Monday, May 26, 2003
grace (gr
s)
n
A favor rendered by one who need not do so;
A temporary immunity or exemption;
Divine love and protection bestowed freely on people;
The state of being protected or sanctified by the favor of God;
An excellence or power granted by God.
"Brother Mark" preached about grace yesterday. Mark is a genius. He's a seminary graduate, a former pastor, a former chaplain, a former programmer, my former co-worker, and current counseling center director. He's also a very talented musician. Mark shared about the marvelous grace of God... forgivenesss... and doing good. It was a fantastic message. I didn't really follow him so much as my own train of thought about grace. My mind tends to wander during lectures and sermons... but it usually stays on topic, which is helpful when I'm choosing a closing song for church. In any event, here are the random thoughts that made their way through my mind during the sermon... all about grace.
First of all, my favorite definition from the dictionary (above) is the first one... a favor rendered by one who need not do so. God didn't have to do what He did for us... He just did. He could have looked down His nose and thought of us as the paupers that we are, pointed at us and said, "oh look... the peasants need saving. Fine... you're saved." But He looked at us as only He can... like a parent sees his child.
There's a song... If I Could Look Through Your Eyes , that I sang a while back. Perfect words to describe grace.
Another random thought during the sermon... I thought about my friend, Denise, who just lost little EJ. Her mother made the strangest comment after the funeral. "Thank you for being such a good friend to Denise. I know how hard she makes it for people to be her friend." My only response was "she's one of my dearest friends." If I had been anywhere besides the gravesite of that little boy, I would have decked her and then said, "She doesn't make it difficult at all. I love her dearly and I'm blessed to have her in my life." I think Satan would love to make us think that we're completely unloveable and undeserving of God's grace... I picture him standing before God saying, "she's so unloveable and so underserving." But Jesus turns around, knocks the crap out of Satan, and says, "I love her dearly." That's what He did on the cross.
That's grace. Amazing grace. Marvelous grace. Infinite grace.
s)n
A favor rendered by one who need not do so;
A temporary immunity or exemption;
Divine love and protection bestowed freely on people;
The state of being protected or sanctified by the favor of God;
An excellence or power granted by God.
"Brother Mark" preached about grace yesterday. Mark is a genius. He's a seminary graduate, a former pastor, a former chaplain, a former programmer, my former co-worker, and current counseling center director. He's also a very talented musician. Mark shared about the marvelous grace of God... forgivenesss... and doing good. It was a fantastic message. I didn't really follow him so much as my own train of thought about grace. My mind tends to wander during lectures and sermons... but it usually stays on topic, which is helpful when I'm choosing a closing song for church. In any event, here are the random thoughts that made their way through my mind during the sermon... all about grace.
First of all, my favorite definition from the dictionary (above) is the first one... a favor rendered by one who need not do so. God didn't have to do what He did for us... He just did. He could have looked down His nose and thought of us as the paupers that we are, pointed at us and said, "oh look... the peasants need saving. Fine... you're saved." But He looked at us as only He can... like a parent sees his child.
There's a song... If I Could Look Through Your Eyes , that I sang a while back. Perfect words to describe grace.
If I could look through Your eyes, I'd see there's no way to impress You, and I wouldn't even try. I'd stop trying to prove I'm worthy, and I'd take off the disguise...I can never see myself as God sees me. I can't earn His love and grace. I don't deserve any of it. But I have it.
if I could look through Your eyes.
If I saw my value to You, I'd see Your love for me remains despite the foolish things I do, And I'd see Your love for what it is, unshakeable and true...
if I saw my value to You.
I wanna see what You see. I wanna recognize the treasured prize You say You see in me. I wanna give up trying to earn the love You're offering for free.
I wanna see what You see.
And I would see that I'm precious, and I would know that I'm prized.
I'd know Your love never changes...
if I could look through Your eyes.
Another random thought during the sermon... I thought about my friend, Denise, who just lost little EJ. Her mother made the strangest comment after the funeral. "Thank you for being such a good friend to Denise. I know how hard she makes it for people to be her friend." My only response was "she's one of my dearest friends." If I had been anywhere besides the gravesite of that little boy, I would have decked her and then said, "She doesn't make it difficult at all. I love her dearly and I'm blessed to have her in my life." I think Satan would love to make us think that we're completely unloveable and undeserving of God's grace... I picture him standing before God saying, "she's so unloveable and so underserving." But Jesus turns around, knocks the crap out of Satan, and says, "I love her dearly." That's what He did on the cross.
That's grace. Amazing grace. Marvelous grace. Infinite grace.
