Learning to be radical - The balance between Grace and Striving.

This last year has been quite a journey for me. Just a little over a year ago I finished staffing a DTS in YWAM Kona, and headed over to YWAM Harrisburg, PA. I had plans of just working and maybe being involved with YWAM here and there. I really wanted “real life”, and “normal life”. I felt as though being completely submerged in YWAM wasn't really that. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't but this is a bit of my journey from the last year.

You see God has been teaching me about this thing called Grace, and it's pretty incredible, and I thought when I found out about Grace it was all “it”, it had to be all there was. It's all about God's grace, and striving doesn't get us anywhere. You're either thinking, wow Jacob you were way off or wow Jacob you had it right on the dot! I think that's how most of the Church/Christianity is right now. We preach radical Grace or we preach going after God with our everything, being super radical which involves a ton of striving. I'm here to tell you that neither are correct. Just because you've discovered God's grace, and it feels good doesn't mean you've got it all together. Just because you're reading the Bible 3 hours a day, fasting weekly, and evangelism is your life style doesn't mean you've got it all together.

You see, in my journey of “normal life” I've made a lot of mistakes, and in my journey to get closer to God I've definitely hit the moment “where the rubber meets the road”. I know it's been good for me in the long run but really hard in the moment. I've been hurt, I've hurt others. I've let sin get in my way because God's grace “was bigger than that”. Don't get me wrong! I believe that. I believe God's grace is bigger than our failures. And I think the cross covers a lot more then any of us could imagine. But then we start leaning on this crazy Grace, and that's when our relationship disappears. We don't try anymore, we don't read the word, we don't set aside time for the Lord. We don't sacrifice the petty things of the world that are obviously pushing us further from him just because “it was all done on the cross”. And I can tell you in the last few months because I've so leaned on this crazy grace (and only that) and not at all worked to get closer to Jesus, I felt like I lost Him. I couldn't find Him for a bit there. I felt so alone, I started to doubt my salvation and I was confused. But God loves us past all of our doubts, and our loneliness. I arrived at the point in my journey where I thought if this is where leaning on crazy grace gets me I don't want it! I'd rather live in a bubble, I'd rather strive to know God more than feel so distant from Him.

I've realized that we need to sacrifice for the Lord. We have to take up our cross and walk with Him. We can't just “rest” in Him all the time. We need to work at relationship with Him. What friendship do you not have to work for to build? If we just sat on a couch together every day and just rested together where would we be. Relationship takes effort on both parts. And we don't make sacrifices for the Lord out of religion, but they come out of the overflow of our relationship with Him, out of love for Him.

I got to the point where I had to be radical. Where I had to sacrifice something to get closer to the Lord. I don't care if you believe that was all done on the cross or not. I've lived it, and I saw these things that weren't really technically 'sins' separating me from the Lord. I want to be radical, I want to be different. If I have to make big sacrifices to bring me closer to the Lord why not! And when I fail, his CRAZY grace comes and picks us back up. Balance is a beautiful thing, and it's something I am now going to try to live my life by now.

Our generation needs to stop pinning everything as religion. You really think being so against “religion” really makes you less religious? Judging every person for their “religious spirit” really gets us anywhere? It's all about love, and if it wasn't for religion I probably wouldn't be alive. Because the 'four-walled-church' saved my parents lives. And ultimately saved mine. I am thankful for religion. I am thankful for Grace. I am thankful for relationship. I am thankful for love. I am thankful for the ability to strive to know Jesus more.

So here I am now, changing my life around a bit, setting aside time for Jesus so that I can know Him more, giving up things for a long time that are seemingly “harmless” so that I can get closer to Him. All love offering to the Man that saved me. The Man that made me feel worth something. The Man I said I gave my life to. It's all out of an overflow of love for Him that I now am going to sacrifice things in my life for Him. Call me religious, that's all right, call me judgmental, that's okay. I know what I've walked through, and I'm leaving that season behind. I'm going to be radical from here on out.

A Free Gift

A Free Gift

What if I told you if your Bible sat on that little bookshelf in the corner of your room collecting dust for the rest of your life you'd still go to Heaven. You're probably thinking, “Woah! Woah! Hold up, Jacob. That's probably heresy.” Let me explain.

Remember when you were a kid and your dad would go on a business trip and then he'd bring you back a present? After he gave it to you did you have to ask for it? No way! It was already there. Salvation is the same way, when we ask for it, it's there. Plain and simple! After we get it, we don't have to earn it. Am I saying don't read your Bible? Definitely not! It offers so much revelation, and it is God's Word. Read it!

What I want to communicate is that we don't have to strive! Ever! We can't DO anything to earn love, to earn salvation, to earn forgive, to earn grace. It's just there. “Stop acting as though you can earn it, I don't love you because you deserve it, I love you because that's who I AM. Let. Love. Win”. There it is. He loves us, because He loves us.

So often as Christians we think back on the week, or month, or year and our thought process (at least mine is), “Well, I didn't read my Bible this past week (or month...or year..) my relationship with God isn't good.” or “Well, I sinned x-amount of times today. I'm just a sinner, and I don't really have a good relationship with God right now.” And to that I say, WHAT NO! If that was the truth we might as well be back in the Old Testament offering sacrifices up for our sins to in-turn EARN FORGIVENESS. Why do we put Jesus back on the cross when He already did it once and for all! Jesus died for your sins, and that wasn't just it! He became the eternal sacrifice! Jesus, GOD IN THE FLESH, is now a man forever. FOREVER. His sacrifice wasn't just once, but it is eternal. Crazy, I know!

I think the same analogy goes for forgiveness as I used before for salvation. We sin, we feel dirty, we beg God for forgiveness, “God, please forgive me, make me clean again.” Why is it every time I'm stuck in sin all the sudden people start giving me words from God like, “I just see purity all over you”. And usually my first thought is, “Crap, they must know I'm stuck in sin and they are doing that whole prophetic...say the opposite of what you see...speak life ...thing”. No! That's not really the case at all! God sees us, in all of our sin, exactly as that. Pure. Righteous. Holy. No matter if you're sleepin' around with your boy/girlfriend or not! (And I'm talking about while you're saved. YUP!) We can't earn righteousness! We can't earn purity. It just is. Why? Because of the cross. So lately God has been showing me to switch my mindset of forgiveness, instead of saying "God, please forgive me", I'm starting to say "God, thank you for your forgiveness. Thank you that I am PURE. And that sin, that's not me!" WHY? Because the cross was once and for all! He ALWAYS sees us as pure. Our robes of righteousness don't get dirty when we sin! They are always clean because HIS blood WAS AND IS the eternal sacrifice, and we CANNOT earn our righteousness. YOU ARE CLEAN. ALWAYS. 

Yesterday, I heard this little clip from a podcast that Adam Cox was speaking on, “What if I told you you'll never be more of a son or daughter than you are today”. There's so much truth packed into that one tiny sentence! Can I be more of a son to my dad? NO! When I was born I was made his son for my whole life. I can't be more of a son or less of a son. It's just who I am, it's in my blood. We may get greater revelation of our sonship over time but that definitely doesn't make us more of less of a son/daughter. We are, because we are. Sin or no sin.

I hope more than anything this is freeing, to know that grace is always there and there's no such thing as "grace giving you a license to sin", that there is no such thing as "cheap grace". Why? Because grace is NOTHING but freeing and it does NOTHING but make us feel clean, and SIN IS NOT BIGGER THAN GRACE, OR FORGIVENESS! :) Don't put Jesus make on the cross when He has risen. 

I pray this blog was freeing and maybe caused you to be set free of the chains of the old mindset of sin that tries to weigh you down. The gospel...it's a happy deal. 

The end.