Abounding Grace eNote from Calvary Chapel, Aurora, Colorado
Monday, March 20, 2006
www.calvaryaurora.org
The Mistake of Trying Harder
John 15.4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me."
The Christian life is a wonderful gift of God! I think sometimes
Christians make the mistake of trying harder to please the Lord. There
comes this overwhelming sense that I'm 'not doing enough' for the Lord
so I better get busy. I'll read more for YOU Lord. I'll pray more for
YOU. I'll witness more, help more, give more... I'll do more of
anything for you just as long as it makes me feel I'm pleasing you.
But the truth is the Christian life isn't lived by trying but by
trusting. God is not looking for us to fulfill our obligations, but
simply to live with Him in relationship and enjoy His unconditional
love.
I love what Pastor Chuck Smith writes in his book,
Why Grace Changes
Everything, "God wants us to experience the beauty of being drawn to
Him by a cord far stronger than the obligation and guilt of the law. If
we were still bound to God by a list of rules and regulations, we would
soon find ourselves chomping at the bit and struggling against the
restraints. There is a huge difference between being bound in a
relationship by the joy of love, and being tied up in obligation and
guilt."
It's my prayer for you this week that you are bound up in Jesus by His
love!
Be blessed today,
Pastor Ed