Grace. One of the most important concepts in the New Testament. Yet it's easy to throw the word around and lose sight of what it means. Beyond having a head knowledge, we also need to understand how to maximize God's grace in our lives. There are volumes that have been (and will yet be) written about grace that we definitely can't get into here but for the purpose of this article, we will focus on the dimension of God's grace that denotes His enablement to do His will and please Him. God has lavished His grace upon us (Ephesians 1:7-8, NIV). The question then is how do we respond to that grace? In Paul's letters, we see 3 potential responses to grace. 1. We can set aside (ignore, disregard, frustrate) the grace of God. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” Galatians 2:21 NKJV This is when we do things in our own effort instead of relying on God's grace. We grit our teeth and try to power through by our own strength. 2. We can receive the grace of God in vain. We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. II Corinthians 6:1 NKJV This is when we acknowledge God's grace, maybe we have even see it at work in others, but we don't allow it have an effect on us (The Passion Translation), we do nothing with it (NIrV) or waste it (GNT). We say yes to the grace of God with our heads, but when push comes to shove, we revert back to relying on our own strength. When we face opposition, we do not use the grace we have received, but instead fold in defeat, thus opportunities to demonstrate the power of the grace of God through our lives are wasted. 3. We can harness the grace of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. I Corinthians 15:10 NKJV Here, Paul describes how he *uses* the grace of God. He draws strength, ability from the grace of God to do the things that God had called him to do. In different letters, Paul talks about "what God has accomplished in him" Romans 15:18 and other expressions of how grace is doing the work within him. He is being carried by grace. He labored…but yet not him, but the grace of God which was with him. Simply put, Paul cooperated with the grace of God that had been made available to him. Good for you, Paul. What does this look like for me? In devotional life, it looks like not just waking up but standing up from your bed and going to another room when God wakes you up to pray in the morning... Put that grace to work! In relationships, it looks like calling that person or writing that email to the person that God has been nudging you to reach out to even though you honestly don't want to. Let grace enable you. You get the idea. Grace does not remove the exertion of effort on our end. Rather it powers it. It becomes grace-fueled effort which is different from flesh-driven effort. So next time you are in a situation where choosing obedience seems hard. Remember God's invitation to come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace (Hebrews 4:16). In the next blog titled “Finding Grace”, we would explore what it means to find grace and how to find grace. Watch this space.

 Why this waste?!? You could almost see the disciples’ eyes popping out first in disbelief, glancing back and forth at each other, then welling into indignation and spilling out in harsh words. "What were you thinking? How could you do that? Do you realize the consequences of your actions?" Her offense? She had broken her bottle of *very* expensive perfume and poured out every last drop... on the Lord Jesus (Matthew 26:7, Mark 14:3, Luke 7:37 NIV). Once she poured it out no one could scoop it back up. It was gone. Thousands of dollars (John 12:5). Thousands of meals for the needy. Supplies for struggling families. Gone in a moment. What a waste! Mat 26:8 When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. "Why this waste?" they asked. As followers of Jesus, we need to get comfortable with the idea that there will be times when we will look to people like we are wasting our lives to follow Christ. Wait, what? You give 10 percent of your income to your church? Do you know what difference that can make for retirement or your kids’ education? You want to go work at this small nonprofit and earn nothing when you could easily get a job on Wall St or big tech? Your family could really do with your financial support. You spend hours every week praying and studying your Bible when you could spend that time learning a skill or doing community service? You mean God really told you to go live in that small town in your prime years? Tell me how you're going to meet a spouse. You got this ivy League degree and now you want to be a stay-at-home mom because you feel God wants you to? Or perhaps in internal conversations with God, have you been wondering or ever wondered? Lord, why this waste? Isn’t this approach inefficient? Lord, I think you could achieve it faster if we went this way or that way. Do you feel like your life is being wasted on Jesus? Are there things in your life that make sense only to Jesus and make no sense to the world? Choices in response to God’s invitation that seem to be inefficient or odd? Or maybe not. Maybe you are living your life with no risk or inconvenience to yourself and personal comforts. Yet, you constantly hear in your soul a craving to live fully for God. To live with abandon to the Savior. I believe the Lord calls all believers in Him to live a life that is so poured out that others with no understanding will say, "Why this waste?" And that will be an avenue to share your Why? So, what’s the why? It’s the love of God. For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 2Co 5:14-15 (NIV) All godly wasting is motivated by the reign of the love of God in our hearts. All believers have the love of God poured in our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). But are you allowing that love to reign over all other loves in your life? That is the call today— To pour out our lives for Him and on Him. Nothing is more expensive or valuable. How do I know? Because Christ gave himself to redeem our souls. Heaven’s best for our redemption. What does wasting on Jesus look like? It is easy to think this applies exclusively to acts of extreme courage and suffering to serve the Lord. And yes, that could certainly be part of it in your own context. But simply, wasting our lives on Jesus means to obey Him. John 14:15 If you love me, you will obey what I command. (NiRV) There is sacrifice in obedience, the relinquishing of self to obey God; but there can be sacrifice outside of obedience. Remember what Samuel the Prophet told King Saul. To obey is better than sacrifice. (1 Samuels 15:22 NIV) If we could live by this ethos, that our lives on earth are for only one purpose—to be wasted, poured out, expended for our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. What a revival we will see to the ends of the earth. It will be the death blow to the christianity of comfort and convenience that we have gotten so accustomed to. And the response of Jesus to that woman: Jesus thought different from the disciples. Aware of this, Jesus said to them, "Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. Mat 26:10 "She has done a beautiful thing to me. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare it for my burial." Mark 14:6,8. Probably no one else in that room realized that in just 2 days, Jesus would be tortured, crucified and die, and there would be no time to embalm his body before his burial. What looked like a waste to the disciples was something Jesus regarded as beautiful! She has done a beautiful thing to me! The Lord delights in our offering of our lives to Him. Because in doing so, we become the best He intends for us to be! Your sacrifice is a beautiful thing! This is the highest praise we can receive from the Lord. So, what do we say in response? Lord Jesus, I am willing, I am available. I will waste my life on You. For in losing my life for you do I truly gain the true life you intend for me. Today and every day, I choose to obey You. Can you hear the whisper of the voice of His Word? You are doing a beautiful thing to me! May we be content in knowing that when we follow Jesus and respond to His needs, He never wastes anything. May we be inspired to pour out our all on Him. Amen.

The purpose of freedom is true worship! Recently, during our daily prayer for revival in DC, a team member led with this verse: Exodus 8:1 (NIV) Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.’” Many books and movies have been written about the Exodus: how God sent the 10 plagues, the parting of the Red Sea etc. This verse is a reminder of God's purpose in all of this--that His people may worship Him freely. As enslaved people in Egypt, their daily lives and schedules were determined by the slave masters. With that lifestyle, they had no freedom to express their love and worship to God. All across the DMV area, we echo the Lord's demand to everything that has people bound: anxiety, depression, greed, fear, comparison, false teaching, addiction, sickness, anything else that controls people's lives and keeps us from lives that are exclusively surrendered to God: let the people of God go, that they may worship Him, that they may display His reflection in all areas of life. In any area of bondage or resistance you may be experiencing, we encourage you to take up God's words in your mouth and insist on your freedom that Christ paid for. And do not be discouraged if, at first, you don't experience victory. The first 6 times Moses declared this word to Pharaoh and it seemed like "it didn't work" (see Exodus 5:1, 7:16, 8:1, 8:20, 9:1, 9:13, 10:3). This is where persistence comes in. You hold tightly to the word God gives you, until it comes to pass. Here's an example of what it looks like in practice: You have identified an area of bondage that keeps you from worshipping God freely and fully. You bring it to God in prayer and wait on Him to receive His word concerning that area. Often, this is a verse of Scripture that God highlights to you. You meditate on that word constantly and speak it out loud. It creates a new reality in your heart and mind. You receive direction from God about any avenues of support to pursue e.g. professional help, wisdom, advice. You share with trusted friends and leaders in your Christian community who will stand in faith with you and cover you with prayer and encouragement. In all of this, you keep your heart and mind fastened on the truth of God’s word that your freedom has been secured in Him. We invite you to join our upcoming spaces (see information below) to immerse your heart and mind in God's presence and power. Not only will you receive strength in your journey to freedom (to worship God) but you also help others do the same.