{"id":711,"date":"2021-03-01T21:54:56","date_gmt":"2021-03-02T05:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/?p=711"},"modified":"2021-03-01T21:56:39","modified_gmt":"2021-03-02T05:56:39","slug":"habits-of-his-grace-determination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/?p=711","title":{"rendered":"“Habits of His Grace: Determination”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(Mark 8:31-38)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He wasn\u2019t any more than eight years old when he was dragged unconsciously from a schoolhouse fire. The severe burns over the lower half of his body had the doctor convinced that he wasn\u2019t going to live, or at least never regain the use of his legs if he did live. But he didn\u2019t accept that his legs would never again support him. One time, after being rolled out into the yard in his wheelchair, he threw himself out of it and crawled across the lawn to the fence. He pulled himself up on the fence and began to drag himself along it. He repeated this exercise so frequently that he wore out a path. His resiliency paid off. 22 months after the tragic accident, he finally managed to stand up on his legs. After that, he walked. Then, he ran. And ran. And ran. And ran\u2026 until eventually he broke the world record in the mile. Glenn Cunningham, one of the greatest American mile runners, the badly-burned boy who wasn\u2019t going to make it, who was never going to walk again, staked his claim in history because of his determination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We love stories about determination. We love it when a person overcomes the odds and makes some monumental achievement. We cheer on others who aspire to persist in doggedly climbing mountain after mountain of failure until they reach the peak of success all the way at the top. Movies are made about such stories. Books are written about them. We eat it up. We can\u2019t get enough of it. What is it about stories of determination that draw us in and capture us? Why does determination make for such an attractive trait? Maybe because it is so rare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When is the last time you were determined to do something\u2026 and actually did it? We get inspired to take action. We have good intentions. We start strong. But the repeated ditched efforts in our lives reflect why determination is so rare. If you\u2019re the resolution-setting type, how many of those have you managed to hit this year? How many \u201csomeday I\u2019m gonna\u201ds have you been stuck on, and for how many years now? How often have you traded in your determination to do this or that for settling for where you\u2019re at? Why do we struggle with determination?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing that gets in the way of our determination? Distraction. We can let ourselves off the hook and blame those distractions on external factors, but that denies that we\u2019re the ones who not only permit them, but actively seek them! We want to be distracted, because it\u2019s far easier than being determined. I\u2019ll say it again: we want to be distracted, because it\u2019s far easier than being determined. Netflix needs me. Facebook flirts. The suddenly super important to-do list that has us whirling around the house like the Tasmanian Devil is – if we\u2019re honest – a replacement for that other thing that we\u2019re avoiding. The longer-than-normal phone call with the person I haven\u2019t talked to in so long is really just another justified distraction. We welcome them all with open arms and we will continue to do so until we admit that it is no one\u2019s fault but our own for allowing them to serve as distractions to determination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now it\u2019s one thing if a person wants to stagnate through life denying that these distractions are his own fault, but there is a point when a lack of determination becomes an issue. When is that? When it impedes our relationship with Jesus. And remember that we\u2019re not even talking about distractions that are themselves inherently sinful or wrong! Anything, anything – good or not – that reduces my resolve to maintain and make the most of my faith in Jesus has got to go. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Satan used a perfectly understandable human concern of Peter\u2019s in his attempt to use him as a distraction to Jesus\u2019 determination. Jesus had explained to Peter the ugly reality of his impending rejection, his suffering, and his death. No one can blame Peter for not wanting to see Jesus experience that! None of us would have acted any differently in the same situation. But when Peter\u2019s concern, normal as it was, threatened to hinder Jesus\u2019 rejection, suffering, and death, it was no longer normal. It had at that point become an instrument of Satan to stifle the Savior\u2019s necessary mission. \u201cPeter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. \u2018Get behind me, Satan!\u2019 he said. \u2018You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men\u2019\u201d (Mark 8:32-33).<\/em><\/strong> Peter didn\u2019t realize it at the time, but if Jesus had heeded his rebuke and sidetracked his suffering and sacrificial death, Peter – and all the rest of mankind along with him! – would have ultimately had to suffer the far worse fate of eternal punishment for sin!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus then seized that very moment to teach one of the most important lessons of all for his followers to learn: determination and discipleship are a package deal for Jesus\u2019 followers. Are we determined not to lose what Jesus has already won for us? \u201cThen he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: \u2018If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?\u2019\u201d (v.34-3<\/em><\/strong>7). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus said quite clearly we \u201cmust\u201d deny ourselves. That’s a tall order in today\u2019s self-serving culture! Why did you buy that thing? Because self wanted it. Why did you shatter the sixth commandment? Because self wanted it. Why did you cut someone else down with your words? Because self wanted to. Why have you remained so distant from Jesus, worship, and his Word? Because self has other interests that are more important. And it is to lives consumed with serving self that Jesus gives the warning of losing life – eternal life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other part of what Jesus said is that we \u201cmust\u201d take up our cross. But, in order for that to happen, have we ever realized that doing so may require that we first must let go of something else? How much can you carry? Are you carrying the right things? What good is it??? If it doesn\u2019t serve your relationship with Jesus, do you need it? Is it really harmless upon further inspection, or is it leaving you carrying so much that you don\u2019t have any extra hands to carry what matters, to pick up your cross and follow? And, are we carrying so much, piled up so high in our arms that we cannot even see Jesus to be able to follow him? Drop it. Let go of what doesn\u2019t matter! It isn\u2019t serving you if it isn\u2019t serving your relationship with him. God help us if the qualification of being a disciple is measured by the perfect requirement of denying self and taking up our cross, for if so, we are doomed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But always remember what Jesus taught first. \u201cHe then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again\u201d (v.31)<\/em><\/strong>. Jesus \u201cmust\u201d suffer and \u201cmust\u201d be killed because we can\u2019t meet the \u201cmusts\u201d that are required of us. We don\u2019t have in us the determination to follow through. No amount of our own determination can save us from damnation. So Jesus stepped in with his \u201cmust.\u201d He must do these things because we cannot. And he must do them because he wasn\u2019t OK with the alternative of eternity in hell for anyone. So he must carry them out so that no one \u201cmust\u201d go to hell. Even if it made Peter squeamish to think about him suffering and dying. He must.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And he did. Gaze up on Good Friday and see it. There he is. There is your Savior. There is the price of your salvation. There – that<\/em> – is what determination looks like. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cmust\u201d has been met. Where our must is a mess, Jesus\u2019 must is the only one we can trust. Jesus\u2019 determination, this habit of his grace, has been carried out perfectly in our place. So we now look to make determination a habit in our lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus also said, \u201cIf anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father\u2019s glory with the holy angels\u201d (v.38).<\/em><\/strong>  Shame over Jesus and\/or his words in this generation is not because his words by themselves are so offensive, but rather because this adulterous and sinful generation has made them out to be by making acceptable what is unacceptable. The world chooses filth over faith and so makes faith out to be filth. It calls good, bad and bad, good. So Scripture\u2019s teachings which at one time served as society\u2019s moral compass have become black-listed. And we sense it when we feel as if we must apologize to others for holding to and believing certain truths. But stay the course! Remain determined! Be willing to lose our lives for the sake of the gospel, lest we lose both our lives and the gospel for the next generation!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We love stories about determination. Will our own be a story of determination? Will we let our Savior\u2019s determination for us drive and direct our own? Will we add this habit of his grace to our tool belt, along with faithfulness? Will we combine the two – faithfulness and determination – to become a resolute force unafraid to face Satan? Will we set self down to free up our hands to pick up our crosses in pursuit of Jesus? May God\u2019s grace galvanize all of us to make our mark in history as a time when Christ\u2019s church, God\u2019s people, you and me, displayed unparalleled divine determination!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Mark 8:31-38) He wasn\u2019t any more than eight years old when he was dragged unconsciously from a schoolhouse fire. The severe burns over the lower half of his body had the doctor convinced that he wasn\u2019t going to live, or at least never regain the use of his legs if he did live. But he… Continue reading “Habits of His Grace: Determination”<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[110,65],"tags":[113,53,111,5,109,36,108],"class_list":["post-711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-habits-of-his-grace-series","category-sermons","tag-determination","tag-grace","tag-habits","tag-jesus","tag-preaching","tag-sermon","tag-teaching"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p842FN-bt","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=711"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":712,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711\/revisions\/712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1thingmatters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}