Obstacles To God's Grace

    First, let me say thanks to the encouragement some of ya'll have given me today after reading my first ever blog post. I can't tell you how nervous I have been, and still am, at the thought of opening up my life for all the world to see, like this. But, as I attempt to collect my thoughts and pray for direction with this new blog adventure with Jesus, I thought I'd share a sermon I put together for a Kairos prison ministry weekend that I was supposed to speak at. First, a little background. Kairos is a prison ministry program. A team of Christian men is put together,(this one consisted of 42 of us), and we spend two months having weekly 4 hour meetings, training, getting to know each other and forming friendships and forging a new family of brothers with a goal of sharing the word of God. At the end of our training meetings, we spend 4 days at a prison,(going home each night), where we interact in small groups and sermons with and to prisoners who sign up to take part and hear the messages that God has sent us in with. I went in and participated in a one day ministry last year and it hooked me. So, when the Spring 2013 Kairos team formed, I got my chance. After a few meetings, I was asked to speak on this subject of obstacles we(and they) potentially face in receiving God's grace. I was given a short guideline to work from, put into my own words, and then to deliver this message on the final day of our 4 day mission. Boy, was I familiar with these obstacles!  However, about two weeks before we were to go into the prison, central Mississippi was hit with a storm, with hail as big as softballs. It did over 2 million dollars worth of damage to the Central MS Correctional Facility. Needless to say, our mission was postponed. It has been rescheduled for June, so all hasn't been in vain. The following is the last draft I made. I'm never completely satisfied with what I write, and I see a couple of tweaks that I want to make before we go in. But, it has some good points to ponder, and I hope it will bring you to stop and think about what obstacles you face in your walk with God.
  We all face challenges. But, sometimes we settle into a "coping rhythm" and fail to realize and recognize that we are making things hard on ourselves, and that these rhythmic short-cuts we take to get through a day are preventing us from hearing God. I spent so many years being angry and defensive that I couldn't have heard God if he'd been yelling an' jumping up and down with signal flares in his hands.
  It's a long read. So, find twenty minutes, sit back, check it out, and then take just a few more minutes to think about where you might find some of your own obstacles to receiving the grace and salvation of our lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Then remember, "I can do ALL with Christ who strengthens me." Phillipians 4:13
God bless y'all...
        Brother Jay






                                                Obstacles To God's Grace

      We’ve been talking all Weekend about God’s plan for our lives, from forming a Friendship with God and the security that comes from that, to forgiving others and ourselves and accepting His eternal forgiveness for us. And we just prayed, asking for His help to remove those painful memories that can become a hindrance in our daily walk with Christ, so we can become a source of help to a brother/sister to relieve their burden.

II.    Here’s an easy definition of God’s grace:

A.An everlasting, loving relationship with a forgiving God, just like the father in the story of the Prodigal Son. The Grace of the Lord is unconditional, and we don’t deserve it.

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   The best thing about all of this is that it is free!  When was the last time you ever got something this significant and it didn’t cost you anything? That’s what the expression “Good News” is all about.

           But, while this grace is a free gift from our Father, it can get messed up when left up to us…messed up by what we call the Obstacles to Grace.  What are these obstacles, these roadblocks?  Let’s break it down into three basic areas. 1. People. 2. Places. 3. Things. My associate pastor compared it to an umbrella in a sermon he gave a few years ago. It’s an umbrella called Sin. In this comparison, God’s grace is like a soft  steady rain coming down and washing us clean; healing our wounds; teaching us how to fix our transgressions, our wrongs that we’ve done to ourselves and wrongs we’ve done against others. And then that umbrella opens up. Pfffp. That’s when Satan steps in. He tries to convince us that we don’t need to be cleaned up by that old rain. Satan is an obstacle. Maybe sometimes he’ll try to tell you that you can go to church services any other day, but it’s not every day that you can get 3 other guys to play a solid round of spades. Or maybe you hang back and find a way to make up some makeshift dice, or you’re side-betting on the winners while you’re watching a domino game. That’s waayy more important, the devil says. There’s that umbrella. That obstacle. Or, how ‘bout the guys in the block or on the yard who are just waitin’ for that first slip you make as a new Christian, so they can hold it over you,  criticize you, taunt you, Tell you that you’re a fake, A fraud. They try to coax you back into their clique, their little circle, or their gang. They’re gonna try to make it a tough road for you now. And if you let them get to you, that anger and resentment you allowed yourself to feel blocks out the peace that God brings to us. Those guys I just talked about are what?(They’re obstacles.) They are that People umbrella that prevents God’s love from keeping you clean.

    The world you live in is a hostile place, filled with people overflowing with negativity. Understand this; Some of your friends, fellow Residents, and even family members are not standing in line to hug you out there; they could care less about what you’ve experienced.

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Some of them will even try to destroy this experience. Be ready, because they Will follow you all over the yard, calling you a hypocrite every time you lapse.  But remember, we are all broken vessels on a spiritual journey with Christ.  We are not perfect people without problems.

 

    Some of your old friends will not like the fact that you’re trying to change the way you’re living your life.  They want you to go back to being like you’ve always been.  They will ridicule you and put tremendous pressure on you. But just like Jesus did while he was incarcerated, you must resist.  Remember, the choice to resist is totally yours.  Will it be easy? No.

   And to make things worse, you may even find some of your Christian brothers who “act good” when the Kairos team is here or the chaplain is around; otherwise, they continue to act like they always have the rest of the time.  How many of you know folks like this? 

     How about the one guy who goes through the right motions of being a Christian with all the proper moves and sings just the right words to all the songs.  But that’s all there is to him.

     Guys, there’s a big difference in being a Christian and being Christian.  Being “A” Christian is a label. Being Christian is an action, a life-style choice. We must act as Jesus taught us to in order to be Christian. The same goes for the difference in believing in God or believing God. Even the devil believes in God. But he doesn’t believe that God’s way is the best way.

   

     How about that guy who remembers scripture so well? He can quote scripture with the best of them.  I know you’ve seen guys like that because we see them in the outside world, too.  And the best one, or worst one is the two-faced Hypocrite.  He acts one way at Kairos or the chaplain’s chapel functions, but back in the compound, he’s totally opposite, right? These kinds of people will bother you – a lot...maybe even to the point that you won’t want to have anything to do with them or Christianity. But, If you let this happen, you will be the loser! 

         

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        How ‘bout places, and things? Somewhere inside these fences,

      there are places you know you shouldn’t be going. There’s probably a corner of the yard that has folks you shouldn’t be hanging out with. There are people in here that can get drugs. There are guys in the dining hall you don’t need to be sitting with. Think about it this way. If some “thing” you do, whether it’s playing games, or swiping food off someone’s tray, hassling a corrections officer, or spreading gossip, if this “thing” is not “of God” it’s against God. There is no neutral middle ground here.  

           These “things” can simply be desires you’re being tempted by. These desires are obstacles. Just imagine that umbrella hovering over you in all these circumstances. I bet you can think of some more in your own life here, or when you get back to the free-world. Maybe there are streets you shouldn’t walk down. Clubs or bars you shouldn’t hang out around anymore. You are your own obstacle when you let these desires get to you instead of seeking peace in the Word of God.

          Guys, nobody ever said following Jesus was easy. Sometimes it’s downright tough. Some days, walkin’ in the rain of the Lord is a wonderful feelin’. Some days it’s cold. But that umbrella of sin won’t get you to the Father. It won’t let you discern the word of God. You’ll be just like the Pharisees, who couldn’t understand Jesus when He spoke in parables to the disciples.  It won’t free your heart, your soul, and your mind to let the the Holy Spirit live and grow within you and guide you, especially in those tough times, like when you’re at that in-between stage as a new Christian an’ your pulling away from your old sinful habits and learning how to open up to let God in, and to open up to your new Christian brothers.  Being Christian has never been easy. How easy was it for Jesus to be ridiculed, punished, beaten, and then executed in front of his own mother?

   (Delbert story- movies, people he hangs around, unhealthy things he allows himself to think about, the change that takes place in our hearts in how we think peacefully…)  ( then the Going to the dr story about the bill.)

  That umbrella of sin is also like an old pair of ratty shoes. They’re well broken-in, so much so that they’ve formed to your feet.

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They’re comfortable. They’re familiar. But underneath, they’re full of holes in their soles. And here comes a mud-puddle that you can’t walk around. The mud-puddle ofSin, immoral criminal friends from your past, old hangouts, old habits. Obstacles! Those holes in the soles of your shoes are like the holes in your souls too. The devil was all up in our business before we accepted Jesus as our lord and savior. Satan had built himself a nice cozy little pad to chill on in our souls, in our thoughts and in our actions. But, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we evicted the evil one from our soul. We renounced and rejected his evil ways. But now, left alone, those holes in our soul will let the Spirit leak right out of us, just like that puddle leaks into our old shoes and soaks our socks, shrivels up our feet, and let’s those nasty, painful Sin- blisters start to form. Obstacles. We need some “glue”. The “glue” of God. We need the glue of God to patch up and fill those holes in our soul. We need God to restore our shoes and remake them new and fresh-smelling  again. We need fellowship. We need bible study. We need to read the Word daily, to know it, to feel it, and most importantly to live in the Word of God. We have to repent and ask forgiveness for our sins. We need to pray every day for strength from the Lord to beat back the devil. Sometimes I pray 20-30 times a day. And we need to learn about the love that our lord and Savior Jesus Christ has for us, to believe that He died for our sins, went down through Hell for us, and then ascended into Heaven and that now, He’s waiting for His time to come back down and bring us an everlasting, eternal peace, to bring us to our new Heavenly home, and to defeat Satan and his demons once and for all. And what happens when we do these things? What happens when we open our heart and soul to the Lord? What happens when we start putting God’s Word first instead of our own old selfish wants? We develop Faith. Faith is that “Glue of God” that puts our souls back together; that heals our wounds; that gives us hope when we have dark days. Now, as Christians, I don’t believe that God is going to make every day easy and let us just skip

and hop from one decision or job  to the next without a thought or

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 without some effort on our part. I also don’t believe that everything that happens to us is God’s will, for God loved us so much, He gave us Free will. But, I DO believe that there IS God’s will for us in everything, but we have to seek out and follow it. God’s will for us is waiting to be found in and amongst everything that happens around us. But it’s up to us to open our eyes. It’s up to us to have faith that He will lead us through our tough times. It’s up to us when we get weak to be strong with Him, to let HIM dwell within us, to let His Spirit guide us, direct us, and comfort us.  A verse in the 23^rd Psalm says “ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear NO evil, for thou art with me.” Folks, there are some beautiful mountaintops in our lives, and Glorious days of joy and happiness. But, there are also valleys in between those mountains that are full of these obstacles that try to stand between us and God. That’s Life! But, as you learn to walk this Christian path with the Lord, you will begin to identify more of these obstacles, more often automatically, and you’ll find that you’re happier than you ever thought possible when you’re standing on one of those peaks filled with the Holy Spirit and being led by God on HIS path that he’s laid for us. You’ll also find an inner peace, and comfort in His loving arms, even in the midst of turmoil and trouble, as He encourages and carries you through those valleys of evil, of hard times, and he’ll fill you with His loving strength when you are weak, as you begin your climb up to the next mountaintop….

  Here’s another thought for you to think about:  you can defeat evil and hypocrisy and pretended holiness by praying for, and with, yes, with, those other people rather than criticizing them.  This is true; just ask any of your free-world brothers here this Weekend who have experienced the very same thing as you.  There is great power in praying for and with others.  Don’t forget all of those all over the world, and those who are in prisons, who have been praying for all of us for the last 72 hours, and even before this Weekend started.  How powerful has that been to you?

 

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    Think back to the 3^rd leg of our 3-legged stool: Christian Action.  We need to put our actions behind our words. Without that third leg of Action, our stool of Friendship with God cannot stand.  We need to replace our old habits with new habits of the faith. Remember the Choices talk on Friday morning?  It is a choice that all of us can consciously make.

    While most free-worlders can never begin to understand the tremendous stresses of being incarcerated, being Christian is costly on the outside world, too.  And guess what?  A lot of us fail.  We have trouble when confronted with some of the obstacles to grace.  Some of us still cave in to the world’s seductive things:  pornography, peer pressure, gambling, gossiping, arguing and fighting, alcohol/drugs. 

 But, for all of us, both free-world and Residents, a big step in overcoming our personal obstacles is to identify them and face them head-on.

  This morning in chapel, we were told that while forgiveness is absolutely necessary for having a Friendship with God, we must also begin the long and painful process of asking God to help us heal some of those ugly old memories.  My friends, not to do so, not to try to seek God’s healing can in itself become an obstacle to accepting God’s grace.  I pray, don’t let that happen to you.

     We need to face our indifference and our fear of being Christian in this institution, and outside these fences.  As stated before, this Weekend is not Kairos; this Weekend only opens the door to a lifelong journey, one that will have dark and stormy times in this place.  But it is a journey that the Kairos team will journey with you as we will be coming back every month to encourage you to share with each other.  And we will try to give you some other tools to help you on this journey, which is the subject of the next talk, Walking in God’s Grace.

                In the meantime, the choice is yours, brothers, to throw away that Umbrella of Sin, and put on your newly re-made shoes, and turn and walk away from these obstacles to God’s grace. Peace be with you all.