Mysteries of Grace Unravelled

I must have listened to two dozen different versions of Amazing Grace.  There were dozens more to listen to.  Everyone seems to want to sing this song that for some means life after life for eternity.  And when I found this version by the Gaithers...well I knew it was the one that would mean the most to those who know and have entrusted their lives into the safe keeping of the Lord Jesus Christ!  Enjoy.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.”  Ephesians 2:8-9

9 Truths about Grace

1.      Grace is not withheld from anyone because they are not good enough.

2.      Grace is not granted in proportion to how good or how bad someone is.

3.      Grace cannot incur a debt – it does not create obligation from the giver.

4.      Grace is not exercised in the just payment of a debt.

5.      Grace is NEVER the over-payment of a debt.

6.      Grace is not a reward  or reason for our faith (If we trust God, He’ll give us grace...It is not a reward or reason for His grace.)

7.      Grace cannot be elicited from God...You can’t “pull” it out or off of God. 

8.      There are no “means for more or less grace.

9.      God gives grace in response to His heart-choice as we love His Son and chose to trust Him with our life

Probably the one area where Christians have the greatest struggle (after being saved) is God’s grace. 

It’s one of God’s mysteries....and it’s enough to know He does grant us grace when we accept His gift of salvation. 

Bottom line:  

There is nothing you can do that will make God love you more.  There is nothing you can do that will make God love you less.  That is the essence of Grace!

Take a moment to review the 9 Truths above.  Don’t be deceived by anything less or more ever again!  

Whispers

Perhaps you have never strayed back to former mistake patterns in your life.  Perhaps you've never found the strength to walk away from ties that bind you to thoughts and activities that would not bring our Heavenly Father glory or joy.

For me, one Easter, as I felt unworthy to even go to church, I still woke before what would have been time for the Sunrise Service that I so loved.  I walked to a little bench beside a beautiful lake with my Bible in hand. 

I wondered what people do who feel so unworthy they do not have the courage or energy to go to church on Easter.  This day so many celebrate the amazing resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I decided I would read each of the Gospels through.  By the time I reached Luke, I was feeling a bit tired, yet I was determined to continue.  That is until I reached Luke 22. 

It started in the same familiar way with the Passover celebration where Jesus presided for His disciples.  He broke the bread, He shared the wine.  He spoke the words that would have puzzled the disciples.  They must have imagined He was speaking in some kind of mystical fashion.

At verse 21 my heart began to ache for Jesus, because He knew:

"'But behold, the hand of the one betraying Me is with Me on the table.'"

Yes, the Son of Man was born to be betrayed and die in a most lonely way and because of the impatience and greed of one of His very disciples.  A man handpicked by Jesus to learn from Him the wonders of a new Kingdom.

He speaks wisdom about leadership and thanks them for their follower-ship.  And then he speaks directly to the impetuous Peter with unexpected and even hurtful words.  Peter who jumped up to follow Jesus to the ends of the earth in the end.  Peter, who spoke enthusiastically and sometimes out of turn and was one of Jesus' closest friends:

"Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers."

And as you would expect, Peter was quick to assure Jesus of his loyalty under any and all circumstances. 

I always identified with Peter when I was a young Christian, loving his enthusiasm.  It sounded like me once upon a time...so sure of my resolve in Christ, so sure that I would not choose a pathway that would shove Jesus off the throne of my life. 

But I did.

As I sat on that park bench overlooking the peaceful lake and watching the sun rise, I quit reading about then as my eyes were so overflowing with tears. 

The truth hurt.  I was not ready to give up the pathway I had chosen to trod and wondered what this would mean for me as I walked on into more days of my life, choosing to do things my own way for now.

Then I read the verse 31 and 32 again and saw the part the Holy Spirit was etching deeply and painfully into my heart,

"...and you, WHEN once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." 

He wrote that just for me you realise...that it was even included is amazing for me as it is not in the other Gospels, just this one -- that I so love.

We all know the truth of this story of Peter and his undying energy for Jesus message.  We all imagined the moment after Peter denied Christ for the third time and looked up to see Jesus watching him in the distance (Luke 22:61) . 

I cannot imagine what Peter was thinking.  I cannot imagine how painful this moment was for Jesus, who was already suffering. 

After Jesus rose again and was giving last instructions to His disciples, again He turned to Peter, singling him out and asking him three times about the strength of his love for Jesus (John 21:15-17). 

It was symbolic of a future hope of healing for my heart. 

You see even when you do stray, even when you purpose to stay out there lost in your own opinion of what is right, He still knows your heart.  He still waits...for His grace is beyond our comprehension. 

This is grace.  Grace that says you cannot do anything to lose His love...Grace that says you cannot do anything to get more of His love, because you have it ALL from the very moment you surrender your life into His hands once you admit you cannot save yourself.  From that moment Ephesians 2:8-9 are two verses that give you hope in a new life.

Jesus knew what Peter would do and loved him still.  Jesus knew what Peter would do and died for him still.  This act of obedience to the Father took Peter's sin with Him on the Cross.  This act brought Peter the personal forgiveness and personal gracious love that only Jesus can.  It is how much He loves you and me!

On one of the flyleaves of my favourite Bibles are these words that I share with you in love:

"I'm saved because Jesus wants me to be a witness for Him.

He promised that if I tell the world about Him,

He will tell the Father about me!"

12 Proofs You Have Left Your First Love

"But I have this against you, that you have left your first love."  Revelations 2:4

1. When your delight in the Lord is no longer as great as your delight in something else, you have left your "first love". 

[Jesus teaching] "'Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.'" Mark 13:30

2. When your soul does not long for times of rich fellowship in God's Word and/ or in prayer, you have left your "first love". 

"And one of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognising that He had answered them well, asked Him, 'What commandment is the foremost of all?'

"Jesus Answered, 'The foremost is, 'Hear, O Israel!  The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.'" Mark 12:30

3. When your thoughts during leisure moments do not reflect upon the Lord, you have left your "first love". 

"Jesus said, 'Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children of farms, for My sake and for the Gospel's sake, but that he shall receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions;; and in the age to come, eternal life.'" Mark 10:30

"The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him.  All his thoughts are, 'There is no God.'"  Psalm 10:4

4. When you claim to be "only human", and when you easily give in to those things which you know displeases the Lord, you have left your "first love". 

See Mark 12:30 at point 2

[Jesus teaching] "'Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!'  In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.'" John 15:8-10

"And when one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him,  'Blessed is everyone who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!"  John 14:15  Be sure to read from verse 7-24 for context.

5. When you do not willingly and cheerfully give to God's work or to the needs of others, you have left your "first love". 

"But whoever has the word's goods and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?" I John 3:17

6. When you cease to treat every Christian as I would the Lord, you have left your "first love". 

[Jesus teaching] "'And the King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'" Matthew 25:40

[Jesus teaching] "'A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.'" John 13:34

7. when you view the commands of Christ as restrictions to your happiness rather than expressions of His love, you have left your "first love". 

[Jesus teaching] "'He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him.'" John 14:21

8. When you inwardly strive for the acclaim of this world rather than the approval of the Lord, you have left your "first love". 

"Do not love the world, nor the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in Him." I John 2:15

[Jesus teaching] "'If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are no of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.'" John 15:19

9. When you fail to make Christ or His Words known because you fear rejection, you have left your "first love". 

[Jesus teaching] "'Remember the Word that I said to you, 'A slave is not greater than his master.'  If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.'" John 15:20

10. When you refuse to give up an activity which you know is offending a weaker brother, you have left your "first love". 

"For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love.  Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died.'" Romans 14:15

11. When you become complacent to sinful conditions around you, you have left your "first love". 

[Jesus teaching] "'You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good?  For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.'" Matthew 12:34

12. When you are unable to forgive another for offending you, you have left your "first love". 

"If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar, for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen." I John 4:20

New Year's Right

"Sing to the Lord, all the earth, proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.  Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.

"For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; He also is to be feared above all gods, for all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.

"Splendour and majesty are before Him, strength and joy are in His place.  Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

"Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come before Him; worship the Lord in holy array.  Tremble before Him, all the earth; indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.  Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; and let them say among the nations, 'The Lord reigns.'

Let the sea roar, and all it contains.  Let the field exult, and all that is in it.  Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the Lord.  For He is coming to judge the earth.  O give thanks to the Lord for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting." I Chronicles 16:23-34

Tucked in the two pages of one of my favourite passages is an invitation to a business function.  On the back of it, I wrote:

"A wrongdoer is often a person who has left something undone, 

not always that he has done something."  - Marcus Aurelius

This seemed especially important for me as I start the New Year.  Perhaps it will bless your heart as well...nothing like a clean slate!

Some of us have felt so wronged for so long that it's hard to even imagine ourselves on the other end of the pointed stick.

We are so conditioned to the victim's role we have a hard time recognising our own aggression.  But many of us play both roles, whether actively or passively, directly or indirectly.  We all have apologies to make. 

Because we have chronically thought of ourselves as being owed rather than owing apologies, we are not very skillful at asking for forgiveness.  The simple words, 'I am sorry.  I was wrong,: don't come easily to any of us.

More than others, we may tend to justify our wrongs because of all the wrongs that HAVE been done to us.  But it is essential to recovery that we learn to take responsibility when we have hurt others. 

By promptly and honestly admitting our mistakes, we exercise healthy humility and knock down another barrier between ourselves and the rest of humanity. 

Withheld apologies are unpaid debts.  Paying our debts is not a matter of weakness, it is a clear-cut matter of responsibility.

What is Wrong?

(Dr. Charles Stanley:  Anger and Forgiveness, part 4)

Matthew 5:21-24:  "'You have heard that the ancients were told, 'You shall not commit murder' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.'

"'But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever shall say to his brother, 'Raca,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever shall say, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

"'If therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.'"

"A wrong doer is often a person that has left something undone, not always that he has done something." - Marcus Aurelius

Some of us have felt so wronged for so long that it is hard to even imagine ourselves on the other end of the pointed stick.

We are so conditioned to the "victim's role" we have a hard time recognising our own aggression.  But many of us play both roles, whether actively or passively, directly or indirectly. 

We all have apologies to make.

Because we have chronically thought of ourselves as being owed rather than owing apologies, we are not very skillful at asking for forgiveness.  The simple words, 'I'm sorry.  I was wrong.' don't come easily.

More than others, we may tend to justify our wrongs because of all the wrongs that have been done to us. 

But it is essential to recovery that we learn to take responsibility when we have hurt others.  By promptly and honestly admitting our mistakes, we exercise healthy humility and knock down another barrier between ourselves and the rest of humanity.

Withheld apologies are unpaid debts.  Paying our debts is not a matter of weakness -- it is a clear-cut matter of responsibility.  It is good to keep short accounts of wrongs done to us (as well as those we do to others).  Right now is a perfect time to look back and see if there is someone you need to forgive and mend a relationship with.

(If you would like to work through a special devotional focused on Forgiveness, you can find one I wrote for WeakDay Devotions in Kindle format ON THIS LINK.)

Imagine Mary

I John 4:17-18:  "By this love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.  There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment and the one who fears is not perfected in love.  We love because He first loved us."

God's grace, like His love, banishes fear of judgment!

Mary would have been of marriageable age (perhaps as young as 13 or 14) and likely was betrothed to Joseph from childhood, perhaps even from birth as her lineage was rich, as was Joseph's.  And she would have guarded her purity until her wedding night.

Unlike Zechariah, who wanted proof that the Angel was speaking truth, Mary is concerned more with the practicalities of how this can happen.  In her innocence she would only know the "facts of life" from what her mother and other women may have shared with her, but how a virgin would conceive and give birth would have seemed impossible..  

Gabriel shares a wonder that has puzzled and stumbled many over the years:

Luke 1:35:  "And the angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you,  and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God.  And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month.  For nothing will be impossible with God.'

The Greek word used here for "overshadow" is episkiazo.  It carries the sense of the holy, powerful presence of God.  It is like the description of the cloud that 'covered' (or  "settled upon) the tabernacle when the tent was filled with the glory of God (Exodus 40:35; Psalm 91:4).  It recalls the word used in all three accounts of the Transfiguration to describe the overshadowing of the cloud (Matthew 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:34).

In each of these passages, we read how a voice comes out of the cloud sharing the news that Jesus is God's Son.  When Gabriel shared his good news with Mary it was to comfort her with gentle and reassuring words that the tenderness of the Lord God would envelop her with the softness of a cloud and miraculously, the result would be the birth of the Son of God.

Your Life is Jesus to Someone

(Keith Green - Make My Life A Prayer To You)

John 13:34-35:  "'A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.'"

YOUR LIFE is Jesus to someone,

though tattered and torn it may be.

Though often times weak and unstable,

You're all of God someone will see

YOUR TONGUE is Jesus to someone.

That idle, insensitive word

Reflects to at least one searching heart

An idle, insensitive Lord.

YOUR GOALS are Jesus to someone.

What you put first, they will believe,

Are the goals of God for the Christian.

Your life is all they receive.

YOUR FAITHFULNESS

That's Jesus to someone.

Their judgment of how God is true

Rests unquestionably in the faithfulness

They see day by day in you.

YOUR LOVE is Jesus to someone --

That someone who is seeking to know

That Jesus will follow and guide and

Befriend wherever in life they might go.

SO BEWARE lest others blaspheme God

By what you say or do,

For the only Jesus that someone may see

Is the Jesus they see in you.