Yesterday, on my birthday, I did something I had been thinking about for some time now. I officially launched my new YouTube channel, Grace Upon Grace. While I will give you all the details about the channel in this post, the real purpose of this post is to get into the reason I launched the channel and to encourage all of us never to limit ourselves when it comes to our stewardship we can offer King Jesus.
The older I get, the more real my walk with Jesus becomes. I just turned 54, which means I have likely lived most of my life. To say it another way, I have already lived longer than the time I likely have left to live. My mortality is something I am at peace with because I have my life anchored in Jesus and His sure promises.
Judgment Day is coming, and I am preparing myself for this inevitable appointment each day. In my youth, it seemed mortality was something far off. And perhaps, in some respects, it was. But even discounting accidents and heart attacks, my remaining life is probably measured more in years and less in decades.
Having come to peace with this reality, living for what this life has to offer no longer holds the allure it once held. Each day, living for eternity, is the thing that becomes more and more real to me. Don’t get me wrong, I still plan for life under the sun. God gave us life on earth as a blessing. He made the earth for me to enjoy during my short stay here.
But this means that the pleasures I seek here are temporary. They are delightful diversions given by a generous God who showers us with the wonders of life. But they are temporary and do not compare to the joys that await us.
Each step through life gets me one step closer to my permanent home. And while I am here, my choices prepare me for that day when I will kneel before King Jesus and await His verdict for my life.
For me, the choices of how I spend my Sundays matter. The choices of books I choose to read and the shows I choose to watch matter. The places I visit and the things I leave undone matter. It all matters because I will never get back those days to use again.
When I look back at the recreation I engaged in or the labor I committed to, I want to find balance. God wants me to serve Him while enjoying the world He made for me to enjoy. He wants me to find joy in what I have and not to regret what I do not have. And He wants me to do all this while taking steps with Him each day that lead me closer to home.
So, as my time in this world gets less and less, what I choose to do becomes more and more important. The day is quickly coming when my very being will yearn for Jesus to confess me before His Father. At that moment, nothing else in my existence will matter- not the money I made, the number of children I had, the places I visited, or the titles I amassed behind my name. It won’t matter how many friends I made or how many suits I own. The size of my house or car will not be a blip in my consciousness as I bend the knee to Jesus that day.
I will either dig up the talent He gave me and hand it back to Him, or I will return to Him two talents for the one He gave me. But to have two talents to give Him, I need to put the one to work as I walk with Him through life.
How do I choose to use my one talent? That’s the question we all have to ask ourselves. We will have different answers, and no one will have a corner on the market of correct “talent using.” And frankly, I don’t believe God much cares about how we use the talent, just that we DO use the talent.
For the last two-plus years, I have strategically chosen to use my talent in a way that also purposefully confesses Jesus before men. I cannot risk getting to that great day with no confession to offer Him. Why?
“So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,
but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33 ESV).
I cannot think of anything I am pursuing in life now that would be worth missing out on His confession of me to His Father in heaven. Jesus Himself asks us to consider,
“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
For what can a man give in return for his soul?” (Mark 8:36-37 ESV).
A big part of why I do these Facebook posts is to use them as a platform to confess Jesus before men. I doubt many who scroll through my timeline have trouble seeing my allegiance to King Jesus. And now, I have decided to extend that confession of Him before men to YouTube.
I launched my Grace Upon Grace YouTube channel yesterday to build a legacy. Not a legacy to show men or to use to glorify myself, but a legacy for a single purpose. I am doing it to hand it to Jesus on that day as a sign of my confession of Him before men. It is part of the two talents I want to give back to Him for the one He placed into my hands.
So, I ask for your help. Can you visit the channel and watch the videos? If you find value in them, can you share them with others and help me in this work? Not to make them popular but to help me confess Jesus before men and to glorify His name through this work.
Perhaps this isn’t your cup of tea. I can appreciate that. I won’t be offended if you don’t visit the YouTube channel. But at least can you pray for this effort? Pray that God will be glorified and that all the glory falls back upon Him through this effort.
If you are inclined to help, you can visit Grace Upon Grace at:
https://www.youtube.com/@GraceUponGrace316
I already have two videos up, with a third going up this week. Please show me grace as I grow in this work. I’m sure my 100th video will be much better than these initial videos, but I am learning. For better or worse, I subscribe to the principle that it’s better to act now and improve than to wait for perfection and never act.
Thanks for letting me share this new work with you and for listening to my reasoning. I appreciate the support and the prayers you will offer as I start my work on YouTube. Isn’t it amazing that we live in an age where we can carry out the great commission from the comfort of our living room?
“And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” (Mark 16:15 ESV).
I am in 2 Chronicles in my daily Bible reading. Jehoshaphat is king and learns that a mighty army is coming beyond the river to attack Judah and drive them out of their land.
King Jehoshaphat was a godly king who gathered people at the temple to cry to God for deliverance. Why? Because He knew the power of God and he had faith in His deliverance. It is in His last cry to the Lord I want us all to see:
“O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (2 Chronicles 20:12 ESV).
Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever cried out to the Lord because you don't know what to do? I have. Sometimes, I don't ask for specific deliverance. I simply say, “God, I don't know what to do. My eyes are on you to remedy this in the way you know best.”
This was Jehoshaphat's prayer when life became overwhelming. And in the end, God honored his humility and brought deliverance.
“When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the horde, and behold, there were dead bodies lying on the ground; none had escaped.” (2 Chronicles 20:24 ESV).
Sometimes, we don't have to know WHAT to ask. It's more important to know WHOM to ask. Watching Jehoshaphat's humility before God stands as an example when I don't know what to do. I must simply put my eyes upon Him for answers. This speaks directly to our reliance upon God's sovereignty over all.
When we approach God this way in prayer, we can find peace in God's answer without stressing over our problems or stressing over trying to know what to pray. Peace comes from knowing to put our eyes upon Him in times of stress and trouble.
“So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around.” (2 Chronicles 20:30 ESV).
I am in Ecclesiastes in my daily Bible reading. This is an interesting book, and it is easy to read the words and miss the meaning.
Solomon says that life is vain and men and animals are the same. Both live, and both die. Neither has an advantage over the other. And when both die, both are forgotten, and neither has life or consciousness to know anything.
As Solomon talks about the vanity of life, it is all from the perspective of being under the sun. This humanistic philosophy is becoming more and more pervasive in our day.
This is why people find no restraint when taking from others what they want. This is why men can take another man's life with little concern for right and wrong. This is why men consider what they want and do all that is in their hearts.
Solomon speaks the truth of the vanity of life under the sun. With this perspective, this philosophy, life is not always fair. Good people are victims, while evil people prosper.
We can spend a lifetime searching for meaning, but life is in vain and doesn't make sense under the sun. As Solomon comes to the close of his book, he introduces the only thing that gives meaning to life, the one thing that makes sense of the senseless.
Only when we look at life above the sun do the things under the sun start to have meaning. The vanity of death is lost when we understand that there is an accounting of words and deeds after this life is over.
Only when considering life above the sun will we see that the crooked will be made straight. Living with life above the sun in mind will help us understand that what is wrong will be made right. Only when we stop living with a humanistic worldview will we see that there is meaning in life and that nothing is in vain when we live with an eternal perspective.
So, we have a choice. We can live life under the sun with a worldview that says the sum of life is what we see under the sun, or we can live life with an above-the-sun perspective that says what we do under the sun will have consequences because there is more than under the sun.
That's why Solomon concludes with this advice as we live in a world ruled by under-the-sun consequences:
“Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;(Ecclesiastes 12:1 ESV).
and,
“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 ESV).
I am in 1 Thessalonians in my daily Bible reading. This letter was written to a church Paul founded early in his ministry. It was written to Gentiles who came out of idolatry. The Jewish people persecuted Paul here, and the persecution continued to plague the church.
Paul's letter was a word of encouragement that helped Gentiles understand our great hope in Jesus. He spent a lot of time engraining in them our eternal promises in Jesus.
What a wonderful message to former pagan idolaters who learn that we have victory after death and, because of our allegiance to King Jesus, we can escape the wrath to come.
“For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 ESV).
I am at peace with the reality that I have no hope if I get what I deserve on the Day of Judgement.
But I rest in Jesus' grace, knowing my hope is in Him, not in me.
Because of this, I fully live in allegiance to Him. I have no other hope than in Him as my Lord, my King, my High Priest, my Intercessor, my Shepherd, and my God.
In every way I consider Him, He is my all.
I am saved.
This morning, I am going to worship the God who saved me.
He sacrificed more for me than He will ever ask me to sacrifice for Him.
Today, I see Him by faith.
Tomorrow, I will see Him by sight.
Will you worship the God who saved you today?
What is more important on your agenda today?
I am in the book of 1 Kings, where I read about God granting Solomon wisdom. The older I get, the more I understand how wisdom is far greater than riches, health, and earthly success.
I pray for wisdom and discernment daily. Why?
Riches cannot tell us how to use our riches.
Having health cannot show us how to leverage a whole body for the service of God.
Finding earthly success cannot tell us how to invest and use that success to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven.
But wisdom can do all of this. In fact, only wisdom can do this. Wisdom gives us a heavenly perspective and shows us how to live to align ourselves with God.
When all is said and done, riches, health, and earthly success are nothing without wisdom.
But wisdom is a treasure from God, even when we do not have riches, health, and earthly success.
“Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding,
for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold.
She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.
Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.” (Proverbs 3:13-16 ESV).