Tag Archives: Grace

Grace by Peggy

GRACE

I was raised a Catholic. I went to Catholic school, we went to Mass every Sunday and Holy Day. I really loved my upbringing. When I was in 7th grade, during Lent, I would get up extra early every school day and go to 6:00 a.m. Mass with the nuns. I truly felt very holy, but, also, there was a change happening inside me.

I was a very “awkward” kid: not pretty, wore glasses, big nose, big eyes, big teeth, frizzy, curly hair, clumsy. You know the type: the nerdy one who was one hot mess! I did always have friends, and they seemed to like me; maybe it was because I tried to over-compensate for my looks with humor, I don’t really know, but I did have a good life and a fun childhood in spite of me. But during that Lent of going to morning Mass, I was changing. It’s still hard to articulate into words what was happening, but there was a new presence of comfort and acceptance deep within. It didn’t make me want to be a nun or anything, but it was a good feeling, as I was losing the consciousness of my short-comings. I didn’t know it then, but as I look back on that time, I think God was showing me a glimpse of myself as He saw me, and His mirror was so much kinder than mine, His thoughts so affectionate.

Fast-forwarding to the teen years, I hated going to Mass! I would do anything to try to get out of it—I just wanted to be squirreled away in my room with my stereo and my pen and paper. Not rebellious, just typical. But every Sunday, we would get woken up, and driven to Mass. The best part of my day was when it was over! So, when I married a non-Catholic at age 19, going to church was not a priority at all, and Sunday was a day to sleep in and just bum around. It seems I had forgotten all about God.

We agreed that we would raise our children Catholic, so when I was pregnant with the first one, I registered in the parish of our town, and dutifully went to church to establish my presence. She was baptized Catholic, as was our second-born.

Sometime in those years, I realized there was something missing. I longed to feel that comforting presence that I felt in my Lent of morning Mass. I had a good life, but I yearned for a spiritual presence. My husband felt the same, and started attending a local protestant church. It totally changed him. He went from being a “hey-wow-hippie-radical-freak”-like person, to someone completely changed. I thought he was a little nuts—ok, a lot nuts. So I figured “ok, buddy, if you’re going to be nuts in the protestant church, I’m going to start going to the one, true, holy church and get involved” . And I did. I became a CCD teacher, went to Mass every Sunday, helped out with the Christmas pageant, and joined the charismatic prayer group. Meanwhile, the folks in Jim’s church were praying for my unsaved, immortal soul.

When my prayer group needed someone to do the music, Jim agreed to come. He attended that group with me every Tuesday night for about a year, but he still went to his church on Sunday. He would have long talks with the priest and the deacon, and really enjoyed fellowship with the people there. One day, though, he came to me and said he just couldn’t be Catholic. He loved the people, and was glad I was there, but just couldn’t agree with all of the teachings, and didn’t want to be a hypocrite. By then, I had reestablished my relationship with God, coming to realize that my relationship with God, not the church, was what was important, and I felt it was better to be a unified family and raise the kids together in church, so I left the Catholic church to join Jim in his.

Man! What an eye-opener! Coming from a church of rote memorization, the liturgy of the Mass, and a real background of the church being hallowed ground, I was not prepared for the open, unstructured atmosphere of Jim’s church. The actual service was structured, but kids were allowed to run all around, climbing on chairs, and when people came into the building, they were laughing, talking and greeting one another right up until the time the service began. No tip-toeing into the sanctuary, no genuflecting and kneeling in prayer until the service started. It was certainly a new experience. Everyone was very gracious, always greeting me warmly with a handshake or a hug, always seemingly glad to have me there. Until one day I overheard some ladies talking. There were a few older women in the church who were sisters and apparently had been there since that church began. We were meeting in a school building while the church building was being built, and I was in the room that was being used as the nursery. The elder sisters were outside the door, talking to the pastor’s wife—about me.

They were saying how very concerned they were that I seemed to want to get involved in the church, when, after all, I was a Catholic, and a smoker, and not really “saved.” The pastor’s wife agreed with them. I was horrified! Just because I never ran down the aisle of the church and threw myself on the altar in public repentance for all to see, they doubted my salvation! I don’t know, but I always thought that because I believed that Jesus is the Son of God, and it is through his shed blood and resurrection that I am redeemed, and by His grace, I am saved.

“ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Eph. 2:8

I knew I believed that. I did not lead a bad life. I was a good person, although admittedly a little rough around the edges for some, and certainly had a lot of growing to do in the Lord. But not “saved”? Saved from what?? The only thing I felt I needed saving from was these narrow-minded biddies and their untrue judgment. I went outside and lit a cigarette to contemplate the situation. I could not understand how they could be so gracious when speaking to me when they obviously felt that I was less than them. That incident messed with my mind and emotions for a long time. The consciousness of that nerdy, not-good-enough kid returned with a vengeance. I didn’t know how to fit into this world of what I perceived as the worst sanctimonious insincerity.

Thankfully, there was also another group of women in the church, also all related to one another, that were the most loving people I had ever encountered. They were not only gracious to me, but actually liked me and never ever made me feel that I was some kind of an inferior person. They accepted me for who I was, and we all became very good friends. We raised our families together, and had amazing Bible studies and prayer meetings. They knew how to walk in the gift of grace, and I learned the difference between being gracious and being an instrument of grace.

To be gracious is an act of being nice, treating people well, in spite of who they are or what they have done. It’s a good thing to do that. We are supposed to be nice and treat each other as we would want to be treated. Grace, however, elevates both the giver and receiver.

“ Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms,” 1Pet. 4:10

To be a “grace dispenser” is saying that one desires to use themselves as an administrator of whatever God has for the recipient. It is to purpose to put oneself and opinions aside, and look at others through God’s mirror. It may be to exhibit an act of kindness, it may be to lend an ear, or to be a friend. One ministers grace to others freely, and never looks at others to see if they are “worthy” enough to receive it. We are to walk in the gift of grace. “No one is less than me”—that is the unspoken motto of one who understands grace.

In a previous blog I quoted a Scripture:

 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Mt. 11: 28-30 (MSG)

I love that! I believe during that Lenten season of my youth, I was learning the “unforced rhythms of grace”. The friends I met in that church walked in that, and were able to minister it to me, despite what others thought of me. Grace in practice is a powerful lesson!

I am forever grateful for the amazing grace of God that saved me, the blood of Jesus that was shed for my salvation. I am still a work in progress, but I pray that I have been able to extend grace to others, as that which was extended to me. If ever there has been a time in our history that we should consider God and His grace, it is now. I close this post with a quote from Abraham Lincoln, and pray God’s abundant grace and blessings to you and your families!

“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!“   Abraham Lincoln

Grace by Andrea

Grace…. 31 years ago I truly fell into grace. I didn’t know I was looking for it but the Lord knew. As I was falling apart, I fell into the grace of God. Since that time, my knowledge of grace has expanded along with my understanding of the Lord, His cross and His ways.

Grace is no longer just about my salvation or about the gifts the Lord has bestowed on His followers. I see the grace of God as flowing over the earth with the glory of the Lord becoming the hope and healing of the nations.

I think most believers have seen what the gospel of Christ can do in the lives of individuals, and what it has done for the nations is just as miraculous.

The Word of God spoke the universe into existence and His word speaks to us today. He is our healer and the hope of all mankind. The scriptures read, the time will come when…They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. Is 7:9

Heb11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

Psalm 33:6  By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.

Today astronomers know the universe is still expanding. Billions of planets, with not a sign of life on any of them. Except for this one little planet, Earth. Although, many peer through extraordinary telescopes expectantly looking for new alien life some place out there. It is in fact, as one secular scientist said – “its as if we climbed up the highest of mountains and finally peered over the top, only to find a bunch of theologians had been there for thousands of years.” The voice of God…. how do we comprehend something so vast, so omnipotent, so self-perpetuating? It is no wonder that Jesus was presented to us through the heavens. His majesty the King of Kings could only be announced through a star, the star of Bethlehem. Jesus Christ, son of God, the hope of nations born in us.

I see the grace of God throughout history, wherever the gospel has been welcomed… the change is significant… hospitals and orphanages built, schools created, governments become more compassionate, legal systems responding to people, charities introduced. Likewise, wherever the gospel has been purged we see the opposite effect. Once thriving nations becoming all but dust. As history has shown us in the Middle East, once a center of innovation and triumph, all but dust today. We have witnessed the debacle that was the USSR. The very evil that would fight against the Lord destroys all that is around it. Because without God, there is no reason to take the individual into account; no purpose for our compassion. It would always be the ‘whole’ or state that matters.

The Lord has never forced us to believe, never forced us to follow. What kind of Being wants a friend who has been forced to love Him. Jesus calls us friend. If we are only friends through obligation, what kind of friend would we be?

I see the grace of God flowing through me, through my family, friends, neighbors, co-workers. It is the power of God to redeem, it is His love for us. And so it flows across nations, pulling down strong holds and releasing healing, the healing over the entire earth.

When, Jesus on the cross said, ‘Father forgive them’ He was and is saying forgive Andrea, forgive Tom, forgive Danielle, let my grace wash over them, heal them. Let it heal their family, their neighborhoods, their enemies. Father forgive them all.

Grace did not begin on Calvary, it began in the mind of God before the foundation of the world. It was in the garden, when God chose to form a man and woman in His image. The image of a relational loving God, who would one day have a people He would call “friend”. A people that would choose Him, choose love, choose righteousness and healing, from Him and through Him. Those people would bring His grace and healing to the nations, one friend at a time, one hospital at a time, one act of forgiveness at a time.  Like that star, His grace would shine into the darkness and be the light of the world. So the world through His love and grace would be healed, regenerated and restored.

Rom 5:17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. 18So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. 19For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.

 

I’ve added Psalm 65, it speaks of God’s grace and the redemption of the earth. As we praise our Lord and Savior hold fast, He is the hope of all the nations.

Psalm 65

1 Praise awaits you, our God, in Zion;

    to you our vows will be fulfilled.

2 You who answer prayer,

    to you all people will come.

3 When we were overwhelmed by sins,

    you forgave our transgressions.

4 Blessed are those you choose

    and bring near to live in your courts!

We are filled with the good things of your house,

    of your holy temple.

5 You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds,

    God our Savior,

the hope of all the ends of the earth

    and of the farthest seas,

6 who formed the mountains by your power,

    having armed yourself with strength,

7 who stilled the roaring of the seas,

    the roaring of their waves,

    and the turmoil of the nations.

8 The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;

    where morning dawns, where evening fades,

    you call forth songs of joy.

9 You care for the land and water it;

    you enrich it abundantly.

The streams of God are filled with water

    to provide the people with grain,

    for so you have ordained it.

10 You drench its furrows and level its ridges;

    you soften it with showers and bless its crops.

11 You crown the year with your bounty,

    and your carts overflow with abundance.

12 The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;

    the hills are clothed with gladness.

13 The meadows are covered with flocks

    and the valleys are mantled with grain;

    they shout for joy and sing.

Grace by Barbara

Grace is one of my favorite topics to talk about. I covered quite a bit of it in a previous blog, “Cocoon of Grace,” but I feel it is worth repeating. Once you get the concept of Grace, you will understand what Jesus meant in Matthew 11: 28-30 when He said, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
The Message

Receiving the revelation of grace is the best thing that ever happened in my Christian walk. Before that time, every day was an effort to measure up and I never could. I always had a picture of God the Father ready to squash me like a bug whenever I did anything wrong or some kind of punishment was always on its way. On the other hand if I was having a extremely good day, I thought I earned the Father’s love. The latter was very rare. Almost every day, I felt like I disappointed the Lord. Joyce Meyer calls this “stinking thinking.” It is a heartbreaking the way some Christians live their lives and I was one of them but not any longer. Thankfully, I had great teaching on God’s grace. I learned that when Jesus died on the cross for us, He died that we would spend eternity with Him in heaven, but He died for so much more. Jesus paid such a heavy price for us. He died a horrific death and He died in agony, all because He loves us with a love that is unconditional. Because of the sin of Adam and Eve the intimate relationship they had with God was broken. Men could no longer go to God directly. They had to go through a priest and every year they brought an animal to be sacrificed that was used for atonement for their sins. Jesus made us right with God again when He became the living sacrifice. All our sins were forgiven, past, present and future. In other words because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, we are righteous. With all the mistakes we make when God looks at us, He sees us as perfect. Furthermore, we do not need anyone to go the Father for us. Jesus destroyed that rift and we are no longer separated from the Father. His love is unconditional, it is not based on performance. There is NOTHING we can do to earn grace. It is a free gift, I can’t say it enough. God loves us. He always has and he always will. This does not mean that we can act ungodly or do anything we want. Clearly, God’s given grace and His love does not mean there are not consequences to our transgressions. You cannot rob a bank and think “it is ok, God loves me.” You would be right in thinking God still loves you but you would be wrong to think it is ok. Once caught, you will pay the consequences and most likely spend time in jail. The example may be farfetched but I assume it drives the point home. When we realize the grace of God and how much He loves us, we come to the place where we love the Father also and want to please Him. The Word tell us, We, though, are going to love—love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first. 1 John 4:19 (The Message)

 

My favorite example of the Father’s love is in the story of the prodigal son.

Luke 15: 11-32 (The Message)
“There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what’s coming to me.’ “So the father divided the property between them. It wasn’t long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any. “That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I’m going back to my father. I’ll say to him, Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand. He got right up and went home to his father. “When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: ‘Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son ever again.’ “But the father wasn’t listening. He was calling to the servants, ‘Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We’re going to feast! We’re going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!’ And they began to have a wonderful time. “All this time his older son was out in the field. When the day’s work was done he came in. As he approached the house, he heard the music and dancing. Calling over one of the houseboys, he asked what was going on. He told him, ‘Your brother came home. Your father has ordered a feast—barbecued beef!—because he has him home safe and sound.’ “The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t listen. The son said, ‘Look how many years I’ve stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!’ “His father said, ‘Son, you don’t understand. You’re with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he’s alive! He was lost, and he’s found!”

This is grace at its best. This son betrayed his father and broke his heart. As you can see the son came to his senses, decided to come back home and accept the penalty for his actions. When the father saw his son at a distance what does the story tell us? It tells us he ran to his son, hugged and kissed him. All the wrongdoing the son carried out was forgiven and forgotten. This is a picture of our heavenly Father, He forgives and He forgets. You may be thinking, “great story but that is not fair to the older son.” Yes it is. All the older son had to do was tell his father what he wanted as he was told, “everything that is mine is yours.” I believe there is another lesson in this. When we see a prodigal come home, don’t get upset when the Father blesses him as it is a time to rejoice, seeing that, he is no longer lost but found.

A couple of years ago, I had a vision about the Lord’s love. It was a black and white sketch. Jesus was hugging someone tightly. I’m not sure if it was me or not as I was intensely focused on Jesus’ face. His face was grimaced and His arms were firmly wrapped around the person and I knew by the look on His face and the way He was hugging them, that He did not want to let them go. The love on the face of Jesus was amazing. In reality, “amazing” does not even come close to the love I saw on the face of our Savior. He loves each and every one of us like this. That love like His grace is unconditional. I will say it again, no matter what you do, you cannot earn it. It is a free gift.

In conclusion, know that you are loved, know that your sins are forgiven, know that you have access to the Father at any given time because of what Jesus did on the cross for you and me.

If you want to learn more about grace and the love of God I would highly recommend the following books.

  • Unmerited Favor by Joseph Price
  • You’ve Already Got It! (So Quit Trying To Get It) by Andrew Wommack

 

Grace by Ronda

GRACE

 

Ephesians 2:7, 8

“That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.”

Ephesians 2 verse 8 is one of those foundational scriptures like John 3: 16 that you learn at vacation bible school as a child or during the membership class at a church. It contains truth that is foundational to our faith. Having said that it is also probably one of those scriptures we get so comfortable with that we can overlook the deep revelation that it holds.

In learning about this scripture, as a child and even as an adult, the focus was always on the free gift of salvation. It is amazing that our faith is based on gifts that are totally free. We don’t earn them. Our salvation is free but the grace that makes the salvation free is also free. Some bible translations, define grace as “God’s unmerited favor”. I agree with that but I want to assert that it is more than favor that is undeserved. Grace is a spiritual force. It is a spiritual empowerment. Grace comes from who God is and it belongs to Him. Notice verse seven of Ephesians says “His grace”.

There are scriptures in the bible to speak of the Spirit of Grace. This is one reason why I believe it is a spiritual force and empowerment. It is a divine enabling that is part of our spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. All of which are free by faith! Not granted based on ability but freely given through Christ because we receive these exceeding riches of “His grace.”

Zechariah 12:10

“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”

Hebrews 10:29

“Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?”

Good ole’ King James!   I wanted to use that particular translation because it says Spirit of Grace…not mercy or favor. King James doesn’t make its understanding any easier with King’s English! So what do I think these verses are saying? Grace is favor freely given. Grace is mercy freely given. However, it is a spiritual force from God through the Holy Spirit that makes salvation possible but also continues to empower our walk with God. In my experience, I know that grace, a spiritual force and empowerment, helped me homeschool my children for 10 years. I did not accomplish it in my own strength not even in my own gifting. I needed God’s grace. I prayed for His grace many days when I thought I couldn’t do it another day. I can testify to tangibly sensing the empowerment, similar to His Presence and His Spirit but more. I find this difficult to explain, like most spiritual things because it has to be revealed by the Holy Spirit. DISCLAIMER: In no way am I suggesting I have a full revelation of grace…I just believe there is more to it than is traditionally taught.

Another clue I received about grace being something a little deeper than my general understanding came through observation. I noticed that almost all of the Pauline epistles have a salutation in the letter extending “grace and peace from God”. So the Apostle Paul, writer of most of the New Testament, thinks it’s important to speak grace and peace to believers to whom he is writing! I then thought, Ronda you might want to start doing that too. So now when I greet believers I usually extend “grace and peace” either in the greeting or as a blessing. Apostle Peter takes it a step further and says in his second epistle, “grace and peace be multiplied to you”!

WOW. SELAH. Both of these apostles in my opinion probably had a deep revelation of God’s grace. Not only what we would call in church as “saving grace” but also the spiritual force from God that empowers and strengthens you to do what you could not possibly do without His grace! It’s what Paul realized when Jesus says in 2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” WOW. RIGHT.

We experience the spiritual force of grace when we come to the place we know we cannot complete the will of God in our own strength. Grace is the free gift God gives us to complete the plans He has for us. We will come to the end of ourselves more than once. I know I have. We will cry out for strength. We must cry out for grace…not our own strength…because His grace is made perfect when we are totally weak! When I feel like the rug is pulled out from under me, and I don’t have strength for another step and I have cried and cried…I pray for His grace…not my strength. His joy is my strength but in my weakness I need His empowering grace to complete His plan for my life.

Remember pray for grace…His grace!

Grace and peace from God be yours

Ronda