“Are you tired? Worn out? BUrned out on religion?. Come to Me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me … watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matt. 11:28-30 The Message

There isn’t anything confusing about the life and the direction Jesus will lead in you. He will and does lead you on the outside but the deepest strength of His words are the indwelling promise of giving you a life filled with grace .. a good fit .. and a life lived lightly and freely. It doesn’t mean life will become easy. It means that Jesus wants to show you how to take a rest .. how to walk alongside Him .. and how to work in a grace-less world with a grace-filled life. You’ll stand out with anyone else who has stopped living your life on this world’s terms and conditions. But still … Jesus offers you His life. He already knows how much is demanded from your life. His promise is a life that will “fit” you. It’s His offer. Jesus isn’t going to demand for you to change. In fact He informs us of just the opposite: a life following Him will “learn” just what grace demands. And your life today…? It only takes a moment …

“Every person the Father gives me eventually comes running to me. And once that person is with me, I hold on and don’t let go. I came down from heaven not to follow my own whim but to accomplish the will of the One who sent me.” John 6:37-38 The Message

Ken Chester: Grace-Gripped is sent M-F to the Tired .. Worn Out .. and Burned Out who discover that life with Jesus is unforced.

Hey Grace-Grippers,
I am away until Monday and will not be writing for a few days. “May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine upon you. May the Lord lift up His countenance upon and give you peace”. It is one of the oldest blessings that we can share with each other everyday. While old … it yields the riches of God’s grace into every dry area of your life .. every ache .. every fear .. every longing .. every place where God’s gracious care for you is needed. There in the face of Jesus you will discover His grace keeping you in storms or in stillness. The Lord is coming soon … and until then it only takes a moment …

Ken Chester: Grace-Gripped is sent M-F to Men and Women following .. trusting .. and serving Jesus.

“I have been crucified with Christ; and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 Holman Christian Standard Bible

The secret of the Christian life is: “learning to love the Life that Christ is living in me”. In you: Christ is living the same life he lived 2000 years ago. In you: Christ is living the same life that raised him from the dead. In you: Jesus is living his risen life. Jesus said he could only do what he saw his Father doing. And Jesus prayed that you would have the same life that he had with his Father. He hasn’t left you to try to figure out how to live the Christ-filled life. He is your life and He has promised to never forsake you. There are any number of situations or circumstances when you may feel alone .. abandoned .. and alienated. His great gift to you is that you no longer have to live out of your own strength. Christ is your strength. We are pressured in this fallen and flawed world to trust ourselves and ask God’s help when we’ve exhausted our own resources. It is a lie! Jesus has promised to abide in you .. make His home in you .. and complete in you the work He finished on the Cross. And there is so much more. His forgiveness is absolute. His grace is life-changing .. and His Life is your shield .. your hope .. your restoring love .. your indwelling joy .. your any-moment help .. your truth-filled light .. your overcoming grace .. your Name above all names and greater than all temptations .. your true desire .. your true home .. your true life .. and All that you need and hope for today and forever. There are “false lords” but there is only One who loved you and gave His life for you. None can stand up against the light of His grace and truth. None can offer you a “fresh start and a clean slate”. None can bring you out of darkness and transform your life into unceasing praise. But this Jesus is the One who lives in you by faith and makes your life worth living. He only takes a moment …

“I assure you: The Son is not able to do anything on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him everything He is doing, and He will show Him greater works than these so that you will be amazed.” John 5:19-20 Holman Christian Standard Bible

Ken Chester: Grace-Gripped is sent M-F to Alive-in-Christ Ones and friends of Priority One (ken@priorityone.org)

“Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. ANd I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.” … “Make them holy — consecrated — with the truth; Your word is consecrating truth. In the same way you have me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world. I’m consecrating myself for their sakes, So they’ll be truth-consecrated in their mission.” John 17:17-18 New Living Translation & The Message

Jesus prayed that God the Father would make you holy in the truth of Who He is … What He has done .. and What You are to become. He prayed for you specifically that His Word would unimaginably change your life from the inside out. He prayed that your life would be “truth-consecrated” … a life that can only be explained by the life of Jesus. He didn’t pray you would live a good life .. a full life .. or even a long life. He prayed you would live the same life He lived and he gave His life to make it happen “in” you. He said the truth would set you free .. a freedom you can find nowhere else. It isn’t a freedom you boast about or claim as some special accomplishment. But Jesus prayed that the Father’s Word would change your life .. sanctify you .. make you holy .. and form your life for His mission in you. David said that God’s word was the very source that showed him how to live and how to walk through this road-rutted .. sin-blocked .. and falsely-lighted world. There are any number of paths you can walk today that claim to “give” you a better life. Jesus didn’t pray that for you. He prayed that your life would reflect and reveal the same unity with other Jesus-Followers that Jesus had with His Father … and then the world would see the reality of who Jesus is for today. And He knew that you needed something you would never think to pray about: a truth-soaked .. truth saturated .. and truth-sealing life. We want the truth but Jesus prayed that it would make you different. He prayed that His Word would work in all those places inside of you that are neglected .. unnoticed on the outside .. and excused — explained away — or apologized for but never changed. And for that to happen He prayed with timeless patience and grace for your life. It’s the same prayer you can pray for someone else. Who comes to mind? It’s that easy and it only takes a moment …

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Ps. 119:105 New American Standard

Ken Chester: Grace-Gripped is sent M-F to Grace-receiving men and women following Jesus and friends of Priority One (ken@priorityone.org)

“May what our Master Jesus Christ give freely be deeply and personally yours, my friends. Oh yes! Galatians 6:18 The Message

When it comes to what God has for your life there are three images: freely … deeply … and personally. Somewhere inside of you (or us) are hidden parts that just cannot believe or receive that what Christ has done in your life is free. Everything about what Jesus does for you arrives freely .. no strings attached .. and no hidden agendas. It was the only way you were ever going to freely invite Him to love you deeply. We will talk about love .. move among loving people .. but don’t try to force me to live in the freedom of “being loved” by Jesus. He uses some of the most unusual people to melt your defenses and open your heart to being loved “freely”. And deeply …? It’s where you live in your life most of the time: deeply. You may try to hide it or disguise it from others out of fear of being hurt, but you were made to be loved deeply. And you don’t have to try to dig out all those places you’ve covered up or wait until you’ve earned the right to enter His abidingly-deep love. Jesus loves you deeply all of the time and He loves you personally … something uniquely wrapped in your skin that God is speaking into your life that is different from anyone else. You are “alive in Christ” and the Lord deeply wants you to let go of those sin-dead portions of your life. You can be sin-dead and look entirely presentable and respectable on the outside … but that is not the same as being loved personally into freedom in Christ. What you can do is open your heart today to “all” that Christ longs to do in you. It only takes a moment …

“He took our sin dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.” Ephesians 2:6 The Message

Ken Chester: Grace-Gripped is sent M-F to Jesus Followers learning to live in the present tense company of Jesus and friends of Priority One (Ken @priorityone.org)

“The shepherds went back to work, glorifying and praising God for everything that they had seen, which had happened just as they had been told”. Luke 2:20

Dear Grippers,
Those shepherd fellas stole my Grip and took it back to their pastures. Since they said they saw a baby King in a barn … I’ll give them a pass and not press charges. Grace Gripped will spend the night in the open fields and resume on Tuesday. And that baby King…? I have a feeling His life is going to change the way we live. Shalom Shepherd Followers!

May we be gripped with such grace upon our nation ….

“Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to “recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.”

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789. … George Washington

Ken Chester: Grace-Gripped is sent M-F to Christ Followers and friends of Priority One (ken@priorityone.org)

He took the five loaves and two fish, lifted his face to heaven in prayer, blessed, broke, and gave the bread to the disciples. The disciples then gave the food to the congregation. They all ate their fill. ” Matthew 14:19-20 The Message

Jesus always seems to be asking you the simplest questions: ‘What do you have’? We always seem to make the most complicated answers: ‘All we have are five loaves of bread and two fish.’ Your lives are not that simple and Jesus knows that all too well. He knows you are pulled in all directions to see life in terms of what you have and in terms of what you cannot do. That is the world you live in but it isn’t the world that Jesus is shaping in you. He is shaping your life to see the world through His eyes .. to pray with your face toward heaven .. to bless the smallest and the greatest .. and break open His grace that is being multiplied in you. He knows it doesn’t fit into your daily schedule because God’s world beings together broken and dislocated things. He can do all that because their is always room in His life for you and the things that you carry in your heart and life. You’re never an add on to Jesus.

“So spacious is He, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding.” Colossians 1:19 The Message

“So if you find life difficult because you’re doing what God said, take it in stride. Trust him. He knows what he’s doing, and he’ll keep on doing it.” 1 Peter 4:19 The Message

What an irrevocable gift it is to know that your life is “Christ-approved”. All those places inside of you that crave approval .. acceptance .. and affirmation find their proper place in Christ. Without Him .. you’ll look to false sources for approval and they never last. Each day is a gift from God to trust Him for this day. He doesn’t call you to set out your plans and ask Him to bless them. He invites you to enter into His plans for your life and mixed all those clear and sometimes unclear moments is the gift to trust Him. You’re trusting that God’s whole business for your life is good. We too often set out on our own courses hoping that the Lord will give his silent approval and assistance as needed. But He wants so much more. This Jesus had his life “thrown out” for you so that you could become God’s living sanctuary where His life dwells. He’s doing all this work in you in the very un-smooth places of your life. Why there? Because that is where you’ll usually surrender and that is precisely where the Lord wants to make your life Christ-approved. You may even face some harsh realities of accepting Christ’s promise .. but don’t worry … Jesus isn’t going to give up on you. And what about today…? It only takes a moment …

“Welcome to the Living Stone, the source of life. The workman took one look and threw it out; God set it in the place of honor. Present your yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which you’ll serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God. ” 1 Peter 2:4-5 The Message

Ken Chester: Grace-Gripped is sent M-F to Accepted and Laughed-over Building stones following Jesus and friends of Priority One (ken@priorityone.org)

Grace-Gripped is on hold while I am battling “kidney stones”. Not fun .. Will never drink ice tea again .. Will never eat any food ever again .. Will only drink water and lemons … Well… Maybe there is some grace in all of this .. Shalom

Ken Chester: Grace-Gripped is sent M-F to Men and Women gripped by grace and friends of Priority One (Ken@priorityone.org)