Grace

This is the best book on grace that I’ve ever read - before I even reached page 10, my eyes welled with tears at Max Lucado’s beautiful portrayal of God’s grace in his page-turning book Grace: More Than We Deserve, Greater Than We Imagine.  Once I started, I couldn’t put it down.

Grace is a common religious term, but have we settled for a wimpy grace? Max Lucado urges us to remember that grace is more verb than noun, more present than past, not just something that happened but something that happens. He says, “Grace is simply another word for God’s tumbling, rumbling reservoir of strength and protection. It comes at us not occasionally or miserly but constantly and aggressively, wave upon wave.”  (p.99)

Grace is comprised of 12 chapters painting a multi-faceted picture of grace through artfully portrayed Bible stories, life stories, examples and sprinkles of Scripture from a variety of modern translations.  A Reader’s Guide in the back of the book consists of searching Bible passages, Bible study questions, discussion questions, and prayer.

In the first chapter, Lucado shows how grace shapes us, changes us, transforms us, but it doesn’t happen overnight.  It comes in fits and spurts with periodic breakthroughs. “Grace comes after you. It rewires you. From insecure to God secure. From regret-riddled to better-because-of-it. From afraid-to-die to ready-to-fly. Grace is the voice that calls us to change and then gives us the power to pull it off.” (p. 8)

In the following chapters, Lucado wants us to understand grace from different angles. God stoops lovingly to give us a grace that frees us and changes us.  He exchanged our punishment for the righteousness of Jesus, giving us the credit for His perfection.

Grace isn’t granted based on doing more or being more.  God works wonders with our messes. Grace conquers fear. Grace helps us forgive. Grace chooses and adopts us and gives us assurance of heaven.

Grace doesn’t stop with us.  The grace-given give grace. “Grace is not blind. It sees the hurt full well. But grace chooses to see God’s forgiveness even more.” (p. 61)

This book is for the one who is wounded, or never feels good enough, or messed up too much, or fluctuates between devoted strength and floundering weakness, or for someone who just wants a better understanding of how rich and immense God’s grace is.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson Publishing in exchange for my honest review.

It's Called Grace

 It’s moving relationally toward a person when they have wronged you. 

It’s opening the door of your heart when every part of you wants to close it. 

It’s engaging when you have every right to disengage.

It’s offering help when someone’s actions have violated everything you believe in, hope for, and want for that person. 

It’s staying involved in the relationship when someone has violated your rules, ignored your advice, or hurt you through lies, deceit, and manipulation.

To love someone when you have been wronged is tough, but it’s essential in communicating a love that is beyond your capability. 

It’s a love that will win out if you don’t quit.  Even if you don’t feel like it.

When you feel good about giving grace, it probably isn’t grace.

(excerpted from Tough Guys and Drama Queens , by Mark Gregston, page 170).

Grace - Amazing or Accustomed?

When you hear or sing “Amazing Grace”, is God’s grace still amazing to you?  If you’ve been a Christian for a long time, you might be able to relate more to the concept of “accustomed grace” instead of “amazing grace”.  I think there was a long stretch of time in my walk with Christ that His grace was customary to me, but as I have grown more aware of sin in my life as well as the incredibleness of the many facets of God’s character, grace has become an awesome thing to me.

Some people think you have to live a life of outward sin and immorality and then come to Jesus in order to really see His amazing grace.  But what if outwardly you’ve been a “good person”, living a morally good life and serving others? Charles Wesley realized that being an outwardly good person WAS his source of sinful bondage.  His “goodness” was really as filthy rags in God’s eyes compared to God’s holiness.  His morality was actually the chains that held him in prison. 

First we have to realize we are even in bondage.  “What is it that you cannot master, but master’s you?”  Charles Wesley lived an outwardly moral life of goodness and service – his chains were not visible.  For others of us, they are.  When we realize our bondage, that any chains make us all equally prisoners, even in the many ways God shows this to us, there is only one single remedy – Jesus set us free by being lifted up on the cross, publicly shamed, cruelly suffered, died so that we could be released from sins and dominion.

I did not become a sinner by sinning.  I sin because I am a sinner, even when I’m blind to it.  I used to think that I was an overall good person.  Then when I was confronted with the shocking realization I was not, I determined to be better.  But I only failed again.  And I keep on failing, but as the fog dissipates slowly, I see more clearly.  There will always be endless layers to unwrap.  And because of this, God’s grace is even more amazing.

The litmus test of the vitality of your spiritual growth is your ability to grasp the Gospel of Christ and His grace.  Two signs that your faith is not healthy are 1) You are not happy by seeing the grace of God touch lives of the needy; 2) You feel no special need for forgiveness for yourself. (By Grace Alone, by Sinclair Ferguson).

Satan is unable to destroy us, but He does seek to destroy our enjoyment of God and our understanding of grace.  He throws his fiery darts of accusations, and they can be so sneaky that we may think the thoughts are our own, and thus condemning ourselves for even having such thoughts.  Because of our ongoing sinfulness, we listen. 

We must keep our eyes on the cross and remember that if He was so prepared to bear judgment and suffer for our sin, that he will not withhold good things from us or keep Him from fulfilling His loving purpose for us. 

I read about the concept of accustomed grace versus amazing grace in the thought-provoking book By Grace Alone, by Sinclair Ferguson and published by the Reformation Trust.  If you are interested in reading more in depth, I highly recommend this book.

The Benefits of Sin?

A friend of mine hates Christianity because it is a ‘guilt-ridden’ religion.  But it is completely the opposite!  However, in my worst week of the month, my sin is always before me. If I don’t take my thoughts captive, they will beat me to a pulp.  I know this is not the Holy Spirit’s intention in convicting me! 

Strangely, I AM grateful for the times that I am aware of my sinfulness.  Why? 4 reasons:

1)       Greater awareness of our sinfulness is actually a sign of spiritual growth.  As we become more aware of God’s goodness, holiness, and perfectness, the things that are wrong in our lives grow uglier by contrast.  The Spirit slowly reveals our sins when He believes we are ready to deal with them.  Even if I feel like I sin more than I did 20 years ago, if I had a sinfulness meter, surely I sin less now than I did then?  Because of grace, I have no need for a sinfulness meter or to allow my sin to burden me.

2)       My sin is a continual reminder to me that I am always in need of the cross.  Jesus lived a perfect life for my righteousness and died a perfect death for my sins.  When I hear the gospel, it is for me, right now -- not just for unbelievers or those who have just stepped through the door to begin their journey as a Christ follower.  The gospel is for me, today, 34 years after I first received it. It is as powerful in my life now as when I first became His child.

3)       I am reminded of His amazing grace and the freedom I experience as a result. The Father sees Jesus in me and He sees me as perfect.  He is transforming me so that someday on the other side of this life, I WILL be perfect.  There is no amount of striving I can do to make myself more acceptable to Him.  Yet because of the grace, freedom, and love that come from Him, I want to follow His ways and love Him with my whole being.

4)       When other people make mistakes, cause accidents, or upset me, I realize that I am not faultless either.  In fact, only by the grace of God I stand, and I can offer others mercy and forgiveness because I have already received it in the fullest measure.

I will get to enjoy these benefits of my sinfulness on this side of heaven, but on the other side I will be perfected and enjoy all the benefits without it!

Being Versus Doing

My eyes are on Jesus, but where are my feet going?  Lately I have been ruled by my emotions and circumstances.  My eyes have tried to focus on Jesus, but my feet keep tripping over my emotions.  To get my feet under control, I must determine in advance what it is He wants me to do and just do it, regardless of how I feel at the moment. 

It is natural for me to start a “to-do” list which will easily be swept aside, forgotten, or induce guilt at my failure to accomplish.  But what if I had a “to be” list instead?  First I could consider what Jesus wants me to be.  Considering the things I do or want to do (or don’t want to do but should do) in line with who I want to be may help me to become more focused and less controlled by emotions or circumstance.

·        I want to be a woman of strength, love, confidence, humility, peace, courage, gratitude, beauty…the list could go on and on, but maybe I can be more specific:

·        I want to be a wife that encourages, supports, and loves my husband, enjoying his presence and bringing him joy.

·        I want to be a mom with the character of Jesus, who guides her children in a way that leads them to desire Jesus as the center of their lives and live passionately for Him.

·        I want to be a woman of prayer, to see the power of the Spirit at work in my family, my life, and the world around me.

·        I want to be a woman of the Bible, who loves to study and obey God’s Words in every area of its teaching and to grow deeper in my faith.

·        I want to be a woman whose heart is prone to praise and thankfulness to God so that I can keep my perspective on God’s power, might, and love, submitting to His beautiful authority in all areas of my life.

·        I want to be a woman of love, that the fullness of Christ may overflow in my daily actions and relationships.

·        I want to be what Jesus wants me to be and to engage in every opportunity for relationships where I can display my faith and show His greatness.

How do I do these things on a practical level?  I think it is a series of choices made at the daily level—choices in what to do and what not to do.  I choose to start my day in the Bible and with prayer and praise instead of hitting the snooze button in the mornings.  I choose to think before I speak when I feel short on patience instead of lashing out.  I choose to seek out my children or my husband to chat with or I choose to have a quiet time or exercise instead of sitting in front of the TV with a remote.  But what if my brain feels like fuzz or my body feels like a sack of potatoes? I choose to read or exercise anyway, and if it doesn’t work after attempting it, then I will exercise or read – choices that consider my body without being ruled by it.