“A church in the land without the Spirit is rather a curse than a blessing. If you have not the Spirit of God, Christian worker, remember that you stand in somebody else’s way; you are a fruitless tree standing where a fruitful tree might grow.”
–Charles Spurgeon
“How little chance the Holy Ghost has nowadays. The churches and missionary societies have so bound Him in red tape that they practically ask Him to sit in a corner while they do the work themselves.”
“And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command.”
Hebrews 1:2-3, NLT
There is an idea of an existance of a ‘common grace’ that touches every person on this rock called Earth. What is suggested with this, is that every person has access to grace; at least on a basic level, such as nature, government, medical, education and judicial. We all are sharing in common grace whether we are saved or not.
Common grace explains a great deal,“He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”(Matt. 5:45) They both benefit from His care, whether they believe or disbelieve.
On the other pole, lies ‘special grace.’ It is different. It is grace that is given to those who put their trust in the promises for salvation, deliverance and healing. These promises can only be enjoyed by a Christian believer. Special grace is grace that God gives to each one who is in a covenant relationship with Himself.
I got up early the other morning, with a cup of coffee in hand and went to sit out on my steps. I have to tell you that mornings are truly delightful here in Alaska. As I sat looking at the trees and watching the clouds, the sun was caught by the trees and they began to glow. (I always think of the burning bush of Moses and secretly wonder if trees don’t remember and try to emulate their ancestor so long ago.) I hear the cranes from the lake. And all of this touches me.
Just as I physically awoke 20 minutes ago, I now awaken spiritually. Common grace makes this all possible. When I first became a believing Christian, I was quite amazed at how blue the sky was. The grass seemed greener. I remember feeling amazed that I hadn’t noticed these things before. I guess I was full of joy over the special grace that I had just been given.
“Common grace curbs the destructive power of sin, maintains in a measure the moral order of the universe, thus making an orderly life possible, distributes in varying degrees gifts and talents among men, promotes the development of science and art, and showers untold blessings upon the children of men.”
–Louis Berkof, Christian theologian
I love common grace. It makes it possible to enjoy my coffee in the sunshine on the deck. Common grace allows me to hear the crane’s special song. People everywhere are drawing from the common well of common grace. “The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.” (John 1:4)
GOD, grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change
Courage to change the things I can and the Wisdom to know the difference.
——————————-Complete addition——————————
Living ONE DAY AT A TIME; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with Him forever in the next.
Amen.
By Reinhold Neibuhr
Many of us have come across this prayer before, but this is the full unedited version.The poem, read in its full version is truly an inspiration. I find my heart echoing each line, and hoping it would be true for myself. Read it:
slowly,
carefully,
intensely,
and purposefully.
It is good to read the full prayer vs. the one that our culture seems to have adapted and adopted as their own, I suspect this this full version has a little more panache and a whole lot more authority to it. I welome it and the light to bring to us.
“He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.”
John 15:2, NLT
In order to become fruitful we must accept the knife.
It takes a sharp eye and a sharper knife to do the Father’s work of cutting. He slices to the quick, and all that is not useful falls to the ground. The vine will produce grapes, and every bit of “grape-energy” will be used productively. Fruitlessness will be cursed, and sterility is condemned. It takes a decisive heart, as well as a wise hand to prune God’s own vineyard.
Fruitless believers may become fruitful ones. Understand, the vine dresser does not attack the vine. He is not malicious or vengeful. All that He does is for the good of the vine. He is motivated to produce fruit. That is what He thinks about; you could say that He is preoccupied with that singular end.
Pruning and fruit are concepts that we vacillate over, some days we understand and other days we blow it off. After over 30 years, I’ve heard every “John 15 sermon”. And most of the time I turn down my spiritual hearing aid. That is tragic, and shows my heart has become hardened.
I need to come on board with this particular imagery. For years I have asked God to “show me His ways”. I’d like to believe that this understanding of pruning has changed me. I would like to think that I have attained a clearer view of wisdom. This pruning business is all well and good. But being sanctified by the knife is decidedly unattractive and uncomfortable.
You must be pruned; pieces of your life are earmarked to be lopped off. (I always wonder if the trees that are spray painted are curious over the why and the when they are to be cut?) In regards to being fruitful we must accept the knife. If we want to be holy and conform to the image of Christ we will be cut. There is simply no other way.
“A church in the land without the Spirit is rather a curse than a blessing. If you have not the Spirit of God, Christian worker, remember that you stand in somebody else’s way; you are a fruitless tree standing where a fruitful tree might grow.”
Broken Believers 