…everything would be great. Then you could relax.

I don’t want to be content in that way. I want to be content the way Paul was content. He says in Philippians 4:11 that he has “learned to be content whatever the circumstance.” He says he learned it. In looking up the Greek I discovered that using learned here shows that Paul has gained this knowledge of contentment through experience. Keep in mind he was writing from prison.

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Surrender is a sacrifice. For us to do what we know, or at least think, God wants us to do we have to let go of what we want or think we want to do. The baptism of Jesus is such a beautiful picture of this. At this moment of Jesus’s life, he was leaving his privacy behind and starting his public ministry. This was the beginning of the end. Baptism is a death of sorts. And a birth. You bury your old self under the water and come out raised to new life in Christ.

A new life in Christ.

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