Lavish Grace

Socrates reminded us that "the unexamined life is not worth living" - when we only allow others to examine our lives, we might just get a 'warped perception' of how we are doing. Human opinion about our choices is not always the wisest thing for us to latch onto as the standard by which we will live our lives. In fact, it could just allow for some things clearly not good for us, while excluding things we desperately need!

Declare me innocent, O Lord, for I have acted with integrity; I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Put me on trial, Lord, and cross-examine me. Test my motives and my heart. For I am always aware of your unfailing love, and I have lived according to your truth. (Psalm 26:1-3)

Proverbs 16:2 reminds us that people may be pure in their own eyes, but until the Lord examines the heart, we can be living by an unrealistic standard. Why? Our own opinion of how we are to live isn't always influenced by the right values or standards. If we go only by public opinion on a matter, we could be allowing all manner of sinful compromise to be 'acceptable' in our eyes, while God clearly says those things will only bring us harm. We must know God's standards if we are to ever resist public opinion!

When someone is 'examined' in a court of law, the ones posing the questions understand the law. They are aware of when something is 'right' and when it is clearly 'against the law'. They form their examination based upon the standards established by those laws. In much the same way, God has established standards that give us a clear picture of when a particular action is clearly outside of the 'law' of his standards. When we gravitate toward the boundary of those standards, we are getting too close to the place where we can easily step outside of them.

People who wish to live with integrity in their lives aren't afraid to have their lives examined in the 'courtroom' of God's standards. Why? They know the boundaries and make active choices to live within those boundaries. Do they ever 'over-step' those boundaries? Yes, because they are human and don't always make the best choices. When they do, they have an advocate who stands before the "Judge" and presents the case for grace. Jesus is our advocate - God hears his case for grace on our behalf and grants grace every time Jesus presents the need for such 'lenience'. 

Is it a 'free sentence', though? No, there are always consequences to sin in our lives, but the sin isn't held against us. In other words, we may reap what we sowed by the wrong choice, but we are returned to a right standing with God. We may not always choose wisely, but the more we choose to live by the standards established by God, the less we will find ourselves requiring such lavish grace! Just sayin!

Your true convictions

What does the cross-examination of your life reveal about the "rock-solid" or "a little too shaky to admit" testimony of your life? Whenever someone wants to build a case 'for' or 'against' you, they begin with something they call 'discovery'. There is a 'looking into' the life and events to see what really comes forward while 'looking'. A trial always begins with what they have come to term "opening arguments" - the laying out of the case from each person's perspective (prosecution and defense) in such a way that those 'on trial' are given a hint about what will be presented. It is often quite telling that something is about to become apparent, but it usually isn't all laid out in infinite detail in the 'opening argument'. There is much to be brought forward and that takes on a whole lot of 'asking' and 'telling'.

The first speech in a court case is always convincing—until the cross-examination starts! (Proverbs 18:17)

The opening speeches may all be nicely worded and organized into a nice synopsis of the beliefs of both the prosecutor and the defender, but they don't contain all the "evidence" that will be presented in the case being made. That is the purpose of the trial - it "opens up" the intricate pieces of evidence for the judge and jury to examine for the purpose of coming to a conclusion about the outcome of the one 'on trial'. Many times, these life-scenes reveal a pretty certain prosecutor who believes his/her case is rock-solid against the one who ultimately is 'under examination'. All the witnesses for the prosecution are believed to be exactly what will bring the "conviction" against the defendant that is ultimately desired.

Remembering that the case is a series of back and forth question or "examinations" that reveal the evidence 'for' or 'against' someone, it is easy to see how important it is to have all the right questions asked. Those questions come to light in the time of 'discovery' BEFORE the trial even begins. The "case" against the defendant is really made in the cross-examination of the witnesses. If the witnesses can have their testimony discredited in some manner, the case against that individual can go down the drain pretty quickly. This is so true about our daily testimony - the facts we present by the actions we display in our lives. The "making" or "breaking" of our "testimony" is determined in the closeness of "cross-examination" that we are placed under in the course of the 'trial'.

We stand "on trial" each and every day for evidence that our testimony is "rock solid" and unwavering. From the way we respond when we are wronged to the response we give when we are called on the carpet for less than stellar behavior - all lead to a conclusion about the "solidness" of our life's testimony. If our first response is to excuse our behavior (even though it has not been stellar), the testimony we give about Jesus is that our behavior really doesn't matter to him (or to us, for that matter). If our response when wronged is that we will turn to retaliation (rather than to forgive the offense), we damage the testimony of God's grace in our own lives. Either way, the testimony we give will betray our true convictions! Just sayin!

Okay, it IS all about me!

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. (Psalm 139:23-24 NLT)

Scripture reminds us that our heart is utterly defiled - it deceives us and others at every opportunity it gets. Why? It is bent toward our sin nature - it wants a way opposed to the way God wants for us. It often demands a way opposite of the way God would outline for our lives. Yet, no one quite knows our heart like God does - despite our attempts to cover-up the real us, God is fully aware of what dwells at the basis of each of our decisions, every action, and even all our thoughts. Who better could search out the intents and "attitude" of heart each of us possesses?

Our heart needs some scrutinizing - because it is continually manipulating things to get at whatever it wants! Some of you may have cringed when I said our hearts are more than a little manipulative, but hear me out on this one. Manipulation really means we will skillfully control or "play upon" something often by unfair means. Have you ever sought to win an argument just because you didn't want to be wrong? I know when I have it is not because I am always right - it is because I didn't like the idea of the other guy being right! That is called manipulation - skillfully controlling by unfair means in order to obtain something to one's own advantage.

Our "bent" of heart is toward this type of "advantage" - it is "me first" if we are to be totally truthful here. It is "all about me" on more occasions than we might honestly want to admit - we skillfully "play" the circumstances for our advantage. Why? We don't like to "lose", nor do we like to be "wrong", "wronged", or "wrongly accused". We need someone who isn't focused on "me" to point out the true intent of our heart. In case you didn't realize it, God isn't all about himself. If you need proof, you need only look to Jesus - for nothing proves God is all about "us" more than the fact he gave his son to satisfy the demands of sin's penalty on OUR behalf.

With God, there will be an honest appraisal. There will be a truthful analysis and a reliable plan to change what is amiss in our hearts. He is the one most capable - therefore we need to rely upon him to point out what should not be in our hearts and then to show us how that gets removed so we don't access it again. God isn't just going to get into our hearts and clean up all the mess there without being invited, though. He needs to be given permission to set in order what we have set in total disorder by our constant focus on "me" in this life. Nothing quite measures up to his graceful examination of our heart, though, for his his examination brings a setting in order not achieved by any amount of "self-help" or "introspective evaluation". Just sayin!