Acceptance Based Performance

January 22, 2016

Acceptance Based Performance

He did this so we would praise and glorify him.

Ephesians 1:14b

What do you believe is God’s ultimate purpose for you? In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he makes it clear that God’s purpose for us is that we will praise and glorify Him. We do this through quiet lives of trust and obedience to God.

Many commentators put much emphasis on doing good deeds as a way of pleasing God. When they do, they reverse God’s divine order. We live in a performance-based-acceptance culture which is the opposite of God’s order for our lives. God is calling us to an acceptance-based-performance way of life. The fruit of our lives, our good deeds, naturally flow from our acceptance as God’s beloved children. God’s greatest desire for us is that we would learn to rest in the affection of His smile for us, or as Bernard of Clairvaux (1090—1153) put it in his book, On Loving God, the greatest expression of loving God is to love self for God’s sake.

Accepting our acceptance is so very important because our best performance will not always bring the results for which we labor. Remember, if Jesus had measured his life by the result of his efforts, he would have been miserable. Jesus knew who he was and to whom he belonged; that’s what kept him going, and so also for us.

Choose this day whom you will serve. If your choice is to serve the Lord, your first step is to accept your acceptance, to accept yourself as God’s beloved child. Then set your heart on living out of this reality all day! When you do, your life will be a testimony of praise and Glory to God your Abba Father. 

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.