Definitions of grace to help us understand grace better.
1. It is the revelation of who God is.
2. It is who God is and what he does.
3. God giving me constantly what i donot deserve. _God does not give you what you want or what you should get_
-He helps me when i don't deserve it
-He forgives me when i have not worked for it.
-He gives me heaven even when i deserve hell, there is nothing you did or will do that makes you dserve heaven we all deserve hell even born again.
Let me show you a man who did not understand God of Grace.
Psalms 77:1-13.
This is a psalm of Asaph
The psalmist had a problem in his life- and this problem was physical and mental.
V3-4 He went to the lord which agreat christian should do in a crisis. But the psalmist even after going to God was still in pain.
It is not every time you go to God that your pain is taken away.
Sometimes God leaves the problem but he give peace that goes beyond qhat you see and feel *phil 4:6-8*
It is not true that once you go to the lord you will have no problems.
It is not true that once you become a christian you will never face difficulties any more, that you are heavenly protected from issues. This is not true at all.
*the truth about christianity is not that you won't face problems, difficulties but now you will never face them alone.*
When you were in the world you faced problem alone without God. But now as a christians you wi face them with God.
Now you will still face difficulties but you will experience God instead of the pressure that problems brings.
The psalmist say what .any of us say i went to the lord and nothing bappened.
We fail to understand that sometime change is not in the situation but in you. May be more strength and resilience to walk through them.
Sometime change is from 4 bottles of alchol but to 2 bottles.
Note he says selah... meaning pause and consider.
5-6. This was his greatest problem he began talking to himself. You have to know you are not big eneough for your crisis. Only God is.
*What the psalmist says here is what we normally do. When God does not do what we want.*
You begim to counsel yourself- this is what happened to king Saul in *1samuel 13* and it coasted him the kingdom
When God did not do what he wanted, when God did not meet his needs be resorted to commune with hia heart. *in Jere 17:9* your heart is desperately wicked and continually. It will always drive far away from God.
What do you do when you do not get results you wanted. A miracle or that healing, business opportunity.
*psa 13:2 king David said hiw long shall i take counsel in my soul habing sorrow in my heart daily*
Never cousel yourself. The psalmist in a crisis he went to the lord but the moment he did not get what he wanted he began to counsel himself.
You are the worst counselor of you. you are the worst advisor of you.
The worst advice you can ever come is from you.
Psa 14:12. There is a way that seems right to a man but the end of it is destruction.
When God doesnot dp what we want him to do we begin to act like Asaph.
See how counseling yourself can mis lead you.
_V7 will the lors cast me off forever?_ this is the results of communing with your heart.
_will God forget me forever?_ imagine how can God forget? The apple of his eyes. Zech 2:3.
Whenever God does not do what we want we begin to think God has forgetten or he is getting even with us or he is trying to purnish us.
This is why we look for men, who tell us that they habe ability to tell God to give us what we want.
We call it power.
Men want God to do what they want when they want it and the way the want it.
*and the greatest deception of our time is that man can control God*
If you listen to what Christian say in a crisis you you will be amazed..
They will be like Job's wife *job 2:9-10* curse God and die.
The psalmist is accusing God of changing in his crisis.
People can cease to care but not God 1 pet 5:7. Even if you annoy him so much he won't deny who he is. 2 tim 2:13.
In real sence it is not God who has changed but man. When we go through a crisis sometime we change.
It is us who change towards God. And we can sense the distance but we execuse ourselves and accuse God. Rom 2:15.
*Why do we change un a crisis?*
We see psalms 77 the wirter is blaming God that he has changed yet it is him.
Vs 4 we see the answer to that. Instead of looking for God in a crisis we look at crisis.
See a contrast between Jesus and man. Christ always looked to the father and he experienced God in a situation. Best example in Mat 17.
We look for a comfortable place in the crisis and that is a place of sight.
In crisis we begin to focus on our fear and our trouble instead of looking at God and experience God.
A Christian with a crisis or trouble is a classroom, crisis is a place of my traning.
In trouble i learn how to concentrate on God, i learn to focus.
To non christians crisis is misfortune to us it is opportunity.
If i experience God in a crisis the out come or the results won't matter.
If the outcome matter then the situation owns me.
A mature christians is looking for God in a crisis. I may not like the crisis but my focus is on God.
God's character does not chamge it is my sight that changes.
