A "Guest" Blog Post-Liz Overton

There is something to be said for a pastor-teacher preaching the gospel to his flock, week in and week out, staying faithfully on message as opposed to a topical, "felt needs" approach to preaching.

To further illustrate the impact that hearing the gospel of the free gift of grace for an extended season can have, I am sharing with you a blog post from one of our church members - our journalism grad Liz Overton.


Liz "rocks" this piece. She has even changed the whole name of her blog to reflect her new season of life, and new revelation into the grace of God.

Liz is a beautiful twenty-something, talented and intelligent and extremely conscientious. This young woman loves Jesus, and has for most all her life. Harvest would not be what it is without her...she is so faithful. Enjoy reading her take on things - posted to her blog a couple of months ago:

Perfectly saved by His grace!

My pastor has been teaching on grace--the heart and message of the gospel-- for the vast majority of this year. And while some people might get tired of hearing a seemingly recurring message for several months, I haven't. The heart of those messages isn't something grasped overnight, and listening to those truths week after week has been a life changing experience. I seem to understand God's grace more and more as time moves on--and I know I have only started to scratch the surface of it!

This is going to be my first attempt to write about some of how this message has changed my life and perspective. Writing has always helped me sort things out, so this blog post is probably more for my benefit than anyone else's, but I'll post it here for general reading anyway.

I've grown up in the church and pretty much only remember serving the Lord. I was saved at the age of six and have never strayed from that commitment. Obviously, I've progressed and matured a lot in my faith as I've grown up, but one thing I have never doubted is my salvation. I know and believe with all my heart that Jesus Christ died on the Cross and rose again for my sins, so that I can spend eternity with the Father in heaven. However, I have discovered this past year that my understanding of God's grace has been skewed at best and I have been held captive in the chains of legalism for most of my life.

I knew I was saved, but I lived with the mindset, whether consciously or subconsciously, that I had to strive in my own strength to live a godly life and please God. Now I recognize that it was like I was trying to somehow claim to stay in God's good favor by being a fairly decent person. I was essentially trying to say, "God, I deserve at least some grace. Your love and mercy weren't wasted on me. See--I can be a good girl, a good daughter--at least most of the time." I tried to earn his grace, instead of accepting it as the entirely free gift it is, bestowed on a completely undeserving sinner.

Furthermore, I failed to realize that my attempts to "earn" God's favor were pretty much a slap in His face, calling the sacrifice of His son insufficient and not enough.

I knew in my head, but didn't understand with my heart, that God's work of grace on the Cross is a finished work. The Law was fulfilled and we are completely redeemed and justified by accepting God's grace through faith. We are made perfect and completely righteousness in God's eyes through the blood of His Son. No one comes to the Father except through Jesus Christ.


"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast."
- Ephesians 2:5-9

As a perfectionist who has always had a drive for excellence, the idea that I could be made perfect and completely redeemed, simply by believing in Christ--no further "works" required--was hard to wrap my mind around. It's so simple, yet so unnatural. My pride didn't want to accept that I did absolutely nothing to deserve God's grace, love and forgiveness and could never earn it no matter how hard I try. Jesus did it all. I did nothing. Yet I receive everything!

I also spent a lot of time feeling guilty or under condemnation for the many, many ways I would fail regularly in my attempts to live a godly life and please God. I have always been painfully aware of my own flaws and mistakes. So while on the one hand, I was trying to earn God's favor through good behavior, on the other, I knew I didn't deserve God's favor. I had a hard time understanding God's love. Because I knew that if love could be earned, I didn't deserve it. So I often felt unloveable. How's that for a confusing mindset?!

But thanks to God's grace, I am completely covered--human flaws and all. Nothing I can do can take that away. And God is so crazy in love with me that he loved and accepted me, even when I was a despicable sinner. Now he sees me as his redeemed daughter, made holy and righteous through the blood of His Son, and still adores me. And even though I am saved by his grace--my salvation is a done deal--he still continues to lavishly pour out his grace into my life, day by day, hour by hour. How awesome is that?!?! The very thought of how much he loves me is overwhelming. We could spend a lifetime of loving God and learning to understand his love through an intimate relationship with Him and still never even scratch the surface of it.

I would be utterly lost without his love and his grace. Lost for eternity, certainly, but also lost in the chains of legalism as I try to live my life for him here on this earth. And the more I realize how much I need his grace to get through even the most mundane days, the more I realize how important it is to keep going before God to ask for His help and guidance in my life, with the assurance that he is not just willing, but eager to be all that I need.


"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
- Hebrews 4:16

God wants us to turn to him with everything, instead of thinking that we can handle some of it ourselves. The truth is--and we all know this deep inside our hearts, our pride just won't let us admit it most of the time--we can't do anything on our own. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. Like the old hymn says, "I need thee every hour." God is waiting for us to turn to him, and when we do, he is eager and ready to pour out his grace and help us in our need.

This concept is one I'm still trying to fully grasp and apply and I still fail continually. While I may do it more often than I used to, I still don't go to God with everything as I should or fully rely on his grace in every moment. But I no longer feel condemned when I mess up, because I know that I'm still covered by his grace, even when I fail. Blowing an opportunity to obey God, pray or witness isn't counted against me--but I do try to avoid missing the chance the next time, because I want to spend time with my Lord and I do want to tell others about Him.

There's much more I could say, and perhaps I will write more later in another post, but for now, I'll try to wrap it up. This post is long enough.

If you want to understand more about grace, I would encourage you to really dig into Galatians, Ephesians and other books in the New Testament written by the apostle Paul. He wasn't the only one to address grace, but he did it the most extensively. You can also listen to my pastor's messages at our church's web site. Another good resource is the book Grace Plus Nothing by Jeff Harkin.

And finally, some of you may have noticed that I changed the name of my blog. I named it "The Life of a Journalizm Girl" years ago as a fun play on my name and profession, but now that I'm in a different season and have a new perspective on life, it only seemed appropriate to give my blog a new outlook as well. Thus, the new name of my blog is also the title of this post: Perfectly Saved By His Grace.

Thanks for reading, and to quote the apostle Paul, grace and peace be with you!

I Feel Sorry For Perfectionists...

...I've been one. I've known a few. I loved them, but they were draining, self centered friends...we're all supposed to either admire their generous perfection, or listen to them endlessly grieve over everything in their life that isn't so perfect, you see.

If you deign to diagnose their perfectionist tendencies and administer the grace-antidote, you must then listen to them lie and tell you that everything is "perfect...wonderful...couldn't be better." Meanwhile, they are intrinsically discontent, almost unable to function.

"When people insist on perfection or nothing, they get nothing."

(~Edith Schaeffer, from her book "What Is a Family?")

Nothing. A perfectionist is left with nothing. Every time he or she gets an opportunity for true, warm relationship, every time a place is made for them in the heart of another, they find fault and find a reason to wander away. Serial wanderers, these. Sad. Because they insist on their own opinion (their opinion being their "version" of perfection) they isolate themselves. Perfectionists are self-aware and thus never truly comfortable for long, and they always end up like a bird out of nest.

Like a bird that wanders from its nest is a man who wanders from his place. Pr. 27:8

There are no flawless lovers, friends, parents or children, soups or sandwiches, no flawless homes or gardens, jobs or vacations, experiences or churches. Stop hoping for your version of perfection...or your wandering will never cease.

Grace, Forever Grace, Amazing Grace!

Even though this is my blog, I have refrained from plugging my church or my pastor - even though I love my church and I sleep with my pastor.

(he is my husband)

But yesterday's message is too good for you to miss. He's still at it. Would you like to hear some of what is turning a few lives inside out, getting some healed of emotional conditions and skin conditions and pain conditions...just sitting under the grace message?

Click your way over to http://www.harvestchurch1.com/. Click on "resources". Scroll down to February 28th's message entitled Old Covenant Fullfilled by Jesus, New Covenant Established in Jesus - February 28, 2010 (Download) .

Pour yourself a good, strong cup of coffee, and make sure your socks stay pulled all the way up, because this was some anointed preachin'. I'm just sayin'.

We began in January 2009, preaching grace. Here we are, as a church...well into 2010...and we are still in our "Year of Grace". No end in sight. I'm still thrilling to the theology of the gospel, and still wallowing in the anointing I have discovered when I distanced myself, at great cost TO myself, from the theology of a few analytics who love to have their devotions with dead guys. Actually, that isn't true...the analytics distanced themselves from me. At the time, it felt like a costly loss, but I was not the initiator of the break down in the relationship. I would have preserved it at all costs, short of compromising the gospel. So let's just say, when the distance happened, there was a very real break-through in my life...a release of anointing.

There are writings of dead guys who, generations ago were prone to opine on "Christian Perfection", with one eye on me, figuratively speaking, making sure I was behavin' right....rather than breathlessly gazing on the Son, like everyone knows a real theologian and a truly enraptured heart will do, and then declare, "hear ye Him."

I love to read me some dead guys myself...but only in the context of the gospel as handed down to us in Scripture, through the inspired Word of God. See, Scripture is alive. I'd prefer to base my devotions on the living, not the dead.

Then, on a whole other front, you got the theology of the Hebraic Roots Movement. A true revelation of Jesus Christ and the grace of God will quickly marginalize those doctrines that would have you cling to Hebrew Roots.

And a revelation of the grace of God will marginalize Christian Perfection dead guy doctrine....see, these are 2 sides of the same law-emphasizing coin.

That coin, plus all the obedience to the law that you can muster on your worst day, plus all the perfection you can crank out on your best day, will enable you to buy your very own curse and a cup of bad coffee. It doesn't bring a blessing.

Grace now. Grace ever. Christ alone. Gospel plus nothing.

Here are the lyrics to a worship song we sang this past Sunday...whew. Heaven came down. I'm telling you, amongst preachers and song writers all over this world, there is a gospel tsunami that is moving across the world through these communicators, and my husband and I are called to be one of their ranks. I don't know about you, but we are paddling our board out to ride that glorious grace-wave!

Soak in these lyrics, and get your grace-filled hands on this new CD by Robin Mark:

Just as I am one only plea
In that the blood once shed was shed for me
And drew me to a covenant place
Where I found mercy in the year of grace

No condemnation now for me
Your Word has touched my heart and now I see
In Heaven stands to plead my case
The One who found me in the year of grace

O Son of God sweet Son of Man
The Author of redemption's plan
Eternal God in time and space
O keep me ever in the year of grace

I hear Your voice my soul awakes
Your whispered words have stirred my heart to praise
On love unbound I fix my gaze
Where I first saw You in the year of grace

In life in death whom shall I fear
Closer than breath I feel You near
Oh hold me in Your strong embrace
Where I find rest within the year of grace

The Gospel Produces Good Works

This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men. (Titus 3)

The above Scripture is a classic "proof text" for some who want to mix the pure gospel with a message of human effort. In fact, they want to use all of Titus to back their emphasis on works. But when it is used in that way, the user commits a common error:

Context.

Every verse was written in the context of a chapter, which was written in the context of a book, which was written in the context of old covenant or new covenant, which was written in the context of the whole Bible, which was written in the context of grace. Jesus was the plan of God from before the foundation of the world.


The entire book of Titus was written to instruct about how to choose leaders whose lives adorn the gospel, and about training the saints regarding what it would look like to live in such a way as to adorn the doctrine Paul preached (as found in Romans, Galatians, Hebrews, etc.).

What sort of life best describes the God who has made you the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus?



In Titus, Paul again warns about legalists - a fact often conveniently ignored. Far from being a letter about the virtues of human effort, Pauls words are fatherly pearls of wisdom, inspiring a young leader to choose wisely and well who would shepherd God's people. Church leaders should be so consumed with the gospel of Jesus, that they make every decision, choose every course of action in the light of what would promote the gospel and silence its critics.



The utter, unmitigated, sheer glory of grace will make a human being zealous to live in such a way as to be God's visual aid in teaching the world how amazing He is. Jesus went about doing good for the sake of doing good, because He was simply doing what He saw a good God do. He and the Father were one.


This verse is not saying that Paul wants leaders to continually remind the saints to be mindful to work hard, and do Godly things, with no context other than "Godly principle", or "the right way to live versus wrong way to live". This verse is saying that the message of the gospel will produce a people who are prone to living accomplished and hard working lives, being of benefit to everyone, loving their work because it is productive and good - because good works impress lost people, and shame religious critics...not because good works impress God.

It says, in context, that Paul wants leaders to be constantly affirming doctrine and what adorns it, affirming the gospel of grace, the good news of Jesus. Included in this (whether we like it or not) is a respect for authority....

Respect for authority is mentioned first in chapter 3, first in the line of thought, because if respect is not in place, no one's message - not even the faithful sayings of God, communicated through the five fold ministry gifts - will be heard.

Interestingly, it is those who live as a law unto themselves who are the very ones who take this verse, and the whole book of Titus, out of context and try to make it say something it doesn't. They "submit" to almost nothing, not even the laws of hermanuetics, apparently.

If you can bear with me, here is this verse (bolded), in context, in several translations (edited in one little spot, for time's sake).



First the Phillips:

REMIND your people to recognise the power of those who rule and bear authority. They must obey them and be prepared to render whatever good service they can.
They are not to speak evil of any man, they must not be quarrelsome but reasonable, showing every consideration to all men.
For we ourselves have known what it is to be ignorant, disobedient and deceived...
But when the kindness and love of God our saviour dawned upon us,
he saved us in his mercy—not by virtue of any moral achievement of ours, but by the cleansing power of a new birth and the renewal of the Holy Spirit,

which he poured upon us through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

The result is that we are acquitted by his grace, and can look forward in hope to inheriting life eternal.
This is solid truth: I want you to speak about these matters with absolute certainty, so that those who have believed in God may concentrate upon a life of goodness. Good work is good in itself and is also useful to mankind. (Phillips)

The Message (not my favorite, but for the sake of thorough study) ~

Remind the people to respect the government and be law-abiding, always ready to lend a helping hand. No insults, no fights. God’s people should be bighearted and courteous.
It wasn’t so long ago that we ourselves were stupid and stubborn...But when God, our kind and loving Savior God, stepped in, he saved us from all that.

It was all his doing; we had nothing to do with it. He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit. Our Savior Jesus poured out new life so generously. God’s gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives. And there’s more life to come—an eternity of life!

You can count on this. I want you to put your foot down. Take a firm stand on these matters so that those who have put their trust in God will concentrate on the essentials that are good for everyone.Last, the New King James ~


Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.
For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient...

But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,


that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.

The gospel of the abundant grace of God, which justified us (past tense) and assures our eternity, makes us care about living lives that adorn the message we are bringing. No one who has really understood the grace of God will be prone to habitually walk in a way that obscures or brings reproach on such a precious thing.



The point is that it is all about the 'faithful saying', it is all about affirming the gospel. This book of Titus, this verse, does not make it all about us and what we do. One is stimulus, the other response. One is primary, the other secondary. One is root, the other fruit.


Context, context...

Circa 1650's

The following text originates from a fictional dialogue between a pastor, a legalist, an antinomian, and a young Christian, as written by Edward Fisher in his 1650 book The Marrow of Modern Divinity. This is one of the most beautiful explanations of the gospel of grace that I have read.


"I tell you from Christ,
and under the hand of the Spirit,
that your person is accepted,
your sins are done away,
and you shall be saved;
and if an angel from heaven should tell you otherwise,
let him be accursed.
Therefore, you may (without doubt) conclude
that you are a happy man;
for by means of this your matching with Christ,
you are become one with him,
and one in him,
you ‘dwell in him, and he in you’ (1 John 4:13).
He is ‘your well beloved, and you are his’ (S. of S. 2:16).
So that the marriage union betwixt Christ and you
is more than a bare notion or apprehension of your mind;
for it is a
special,
spiritual, and
real union:
it is an union betwixt the nature of Christ,
God and man,
and you;
it is a knitting and closing,
not only of your apprehension with a Saviour,
but also of your soul with a Saviour.
Whence it must needs follow that you cannot be condemned,
except Christ be condemned with you;
neither can Christ be saved,
except you be saved with him.
And as by means of corporeal marriage all things become common betwixt man and wife;
even so, by means of this spiritual marriage,
all things become common betwixt Christ and you;
for when Christ hath married his spouse unto himself,
he passeth over all his estate unto her;
so that whatsoever Christ is or hath,
you may boldly challenge as your own.
‘He is made unto you, of God,
wisdom,
righteousness,
sanctification,
and redemption’ (1 Cor. 1:30).
And surely,
by virtue of this near union it is,
that as Christ is called ‘the Lord our righteousness’ (Jer. 23:6),
even so is the church called, ‘the Lord our righteousness’ (33:16).
I tell you,
you may,
by virtue of this union,
boldly take upon yourself,
as your own,
Christ’s watching,
abstinence,
travails,
prayers,
persecutions,
and slanders;
yea,
his tears,
his sweat,
his blood,
and all that ever he did
and suffered
in the space of three and thirty years,
with his
passion,
death,
burial,
resurrection,
and ascension;
for they are all yours.
And as Christ passes over all his estate unto his spouse,
so does he require that she should pass over all unto him.
Wherefore,
you being now married unto Christ,
you must give all that you have of your own unto him;
and truly you have nothing of your own
but sin,
and, therefore, you must give him that.
I beseech you, then,
say unto Christ with bold confidence,
I give unto thee, my dear husband,
my unbelief,
my mistrust,
my pride,
my arrogancy,
my ambition,
my wrath,
and anger,
my envy,
my covetousness,
my evil thoughts,
affections,
and desires;
I make one bundle of these and all my other offences,
and give them unto thee.
And thus was Christ made ‘sin for us, that knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him’ (2 Cor. 5:21).
‘Now then,’
says Luther,
‘let us compare these things together,
and we shall find inestimable treasure.
Christ is full of
grace,
life,
and saving health;
and the soul is freight-full of all
sin,
death,
and damnation;
but let faith come betwixt these two,
and it shall come to pass,
that Christ shall be laden with
sin,
death,
and hell;
and unto the soul shall be imputed
grace,
life,
and salvation.
Who then is able to value the royalty of this marriage accordingly?
Who is able to comprehend the glorious riches of his grace,
where this rich and righteous husband,
Christ,
doth take unto wife this poor and wicked harlot,
redeeming her from all devils,
and garnishing her with all his own jewels?
So that you,
through the assuredness of your faith in Christ, your husband,
are delivered from all sins,
made safe from death,
guarded from hell,
and endowed with the
everlasting righteousness,
life,
and saving health
of this your husband Christ.’”
—Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinity (Christian Focus, 2009), pp. 166–167.

I very much want this book. I am presently on a quest...

The Adventure of Orienteering

Imagine you are plunked down into the middle of a forest wilderness, and given two choices as to how you will navigate it: you could be given a map and a compass....plus a row of little red flags to follow, each one marking your every step. Or you can be given a compass, and a map with a few significant points marked on it...and that is all. Which would you choose?

Most choose the map and compass and little red flags. And so it is with our relationship to God. What was intended to be the adventure of a lifetime, gets turned into boring, relentless do's and don't's dotting mile after mile a path that we are sure leads us to our destination, but takes no thought, no relationship, no real risk. But we follow those little red flags faithfully, consulting the map and compass without understanding either of them - all while keeping our eyes peeled for the next red flag. We feel so smug about our progress, mistaking our lack of imagination to be personal discipline.

Give me the way of the orienteer, any day. Give me the compass of grace, and the map of the gospel, plus nothing. This is the journey of a lifetime, this one life I have been given! I don't want to be looking for the next red flag, I want to be truly engaging the map and compass...

...and I want to need the others who travel with me.

The way of the red flag requires no effort towards true community. In fact, those little markers encourage dis-unity. If someone offends you, if anyone dare disregard one of the red flags, particularly one you deem important, or should anyone leave the way of the red flags and ask you to continue with them, using only your map and compass - regardless of how much you love them, it is an easy decision, requiring only a few weeks or months to make. You simply part company with them. After all, you have those red flags - who actually needs relationships? You can make this journey on your own if you have to.

All red flaggers are in the powerful position of being able to patronize each other, relying on one another's strength and giftedness only when it suits them, and avoiding the discomfort of setting aside their personal peace and preference. Those who journey with naught but compass and map realize their need for each other, and find themselves setting the individualism of ideals aside in favor of the real, hard-won wisdom that is found in a multitude of counselors, particularly those who have been in this part of the wilderness before and found their way out without the red flags.

There is safety in numbers. Safety is of paramount importance when there is actual adventure, versus simulated adventure.

For the orienteer, it isn't enough to follow the red flags. The orienteer wants to "orient" his whole being towards the destination. He will re-work and re-direct over and over again if necessary. He will get lost along the way, yet he is the truly disciplined one. And he discovers at adventure's end that his entire self - mind, heart, will, body and strength - has been integrated into a healthy whole. The way of the grace-compass and gospel-map absorbed him fully and challenged him relentlessly and changed him completely.

So as various believers come up out of the wilderness, how do you know who is who? How can you tell the red-flaggers from the orienteers?

The orienteers are dirtier. Messier. The red-flaggers are merely a bit bedraggled.

The red flaggers emerge either alone or quarrelling or walking in large-but-tolerably- compatible groupings.

The orienteers emerge together...triumphant, smiling...each one leaning on the arm of another.

"Practitioner of Contentment" ~ OR, "How Sheila Got Her Groove Back"

I guess if there were to be any initials after my name, it would be "PC" ~ Practitioner of Contentment.

There really is no other phrase that has so consistently, over decades, defined my essence. I am typically happy, and cannot abide the cynical person. When life hands me dirt, I'll make a mud mask and come out with a better complexion than ever. When life hands me lemons, I'll stick 'em in my bra. Ahem. (Nah...)

So you can imagine when, quite suddenly, in the past three years or so, I discovered in my own thinking all the dreaded cynicism I have always disliked in others. Upon a brief but very prayerful investigation, I had a massive revelation: I was a compensatory optimist.

Was.

Good for me, for all the mud masks and lemon enhancement. It was far better for me than giving into the pessimism that was forever sitting there, lurking and sulking in the corner of my soul, bound and gagged while I worked so very hard to compensate for its existence. But no one...no one...can compensate forever. At some point, things have to get painfully honest.

I first thought it was hormones. No...hormones only have the power to unmask a woman's inner demons. They bring just enough physical vulnerability to render you unable to hide what's really there. When, oh when, will we understand as His beautiful women, that this isn't a bad thing? We finally get to deal with our stuff - if we are wise.

I thought it was transition...an emptying nest, and all that. No. Transition happens.

I thought it was the stress of raising teenage boys. That was a red herring, for sure.

I had been working all these years to be optimistic, to compensate for that innate pessimist, sitting all tied up and fuming in her chair in the corner of my consciousness. Simple as that. And a pessimist's image of herself and her world is completely connected to her image of her God. My concept of God, with all my book learning, was off. All it took was an overwhelming dose of real life, and the influence of a few cynics, to reveal the weakness in my own understanding.  That sulky pessimist wriggled out of her ropes, tore off the gag I'd so carefully kept on her mouth, and she got up out of her chair and wreaked havoc in my head.

I tried to ignore her. She wouldn't go away. I wrestled her to the floor, and put her in a headlock, but she never tapped out. I sent her back to her chair, and quoted Scripture at her, but still she was there...larger than life.

She represented a belief structure. She is what I thought about God. "See, God has this low-level frustration towards you", she would say. And I'd send her back to her chair, and put the gag back on her. She'd always get loose, now and then. When others would testify in church of the work of God in their life, she'd sniff, "Wonder how long that'll last??" I'd stuff a lemon down her throat to shut her up. When I'd get caught up in wonder at anything, when my faith would begin to take flight, she was quick to pull the wings off the butterfly, and remind me of all things Real.

Worms. Never. Change.

She assured me that when I sinned, I was opening up myself to all sorts of Bad Things - nevermind the finished work of Christ. She swore that when I behaved, and only when I behaved, I was in His favor. She implied that it all depended on me, and how well I could compensate for my flaws. She withdrew from anyone and anything that challenged her control.

She smiled primly, all tied up in her chair, when I chose all the Right Things. She flexed her firm muscles in high self esteem when I jogged, did all my crunches, and ate organic food. She whispered to me that my body is a temple, after all. She particularly enjoyed it when I studied the doctrines of grace from her perspective. Man, did she know her Bible. Problem was, every time she showed me a passage, every time she quoted a verse, she was wearing this silly veil on her head. Consequently, in seeing I didn't perceive, and for all my hearing I didn't understand.

This arrangement worked for a very long time. Until I became too weary to compensate for her existence, and too tired to always be fighting with her, repeatedly returning her to the chair in the corner of my mind. It was either kill her or let her reign, with all her cynicism and unbelief.

I am happy to say that the word of God is alive and powerful, and sharper than any sword. It is able to divide and discern, and it discerned me. It discerned me openly. All things were suddenly naked and open in the eyes of Him with Whom I had to do.

And it was....allright. God....loves me. He turned His back on Christ at the cross so that I could look straight into His glory all the days of my life. Jesus bore my sins, He carried my sickness, and the punishment to obtain my peace was all...all...upon Jesus.

That chair, in the corner of my consciousness? Empty. That innate pessimist? Gone.

I'm yet a Practitioner of Contentment. I'm still making mud masks and playing with lemons. The only difference is that I'm not compensating for anything anymore. I am what and who I am, and "by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me is not in vain."

Stella got her groove back one way, Sheila got her groove back by grace through faith.

I Sing, Because I'm Happy!

There is no denying...we serve a "happy God". I want you to take a deep breath, right now. Let your neck and shoulders relax. Your God is in a good mood.

Most of us know what it feels like to be in a somewhat manipulative relationship. There are people who try to use their emotions to control the emotional atmosphere of others. Have you ever known someone who, if they feel unhappy, they seem to radiate a soul-curdling negativity into the very air around them? I'm able to overlook this in anyone once in awhile...we all become hurt or angry now and then, and sometimes we simply can't hide our heartbreak, or un-invite a guest who happens to be arriving at a bad time. But when I encounter someone who, time and again, shrouds the people around her with her own gray, depressive cloak...well, I know I have encountered someone who does not understand the grace of God.

I'm one who is very sensitive to the spiritual condition of others. I can detect the emotional "temperature" of a room and of a person, usually within moments. In the past I have unwisely accepted the responsibility for it. If there was tension in a room full of people, I felt responsible to say something funny to deflect it. If someone felt angry or depressed, I took up the job of improving their mood. This is fine, as I said, once in awhile. It is part of our ministry, one to another, in the body of Christ.

But now if, more than a few times, I walk in a door, or get around someone, and sense manipulative despair....I have no option but to speak of the gospel of the grace of God with that person. I can be patient for as long as necessary, if the gospel is willingly heard, received, and the dear one takes it and applies it not just to her destiny, but to her day. I will walk with her, because I understand that some things are a long process...renewing the mind with the good news of the grace of God in Christ Jesus is absolutely a process, and no one can skip it or short circuit it.

But if the good news of grace is not received, if it is in fact rejected (some reject it, if you can believe it!) I am bound to ignore the manipulation from that point on. I will not wear any one's shroud. I will not have my soul infected by any one's need, consciously or unconsciously, to have emotional power over others. I have spent far too long dealing with symptoms that were in fact not my own, but that of the sickness of another. No more. It is great to be discerning and sensitive and walk with others in their pain, if one is also wise and walking with prepared feet, ready to share good news. I hope to become wiser as I get older.

This is why it is so comforting and empowering and utterly blessed to be a friend of God. I am telling you, He is always in a good mood - always confident that what He has promised or begun, He is able to perform and complete. I come into His presence, and unlike a friendship with an emotionally controlling person, I leave with a full heart-tank. His good mood rubs off on me every time. There are such pleasures and rivers of joy that come with just being with the Lord. I long, with every part of me, to be a carrier of Him. I want Christ in me to minister to you, so that when you are around me, if you can at all receive grace, you feel hopeful and happy, filled and whole.

How do I know that an emotionally unstable and manipulative person needs grace? Because grace says I have been given the gift of righteousness, and the Scripture is clear:

The work of righteousness will be peace, And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. (Is. 32)

The gospel of grace gives me a hope that is an anchor to my soul, keeping me from being blown about by every wind of doctrine. Emotions that run all over the map are a sure indication that somewhere I am not submitting my reality to the reality of the finished work of Christ. (We all experience being a bit blown about...we just don't all impart our unbelief and negativity to those around us, hindering their appropriation of the power of God unto salvation that is available only to those who believe.)

Relax, dear one. God has been in a good mood for a long time, and His equilibrium is unaffected by your issues. What a friend...consistent and faithful and full of grace!

The Refreshing Signs of a Gracious Woman

Pr 11:16 "A gracious woman gets honor, as violent men get riches."

This sentence draws an analogy that should stop you in your tracks.

Grace-ious: full of grace. A woman of grace gets a well-deserved respect, as violent men get riches!
Not too many generations ago, "gracious" was literally defined as "godly". The word has since been watered down to mean something more akin to "mousy", in my opinion. Today, most define the concept of "gracious" as being sort of Southern Genteel, and even secretly condescending. In our time, a person who considers herself to be above others, a person who thinks she is better (better looking, better educated, better manners, better breeding, better income, better everything) is thought to be gracious if she is nevertheless nice to all the peasants of the planet.

Such a diluted definition, and nothing that could ever be analogous to violent men getting riches. Violent men are a force to be reckoned with. So is the woman of true grace.

A gracious woman obtains respect because her very grace-filled nature is such a transforming force, everyone in her wake cannot help but hold her in high esteem. She not only obtains their respect...she keeps it. This is beyond difficult, this preserving of respect. Most beauty decreases upon further examination. Only true beauty increases, the more you get to know it. I have met lots of women who seemed Godly, but the more I got to know them, the greater their net negative affect on my life.

With long exposure to one particular woman years ago, for example, I found myself treating my husband with the same coolness and critical spirit with which she treated her husband. I had to pull back from the relationship for a season, to re-orient my heart to grace. Some women have influenced me to be more and more focused on petty physical ailments, because that is what they were focused on - petty things like normal fatigue, dizziness, or aches and pains. I had to consciously deal with this, and choose for myself a more dismissive attitude towards the small stuff. Some women exude unhappiness, and the depression that haunts the un-gracious woman begins to rub off on me.

I have known some women, however, who the more I got to know them, the more I myself began to become (or at least wanted to become!) almost as gracious as they. These are the women who are stunning. They are refreshing to know. They are forces to be reckoned with. They "gain my respect, as violent men gain riches".

Here are a few of the symptoms of a grace-filled person:

Intelligent: as opposed to merely educated or just clever. The legalist is clever, in a cold sort of way. The sparkling intelligence of a woman of grace is entirely different. The gracious woman has studied hard, studied long, and she does the necessary work to be able to communicate what she has learned. She sets her table, figuratively speaking. She has "killed her beasts, mingled her wine", and she invites you and I to "come to the feast". She then treats us as honored guests, as friends having much to contribute, not putting emphasis on her own considerable intellectual work.

Warm: a woman of grace has undeniable warmth. Her emotions are governed by a passionate God, as opposed to the legalist who is "cool, calm, and collected" only because she is too proud to let her hair down. The gracious woman runs warm, and even white hot, but not out of control, and she is never cold. The opposite of love is not hate...it is cool indifference. A gracious woman stands out like an inviting hearth-fire amongst her self-aware, emotionally cold peers.

Generous: such generosity of spirit! A grace-girl has open hands and open heart. She gives the gift of her smile, the gift of her approval, the gift of her friendship, the gift of her money, the gift of sharing her possessions with you with not one string attached. You do not feel as if you are weighed in her balances and found wanting. You don't have to agree with her. You don't have to admire her for it. You don't have to walk on eggshells in exchange for her favor. You won't be expected to meet an unspoken obligation to her in the future. You see, the grace-girl is filthy rich in spirit. She can afford to lavish you with gifts and gifts and gifts that flow from her wealthy heart, and she is not the least bit poorer for the giving. Because her identity is that of undiminished resource in the gospel. The grace of Christ Jesus causes her to abound in every good word and work.

Wit: this is an unexpected symptom of a gracious person. It is the unintended consequence of the joy of the Lord that permeates the day of a grace-girl. A gracious woman can be hilarious. I've known a few who crack me up so bad, I feel good, and all healed-up on the inside.

Others: a gracious woman thinks of others. When you are with her, she doesn't talk only about herself. The topic of conversation is usually either about you, or ideas that have the potential to be incredibly interesting. The conversation is not stilted or strained, rather it flows from a sincere interest in others, and an unquenchable enthusiasm for God Himself. Some gracious women are natural introverts. Yet they have managed, somehow, to not make an idol of their personality. They can and do get outside themselves, and they will often make you feel as though you are the most important person in the room, when you talk to them.

Imperfect: this is perhaps the biggest trait of a gracious woman. She has flaws...physical flaws, personality quirks, and even big, honking spiritual imperfection. She takes it all in stride, and her world is not rocked when she discovers she has been wrong. After all, she was born wrong, born in sin, and it comes as no surprise to her that she will be wrong a time or two again at some point in her life. Or at some point in the next five minutes. Big deal. She'll fix it, and move on.

Consistent: a gracious woman stays in relationship. She can be depended on to be there, at least in spirit, and to love you to the end. You have to be the one to leave a gracious woman's friendship behind - a gracious woman will not leave you. She won't run after you if you leave, and thereby force herself on you, she won't compromise her deepest convictions, but she is committed to unity in the midst of diversity and she will stick with you often to her own hurt. She will receive you back in an instant, should you wish to resume a right relationship, and you won't have to meet a long checklist of qualifications to be reinstated. In fact, she will treat you as though you never left her to start with. Its rather humbling to be thus loved, though she isn't trying to humble you.

Christian: a gracious woman is one who has trusted entirely in the grace of God, and not in her own performance. Strangely, she usually out-performs everyone else. Her hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and gift of righteousness. The message of the gospel motivates her and perfumes her thoughts, and infuses her relationships.

There is no other way to be grace-ious.

A toast..."To all the gracious women in my life!"

The Sad Signs of Legalism

Legalism masquerades as zeal for God. It substitutes the application of Biblical principle, as being righteousness itself. Every Christian is susceptible to the seductive sickness of self righteousness - since I have battled this sickness in my own life, and encountered it in the lives of others, I've learned to discern a few of its symptoms:


Clever: a legalist is often quite bright. And she always, always sounds right, but there is always, always something wrong with her arguments - they lack depth and they lack a genuine care and concern for people as they are. A legalist loves people insofar as she thinks they "should be". She loves her idea of Christian maturity, without loving her flawed brother, sister, friend, mother, or husband.



Comparison - a legalist will compare herself to others, and compare people with people. She is habitually measuring herself and her spouse, and everyone else.



Coldness - a legalist is incapable of sustained personal warmth in relationships. To be warm is to be pliable. To be cold is to be rigid. A legalist is rigid, and therefore ultimately an emotionally cold person. It may take six months, or it may take years and years, but if you "cross" a legalist in any significant way, you'll discover that her warmth quickly fades, and a cool demeanor replaces it.



Conversation - a legalist's primary topic of conversation is herself (or himself...but since I myself was once a legalist, and still struggle with the tendency, I use the female pronoun). So long as you remain in her fan club, and make it "all about her", you will have her as your friend. A legalist's second favorite topic of conversation is "this person or that person"(see the first symptom of legalism: comparison). Remember - great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people. Since the legalist is ego-centric, her world is a small one. She will primarily discuss herself, her problems, her life, her job or her children....and she will then discuss certain people. If you attempt to steer the relationship to a broader horizon, and engage her in an honest discussion of great ideas, she will withdraw (see the second symptom of legalism: coldness).



Cutting Ties: a legalist will cut ties with you, eventually. Wherever legalism exists, you will find a string of broken relationships. You will encounter the slow, progressive separation from even a significant relationship, if she perceives that the relationship is not in her control....which brings me to the next symptom:



Control: A legalist cannot help but manipulate. She doesn't mean to, and may not even consciously try to. But she does it. She will attempt to control you by giving or withholding her approval. Giving or withholding her attention or affection. Giving or withholding gifts - because if you cut the "string attached" to the gift, the giving will cease. Giving or withholding love itself. A legalist will begin to act irrationally whenever someone close to her actually lives in a revelation of their gift of righteousness. Why? Because when you begin to believe the gospel, a legalist loses her leverage in the relationship.



Cloying: a legalist is a cloying person. She's happy only when she feels you are admiring her, or her possessions, her ability, or her status. She will assist you time and time again, she will help you more than you need to be helped, so long as you admire her for it. She will take what otherwise would be healthy and pleasant, and she will cling and cloy the joy right out of the experience or the relationship. Every relationship starts well, but almost none stay well. Since most legalists are insecure, they end up maxing everyone else out - no one can prop up their damaged ego consistently enough.

Conditional Contentment: most legalists are ever-so-slightly depressed people. (Ask me how I know!) Their contentment depends on being better than most everyone else ("I thank thee Oh Lord, that I am not like this tax collector..."), and since there is always someone who has a better home life, or house, a better marriage, car, or has more talent than they do, a legalist consequently suffers from constant, low-level unhappiness. Her contentment is conditional, and relative to her ability to control circumstances, or to feel superior. Thus, you don't find a legalistic woman laughing freely and often.
Christian - most legalists are Christians. The very recipients of such amazing grace, often do not know just how amazing it really is. You have to know that you need grace, to understand grace. You run to a throne of grace in time of need. Most Christians are chronically un-needy. These un-needy believers are also unaware that they are miserable, poor, blind and naked, and ever in great need of great grace. Subconsciously, a legalist relegates grace to be the solution for non-Christians, the unfortunate, uneducated or immoral. Meanwhile, the proud need grace the most, and yet perceive their need the least.

Keep Up To Date on the Latest!

Over and over, every year for the last 18 years, I am asked the same question when it comes time to register one or more of my children with our home schooling umbrella organization:



Are you up to date with the latest Tennessee laws and regulations regarding home education? Have you read the latest?



The law that was in place ten years ago, is not the same today. Ten years ago, I could not have claimed as a defense some statute that would not be made law yet. I'd have lost my case. We home educators have gained some freedoms, and lost some freedoms. An educator has to stay up to speed on the latest.



King David said this: "Great peace have they which love Thy law, and nothing shall offend them."



Every good theologian will define "law" as the most recent edict issued from the mouth of God. David loved the law of the Lord - law being defined as whatever God has said. In David's day, the word of God in enforcement was Mosaic law. Of course David loved it! It was the word of the Lord...there was no further word!



That law is still perfect, converting the soul. We love it. It stands for all time as an illustration of a perfect God, pointing us dramatically to our need for a Savior. We passionately love how this Old Testament law is and was full of types and shadows of Jesus Christ. All of it written to give us insight into the plan and ways of God, "...written for our admonishment, upon whom the end of the worlds have come."

But "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,has in these last days spoken to us by His Son..."

The manner in which we relate to God has changed radically. The old has been done away with, the new has come. You cannot make your case according to the old way. There is no more "if, then". There is no more "if you obey the law, then you are blessed". Jesus came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. Synonyms for "fulfill" ~ accomplish, achieve, answer, be just the ticket, carry out, comply with, conclude, conform, discharge, do, effect, effectuate, execute, fill, fill the bill, finish, hit the bull's-eye, implement, keep, make it, make the grade, meet, obey, observe, perfect, perform, please, realize, render, satisfy, suffice, suit

It is finished. It has been concluded, down to the last beautiful detail. Over. Done. Complied with and executed, and Christ performed it all. His obedience is the only obedience.

He ushered in what we call the New Testament Age of Grace.



If the man who danced before the Lord in his ephod were alive today, he'd be shouting, "Great peace have they which love Thy New Covenant, and nothing shall offend them!"

Stay educated and up to date on the latest law: the law of love. We will be held entirely accountable to the most recent edict from the throne, found in Scripture.

Ignorance of the law is no excuse.

Puppies, Cookies, and Grace

I've heard some incredible teachers and preachers in my (short...ahem) time on this planet. I've heard them use majestic metaphor and substantive simile. I love the depth that has been illustrated for me, time and again, by solid thinkers in The Faith - some are well-known, some, like my own husband, little-known.

Try as I may, my mind won't work majestically. I sigh and I try, and therein lies the problem. When I tune into my life as it really is, in all its quotidian acedia (oh, do look the words up - they are delicious to say, but bitter to live) the revelation of grace can come honestly. Like the revelations to be found in puppies and cookies.

It is no secret that I adore my puppy. He is a teacup poodle named Rambo, and he is aptly named. Just you try to touch me or especially my husband, when we are holding our 2 pounds of fuzzy furry...the itty bitty silver bullet....the Rambo Beenie. He will snarl and lunge like a warrior-rottweiler.

In fact, my puppy sometimes acts appallingly, and I still smile. I delight in this little dog no matter what. Not long ago, I examined this anomaly. You see, I am known to be ever-working to improve myself, and therefore take unbridled delight in only a few things. But I take disturbing delight in my poodle...everyone finds it disturbing, because his misbehavior has no affect on me whatsoever.

I decided this is because I have no fear for this animal's future. God bless all those who believe that puppies have eternal souls: I do not. Therefore, no amount of spoiling on my part will send Rambo's soul to the Lake of Fire. In essence, this dog is "eternally secure", in that his future is fully known to me: he will live in the lap of luxury and love, and one day die. That will be that (and yes, I will grieve terribly). Nothing in terms of Rambo's ultimate destiny is up in the air. He can't misbehave his way into Canine Judgement. He can't bite hard enough to hurt a toddler.

I am utterly free to delight in my dog.

It was then, when I stopped to consider these majestic metaphors, that I realized: the Lord delights in me! He knows the plans He has for me. He has forever settled my ultimate destiny. No amount of "misbehavior" on my part can shake Him from His love for me, in Christ Jesus. Far from being antinomianism, (and unlike Rambo) this kind of good news actually makes me want to "heel" - to follow close by my Owner's side forever.

Poodles and antinomianism and eternal security aside (after all, a mind can only take so much splendor) I also began to wonder why baking cookies for the kids wasn't so much fun anymore. In fact, I was just pondering this tonight. Used to be, a batch of cookies was a day-maker. Making a couple of sheets of home made chocolate chip cookies had the potential to bring inner healing to four children who, on some days, were fraught with naughtiness and discord.

Ah, but now they are All Grown Up. They are adults, three of them, with jobs and net spendable income. They can buy these treats for themselves, anytime they want. They can work for them.

As it is with the free Gift of Grace. It is precisely when we think we have matured our way "past" it, that the gift begins to lose its luster. The fun is taken right out of living in it. The truth that used to make our day and heal our hurts, now is something we can earn for ourselves. If we can get it for ourselves, it must be pretty common and obtainable. When God offers it to us, His grace is reduced (in our minds) to merely The Nice Gesture. A Nice Gesture is entirely unable to change us.

Hear me - hear me well! Don't rob God and yourself of the delight and fragrance that should characterize piping hot, fresh from the heart of God, sweet grace. You will never be able to work for it, you cannot obtain it on your own, all ideas of any righteousness of your own are a dangerous illusion.

This is where the metaphor breaks down, as it isn't dangerous at all for my children to make their own cookies. See why I sigh? My metaphors just aren't majestic enough.

Oh well. It is what it is. Puppies and cookies and grace.

LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me...

"Grace, Grace!" - Shout It To Your Mountain!

Shout Grace!
by Francis Frangipane


We sing Amazing Grace, but I don't think we realize how amazing grace actually is. Grace is God's power, motivated by His mercy, working to fulfill His compassion.

We are saved by grace, but what culminates in a "day of salvation" experience is actually months and even years of God quietly, yet powerfully, working in our hearts. Recall: Jesus said, "No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him" (John 6:44a). Do you remember that drawing power? Before we knew God, divine power was working invisibly within our hearts, drawing and wooing us to Christ.

Yet let me take this miracle of grace further, for after Jesus spoke of the Father's drawing power, He then said, "and I will raise him up on the last day" (John 6:44b). This is the power and commitment of our Father's love: from the days of our sin and rebellion even to the days long after we die, grace continues working to unite our hearts with God's. From our utterly helpless beginnings to our utterly helpless end, from being dead in sin to being dead in the grave, grace carries us to the arms of God.

Unlocking the Power of Grace"But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, 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, in order that, in the ages to come, He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God" (Eph. 2:4-8).

Paul says that grace saved us "through faith." Faith unlocks the power of grace and releases it to function in our world-and faith itself is another gift of God. The difference between both gifts is, the grace-gift must be activated by the faith-gift. We must believe that God is "rich in mercy." We must accept as true that God loves us with "great love." We must not doubt He atoned for "our transgressions." We must be confident we are "alive together with Christ."

Grace works through faith. Believing the words of grace unlocks the power of grace; the power of grace to fully transform us comes through faith. As it is written, "For of His fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace" (John 1:16). The true stride of a Christian's walk is "grace upon grace." The same grace that turned our hearts toward Christ continues to work in us, transforming even our sufferings and trials into virtue and power. Are you in a battle? Are you struggling with finances, health, righteousness or relationships? Your grace-miracle has already been created. But you must believe that not only has God created a grace-provision for you, but Christ is motivated by love and actually desires to show you favor.

You may feel like a loser, a sinner, a person others routinely reject---and perhaps you are! The purpose of redemption was so that, in the ages to come, God might display through us "the surpassing riches of His grace." You may be poor in this world, but you can become rich in the transforming grace of God. Believe Him. A day will come in the future world of God when He will point to you and I, once fallen and depraved, filthy and isolated creatures, and display us before heaven and earth as radiant, transformed beings---a glory to His workmanship and love. And it will come to pass because we believed in the grace of God to change us.

Who cares what other people think of you? God says He loves you! Indeed, His grace is working to set you free. God knows you have been struggling with desperate issues; that's one reason why He has inspired this message. His grace is reaching to you to deliver you. The means to your victory is not more prayer or more Bible study, but faith-activated grace. Of course, I strongly believe in both prayer and study, but the power to release each of us is a free gift of grace. Don't postpone your breakthrough. Believe that God's grace is here to release you!

What We Cannot Do On Our OwnWe've been taught that grace is God's unmerited favor, which of course, it is. Yet unmerited favor is only one aspect of grace. In reality, grace is God's promise to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

The Bible says that "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness" (Rom. 4:3). It doesn't mean that Abraham believe there was a God. No. Demons believe in one God and tremble! When Abraham "believed God" it meant that he believed what God had promised would come to pass. God promised to do for Abraham what Abraham and Sarah could not fulfill on their own. The Lord had promised Abraham he'd be a father of many nations. This is the glory of God's grace: it accomplishes what is otherwise impossible for us. You see, grace not only chooses me, saves me eternally and blankets my life with mercy, but grace also works in me realities unattainable without divine help.

Consider Zechariah and the story about Zerubbabel, who was governor of Israel. The Jews had been held in Babylonian captivity for seventy years. Now, they were being restored to Jerusalem. It was Zerubbabel's task to oversee the restoration of the city. In the struggle of the battle, weariness settled on the governor. So, the Lord gave Zechariah a promise for Zerubbabel. He said, "‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the Lord of hosts" (Zech. 4:6).
God was saying, in effect, "You have labored, your enemies are many and they are strong, but this work I've set before you isn't about your abilities; it's about what I can do working through you." Likewise, our salvation isn't about our works or power. It's about believing in the Holy Spirit's power and the grace of God.

Then the Lord gave Zerubbabel an important word. He said, "What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!'" (Zech. 4:7).

Zerubbabel had mountains in his life that were too much for him. He had a task that was beyond his abilities. Yet God promised His Spirit would help, and when it was done, multitudes would be shouting "Grace, grace" at the finished work.

Listen, my friends, don't run from the mountains in your life; face them with faith---and then shout "Grace, grace" to them. Let God make your mountains into "a plain."

Let's not mutter an unbelieving whisper about grace, but shout it out loud. It doesn't say, think about grace, but release your faith and shout "Grace, grace!" God's unmerited favor has been poured out upon you; now speak to that mountain of discouragement, sickness or financial need---GRACE, GRACE!

Blessed God, You have drawn me to Yourself and have sheltered my life in the impenetrable stronghold of Your grace. Forgive me for drifting back into trusting in my works or abilities. Lord, I believe in Your grace! I shout "Grace, grace!" to the mountains that stand before me! In Jesus' name!

http://www.frangipane.org/

The LORD is My Righteousness

Such an appropriate old hymn, after the rousing grace-message my Tim preached on Sunday...

I Once Was a Stranger by Robert McCheyne (live link to Cyberhymnal)

(Jehovah Tsidkenu, the LORD my Righteousness)

I once was a stranger to grace and to God,
I knew not my danger, and felt not my load;
Though friends spoke in rapture of Christ on the tree,
Jehovah Tsidkenu was nothing to me.

I oft read with pleasure, to sooth or engage,
Isaiah’s wild measure and John’s simple page;
But e’en when they pictured the blood sprinkled tree
Jehovah Tsidkenu seemed nothing to me.

Like tears from the daughters of Zion that roll,
I wept when the waters went over His soul;
Yet thought not that my sins had nailed to the tree
Jehovah Tsidkenu—’twas nothing to me.

When free grace awoke me, by light from on high,
Then legal fears shook me, I trembled to die;
No refuge, no safety in self could I see—
Jehovah Tsidkenu my Saviour must be.

My terrors all vanished before the sweet name;
My guilty fears banished, with boldness I came
To drink at the fountain, life giving and free—
Jehovah Tsidkenu is all things to me.

Jehovah Tsidkenu! my treasure and boast,
Jehovah Tsidkenu! I ne’er can be lost;
In thee I shall conquer by flood and by field,
My cable, my anchor, my breast-plate and shield!

Even treading the valley, the shadow of death,
This “watchword” shall rally my faltering breath;
For while from life’s fever my God sets me free,
Jehovah Tsidkenu, my death song shall be.

DIY

Grace. I "get it", on so many levels. I get it daily from the Father; I get it, in that I come to understand it for myself more and more and more; and I get it lavished upon me by the body of Christ; and I get to continuously lavish it on others. Grace is the gift of God, not of works, just in case anyone is tempted to brag.

Have you heard of the "DIY" television network? "Do It Yourself". It is full of shows that teach you how to do something yourself. Hey...when the battle is on, and victory is necessary, when it comes to the soulish man getting in line with the ways of God, when grabbing hold of the peace of God matters - there are seasons in a person's life when it's a DIY deal. Do It Yourself. You can't hire someone to do it for you.

Even this is grace. Much like when Paul said, "By the grace of God, I outworked the other guys..." Grace was made manifest in the life of this precious apostle, in that for the sake of the church, he went through great trial, and received for himself great comfort - and revelation! - from God.

No one can give to you what they do not own. I'd love to give you a Mercedes, but I don't own one. I'd love to give you a house on the lake - a place for you to go when you need to be alone with God. But I don't own one. Only such as I have, I give to you.

So to be able to encourage you, I need to have known what it is to receive encouragement from God for myself. "And David was greatly distressed....but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God." (I Sa. 30:6) I'm so glad David made that choice - over and over again he made that choice. As a consequence, we have chronicled for our benefit the journey of 150 chapters - one man's epic experience of encouraging himself in his God.

I enjoy "Do It Yourself" television programming. I regard as some of my happiest Saturdays, those few and far between off-days when I get to enjoy all my outdoor "DIY" landscaping shows, and home renovation programs. Love that stuff. I am a "DIY" kind of woman, married to the Renaissance Man, and every skill I have learned by doing something myself, no one can take from me, as long as I am alive. But above all other skills, the skill I hope to become a master of, is receiving from God. Being active and cooperative with God's Spirit is not antithetical to grace. Our inner initiative and involvement and even (gasp) a bit of holy work, when wrought from a foundation of grace, is manifest grace. It is grace upon grace.

Because David so encouraged himself in the Lord, David carries the anointing to encourage all of us, for all time. He has certainly been able to comfort us with the comfort he received from God. All the "right answers" in the world, all the soothing words we can speak to someone in their hour of need, carry no anointing when they are not the comfort that, at some point, we have received ourselves from God.

I have often said that my goal in all of life, is to be a good receiver of all God gives. That's it. Nothing more. I have been placed on this planet to receive from God, and I have come into great wealth, indeed. Hidden riches in secret places is a good thing. Durable riches can stand up to the pettiness, and even the outright cruelty, of others. Grace limitlessly received, is grace easily given. When someone feels the need to be important at my expense, this thought, without fail, enters my mind: "Let her have it. I can afford it." What would have otherwise been an offense, becomes the equivelant of a billionaire allowing someone to steal twenty bucks from them. "Good grief, take it, bless your heart! Need more?"

Others need the living water I drink. For Pete's sake (whoever Pete is), nevermind merely drinking it, I could splash and swim in living water all my life-long, if I do the work necessary to unstop the wells, open them up, and then ask God to enlarge my human heart to receive what gushes forth. I could offer you all the water you need. Why? Because I'm full of it.

::she says, as she laughs to herself::


Bottom line, I need to have first received from the Lord, for myself, before I speak to you. If I have not, somewhere in my history, wrestled till dawn and prevailed, a parrot could say what I say, and with the same result.

Polly wanna cracker?

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Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. (2 Cor. 1: 3,4)

More Grace, Whenever You Need It...

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (Heb. 4:16)

(me...utterly enjoying more grace....)

I remember, in my twenties, becoming paralyzed by the teaching of a man I deeply respected. (A man no longer in my circle of associations...I do not know what has become of him.) He preached, passionately, that we've been given all we need in Christ. He very convincingly presented a gospel that declares a work having already been exceedingly and abundantly and completely done at the cross.

While every word of that is true, I then somehow came away with the wrong idea. I don't know if what I "got" from his radical sermons was what he meant for me to get - but what I heard was that the call of Christ was the call to come and die daily, the cross was all there was currently available to me, and thus I am to deny any personal desire to experience the love of God in fresh ways. The love of God was proven at the cross...what more did I need?

I've been years getting those concepts out of my spirit. In times of distress, depression, or even simple "stress", I have always tried to pull myself up by the bootstraps, and look at the cross alone. Right there, at Calvary, is my solution, cut and dried. I was taught by this great teacher that any ongoing revelation or experience of grace beyond looking to that cross, is entirely superfluous, and charismatic nonsense.

Well, now I know that we truly prophesy "in part". That was (and is) only a partial truth. It is truth, and it will need to be applied to our lives from time to time, and in certain situations. "Look to the cross, alone. It is enough". I have no doubt of it!

But the other part of the gospel is this stunning and ongoing involvement of the Father, in giving us "more grace". James 4:6 says "He gives us more grace." This verse is in context of our human propensity to sin. This verse is in the context of humility - God gives "more grace" to the humble.

More! Not some pre-determined, measured-at-the-cross, theologically correct amount of salvation. I can wallow in sheer over-abundance of moment-to-moment mercy, with more on the way in the morning. Not only that, but to she who possesses any God-gift, to her more shall be given.

Own the grace of God. Claim it with all the confidence in the Son's sacrifice. If you do that, more will be given. Utilize grace for every time of need. This is part of the humility that attracts "more grace" into our lives!

Humility comes entirely from an urgent awareness of our neediness. When I am most needy, most undone, altogether unable to help myself, God gives me "more grace".

"More" grace is Biblical! This continues to bring great freedom to my bound-up theology. God gives grace to help in time of need. This covers yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and it covers absolutely all reasons for my neediness. There is no qualification as to what sort of need qualifies for urgent grace. "Let us therefore come"....these words echo down through the corridors of history and time, and touch my spirit even tonight.

Let us come...today, tomorrow, and when we are much older. Let us come moment by moment, if we must. The more we come, the more we get. The only prerequisite is a knowlege of our need. Never...never analyze whether your need is theologically correct. Needy qualifies. Period. Thank God that He is delivering me from the paralysis of analysis, brought on by a zealous Bible teacher, more than twenty years ago.

Yes, the once-and-for-all sacrifice of Christ is more than enough. Forever. But you can experience something dynamic and fresh, in addition to all that unquestionable sufficiency. If your "time of need" is now, more grace is waiting. Go get it!

Liberating, no?

Greater Grace...

I'll never forget my first, very personal revelation into the grace of God. Unfortunately, it didn't come until I was a grown woman, with children of my own. I'm sure I'd heard about the grace of God, but either didn't listen, or didn't fully understand. Having known Christ, and having walked with God from the time I was six years old, being filled with the Holy Spirit at the age of eleven (yes, for me a "second blessing" experience), moving in the gifts of the Spirit by age twelve, and experiencing supernatural visitations from God from puberty onward, and then hurled into ministry at the tender age of twenty-seven...you'd think I would have known of the grace of God more than I did.

Nope. And that's an important fact to grasp: I had not experienced grace in its fullness.


Have you experienced the grace of God? With all else you may have experienced, with all else you may know and perceive and understand, have you experienced grace?


When the revelation came, I remember it well. I imagine it was much like Martin Luther's big moment, "The just shall live by faith..." He remembered exactly where he was when the lights came on and shone brightly over that passage of Scripture.


For me, it was nighttime, and well nigh fifteen years ago. I was comfortably esconced in the pillows of my bed, Bible open, searching for strength to raise four small children, and be "the pastor's wife." Suddenly, I flung the pages aside, and came flying out of my room, eyes bugging. Tim was sitting at the computer, working on his studies. I exclaimed, "Honey! I get it! I understand! I'm telling you I could...I could...I could rob a bank right now, and it would not matter! Well, not that I would, but I could, you see....I can't put it into words, but nothing whatsoever can separate me from the love of God."


Tim looked at me and slowly responded, "Ye-e-e-es...." with that look husbands get when they are really thinking, "Uh...you are just now getting this?"


And every day of my life since, the enemy has attempted to steal that seed sown in my spirit that night. If having a seed-stealer hot on my heels was not enough, circumstances conspired, and do conspire, to vandalize the picture of grace my life has become. As many years as it took for me to "get it", the revelation of grace was the easy part. The concept is heady and glorious. It is the reclaim-ation of grace that challenges me to my knees, and will challenge you likewise. The revel-ation brings revel-ry. What joy! The reclaim-ation brings...a reclamation.

Reclaim: To bring into a condition for use, as in cultivation or habitation


The grace message reclaimed is the grace message cultivated and activated...grace unleashed to undo you and plow you right-up-and-over, and then rebuild you and replant you. Grace isn't merely a revelation to be understood. It also is not a gauge we use to rate other Christians. It certainly isn't a badge of having arrived. It isn't a truth that I enjoy personally, but use as a measuring stick to evaluate fellow believers. As soon as "The Grace Message" makes me look down on someone who doesn't yet understand it as I do, I've violated the reality of grace.

Grace is a way of life to be enjoyed....and a gift to be given to others who least deserve it. It exists to be lavished on the very humans who hurt us the most. It is a throne to which we point, and to which all who are in a time of need can be emboldened to run - inspired by our own bold approach.


Grace is personal, but grace's greater glory is communal. Your revelation of it is not tested by how freely you live, personally, but rather by how freely you love, communally.


I'm still finding it odd how the grace-inclined individual can apply grace to everyone but those who challenge her inclination. Isn't that strange? God help the poor soul who clashes with a mercy-motivated person's concept of mercy. That mercy-motivated believer OWNS that gift, byGod, defines it flawlessly (in their mind), and if you dare question their administration of it, they promptly forget mercy. I can say that, both because I bear (practically in my body) the wounds administered by a few Mercy People, and moreover I consider myself to be one who can be patient with almost anyone BUT a legalist.


We are to grow in grace. To me, this means getting beyond receiving it only. We also begin administering it, even when doing so defies reason and makes us insanely vulnerable.


It certainly is not a truth that we gleefully and thoughtlessly snatch up like cheap candy at Mardi Gras. Grace is lion-like, not tame. It is lamb-like, not solitary. We are the sheep of His pasture. We'll be all our lives growing in glorious, scandalous grace. The revelation is only the first step. The reclamation of grace, cultivating it, living it out in our relationships, is the real growth in grace.

When grace reclaims us, it brings as great a reformation to our lives as it did to Luther's.

And that's just crazy.

Life's Little (and not-so-little) Messes

As much as I'd like to believe that I am one who follows through on my every task and committment, when I read the fine print of my days, I see much left unfinished. At point of fact, I could write a book, all of it in fine print, about things I've left undone - let's don't even include things I've done! I've made messes, big and small, some as a result of my doing, others a result of leaving important things undone. All my messes require clean-up. So do all of yours.

A few weeks ago, I was patrolling the house before leaving for church. Everyone else had left, finally, so I was the last to dash out the door, and lock up. Since someone usually ends up coming home with us, I wanted to make sure, for about the third time, that various rooms were as charming and trash-free as I had left them the last time I had checked them, probably a mere half an hour before.

To my distinct displeasure, I found a plate with crumbleys all over it, a glass with a half inch of milk in the bottom, and...of all things....an empty soda bottle. Where did it all come from, and who did it, and how did it materialize so quickly? I fell upon the mess, as a warrior to the battle. "In the Zone" does not begin to describe me, when I am intent on straightening up things. I'll automatically pour out Tim's tea before he is through, and put the glass in the dishwasher. I'll sweep around the feet of my family, while I dust the coffee table with the other hand, and put a stray book away with my toes. Honestly, all this is mostly mindless, and done without the first complaint. Ask any of my kids. I do it without realizing I am "working". I am almost always "working", and since that is the case, it is rather nice that 99% of it is hard-wired into my psyche, and thus doesn't bother me. I couldn't "not do it" if I tried.

This particular morning, however, I heard myself grumbling out loud to myself. I said, "I am so tired of following behind people in this house, cleaning up their mess."

It was then I experienced one of God's "suddenlies". Suddenly, He spoke. When He speaks suddenly, it cuts through the static. It arrests my attention.

He said: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life."

No exaggeration, I hit my knees, right by the kitchen sink, and tears flowed in an instant. (How lovely to have been alone, just then, because I think I couldn't have NOT worshipped. Such divine wisdom, such understanding and love displayed to me could not have gone unacknowleged. I was late to church that day.)

I hadn't even realized that I'd been subconsciously toting a heavy load of "undone's" and "not-done-right's". I had left what I felt to be a few messes behind, figuratively speaking. I was in desperate need of a Father who loved me so much, He was willing to allow His goodness and mercy to come behind me and clean up. What is the mercy of God for, if it is not at the point of my need, the place of My Mess?

I wanted a God who was just that good, but I almost dared not believe it. That is a God too good to be true, in my graceless mind. A God so good to me, that sometimes He would not even punish me for an inadvertent mess. Surely His goodness and mercy would follow me, and simply clean it up. Oh, how many times has that happened, and I didn't even realize it? Just as not one member of my family would have realized that I cleaned up a mess for him or her that morning.

I certainly don't want to associate the beautiful, scandalous cross of Christ with a few breakfast crumbs. But facts are, the blood of Jesus covers it ALL - the large and the small messes. The cross is the only clean-up, the only solution. A mess is a mess is a mess, and small messes become life altering if left to accumulate.

Thank you, Jesus, for your goodness and mercy, following this mess called "Me"....all the days of my life. How I need You!