I think this is my third "Sisterchick" novel to read and my 2nd to reflect upon in a blog. Since I borrowed this book from the same person who loaned me the others, there was no underlining or taking notes physically in the book. I came close to grabbing the sticky notes and marking some pages though. I was struck, once again, by the spiritual nuggets that grabbed me as I read this novel for "light" reading.
The biggest nugget I got out of the book is the phrase, "Grace on you". Instead of "shame on you" in a myriad of circumstances and situations, there is instead the beautiful "grace on you". I simply loved that phrase. So much that I used it LOTS last week as I encountered people in different situations. Now the truth is out, I got that phrase from a novel by Robin Jones Gunn. ☺ But I imagine Robin would quickly note that the concept of this grace and the phrase came from none other than the Creator, the Father who loves all creation and desires each of us to grow in grace.
Grace was a tough concept for me to accept for myself from God and others when I knew what I had done. In several situations in my life, people were kind and compassionate and gracious enough to extend grace to me. I carried enough shame on myself for all of us. As I learned to live into grace, I learned the freedom that grace allows. It is truly amazing.
Grace is something John Wesley spends some time on.... prevenient grace, justifying grace, and sanctifying grace. If you've been on an Emmaus Walk, read some of Wesley's sermons, been through Disciple's Path study (or a similar new member study in the Methodist Church), taken a seminary course, etc., you may be familiar with these terms. If not, I imagine you are familiar with the song Amazing Grace. There is also a hymn with the words "Grace, Grace, God's Grace" entitled Grace Greater Than All Our Sin.
The second song is the one that comes to mind this morning as I write. It is the words in the chorus that come to mind-- "grace, grace, God's grace". You can click on the video below to listen to it. Lyrics are included in the video and below.
Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilled.
REFRAIN:
Grace, grace, God's grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God's grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin.
Dark is the stain that we cannot hide.
What can avail to wash it away?
Look! There is flowing a crimson tide,
Brighter than snow you may be today.
REFRAIN
Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
Freely bestowed on all who believe!
You that are longing to see His face,
Will you this moment His grace receive?
Because I wasn't sure where this hymn might be found, I looked it up on hymnary.org. The song, Grace Greater Than All Our Sin, is found in 103 hymnals. Sometimes it is entitled Marvelous Grace. It was written by Julia Johnston in 1911. Click on the highlighted link in the first sentence of this paragraph to learn more about the author and the song.
Building 429 has a song that uses that same chorus in it. Their song, Grace That Is Greater, is on the "Iris to Iris" album that was released in 2007.
LYRICS:
Search me O God
And know my every thought
Discern my every way
And speak into my soul
Point out to me my wrongs
Convict me until
I follow down the path
That leads me to your will
Because my heart
Sometimes can wander
And my faith
at times can stray
But I know
That when I fix my eyes on You
That I will always remain
Safe in the shadows of Your
Grace, grace
God’s grace
Grace that will pardon
And cleanse within
Grace, grace
God’s grace
Grace that is greater
Than all my sin
I praise You because
I am fearfully made
You formed my frame
In a secret place
All of my days
Ordained before I breathed
Written in Your book
Before I came to be
Because Your love
I stand and wonder
You know I come to Thee
And knowing that
When I fix my eyes on You
That I will always remain
Safe in the shadow of Your
Grace, grace
God’s grace
Grace that will pardon
And cleanse within
Grace, grace
God’s grace
Grace that is greater
Than all my sin
God’s grace
Grace that will pardon
And cleanse within
Grace, grace
God’s grace
Grace that is greater
Than all my sin
Grace that will pardon
And cleanse within
Grace, grace
God’s grace
Grace that is greater
Than all my sin
Grace that is greater
Than all my sin
Is greater than all my sin
Is greater than all my sin
Is greater than all my sin
Out of curiosity, I did a search on hymnary.org for hymns with the word "grace" in them. There were 11,518 listed. Check it out for yourself here. You might find some new favorite hymns or be re-acquainted with some former ones.
Grace is abundant! We read about it in the Scriptures (check out this link from Biblegateway.org of a listing of "grace" verses). We sing about it. We talk about. The most difficult part is accepting it and allowing it to penetrate into our lives. Living into the grace is hard. Why would this be harder than hearing about it, singing about it, or talking about it? In my humble opinion, it means that we must let go. We must give up control. And, it means we must accept something that is given to us that is a gift, undeserved. Most of us struggle with that in some form or fashion, at some time or another. Yet, by letting go and giving up control and by accepting the grace offered to us, we will know freedom like never before.
Grace on you as you continue your journey,
Debra
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