A Story of Hope

Do you know how many times hope is connected to a story of grace in the bible?

EVERYTIME!! 

Every story of grace started off as a story of hope.

There are the most beautiful hope stories in the book of Luke.  A lot of my revelations came out of Luke, but I've only learned recently that Luke was the only writer that was a non-Jew.  He did not fit the time and culture, so it only makes sense that he has written so many stories of grace for the unlikeliest of men and women. Particularly women who were not regarded as important or worthy in that time.

Hopelessness is a lonely place to be in. In a culture where we live with a scarcity mindset, hope gets chucked into the same bucket with all the rest – where looks, popularity, acclaim, honour, parenthood, opportunities and what not gets evaluated and deemed not enough; is our hope enough? Have we crossed our arms over our hearts protecting ourselves from the heartache, disappointments, perceived failure and trauma? Do we still dare to hope? Have you been there recently?  I think we’ve all been there as some point. 

Heartache and Hopelessness heaped ashes upon heads (Tamar in 2 Sam 13:19) and made a prophet lie down under a lone juniper tree asking that he might die (Elijah, 1 Kings 19).

A wise man said in Proverbs: ‘Hope deferred makes the heart sick’.  Then an even wiser Man said: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, He has sent Me to bind up and heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the physical and spiritual captives… to comfort all who mourn; to grant joy, a garment of beauty instead of ashes” [Is 61:1-4]. 

Hope is a humbled heart crying out in faith, however big or small. 

Grace is the hand of Love, touching our hearts. 

FAITH, HOPE & LOVE

[1 Cor 13:13]

“And so Faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love”. . With mustard seed-size faith crying out in hope, love will enfold and heal your heart.  

[1 Cor 13:7] 

“Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person; its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything”.  

We always read 1 Cor 13 with the perspective of the love we need to have (the grace we need to steward), but have you ever thought that God will not ask something from us, that is not 1^st from Him?  Because this is the way He loves us, and we are bearing His image, and Holy Spirit within us, we can dare to also endeavour to love this way. 

But I am side-tracked.  Back to Luke:

Jesus was the embodiment of love and grace, and the gospel of Luke portrays the beautiful stories where hope met grace. 

A fishers man's tale:

Jesus borrowed Peter’s empty boat to preach from.  After He finished, He told Peter to take the boat out again to the deep water and throw the nets out on the other side.  I can just imagine the frown of worry on a tired face, shoulders hanging as he was folding his nets. He must have looked into the eyes of Jesus with bewilderment when he said that they tried all night, but did not catch anything.  And then with hope he said: “BUT on account of Your word, we will go out again.” Hope & faith made him go out again (at the wrong time of day for fishing) and he was abundantly rewarded with love & grace.

Tale of the people:

Grace answered a leper’s hope when he said to Jesus that if He was willing, he knew that he will be healed. [Luke 5: 12]. Grace answered the hope & faith of the paralyzed man whose stretcher was lowered through the roof.  Grace answered the hope & faith of EVERY person brought to Him to be healed at Peter’s house.  Grace was the answer to Jairus’s hope for his daughter who was ill and died.

A tale of 2 women:

Two of the most beautiful stories of hope, faith and courage, were those of the two women who defied the crowds and the odds to be healed. These two women were ostracized by the community (excluded due to being unclean - It was also believed that if you had a prolonged illness, it was due to ongoing sin).  

After 12 years of hopelessness, Hope suddenly walked the streets and the woman pressed through to touch the fringe of His garment.  There was the women bent over double for 18 years who came into the synagogue interrupting His teaching. They were both met with such love and grace despite customs, rules or stares. 

The biggest gift to both of them, besides the miracle of healing, was that He actually stopped, also defying the customs, and made them feel heard, loved and worthy.   Can you picture their faces glowing and their eyes brimming with tears of gratefulness and joy?  I can promise you that a new truth fell in their hearts that day – a truth of worth, love, grace, possibility and freedom and that they did not keep that to themselves.  They would have shared the Hope and good news with others. 

Eph 1:18

...having the eyes of your heart flooded with light so that you can understand the hope to which He has called you...

It starts with me, and you.  Do you know the hope to which you are called for?  You are a gift.

You were given gifts for the hope & edification of others.  But it starts in our hearts.  Our hearts need to be flooded first.  You can only give what you have to give.

I can only ‘overflow’ if my cup is full enough.  If I am filled with love & grace, if that is the truth that is stored in my heart, that is what will spill over into the lives around me (the saucer)

He has saved us so we can HAVE hope, then He called and created us to BE hope.  What if I refuse to embrace that particular gifting (special endowment) that reflects a particular part of Him to the world, don’t I then deny someone a piece of the hope that was placed within me for their benefit?

Walking within our gifting (grace gifts), stewarding our blessings, favour and purpose, becomes even more non-negotiable when we realize how much we need each other; not only our different talents, traits and gifts, but also each other’s light, love and grace.

Rom 15:4

...so that through endurance and encouragement of the scripture we may have hope and overflow with confidence in His promises. 

My hope comes by the Word of God and the confidence of His promises therein.

Only if my heart is flooded with Light (He is Light, He is Word), can I understand His promises and love for me.  I can only be hope and bring hope if I can share that Word and promises.

My heart needs to be so filled with Word, hope, love and grace that it will pour from me in my words and actions. Hope is part of grace. Jesus is our Hope and giver of grace. How will others know Him if He is not seen/experienced through people who live for the praise of His glory?

In Like 10 Jesus sent out 70 disciples to the towns and villages to bring healing to the physical and spiritual captives (the same thing He was sent for).  He equipped them and sent them.  They understood the hope to which they were called for.  When they returned with remarkable stories, with their hearts flooded with light, Jesus went to the side and rejoiced and gloried in the Holy Spirit, praised His Father [Luke 10:21] that he revealed these things to the unskilled, unassuming people, saying: “Yes, Father, for such was Your gracious will and choice and good pleasure.”

Then He said to them: “Blessed are those whose eyes see what you see!”

Col 1:27:  "Christ in you, the hope to glory"

What a blessing to be called to hope, by His gracious will and for His pleasure. 

 

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#7 A Father's Favor

 

A Father’s favour

 

I’ve had the privilege of growing up with a father’s favour. 

 A photo comes to mind of all 4 kids tumbled around him with so much laughter.  His heart (and my mom’s) always had space for more (friends as well as kids from the children’s home) and he was the center and life of the joyful chaos as friends visited in bundles.  He was truly present!  Present in our activities, our special moments, our disappointments and heartache as well as in the mundane everyday life.  He was fair, brave, caring and special.  He gave us life – nurturing, encouraging, playing, guiding, correcting and making music and laughter.  In a way he laid down his life for us, working despite his own brokenness and being medically “unfit”.  It was my deepest pain when he died at age 51.  But what a legacy he left behind – showing me the Father-heart of God!  He was my 1^st and greatest role-model of a father’s favour.  He loved us the same, always.  He loved us despite our choices and not because of our performances.  I knew what is was to be loved, accepted and to belong. 

How much more is the favour of our Heavenly Father!! 

Eph 2:4-8

But God – so rich is He in His mercy, that in order to satisfy the great, wonderful and intense love with which He loved us, He made us alive - He HAD to save us and He gave us new life.  He gave us the very life of Christ and it is by grace (His favour and mercy which you don’t deserve) that you are saved. He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together (gave us joint seating with Him).  He did this that He might clearly demonstrate the immeasurable riches of His grace in His kindness and goodness of heart toward us.  For it is by grace (unmerited favour) that you are saved through faith;  it came not through your own striving, but it is a gift of God. 

How do we steward this grace?

Grace is love in action! 

Love leads to grace. If I love people as I say I do (and are commanded to do), then to satisfy that love, I will have grace. In sharing that grace, I show acceptance.  We are wired for love and belonging and grace will give that to someone - Accepting them just as they are just as we are accepted by God just as we are.

Grace came despite sin = unmerited!  It cannot be earned. 

BUT God….  No matter who we are or were in the past; no matter where we’ve been – BUT God so loved us, He had to give us life. 

I can’t choose who I give grace to and if they are deserving of it or not; it is undeserved by nature.

Grace brings life!

He made us alive - Are my words and actions bringing others to life?  Do I have a language of life when I interact with my family, friends, strangers? Grace brings life. 

 

Eph 2:8

For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgement), through your faith.  And this is not of yourselves, but it is a gift of God.

Grace is non-judgemental

People should not be judged as person – we can’t judge someone’s heart, only behaviour.  Love the person, even though you can’t condone the actions.  Have a generous assumptions – assume good intent, make sure of the facts, before you judge and jump to conclusions about their intent; try to understand why there are acting the way they do.  We are so eager to evaluate.

Grace requires faith. 

The grace is free, it’s a gift available to all, but a person also needs faith in Jesus, ie accept the gift of grace and salvation in order to be saved. We have to reach out and take the gift, but not everyone chooses to do so. 

It may be like that for me as well.  If I want to journey with someone, I choose to do it by love and grace, but I also need to be trusted (trust is earned in our case) before they will really allow me into their hearts and lives.  Some will choose not to reach out for the gift of grace (friendship, mentoring, acceptance, etc) and that is okay.  I think the key is not to be offended and love them anyway (because it's honouring God). 

In the book “The greatest salesman in the world” by Og Mandino, it is written beautifully when he says “I will greet this day with love in my heart.  I will love all manner of men, for each has qualities to be admired even though it may still be hidden.”

But what to do when the loving is really difficult?  When the hurt and trauma is so deep, that grace seems almost impossible?  Hebr 4:16 says that we can come boldly unto the throne of Grace where we can find His grace to help in a time of need (an appropriate blessing for who you need it, when you need it). That grace is found in intimate relationship with God; it is found in our Father's favour. Have faith that He will give you the grace you need.  [If you don't have grace for a certain person or situation yet, wait upon God, stay in His presence regarding it until you receive the grace you need so you don't rely on your own strength and understanding]. Does that make sense?  

The questions I ask myself constantly:

Is my grace really free, is it non-judgemental? Am I bringing life into my world and relationships? Am I stewarding well? 

Am I stewarding my Father’s favour?  Am I honouring the legacy my father left me?

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#6 Seeing Grace

From this grace-filled space of forgiveness and light, we get to live grace!! 

With unlocked heart and mind we can live from this position of grace.  We can BE to the praise of His glorious grace (Eph 1:6)

Ps 145:2 (Ampl) “Everyday with it’s new reasons will I bless You (affectionately and gratefully praise You)

Every day has reasons for praise, reasons to be grateful. Today is a day for grateful praise  – not only for the out-of-season Kalahari rain that is blessing the earth this morning,  but also for the blessing of God’s Word of grace, yet again.  

If you remember from blog #2, the reason for this study of Grace, is that I believe we (or me at least) are called to be stewards of Grace.  And to know how to steward it, I had to discover the textures, colours and nuances of grace so that I can understand the infinite power of grace and how to adequately steward it.  

My journey started in Ephesians and I was drawn back to it over the last few days.  This is the reason for my praise and gratefulness!!  God’s Word is so alive and it never ceases to amaze me! 

We view the world through the lenses of our past, perspectives and beliefs.  I’m sure you have experienced wearing sunglasses where the colours around you gets a bit distorted? 

Have you ever compared sunglasses in the store, comparing and then choosing lenses with the truer view? So, by now, I’m wearing grace-coloured lenses and what a beautiful hue the world takes on!

I have read Eph 1 again through these grace-coloured lenses and before I start sharing with you the stewardship of grace,  and how we can BE to the praise of His glory, I would like to share with you the joy of what I see.  Through these lenses grace takes form and becomes clearly recognizable!    

Grace is a gift;  it is favour & blessing;  it is mercy 

Without retyping the whole of Eph 1, I would just like to show you the characteristics (form)of grace as they were highlighted for me and invite you to read and discover for yourself. 

Paul starts off with “may GRACE be yours” and then he describes they why’s and how’s throughout chapter 1.  

I realized I can recognize grace by:

V2: Spiritual peace [peace with God, harmony, unity and undisturbedness]

V3:  Praise - Praise be to God Who has blesses us with every spiritual blessing

V4-6:  Love and belonging (sonship) – For He picked us out for Himself as His own and planned in love for us to be adopted as His own children, so that we might BE to the praise of His glorious grace which He bestowed on us

V7: Redemption  & remission in accordance with the riches and generosity of His gracious favor

V8:  Wisdom and understanding which He lavished upon us through that same gracious favor

V9:  Knowledge of the mysteries of His will and purposes

V11:  Heritage & purpose & Design  – we obtained an inheritance, because we had been chosen, appointed beforehand in accordance with His purpose, Who works out everything in agreement with the design of His will. 

V18:  A heart of light – having the eyes of your heart flooded with light

          Hope   - so that you can know the hope to which He has called you

V19:  Power (authority) – And so that you can know what is the immeasurable and unlimited greatness of His power in and for us.

 

This is just a glimpse of the magnitude of God's grace!  There is so much more to come.  To be entrusted to steward this grace, is humbling, empowering and a bit daunting.  But is also fills me with joy, excitement and wonder. 

Despite your vision, you can look at the world through grace-coloured lenses.

May you find your colour of grace this week. 

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Designed by Grace (part 2)

It begins with God Who carefully designed  you, dreamed about you and crafted an intricate and unique blueprint of you.

Could you enter this magnificent piece of architecture without its key?  You could peek through the windows and marvel at it, but you could never inhabit it.  Would you see the splendour without light?  Would you know about the hidden treasures, the décor, the colours, the atmosphere divinely orchestrated, without light? You can feel your way, sure. You can imagine some things, but you would not be able to experience that what was created for joy.  The joy of being in it and for sharing it with others.

So the obvious questions are:  What is the key or where do you find it and what is the light? 

Love is the heart of your Designer, grace is the key that unlocks

 your heart and your design.

 

Love is the warm light that enfolds you as you enter.  Imagine that your mansion has motion detector lights. It lights up as you move through it.  As you start to inhabit and embrace who you are, the more you love it, the more light you reflect until the light streams out of the windows bright, abundant and inviting. 

Let me ask you this:  If you don’t like your house or if you don’t feel at home in it, Would you invite people to share your space and enjoy it, if you don’t? 

What I’ve experienced in my own case and have seen in others is that we have this beautiful, magnificently designed mansion, but we choose to only use part of it.  We move into a few select rooms, thinking that it’s who we are and what we deserve. If you only love one or 2 rooms, and the rest is still locked or kept in the dark, you would only invite people into those 2 rooms, would you not? 

You can only give love and receive love with the measure with which you love and accept yourself.  You can only give what you have to give.  And that also applies to grace, since grace is love in practice. “Love your neighbour as you love yourself” has bigger implications than we think. 

I have lived in 2 rooms with candle light for quite a big part of my life.  I knew that I was loved by God, by my family, hubby, etc.  I grew up in a beautiful loving home, filled with light and laughter and belonging.  The area of my life where I have been attacked, however, was self-worth and self-love.  Molestation stole a whole lot of my light (as trauma often does) and I was an extreme introvert.  (I’m still wondering if I was born an introvert, or if I became one because of my lack of self-worth and confidence.) Every bit of criticism I took as truth and I added it to my store room.  Comparison became an art and my mind my enemy.  (The most effective place the enemy can attack us, is in our minds and beliefs).  So in the end my “house” was filled with dusty boxes with lies , leaving little room to move, live and thrive.  My self-love determined the measure in which I could receive love –  what I believed I was worthy of receiving.  It also determined the measure in which I could love others.  As I did the inner work, I realized that the more I embraced His love and grace, the more I embraced who He made me to be and the more I stepped into the Love, the lighter I became.  The light has to be on in the inside!! 

James 1:17,18 – “Every GOOD GIFT and every PERFECT GIFT is from above, it comes down from from the Father of all light, in the shining of Whom there can be no variation or shadow.  And it was of His own free will that He gave us birth by His Word of Truth so that we should be the firstfruits of His creation”. 

His Truth is that you are wonderfully made, that your design is a good and perfect gift to the world and that you are the creation of His will.  If you allow Him, He will love you back to life.

Luke 11: 34, 36 – “ Your eye is the lamp of your body;  when your eye (your inner conscience, inner knowing, vision of self) is sound and fulfilling its office, our whole body is full of light.”  “If then your entire body is illuminated, it will be wholly bright…”

Prov 15: 30 – “The light in the eyes of him whose heart is joyful rejoices the hearts of others…” 

As the old adage goes :  The eyes are the windows to your soul!  Are there lights streaming from your windows?  Are you so filled with love and light that you can rejoice the hearts of others?

Matt 5:14 “You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden”. 

You are part of the city of God.  Collectively we are the light of the world.  Imagine you drive to a look-out point one evening to look at the city lights, expecting light bursting brightly from every home, but all you see are a few dimmed lights hovering in the windows, barely reaching beyond the windowsills.  

Your design is only partly what you see in your mirror.  It’s about who you are, what you have to give.  It’s your gifts, talents, character, personality, etc.   Luke 11:40-41 – “Did not He Who made the outside make the inside also?  But give [dedicate your inner self] as donations to the poor of those things which are within … “ 

Eph 1:18,19  – “ By having eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance… “  “and so that you can know what is the immeasurable greatness of His power in and for us” 

The world is filled with the physically, emotionally and spiritually poor.  If we are the light of the world,  loving fully, understanding the depth of grace fully, imagine the world we can help create!  If we GET  IT that love and grace are His immeasurable greatness within us and if we understand the hope to which He called us,  we can collectively become the city of light on the hill that can not be hidden. 

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#4 Designed by Grace (part 1)

 

We are designed by and through grace and for grace as much as we are designed for love and connection. 

Our whole Christian faith revolves around grace.  Jesus came and died and rose again because of grace and the infinite love He has for us.  God is love and grace is an intricate part of love; it’s woven into it.  The one can not happen without the other. 

Eph 2:4-8
But God – so rich is He in His mercy!  Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us, He HAD to save us.  It is by Grace (His favour and mercy) that we are saved.  And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together…  He did this that He might clearly demonstrate the immeasurable riches of His free grace (unmerited favour) in His kindness and goodness of heart toward us. 

If one of your children or someone you loved dearly was in danger, would you not do anything to save them?  Because you love them, you cant NOT save them. And when you do, would you hold them close and sit with them? 

Our commandment:
Love the Lord your God, with all your heart, soul and mind.
Love your neighbor as you love yourself.

So, if you haven’t realized it before, I’m a sucker for metaphors!  Mainly because I think in pictures, like I’m sure a lot of you do too.  So when this dawned on me that we are designed by and for grace, this whole picture of a blueprint for a mansion jumped into my head.

And it all starts with the Designer – the Designer Who IS Love.  God is love and grace is the way He shows up in our lives, it is His love in action.  Love is the source of grace and grace is the substance of life!  Grace gives, sustains and enhances life!

It starts with God Who carefully designed  you, dreamed about you and crafted an intricate and unique blueprint of you.  Since you are daughter/son of a King, this is no iddy-biddy dilapidated old house plan either!  From a blueprint comes creation – something that is build/developed with care, (some hammering too), but always according to design.  He is very meticulous that it is built according to the specs He designed.

Ps 139: 13-17 
"For you did form my inward parts; You did knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I will confess and praise you for the wonder of my birth.  Wonderful are Your works, and that my inner self knows well.  My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret and intricately and curiously wrought [as if embroidered with many colours] in the depths of the earth.  How precious and weighty also are Your thoughts of me, O God!"

Could you enter this magnificent piece of architecture without its key?  You could peek through the windows and marvel at it, but you could never inhabit it.  Would you see the splendour without light?  Would you know about the hidden treasures, the décor, the colours, the atmosphere divinely orchestrated, without light? You can feel your way, sure. You can imagine some things, but you would not be able to experience that what was created for joy.  The joy of being in it and for sharing it with others.

So the obvious questions are:  What is the key or where do you find it and what is the light?  

Love is the heart of your Designer! Grace is the key that unlocks your design and illuminates every man 

The key to your mansion is GRACE.  The key to your full design, to living wholeheartedly and to fully enjoy the splendour of your design and of God’s love is to accept and embrace His grace.

Saving grace is the most powerful and precious gift God has for you. Forgiveness is setting free, unlocking and creating a way for light to enter.  Jesus is the Light of the world that illumines every person (John 1:9). 

But even more, asking and accepting God’s forgiveness also becomes the gift we give to ourselves and others.  God’s forgiveness swings open the door and He wants to  reveal the magnificence of you.  And maybe you stand on the threshold not believing that you are worth it or deserve it, that it could not possibly be because of past hurts or actions done to you or by you.  As you stand at this threshold, within the claws of guilt and shame, grace is the only thing powerful enough that can free you.  Guilt  and shame can only exist in secrecy and darkness.  Those are devices the enemy use to keep you from living wholeheartedly, from stepping into the light.  Forgiveness lights your soul and sets you free to step over the threshold. 

Grace is forgiving.  Grace is for giving – giving to yourself and to others, without merit.  Asking for forgiveness takes a whole lot of courage;  forgiving someone who has done you serious harm, even more so.  Forgiveness is a choice (because, let’s face it, we won’t necessarily feel like it).  But what if you look at it differently?  What if you don’t HAVE TO forgive, but you GET TO forgive?  It is a gift you give to yourself.  It releases you from bondage – the bondage you have to someone or something and the power it has over you and that is keeping you from wholly entering into your splendour.  It frees you up to give more of the treasure you hold inside, to discover more of the beauty and possibilities within you.  When we get hurt, we often close our door to protect ourselves from future hurt.  Even worse, when you close the door, you shut in the hurt, it has no where to go.  It stays trapped inside.  You also cannot selectively numb or keep out.  There is no cat-trap.  When you close your door to keep out hurt, disappointment & vulnerability, you also close the door to love, creativity, joy, etc.  The only way to open the door is to use the key.  Opening the door, is the only way you can let the light in.  When we choose to forgive, it gives God the chance to do battle for us, instead of us fighting for us. 

Forgiveness is a journey worth taking.  It’s the only road to your heart. 

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#3 Diving into the ocean of grace

 

An Ocean of Grace

 
The ocean is ever-moving currents of life! It is majestic in its power and beauty. It is the keeper of mysteries of the earth.  It holds within it splendor and design more abundant then we can imagine. It is one of our greatest resources and it yields anything from shell-size to whale-size joy.
 
Grace is our current of life!  It is majestic in its power and beauty.  If we dare to explore the vastness we will find the mysteries, the splendor, design and joy revealed to our hearts. 
 
Ex 33:13
“I pray, if I have found favor in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You [progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with You, perceiving and recognizing and understanding more strongly and clearly] and that I may find favor in Your sight.”
 
Col 1:6 (Amplified)
 
“… come to know and understand the grace of God in truth [ come to know and understand the grace or undeserved favor of God in reality, deeply and clearly and thoroughly, becoming accurately and intimately acquainted with it]
 
I love the Amplified version for God has a way of talking to me between the brackets.  It is often in the insert between the brackets where something is explained/expanded upon/clarified.  It is there that I find the wisdom God speaks into my heart, the food for thought. 
 
 
What does GRACE mean to you?  How deeply have you ventured into this ocean of grace?
 
Can we steward grace if we do not understand it in truth, i.e deeply, clearly, thoroughly, accurately, intimately? 
 
If it’s in reality, it has to be real for you
If it’s deep it can’t only be what we see on the surface
If it’s clear it has to be more than a vague understanding
If it’s thoroughly it has to be examined inside-out
If it’s accurately, there can be no guessing, but knowing.
If it’s intimately it becomes heart-knowledge that comes with spending intimate time with the Author of Grace. 
 
(If a word has 6 adverbs or adjectives connected to it, I think it is safe to say that we should take note  of its importance J)
 
Ann Hamilton describes grace beautifully:

Anne Hamilton 
When "grace" is described, the most common way of talking about it in Scripture is with a word
meaning "multi-coloured", "greatly varied", "manifold", "lots of facets". In other words, grace doesn't come in a nice formulaic package; it comes individually tailored to us. All of which is wrapped up in the Greek word, polypoikilos.
So it's appropriate that even the word "grace" in Scripture has more than one sense. That it's truly
manifold in meaning. We tend to forget that and focus just on this specific sense: "God's unmerited
favor". But there's another meaning too. It's the "power of God to overcome whatever circumstances are
pulling you down."
 
What I’ve come to realize in this grace-journey, is that grace is indeed multi-facetted, encompassing and expansive. 
Encompassing = surrounds/encloses; surrounds or holds within; to envelop (to include comprehensively.
Expansive = covering a wide area in terms of scope/space
 
 
Imagine a deep sea diver, immersed, exploring the deep beautiful ocean with all its colors, textures and varieties.
[Immersed meaning: to plunge into something that surrounds; to be deeply involved].
Should we not be immersed in grace in order to explore all the colours, textures, facets and beauty? 
Like the ocean holds within it the powerful, the small, the multi-coloured, the smooth, the textured, the wonders and the movement, so grace holds lots of facets we can explore and marvel at. 

I see it like this –

Just like the ocean, We can experience grace on different levels.

Looking at photographs of the deep and wonderful things = head-knowledge.

You can view the ocean from afar, and marvel at its beauty.  And although it is indeed breathtaking, it is still only what meets the eye.  It may touch your heart and even elicits great emotion. When you leave and it lingers with you for a while, but you’ve only just seen the surface.  

Or you can go into the ocean, try out the waves.  It brings you closer to the experience, you can feel it, smell it, taste it and it brings you joy and exhilaration.  But with all the sand there, it can be a bit murky (vague) and you still can’t see the beauty and wonders within. 

But what if we can go diving? What if we can feel the water mold and move around us; if you can be immersed and surrounded by the water and become intimately acquainted with  the beauty and wonders within? Would that not become experiential, joyful heart-knowledge. 

And if I have experienced it so deeply, would I not want to protect it, treasure it, share it and invite others to go diving with me so they can share the experience?

Being a steward means to utilize and manage all resources God provides for the glory of God and betterment of His creation.

Eph 3:2 “… the stewardship of God’s grace that was entrusted to me for your benefit”

Entrusted = implies trust.  Can I be trusted with grace, the precious gift and resource that it is?

I am a “grace-diver” – being immersed in it, experiencing all the colours, facets and beauty thereof. I want to know it deeply, clearly, intimately, accurately. 

Like Moses I want to find favor in His sight, knowing Him, the Person of Grace, more deeply and intimately. 

I also want to be obedient and trustworthy, so I’ll be sharing some of this grace-ocean’s beauty and wonder with you in the weeks to come.  

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The start of this story of Grace

 The start of this story of Grace

It all started a few years ago with these verses:

 “Assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace (His unmerited favour) that was entrusted to me for your benefit” (Eph 3:2 – Ampl)

“So that we might BE to the praise of His glorious grace...” (Eph 1:6)

This became a calling/purpose that I had to understand better.

It started the questions of ‘what is grace exactly? How do I steward it? Why did this thought fall in my heart so deeply?”  So much so that it has been overshadowing my thoughts, work, my being and my life ever since. 

In my studies of human behaviour and nero-science, Word and science came together for me in a profound way and it taught me a whole lot of grace!! The more I had to understand people and guide others to do the same, the more earnestly I wanted to understand grace and the impact thereof.

During this time I also got hold of  a book called “Grace over grind” by Shae Bynes (a must-read for any Entrepreneur!). She uses the phrase “ infinite power of grace” which beckoned a whole new question: “What is the infinite power of grace?  And how do I steward THAT?”

Don’t get me wrong, I understand God’s saving grace for me pretty well and I’ve always been in awe of it.  But I also realized there is more to it.  If I am to be a steward of grace I needed to understand exactly what it is, understand God’s heart and have the mind of Christ about it. 

I have often wondered whether I was supposed to do something with the revelations or if it was meant for my own growth only.  God knows how much I value learning (He designed me that way after all). We carry our sacred moments deep within our hearts where it is safe and cherished and can be visited often.

Then, on an ordinary evening, my whole world shifted.  I was flipping through the emails on my phone, deleting as I go.  I opened an email of Joy Capps and this jumped out at me:

“Write down what I give you and make it understandable. (Hab 2.2)  I love how the Word that was written so long ago is alive and true today.  It speaks to me in certain ways, as I’m sure it uniquely speaks to you, too”. 

Have you ever had a Jaw-dropping-Spirit-moment?  This was one of those!  My ordinary evening just became an extraordinary God-filled evening.  I was stumped and looked up the whole verse (in different translations, off course!). 

This is the Easy Translation:

“Write down what I will show you.  Make it very clear on the page where you write it.  
Then someone can easily read it, and he can tell the message to other people.  What I will show you must happen at the time that I have decided”.

Suddenly the rhythm of His grace changed and I could sense the urgency within.  It is time to show more of me and have the courage to share what is planted in my spirit and have grown in my heart.  This is the time God has decided it should happen and the instruction is clear.  I trust that His favour lies in my courage.

We all grow at a different pace, have different truths stored in our hearts and have different experiences, so I’m always careful in not forcing my growth upon others, for my truth might not be a truth someone else is ready for.   Sharing openly, with strangers, that which was revealed to me in my quiet time with the Lord, takes a whole lot of courage and vulnerability, so bear with me.  This is unchartered water for me.  I sometimes understand things in my spirit that my conscious mind won’t comprehend or explain. Weird, I know! I love writing.  Yet, sometimes I’m confronted with a full, overflowing spirit, an emply page and a pen that’s numb

I am no theologian, but I am of open heart and open mind and this is simply me sharing what was entrusted to me to share for whom ever needs to have it shared.  

I am also not assuming that this is all there is to know and I’m eagerly looking forward to discover more layers as I go and grow.  I cannot be presumptuous in thinking that I have full understanding of  His grace, but I am grateful for what He graciously revealed to me. 

Remember that we all see in part only.  Please make time to research more about grace and gather all the parts that was given to other people too.  We so easily compare and make judgements to what is right and wrong, what we agree with or don’t agree with.  As we are all parts of whole, the body of Christ, it is only together that we can give life to the full likeness of Him Who created us to collectively be the image of God.  So this is my part.  I hope and trust that it will ad to the parts you have gathered thus far. 

Understanding the layers and the language of grace can help you heal to the beauty and joy God desires for you.  Won’t you join me on this journey of discovery?  

 

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