I Am What I Am.....By The Grace Of God!!

The key in this often used cliche is “by the grace of God” – Paul of course had a checkered past before his conversion; having had a partisan spirit towards the persecution of Christians. He met the One who he had been persecuted, and in a moment (you could say in the twinkling of an eye) he became God’s mouthpiece to the gentile world.

Paul writes in 1Corinthians 15 v10 “But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.“

Paul is always quick to point out how fortunate he has been, to be given the ministry which he so faithfully upheld throughout his life – in the verses prior to v10 of 1Corinthians 15, he declares the gospel, by which we are saved, and proceeds to explain all the eyewitness accounts of those that had seen the resurrected Christ. He of course places himself last in this list, making the claim that “he is the least of the apostles” & “of one born out of due time“

Paul laid no claim to greatness or superiority towards others of his own accord, but because of the grace of God, he laboured more abundantly than the aforementioned eyewitnesses.

God’s grace can do wondrous things; it can save the most wretched of sinners from damnation, and in the context of 1Corinthians 15 v9-10, it can be the greatest motivation we need to accomplish great things for God ourselves…….AMAZING!! 

The Dump Truck at My Door

I awoke to the loud beeping of a reverse alarm and an engine noise near my house. This truck sounded strangely close. It wasn't trash day. There was no construction going on in my area. What could this be? I reached for my bathrobe on the bedpost, and without even stopping by a mirror to comb my hair, I went to the front window. Before my eyes, and my front door, was a large dump truck. My heart started pounding. What in the world was this?! I heard the hydraulic lift raising the bed of the dump truck. Just then, a knock on my door. I ran to open the door, despite my "sleepy head" appearance. A man stood before me in cover-alls to guard against the nippy start to the day. "Hi ya, lady. Where do want the load today?" The man had a kind of northern accent, and was chewing gum. (I thought this to be quite odd at 6 AM. I hadn't even had a cup of coffee yet!) Pushing these thoughts aside, I stared at him rather blankly. "Load?" I asked. 

"Yeah." he replied. "Ya know, your load of benefits for the day? Just tell me where ya want 'em and sign here." He said, shoving a clipboard with an attached pen in my face.

"Oh. Of course!" I said, looking down at the paper before me. It read:

Psalm 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.

This was my daily load of benefits from my Father! I hastily signed my name and smiled. "I'll take them right here." I said pointing at my office, where I read my Bible every day, and talked to my Father. "Okey dokey!" the man said to me while smacking his gum. He released the back of the truck and I watched in amazement as the benefits poured into my home! There was good health for the day. I saw "love, joy, peace, gentleness, long-suffering, meekness, goodness, faith and temperance". There was the Holy Spirit! I saw "good husband, Mother, children, sister, brother, and in-laws" pass by me. I smiled at "godly and praying friends" as it rolled past me. I had a tear to my eye when I watched "a goodly heritage" come inside my home. It was a blessing to my heart to open a small package that contained "God's compassion for the day. Lamentations 3:22-23" There were so many more, that I haven't time to tell you all of them! I did not earn any of these benefits! They are all just perks to the Christian life.

How could I forget that these benefits would be arriving? This was something that the Lord gave me everyday! Probably because, like all of us, I tend to take things for granted. Nevertheless, the Lord is there everyday, with His "dump truck" load of benefits and blessings. Today, however, I was reminded to thank Him for them.

Of course, this story is fictional, springing forth from my overly-active imagination! I thought that if I could literally receive a "load of benefits" at my front door everyday, then maybe I would be more grateful for that which I already do receive everyday! Because they aren't always visible, I often forget about the benefits and blessings that the Lord bestows upon me every single day of my life, and for eternity! Why, even during times of trial and testing, His "load of benefits" still arrives at my "door" every morning.I thank the Lord for this unspeakable gift!

~Valerie

My thoughts on the King James Bible.

I don’t claim to be a scholar when it comes to the Word of God – but I believe every Word of it. I can’t speak Greek or Hebrew or Aramaic (or any other foreign language for that matter), but I can speak English. I can’t read any language except for English. I’ve never taken any classes or sat through any discipleship courses about the Bible – so I guess technically I am unqualified and ignorant in the scholastic sense of this topic.

I’ve never studied the original texts. I’ve never seen the ancient scrolls. But I’ve read history. I’ve talked to hundreds of people. I’ve heard countless sermons. I’ve prayed many earnest prayers. I’ve asked many, many questions – and I’ve received many, many answers supporting both sides of the issue.

I’ve read about Christian martyrs – both in history and in our present day – people who gave their lives defending and hiding the Bible so that we could have it today. In essence, God used the willing and acceptable sacrifice of their lives to preserve His Word down through the ages.

Who am I to place the King James above the original texts – the inspired, perfect Word of God? Without those texts, we would not have the Bible in the English language at all. God breathed the original Scriptures to men who did not speak English – in fact, they spoke several other languages. One cannot honestly place the King James above the original texts – whether we can find them or not.

Do I condemn or look down on people who use other translations of the Bible? No. It is their choice what they read, study, and meditate on. I prefer a Bible that is complete in doctrine. Do I believe that people can be saved if they use other translations than the KJV? Of course; to say otherwise would be very foolish. Salvation is a faith and grace thing (free gift); not a read and do thing (works-based).

Let me take this opportunity to admit that I have struggled with my position on the Word of God. I have wondered if perhaps I am mistaken for believing that one English translation of God’s Word is superior to all the rest. “Surely, the translators had good intentions…”

But good intentions aren’t enough.

I didn’t understand how one group of people could get it “so right” and another group of people get it “so wrong.” I didn’t understand why one set of translators understood it to mean one thing, while another group got something similar, yet so different out of the same job. I didn’t understand how people could take the ancient texts and derive the NIV, NASB, ESB, the Message, NKJV, the Living Bible, the NLT, and a host of others from it. All containing a similar message, but making seemingly slight changes resulting in changed doctrine. I began to question which one got it right…

That’s when I realized that I was going about this the completely wrong way. I’m not going to understand it all. I’m not going to be able to “reason” it into my mind. It’s a faith issue. By faith, I accept and believe the Bible is God’s inspired, holy, perfect, and preserved Word.

I believe the King James Bible is the preserved Word of God for the English-speaking people. Not for the Spanish; not for the Swedish; not for the Jews… but for the English. I believe my God is big enough to do that for His people. Again, I’m not at all fluent in any language other than English, but even I know that things cannot be translated word-for-word from English to another language. There are going to be differences.

Based on my above statement, many people will label me as one of two things: closed-minded or open-minded. I’ll leave that for you to decide. I’m still figuring it out for myself. So be gentle, I’m still learning… and I have a long way to go.

I’m not brain-washed. I’m not compromising my stand by any means. But I want to know more. I want to be able to give an answer for myself, instead of going about it in the “he said, she said” way. That’s why I continuously study this topic; that’s why I’ll keep reading and learning – because I want to dig deeper and know more than I already do. I know I’ve overlooked several points in this post about the matter – it was intentional. This article was not meant to be an exclusive commentary on the Word of God. This is just scratching the surface – my personal and preliminary thoughts and wonders on the matter.

If you have any articles, books, or links that you could share – feel free to do so over at Grow UP! under the home post. The same goes for any questions or thoughts you wish to share.

God Bless,
Heather Joy
www.growup318.com