Hello! I read your page nearly every day, but don't respond. I wanted to
respond today, because this is an issue that is so confusing to SO many people.
This is not to say that I have it all down pat either, but I am further along
than I used to be.

The whole grace issue is very hard to understand, but I will try to explain
how I see it now.

Jesus came to fulfill the law - not some of it, but all of it. Because he
fulfilled it, we don't have to. However, the law still shows what God expects
from someone who is perfect, and to break the law is still a sin.

Now, as a Christian, I can look at all God's commandments (not just those in
the OT, but those in the NT also, such as "Pray continuously", etc.), and
because I love God and want to obey Him, I can do my best to live up to what He
wants. And, I will fail - because the only one who ever could do that is Jesus.

For example, I really want to be a Proverbs 31 woman. I could print it out
and carry it around with me - memorize it even, so that it's always close to my
thinking. I could judge each and every action to see whether it fits with
Proverbs 31 or not. (Remember the WWJD fad?) I have tried - and I have failed
miserably. That's living in law. I have good motivation & even the right reasons
for doing it (because I'm thankful and want to please the God who saved me)
but, it's still living in law.

Or, I can seek God's face every day. I can pray, and stay in His Word, and
think about Him and His wonders, and slowly (Oh, so slowly!!!), He will change
me to be more like Jesus. So, now, I can look back and say, "I'm more of a
Proverbs 31 woman than I used to be." The difference is - now, it's all God's
doing. I'm not trying to do it in my own strength. The more I learn about God, the
more I seek Him and His righteousness and His Kingdom, the more I
automatically shed bad habits and gain good ones - without even trying. The more I "rest
in HIM", the more I accomplish - because I'm not trying to do it on my own.

I don't have a big list of musts anywhere. I must give this much to the
church. I must feed the needy. I must do this. I must do that. That only leads to
burnout and failure.

Instead, I love God with all my heart. And, all of that "stuff" just falls
into place. Instead of ME being "purpose driven", God works out HIS purpose
THROUGH me. And, funny thing, I wind up keep those commandments (like praying
continuously) because of what God is making out of me - not because I decided I
had to do it. That's living by the Spirit - living in Grace.

SO many people get confused about these things - because they want to PLEASE
God. They have wonderful intentions! God says "tithe", so they "tithe!" And,
that's not a bad thing, but perhaps, if their whole hearts were focused on God,
all the time, they might wind up giving more than a "tithe." Or, they might
give less than that to their church, but also give to something else that God
called them to. In any case, it would be because their hearts wanted to - not
because they were trying to obey the law.

I'm not talking about sitting and waiting to "feel" something. It's just the
more attuned you are to God and His Kingdom, the more all of this will simply
fall into place - without you stressing about it all. There is time enough in
every day to do what God wants you to do in that day. If there isn't, than
you've taken on more than God intended.

It's easy to let being "law-driven" drive you away from God. Because, as hard
as we try, we will fail. And fail. And fail. And we wind up feeling like we
can never please God - that we're never good enough.

Those kind of feelings can break God's heart. He loves you more than you love
your own children. If you discovered that your child felt that he could never
please you, no matter what he did and how hard he tried, wouldn't your heart
just hurt? You'd scoop that child up and assure him that you love him no
matter what - because he's your child, not because of what he did or didn't do.
Remember, that God loves you even more than that.

His yoke is easy. His burden is light. He doesn't want you to be stressing
about whether you've kept Law # 129 today or not. He wants you to simply put
your hand in His, and let Him lead you through your day.

How do you do that? Not through sitting in a room full of candles, waiting to
hear Him, but simply through praying, staying daily in His Word, and spending
your days with Him on your mind. You can ask for Him to guide you through His
Spirit (see Luke 11:1-13), you can ask Him to keep you on HIS path (see Psalm
25), and then, like a toddler, you can just trust that when you cry "Abba!",
He will be right there to help you.

Living by the Spirit doesn't always mean you know what's going on - or that
you won't make mistakes. But, it means focusing your heart and mind on your
heavenly Father, and letting Him do what He will through you. And trusting that
that's what He'll do!

If my marriage was in trouble, I would spend zero time reading "Seven
Biblical Steps to Fixing Your Marriage" or "Ten Biblical Ways to Please Your
Husband." I would simply put all my heart and soul into seeking God (through the Bible
and through prayer) and say, "Lord, things are not going so well here. Help,
please!" and then just trust that somehow, someway, God would work things out
to fit His plan, and that no matter what happened at that point, He would make
it work for good.

If you walk into a Christian book store, most of what you're going to find to
help your marriage, straighten out your kids, whatever, is going to fall
under that "living in law" idea. It sounds too easy to say, "Seek God with all
your heart and He'll work it out."

Just stay in God's Word - seek His face all the time, every part of every day
- put your effort into getting closer to Him, and all the law will simply
come naturally. As you gradually become more like Jesus (which God does IN you -
you don't do for yourself), you will gradually live more like Jesus -
naturally, automatically. It's a process that started when you first believed and will
continue until the day He takes you home.

That's my take on Law and Grace.

Jacqui