GraceNotes Podcast

CHOOSING GRACE (June 23, 2023)

Our hearts are subtle and mysterious realms, swept over by the storms of grand emotions.

Why is it that the same offensive words from the lips of a friend can be more easily forgiven than when uttered by a person outside the orbit of our love?

Love holds within it the quality of grace, both when we receive it from the Father, and when we extend it to His children. God chose to love us “while we were yet sinners”—to extend His grace in spite of our offensiveness. But we routinely show that grace to only those who love us in return.

The difference lies in God’s amazing decision to love the entire world as though we had always been His friends. He sovereignly declares that all His children can also be His friends because of Jesus’ sacrifice: “For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Cor 5:19).

 

Can loving God expand the orbit of our love? How do we learn God’s graciousness for those who never earned our care—or even wounded us in spite?

 

We pray for God’s own love to take from us our stony hearts, and give us His great, principled affection for those who still offend us. God’s daily miracle of grace gives each of us—and everyone—the fullness of forgiving love.

So stay in grace -Bill Knott

GOOD FOR ALL (June 16, 2023)

Does fear sometimes persuade you that you aren’t eligible for the gospel’s promises of peace and restoration? Consider then, the vast variety of souls who found God’s grace when they weren’t looking for it. 

A Jericho prostitute. A leprous general. A corrupt tax collector. A woman desperate for a child. A cultured religious leader. A demon-tortured wretch who gashed himself.  A dying thief. A cheating king. 

The list goes on and on, encompassing men and women in every imaginable life situation—the wealthy and the poor; the aged and the children; the slaves and those who imprisoned them; the doubting and the faithful; the obedient and those who broke God’s law with wild abandon. 

“For God has revealed His grace for the salvation of all people” (Titus 2:11). 

The Bible is, above all else, a story of hope for broken, wounded, foolish folks like us.  We were the people sitting in darkness on whom new light has dawned. “In Christ was life, and the life was the light of all people” (John 1:4). “God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Rom 5:8). 

Grace tells us that we’re loved. Love teaches us to hope. Hope gives us wings to fly to faith.  Faith coaxes us to trust in grace. 

So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

RESPONSIBLE GRACE (June 09, 2023)

We say our greatest wounds come from the hands of others. The parent who denied us love; the boss who took the credit for our work; the spouse whose teasing made us cringe—the dirge called “People Who Have Done Me Wrong” is at the top of every playlist. Behind each failure, so we say, there’s someone else responsible. 

But God’s Word calls us to admit our greatest sorrows grow from the choices that we’ve made. We nursed our wounds; we hurt our friends; we shut our ears to conscience. We spoke untruths; we weaponized our words; we’ve reenacted all the spite we ever got from others. 

“You who judge others do these very same things,” the Bible says (Rom 2:3). “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Rom 3:23). 

Grace helps us see what we’ve refused to see: “Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Rom 2:5). The grace that calls us to account shows us the way to full and free renewal: “If we confess our sins, He who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). 

A new, forgiven life awaits. Don’t miss it for the world. 

And stay in grace. -Bill Knott

DYING TO FORGIVE (June 02, 2023)

It’s hard enough to admit mistakes when gripped by the conviction we’ve done something wrong. Our crippling pride protests the humbling of our hearts. It’s harder still when those to whom we should confess make doing so protracted, cold, or shameful.

And so we usually delay in saying what we must—we postpone joy; prolong our reconciliation—because we judge that God is like that irascible uncle or overbearing boss who makes confession difficult. We imagine that a righteous God must want to see us grovel.

But Scripture shows a Father running to embrace His long-lost son; a wounded lover continually forgiving unfaithfulness; a Saviour eager to restore, renew, and heal. “For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them” (2 Cor 5:19).

Truth is, the Father is more eager to forgive than we are to ask His pardon. His grace flows from abundant and tenacious love: “God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him” (John 3:17).

We miss the Father’s joy when we don’t trust His heart. We squander days that could be bright with happiness and hope. So why delay in telling Him the things you need to say? He knows them all before you speak, and loves you anyway.

Now stay in grace. -Bill Knott

GRACE AND CLARITY (May 26, 2023)

“Never mind.” “Forget about it.” “No worries.” “Don’t mention it.”

We say the oddest things when someone apologizes for what they’ve said or done. You’d think from our replies that nothing serious had happened—that we weren’t, in fact, hurt, damaged or offended. We sound as if forgiveness is a great, gray fog that smothers facts and erases memory.

But God never does. God listens carefully when our hearts are stirred to make things right, for clarity is the bedrock of His grace. “If we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness” (1 John 1:9).

Grace never pretends that wounds didn’t happen or that our broken, foolish choices don’t matter. Jesus was “wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with His stripes we are healed” (Isa 53:5).

And so the grace of God sees clearly, forgives swiftly, and restores fully. “O Lord, You are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for Your help” (Psa 86:5).

The Father’s eyesight never fails. And neither does His love.

So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HELD (May 19, 2023)

Grace is no bubble—beautiful but fragile—momentarily hovering—and covering—the story of our separation from the Father.

Forgiveness isn’t offered just to give us light and hope, even though it always ends in joy and wondrous dreams.  No, grace is strong the way a father’s grip is strong—muscle strong, sinew strong, unyielding and unwilling to let go.

The love you cannot earn is also love you cannot lose, for He has never yet allowed one outstretched hand to slip His grasp.  God has pledged Himself in language He cannot—will not—disavow:  “I have loved you with an everlasting love,” He says; “therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you” (Jeremiah 31.3).

Though life is full of fragile things, God’s grace is never one of them.

So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

AS GENTLE AS GRACE (May 12, 2023)

As we learn grace, we also learn its gentleness.

When we mistakenly believed that we could win eternity by toil, we had no patience with mistakes—our own, or those of others. We feared—and judged—all brokenness, as though severity might illustrate our fitness for the kingdom. If it was difficult, then it was good.

But then the Lover of our souls announced His grace while we were mired in our sins—while we were, in His word, “undone.”  “God proves His love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). Our foolish self-redemption project becomes, at last, the task that makes both men and angels softly laugh. We learn, at last, as the apostle wrote, “Christ is all” (Col 3:11).

The kindness Jesus offers us becomes the gentleness we offer others.  In time, we learn how to repent of all that isn’t grace.

So stay in grace. - Bill Knott

DON’T TRUST YOUR HEART (May 05, 2023)

“But I don’t feel forgiven.”

Millions every day confront the gap between God’s promise to forgive their sins and the relentless guilt that drives them to despair. We trust the truth of our emotions elsewhere: why not here as well?

But a gracious God wouldn’t allow our forever to hang upon the slender thread of changeable—and whimsical—emotions. We love pasta on Tuesday, and don’t ever want to see it again by Friday. We adore a particular shade of green, only to despise it one week later.

Just as it was necessary to trust God’s Word that we were sinners and separated from Him—even when we didn’t feel like sinners—so it’s crucial that we trust God’s Word that we have been forgiven when we place our trust in Jesus—even though we may not feel forgiven.

The apostle John learned this truth from Jesus: “By this we shall know that we are of the truth, and reassure our hearts before Him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything” (1 John 3:19-20).

We don’t activate God’s forgiveness by the intensity of our devotion or the alignment of our emotions: we aren’t that powerful. “Redeemed” is His objective declaration of our actual standing before Him when we claim Jesus as our Saviour.

We are embraced by grace before we love; when we can no longer sing; even when we are still wrestling with our fears.

So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

UNLISTED (April 28, 2023)

Why is it we love lists so much—for diets, muscles, marriage, money—even friendships?

“Six Things You Should Never Eat.” “Eight Stretches You Can Do at Home.” “Five Ways to Fireproof Your Marriage.” “Three Best Investments for Recession.” And even “Ten Ways to Know if Friends Are Talking Behind Your Back.”

We want what’s big and daunting in our lives reduced to things we can accomplish. We cling to our illusion: each new list will simplify our lives; we can recapture lost control. We crave the magic of past centuries without the stardust and the spells. Aladdin’s cave should open when we master “Four Ways to Memorize Your Passwords.”

But all that’s deeply valuable in life can’t be reduced to numbered lists—love; faith; eternity; serenity; and joy. When the crowd once asked Jesus, “‘We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?’ Jesus told them, ‘This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one He has sent’” (John 6:28-29).

Grace is irreducibly amazing—rich and complex, full and free. Any faith that elevates its list of obligations above receiving God’s affection has missed the point of Jesus. “This is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Trust God to get it right. And stay in grace. - Bill Knott

YOU’VE GOT A (GRACEFUL) FRIEND (April 21, 2023)

When you have the chance, choose friends who breathe the air of grace. 

Grace doesn’t make them better golfers, but you’ll want their gentleness when you earn that triple bogey on the 8th. 

Grace doesn’t make friends wise or witty, but they’ll know to put an arm around you when you’re hurting or discouraged, for God has laid His hands on them. 

Grace doesn’t turn friends into counselors, but they can lead you through forgiveness when you’ve blown it big and can’t see daylight up ahead. “For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5:19).

Grace doesn’t give conversation skills, but they’ll stay with you—and not let go—when others would go running for the exits. They’ve heard God say in seasons of deep loneliness: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness” (Jer 31:3).

Friends who live the grace of God bring hope and kindness on the journey. Keep choosing them. 

And stay in grace. -Bill Knott

PRESENT AND CONTINUOUS (April 14, 2023)

If concerts lasted 60 days, the audience would be smaller than the band. If a book took 40 years to read, almost no one would ever finish it.

We want the distillation of a life, not the whole story. We’re looking for the summary, not the entire sermon. We’re addicted to the soundbite, not hours of video outtakes.

And so we speak of grace as an event, even a moment, that can be captured, imaged, even timed. “I got saved at 7:23 pm last Tuesday.” “God turned my life around in 20 minutes during lunch.”

Yet grace is frequently a long and gentle process in our lives—at least a season, often a decade, sometimes an orbit of 50 years. We celebrate the moment of insight; heaven counts the long and winding road that led to now—a thousand times the sad trajectory of our lives was turned so quietly by love.  “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor 3:18).

The “grace that saved a wretch like me” is simply that moment we became aware of what God has been doing in our lives for seasons and for years. Grace is always present and continuous. Through Christ, we are both “saved” and “being saved,” for grace has no terminus—no end—for those who trust in Him.

So stay in grace. -Bill Knott

THE RISING SONG (April 07, 2023)

The resurrection is the greatest turnabout in time, a reversal of such epic scope that all our yesterdays have been reshaped and all tomorrows made anew. From Friday sundown’s grinding grief to Sunday morning’s glorious light, the balance of the world tipped.   We were the people sitting in darkness.  Now we greet His rising day. Death and dying lost their grip:  life and hope came springing up—out of the ground, within the tomb, above our loss, beyond our sin. Because Christ lives, the world’s dirge will die away;  a song of love and grace will be the anthem of the future. Join in the song that never dies:  “The Lord has risen—so shall I.”   And stay in grace. -Bill Knott