Thoughts about Grace

It is easy to get ahead of where we should be, as Proverbs 19:2 indicates. God's provisions are for us, as Luke 11:3 points out: for "us each day our daily bread." And this is not just the physical bread but, more important, that which feeds our spirits. As Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4).

Daily Grace

God gives me grace daily
When I take of the living bread,
Strength as I need it,
Wisdom for my plans
From the living Head.

God gives me grace
For all I face,
But not until the time;
God gives grace, and fully,
As is His good design.

I don't know what will face me,
If any days will come;
But I know that He will meet my needs,
He's done the needful sum.

God's grace is good and daily and sufficient as He planned,
And all I need to have it is
To stretch out a prayerful, obedient hand.

Examining Grace

Grace: what a concept! Unmerited favor--for merited would not be favor but payback.

Grace--derived from rejoice--and when we experience grace, we can only respond with rejoicing, and awed hearts because we don't "deserve" grace.

Grace: said to be descriptive of God's favor, His forgiving mercy, the gospel (of grace, of course), gifts (spiritual), and eternal life.

Grace: the source of salvation, call of God, faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), justification, forgiveness, and that blessed comfort.

Grace: described as all-abundant, glorious, great, manifold, and rich.

Grace: believers are under it, receive it, stand in it, abound in it, are to be strong in it, grow in it, speak with it, and will inherit it.

Grace: who can wrap their mind around such a gift as this?

It is more than one package can contain, hold, yet small enough for the heart to encompass.

It is beyond the most mature believer to fully comprehend, but not for the newest or the youngest to receive and rejoice in.

Grace.

Furthermore

Did you know that the Bible ends with grace? Revelation 22:31: "The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen."

The Psalmist wrote a plea for grace in Psalm 86:6: "Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace."

Grace is the subject of John 1:14, 16-17; Acts 4:33; 20:24, 32; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 1:2; Galatians 1:3; Ephesians 1:2.

What is the point of grace? I discussed this with my husband a while ago.  We agreed that God shows grace--what is known as common grace--to all people, as in the instance of rain falling on the just and the unjust alike. And the promise through Noah that He would never again destroy the earth with a flood, and we would enjoy regular seasons.

But saving grace is another matter altogether. This is what Paul refers to in Romans when he talks about our being justified  by grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ (3:24), a promise that rests on grace (4:16), through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the glory of God (5:2).

Does saving grace free us to sin? As Paul wrote: "What shall we say, then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!" (Romans 6:1) and restates this later in that chapter: "What then? Are we to sin because we are not under the law, but under grace? By no means!" (6:15).

For other references on the subject, read 2 Corinthians 6:1; 9:8; 12:9; Galatians 1:6; 2:21; 5:4; 6:18; Ephesians 2:1, 4-10.

In Philippians1:2; Colossians 1:2; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:2; 2:16-17 and other letters Paul mentions God's grace.

The writers of Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude, and Revelation also highlight it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

It seems to me that anything God has seen fit to emphasize we should pay close attention to also.

2 John 3: "Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love."

Again Thinking About Mercy

God expressed mercy last year in the home-going of my mom, and this year in my cardiac issues.

Again Thinking About Mercy

Like others of God's attributes,
Mercy is something we need to
Both receive and to give,
Pass on, not
Withhold.
Mercy is one of those graces
Which has its place in the redeemed heart
As a gift, then
To be given
As a gift, without
Stint, without
Quid pro quo, generously--
As a gift.
Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall receive mercy--
Matthew 5.

Back in 2013, in doing research on mercy, I went to various sources. Dictionary.com defined mercy first as "compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence: Have mercy on the poor sinner." Yes, you read that right. The example given here is "have mercy on the poor sinner."

An online Bible dictionary defined mercy this way: "compassion for the miserable. It's object is misery. By the atoning sacrifice of Christ a way is open for the exercise of mercy towards the souls of men, in harmony with the demands of truth and righteousness (Gen. 19:19; Ex. 20:6; 34:6; Ps. 85:10; 86:15, 16). In Christ mercy and truth meet together. Mercy is also a Christian grace (Matt. 5:7; 18:33-35)."

Synonyms: "forgiveness, indulgence, clemency, leniency, lenity, tenderness, mildness."

I found more than 100 references to mercy in the O.T. using BibleGateway.com and more than 50 in the N.T.  I won't give all of them here, only a sample.

The first use of the terms comes in Genesis 43:14 when Jacob reluctantly says to his remaining sons as they prepare to return to Egypt: "May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, and may he send back your other brother and Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved on my children, I am bereaved."

In Exodus 25, we are introduced to the mercy seat, which would cover the ark and be where God would meet them through their high priest.

When Moses asked to see God, he was given this promise in Exodus 33:19: "And he said, 'I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name "The Lord" and I will me gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy." Paul would remember this when he wrote his letter to the Romans (see Romans 9:15).

What occasions caused those in the Old Testament to ask for mercy? Nehemiah prayed at the beginning of the book which bears his name: "'O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayers of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.' Now I was cupbearer to the king." Nehemiah had a burden for Jerusalem and only the permission of the king would allow him to carry it out."

David sought mercy multiple times, which are recorded and probably others which are not.

Job speaks of mercy in chapters 8, 9, 19, and 21, including this plea recorded in 19:21: "Have mercy on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me!"

In what we commonly refer to as the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes this promise: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy" (Matt 5:7).

Among the matters which Jesus called the woes on the scribes and the Pharisees was their lack of mercy: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness.. These you ought to have done without neglecting the other" (Matt. 23:23).

One of my favorite passages in Ephesians begins this way: "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (2:4-6). His mercy, His love, His grace=my salvation here and my future in His presence.

For those who have received this mercy, we do what the writer of Hebrews encouraged us to do: "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (4:16).

The Guarded Heart (revisited)

Again posting on the subject of the heart, in keeping with my impending third angiogram this year on July 12.

The Guarded Heart

Proverbs 4:23 instructs us: "Watch over your heart with  all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life."

What does a guarded heart look like? What kind of diligence is required?

First, it is a cleansed heart, aware of what Jeremiah 17:9 says of its natural condition: "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked."

Then, it knows that it is one not fully committed to "loving the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind" much less loving its neighbor as itself (Matthew 22:37-39).

Further, it is responsive to the whole Word of God, not just the parts it likes.

It understands the need to guard the eyes as Job 31:1 and Matthew 5:27-28 note.

It takes heed to guarding its path/walk and ears as Proverbs 5:4-14 commands.

It is in agreement with this also: "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess out sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:8-9).

It is conscious of the need to do this: "Little children, guard yourselves from idols" (1 John 5:21).

It prays with the Psalmist: "Guard my soul and deliver me; do not let me be ashamed, for I take refuge in You" (Psalm 25:20).

It also makes this commitment: "... 'I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle while the wicked are in my presence" (Psalm 39:1)

It reiterates Psalm 141:3 as a prayer: "Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips."

In this, it agrees with what James wrote in his letter regarding the tongue (chapter 3).

Diligence, according to Dictionary.com, is a noun defined first as constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is undertaken; persistent exertion of body or mind; second as a legal term meaning the degree of care or caution required by the circumstances of a person.

Considering these definitions, read these sections from Peter's second letter:

"Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now for this very reason also [referring back to the previous verses], applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge" (1:2-5; read through verse 10)

"You therefore, beloved, knowing beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen." (3:17-18)

The guarded heart, then, is a fully guarded thing, from eyes to ears to mouth to feet, growing in discernment, grace, and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Heart Watch (Revisited)

Since this year has turned out to be a cardiac year for me, with another angiogram planned for July 12, it seemed appropriate to re-post the following thoughts.

Heart Watch

How easy it is for us
Mere mortals to
Lose heart, to
Lose perspective, to
Forget God sees things
As they are,
Forget God deals with people
Personally,
Forget His time is perfect, whereas
Our sense of time is tragically
Warped by sin--our sins, others' sins--
And won't ever be made right until
He makes all things right
In His time, and then will come
Eternity.

Proverbs 4:23: "Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life."