January 15, 2010
004 Tex’s Thought Provokers
Grace
As many of you know, I have been reading a lot; one of my favourite topics is grace. I have learned that there are many different meanings and views as to what grace is. Further, I have learned that if you were to poll the people, there would be a host of different answers if you asked them what they felt grace is.
Some of you have heard me say that we as humans like to complicate things. It is our nature.
To me grace is not really all that complicated. I look at the message of the Lord the same way. We can make things as complex as we want, yet the facts of the matter are, the basics are what matter. The root of the tree, the solid foundation of a building, the people at the so called bottom, all the simple and basic things are what make things work.
With out the root the tree will fall over. The same can be said for a building’s foundation. Think about this one; the people at the so called bottom implement the work, without them as a foundation, nothing would get done, and there would be no need for the so called important people above them, the supervisors or the bosses.
So it is very basic to me, the foundation is where we need to look for the most important part of anything.
To me grace is simply this; love, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, tolerance, and patience, for those that do not deserve it. That to me is the true measure of what grace is. It is very basic, and I believe the foundation of grace.
The hard part is being able to show grace to those that hurt us. To those that we don’t know, but we know have done a terrible thing. To those that don’t deserve it. This requires a lot of help from the Lord. We have to ask that he give us the strength to carry out this act of showing grace.
The best examples I can think of, that exemplify what grace is, is when the Lord our Father gave his only son to die for everyone one of us. He knew he was sacrificing his son to save a bunch of undeserving beings. He could have stopped it from happening with a mere breath. But he didn’t, and I am thankful, and filled with awe as to how he could do this for the likes of us. But then he is God. Then there is Jesus himself, the son of man. Knowing what he was born for, knowing all the while what he would have to go through. To allow himself to be persecuted and tortured, again for the sake of the likes of us, and knowing that he could have stopped it as well, with the snap of his fingers, is nothing more than grace at it’s ultimate.
To love someone that has really hurt you, is likely one of the hardest things we can face. To forgive them is even harder. Yet Jesus tells us that we must do this.
44 But I tell you, love your enemies. Pray for those who treat you badly.
Matthew 5:44
Now then in the Lords Prayer (below), Jesus tells us what we should say when we pray. We can see that verse twelve is devoted to forgiveness.
9 So this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, we pray that your name will always be kept holy.* 10 We pray that your kingdom* will come — that what you want will be done here on earth, the same as in heaven. 11 Give us the food we need for today. 12 Forgive our sins, just as we have forgiven those who did wrong to us. 13 Don’t let us be tempted, but save us from the Evil One. Matthew 6:9-13
14 Yes, if you forgive others for the wrongs they do to you, then your Father in heaven will also forgive your wrongs. 15 But if you don’t forgive others, then your Father in heaven will not forgive the wrongs you do. Matthew 6:14-15
In the above passage it is clear what Jesus says, we must forgive or not be forgiven.
31“So I tell you, people can be forgiven for every sinful thing they do and for every bad thing they say against God. But anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit* will not be forgiven. Matthew 12:31
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive them more than seven times. You must continue to forgive them even if they do wrong to you seventy-seven times. Matthew 18:22
So as we can see, Jesus makes it totally clear, we must forgive. There is another reason why I think that we must do this. Yes it shows grace, but something more too. If we do not forgive, we will become bitter, then our heart turns black, and we carry around this burden in the chambers of our hearts. Old Wart Face sees this and takes full advantage of the situation. He will spread the weight of this bitterness like a cancer. Sometimes without us even knowing, and soon the bitterness consumes us. We become as bad as the person that hurt us, if not worse.
7 Great blessings belong to those who show mercy to others. Mercy will be given to them. Matthew 5:7
Above we see one of the Beatitudes. It deals with mercy, which to me is part of grace.
14The Word became a man and lived among us. We saw his divine greatness*—the greatness that belongs to the only Son of the Father. The Word was full of grace* and truth. John 1:14
Above in John we can see that Jesus is full of grace and truth.
How can we even begin to talk about grace and not mention Saul the Pharisee, self proclaimed chief of sinners. Saul was to become Paul, one of the great Apostles for Christ. Yet before this, he held coats, and watched as Stephen was stoned to death, and he agreed with it! He did many other things against the believers. Horrible Things.
Then on the road to Damascus, Saul was brought to his knees by Jesus. Act9:1-6. Then we see Saul turned to the belief of Jesus and begin to spread the good news. This is a wonderful story in Acts, one well worth reading, to me, it is a prime example of forgiveness.
In Acts 13:9 we see Saul also called Paul.
In Paul’s letters we find that he constantly speaks of grace. Paul’s letters are filled with teachings.
The more we read the Bible and the guides to a good life here, the closer we get to the wonderful life we are heading for, the life that never ends.
An eternity is a very long time; can you imagine if the Lord let us all live with no rules, no morals, no grace, forever? I think they call it hell.
So then, to understand grace and what it is, I think it is clear, we need to be filled with Love, compassion, mercy, and forgiveness. We need to be able to show this to everyone, especially those who deserve it the least.
Jesus goes to great length to tell and show us all what the things are that make up grace. We have talked about a few important ones here in this writing. There are others that can be found throughout the bible. I think the beatitudes in Matthew 5, is a great place to start.
I will close this writing with a verse from Paul’s letter to the believers in Rome.
21 Sin once used death to rule us. But God gave us more of his grace so that grace could rule by making us right with him. And this brings us eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5:21
And for those of you who have not yet read Philip Yancy’s book; “What’s So Amazing About Grace?” I would highly recommend it.
Until next time, may the grace of the Lord be with you all always.Tex
004 Tex’s Thought Provokers
Grace
As many of you know, I have been reading a lot; one of my favourite topics is grace. I have learned that there are many different meanings and views as to what grace is. Further, I have learned that if you were to poll the people, there would be a host of different answers if you asked them what they felt grace is.
Some of you have heard me say that we as humans like to complicate things. It is our nature.
To me grace is not really all that complicated. I look at the message of the Lord the same way. We can make things as complex as we want, yet the facts of the matter are, the basics are what matter. The root of the tree, the solid foundation of a building, the people at the so called bottom, all the simple and basic things are what make things work.
With out the root the tree will fall over. The same can be said for a building’s foundation. Think about this one; the people at the so called bottom implement the work, without them as a foundation, nothing would get done, and there would be no need for the so called important people above them, the supervisors or the bosses.
So it is very basic to me, the foundation is where we need to look for the most important part of anything.
To me grace is simply this; love, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, tolerance, and patience, for those that do not deserve it. That to me is the true measure of what grace is. It is very basic, and I believe the foundation of grace.
The hard part is being able to show grace to those that hurt us. To those that we don’t know, but we know have done a terrible thing. To those that don’t deserve it. This requires a lot of help from the Lord. We have to ask that he give us the strength to carry out this act of showing grace.
The best examples I can think of, that exemplify what grace is, is when the Lord our Father gave his only son to die for everyone one of us. He knew he was sacrificing his son to save a bunch of undeserving beings. He could have stopped it from happening with a mere breath. But he didn’t, and I am thankful, and filled with awe as to how he could do this for the likes of us. But then he is God. Then there is Jesus himself, the son of man. Knowing what he was born for, knowing all the while what he would have to go through. To allow himself to be persecuted and tortured, again for the sake of the likes of us, and knowing that he could have stopped it as well, with the snap of his fingers, is nothing more than grace at it’s ultimate.
To love someone that has really hurt you, is likely one of the hardest things we can face. To forgive them is even harder. Yet Jesus tells us that we must do this.
44 But I tell you, love your enemies. Pray for those who treat you badly.
Matthew 5:44
Now then in the Lords Prayer (below), Jesus tells us what we should say when we pray. We can see that verse twelve is devoted to forgiveness.
9 So this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, we pray that your name will always be kept holy.* 10 We pray that your kingdom* will come — that what you want will be done here on earth, the same as in heaven. 11 Give us the food we need for today. 12 Forgive our sins, just as we have forgiven those who did wrong to us. 13 Don’t let us be tempted, but save us from the Evil One. Matthew 6:9-13
14 Yes, if you forgive others for the wrongs they do to you, then your Father in heaven will also forgive your wrongs. 15 But if you don’t forgive others, then your Father in heaven will not forgive the wrongs you do. Matthew 6:14-15
In the above passage it is clear what Jesus says, we must forgive or not be forgiven.
31“So I tell you, people can be forgiven for every sinful thing they do and for every bad thing they say against God. But anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit* will not be forgiven. Matthew 12:31
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive them more than seven times. You must continue to forgive them even if they do wrong to you seventy-seven times. Matthew 18:22
So as we can see, Jesus makes it totally clear, we must forgive. There is another reason why I think that we must do this. Yes it shows grace, but something more too. If we do not forgive, we will become bitter, then our heart turns black, and we carry around this burden in the chambers of our hearts. Old Wart Face sees this and takes full advantage of the situation. He will spread the weight of this bitterness like a cancer. Sometimes without us even knowing, and soon the bitterness consumes us. We become as bad as the person that hurt us, if not worse.
7 Great blessings belong to those who show mercy to others. Mercy will be given to them. Matthew 5:7
Above we see one of the Beatitudes. It deals with mercy, which to me is part of grace.
14The Word became a man and lived among us. We saw his divine greatness*—the greatness that belongs to the only Son of the Father. The Word was full of grace* and truth. John 1:14
Above in John we can see that Jesus is full of grace and truth.
How can we even begin to talk about grace and not mention Saul the Pharisee, self proclaimed chief of sinners. Saul was to become Paul, one of the great Apostles for Christ. Yet before this, he held coats, and watched as Stephen was stoned to death, and he agreed with it! He did many other things against the believers. Horrible Things.
Then on the road to Damascus, Saul was brought to his knees by Jesus. Act9:1-6. Then we see Saul turned to the belief of Jesus and begin to spread the good news. This is a wonderful story in Acts, one well worth reading, to me, it is a prime example of forgiveness.
In Acts 13:9 we see Saul also called Paul.
In Paul’s letters we find that he constantly speaks of grace. Paul’s letters are filled with teachings.
The more we read the Bible and the guides to a good life here, the closer we get to the wonderful life we are heading for, the life that never ends.
An eternity is a very long time; can you imagine if the Lord let us all live with no rules, no morals, no grace, forever? I think they call it hell.
So then, to understand grace and what it is, I think it is clear, we need to be filled with Love, compassion, mercy, and forgiveness. We need to be able to show this to everyone, especially those who deserve it the least.
Jesus goes to great length to tell and show us all what the things are that make up grace. We have talked about a few important ones here in this writing. There are others that can be found throughout the bible. I think the beatitudes in Matthew 5, is a great place to start.
I will close this writing with a verse from Paul’s letter to the believers in Rome.
21 Sin once used death to rule us. But God gave us more of his grace so that grace could rule by making us right with him. And this brings us eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5:21
And for those of you who have not yet read Philip Yancy’s book; “What’s So Amazing About Grace?” I would highly recommend it.
Until next time, may the grace of the Lord be with you all always.Tex
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