Author Archives: Becky Pliego

About Becky Pliego

I am grateful because God, in His grace, called me out of darkness and into his admirable light. When I did not look for Him, He found me. When I was in a pit of sin, He rescued me. I am not walking this road alone, my family is always with me, and we love Him, because He loved us first.

On Titus 2: 11-15 -When God’s Grace Appears the Training Starts-

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For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

These verses are incredible, and studying them has brought to me a greater and more in depth understanding of the meaning of grace, and how it look like in a day to day basis. Isn’t it wonderful how the Word of God is alive? How it speaks to us? No matter how many times in my life I have read Titus; this is the first time I see this:

“[T]he grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions”

If the grace of God has appeared -and it has appeared- then it means that I did not expect it come. I was not waiting for it. It just appeared; all of a sudden. It broke right in the middle of my situation and did not ask me permission. It appeared, just like the angel appeared to Mary, and her life was abruptly changed. Grace appears at the moment when the world seems to be falling apart, and hope seems impossible. The Grace of God appeared in the person of Jesus.  “Grace is not some abstract doctrine or theological construct. Grace comes as Christ does. Grace is as personal as He is.”

God’s grace comes in the person of Jesus to bring salvation to His people and to train us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions. WOW! I had never seen this! The grace of God not only saves us, but trains us to renounce  ungodliness and worldly passions. How many admonitions and instructions Paul has given to the church through Titus; at times it seems impossible to live up to those standards; but here is the key: Just as Grace appeared to save us; it has appeared to train us in holiness.

Bryan Chapell says,

“Such grace should make us so in love with God that we cannot stand whatever in our lives re-soil us and offends him. Biblical grace makes us intolerant of evil in our lives.”

This grace of God that appears the moment we are drowning in sin, saves us and trains us to say no to sin. Saying “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions is possible only because the grace of God has appeared. Only because of Jesus.

“When we see God clearly in the appearance of His grace, we have an intense awareness of our unholiness… A true apprehension of grace instructs us of the magnitude and repugnance of our sin.” Bryan Chapell

But is not enough to say “no” to all ungodliness and worldly passions;  we must, by God’s grace, say “yes” to God’s requirements: to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age. (v.12b)

I love the way Chapell explains this,

“If being a Christian only involved self-control over passions and upright’ behavior before others, we might get the idea that the Christian life was only a matter of living according to certain rules or performing in an acceptable way. By adding the word godly to the ways of grace teaches us to live, the apostle reminds us that the Christian life is one of dependence on God. Godliness is not a consequence of human resolution or willpower. It is a relationship with God that results in a life honoring to God.”

And in this grace we live. “Godliness remains our obligation until Jesus returns.” It is in this state of training, of working in godliness that we wait for our blessed hope. Let us persevere in this training always depending on his perfect grace.

Becky

Praying the Psalms -Psalm 8-

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Psalm 8

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.

 

O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet,
all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

O my Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Among your people, your name is exalted,
among the nations, all of them, Your name is great.
Your name is above all those who love you,
and above all those who hate you.
Your name, Your character,
is majestic because it is who You are.
Your name is majestic;
Rock of Ages,
Great I Am,
Conqueror,
Victorious,
King of Kings,
Strong Tower,
O Lord, You have established strength,
over your enemies.
We pray for our babies and infants,
for our sons and daughters,
let your praise be in their lips,
let them sing of the glories of your Name!

Lord, seeing your creation,
the perfection of it;
seeing the order with which you have created all of it,
draws me to your feet.
Father, why did it please you to look at me?
Why did you turn your eyes toward me to save me?
I am one. So little. A sinful one. Guilty.
And yet, You are mindful of me?
You care for me?
Lord, that is amazing!
Your name is majestic:
Savior,
Merciful Father,
Messiah,
Intercessor,
Mediator,
The Amen.

O LORD,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Amen

Becky

Related Series: Celebrating the Excellencies of His Name

 

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On Titus 2: 6-10 -Living the Gospel in Community -part 2-

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“Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.” Titus 2:8-10 (ESV)

One of the things that has been notorious after studying this epistle, is how many times Paul addresses the importance of self-control. The elders must exercise it (1:8), as well as the older men (2:2), the older women (2:3), the younger women (2:5), and the young men (2:6). This makes me think that one of the character traits that should define us as Christians should be “self-control.” But how much we fail to be self-controlled. How much I need the Spirit of God to help me in this area!

J.R. Miller said,

“There are men who rule other men—but cannot rule themselves. They are victorious in battle—but they cannot control their own temper, restrain their own speech, or calm and quiet their own hearts. There is nothing beautiful in such a life. Nothing more effectually mars a life—than fretfulness, discontent, worry, or impatience. Nothing is more pitiful—than a life which is made to be strong, kingly, noble, calm, and peaceful—but which is, instead, the slave of every excitement, every temper, every resentment, every appetite and passion.”

John Piper writes, (I encourage you to read this short article in its entirety)

“The very concept of “self-control” implies a battle between a divided self. It implies that our “self” produces desires we should not satisfy but instead “control.” We should “deny ourselves” and “take up our cross daily,” Jesus says, and follow him (Luke 9:23). Daily our “self” produces desires that should be “denied” or “controlled.”

That path that leads to heaven is narrow and strewn with suicidal temptations to abandon the way. Therefore Jesus says, “Strive to enter through the narrow door” (Luke 13:24). The Greek word for “strive” is agonizesthe, in which you correctly hear the English word “agonize.”

The truth is that maybe we know not what “agonizing” over our sins and temptations is like; most of the times we just let them remain in a secret corner, somewhere in the depths of our heart. We let them stay… a little bit longer. Why not?

To close, I’d like to share the words with which Bryan Chapell concludes his commentary on these verses,

“Prayer, praise, instruction, fellowship, and the service of the church do not fulfill their purposes if we don’t function corporately and in community. There is always the temptation to privatize and individualize our faith experience. We tend to make decisions about whom to hear, what to do, and where to serve largely based upon what will be good for us personally. Paul’s instruction to Titus prick our consciences in order to make us sense the importance of responsible for others and living our lives in community. The hope we possess and pass in community should force us to consider the interests and needs of others than our own (cf.Philippians 2:1-5).”

Under His sun and by His grace,

Becky

His Story of Grace in my Life

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Writing about the story of how His grace reached me took me more than a month; and you already know it wasn’t because of my meticulous writing skills. It took me all this long because I did not want to sound like a woman sharing from the pulpit in one of those “Testimonies Nights.” I remember well how it goes,  the hand-claps are “offered to God,” but at the end, the glory goes to men. So I re-wrote this piece many, many times. It is His story, not mine. I did not choose it. He wrote it before I even existed. And I am so grateful for that!

Today I am sharing His story of grace in my life  over at Desiring Virtue; want to come read?

Under His sun and by His grace,

Becky

Desiring Virtue

A Prayer- That We May Be an Example to All-

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This is a prayer taken from William Barclay’s Prayer Book,

Help us, O God, to rid ourselves of all the things which
keep us from being good examples of the faith which we profess.

Help us
        Never to demand standards from others which we
            never attempt to live up to ourselves;
        Never to contradict with our lives that which we say
            with our lips;
        Never to be one thing to people’s face and another
            behind their back.

Help us
        Never to make a promise and then to break it
            because it is difficult to keep;
        Never to do anything dishonorable, either to avoid
            trouble or to make a gain;
        Never to be disloyal to a friend
            or untrue to a loved one.

Help us
       Never to teach or persuade anyone to do
           a wrong thing;
       Never to give an example which will make it easier
           for someone else to go wrong;
       Never to laugh at anyone else’s beliefs,
           and never to hide our own.

Help us to live that we shall never bring disgrace to ourselves,
                                                      heartbreak to others,
                                                      or grief to you.

Amen

This is my earnest prayer today…

Love is Easy Until it Demands Something from Us

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It may seem absurd to say that love demands something from us;  but this morning as I was reading 1Corinthians 13: 4-7(ESV)  I could not think otherwise.

Please read these verses with all attention as if you had never read them before:

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

 

Love is easy until…
It demands from me patience,
Until it demands from a me kind attitude,
Every day, every time, over and over again.
Love is easy until…
It calls me not to envy,
Or boast.
Love is easy until…
It demands from me humility,
And not arrogance.
It is easy until it doesn’t call me
To ask for forgiveness,
And set aside all rudeness.
Love is easy until…
It demands that I should die,
That I should not insist on my own way of doing things.
It is easy until it calls me to leave aside
my own “rights” for the sake of the ones I love.
Love is easy until…
It demands self control from me,
Until it calls me not to be irritable,
Until it calls me not to be resentful.
Love is easy until…
It demands that I should not rejoice at any wrongdoing,
It is easy until it calls me to love truth,
Even though this would mean admitting
That I am wrong.
Love is easy until…
It demands from me to bear all things,
yes, all things,
every one of them.
Love is easy until…
It demands from me to believe all things,
To Hope all things,
To Endure all things.
This is the only kind of love that never ends.

Becky