Where The Grace Is

Readings: 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20
Galatians 5:1, 13-25

Gospel of Luke 9:51-62

The Gospel today speaks about one man who wanted to follow Jesus but had an excuse to delay of burying his father. Another wanted to say goodbye to friends and family first. Their initial intentions were good. Wouldn’t you agree? But when you choose to follow Jesus it has to be a deliberate choice.

Do you make a deliberate choice to choose God? Before you answer that…
A deliberate choice is a conscious decision to do something or not to do something. Not just weighing pros and cons and going with the pros, or doing something because you were raised to do it or doing it out of habit. God made us in creation with free will. He also gave us freedom that a lot of us don’t excercise. That freedom is the freedom to live in the Holy Spirit, the freedom the Holy Spirit gives us. To deliberately live in God and choose to share the fruit of the Spirit with others. The freedom of living in God. With God. For God. Is like no other freedom. God asks us to love. Love is what our freedom ultimately costs if you think about it. A price I’m willing to pay, I don’t know about you! I can definitely handle the cost of love to each person I come into contact with on a daily basis. I can handle loving God with all my heart, mind, strength and soul. Can you? So I’ll ask again… Do you deliberately choose God? Do you deliberately choose to follow Jesus or do you have things you need to do first?

God is patient, but persistant. Jesus is consistant and likely to tell you that if not now then there may be no later so go spread the word to others.

I have been tapped on, tugged on, yanked on, poked at, prodded at by God for over 4 years to answer my calling and use the freedom that God has freely given me (The Holy Spirit) to find my way to him and to Deliberately choose Him, to deliberately choose to follow Jesus on my Spiritual Journey and follow my calling. We are all on our own Spiritual Journeys, but we have one thing in common: God. His love. His grace for us is unmeasurable and we can’t de3ny that. Now it’s time to shake off all those worldy reasonings and open your hearts and deliberately choose God, welcome the Holy Spirit and with the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and self-control) share with others. Don’t allow the world to enslave you with the fears and angers it produces.

Much of this world feels downright crazy with a lot of chaos, war, tyranny, rascism and injustice. I want you to know that there is something that can be found in deliberately choosing God and finding his grace everyday in the little things.

Pray, worship, sing, dance to the Lord. Come to church with a happy, joyful heart, reach out to others with love. Don’t make the difference but be the freedom of that which our Almighty Father has given us through and with the Holy Spirit! Be the difference deliberately.

Please, let us pray:

Jesus, we receive the Holy Spirit, we feel the power of your presence with us once again, reminding us how far we’ve come and how much you’ve done in our lives. Come, Holy Spirit, give us hope for our own wholeness, and for us to intercede in the lives of others who need to taste the extend of freedom only you can give. In Jesus’ Holy name we pray. Amen.