So many stories and sights have weighed down my soul, but in the midst of it all, the GRACE of God would have to be the story that is just captivating me at every moment...and I am ever grateful.
The story of grace IS the story of the cross... the story when love interjected the human crisis..... Here is HUMANITY trying to reconnect to God through the law... but it was impossible... and this indescribable love of Christ answered the cry of the planet, responding with God's finest... bringing REDEMPTION at every level.
How do you even attempt to describe life under a banner of grace...
There is so much grace for the needs of everything that is broken, such is the wonderful Love of God, that He would love enough to send Jesus...
FROM heaven to earth He came.... And then from earth to heaven, we live. LIVING a life in response to the great love of Christ is the goal...
In the seen and the unseen, in the small and big moments... in our imperfect state... covered by grace.
With our gifts, our talents, our desires, our time, our energy, our words, our loves, our focus...... our LIVES, and in our imperfect state, covered by grace.
Good times, hard times, with our fears and our failures, our successes and mountaintop experiences... and everything in between, in our imperfect state, covered by grace.
So then, the journey begins... we have encountered Jesus, and life gets terribly confronting as your heart starts to feel things it never felt before... you see things you've never seen, you hear conversations differently, things that never used to bug you now make you sick to your stomach... it is called 'JESUS LIVING IN YOU'.
And the living of your life as an offering, your earthly thank you begins... And the wonder of life in Christ captures your heart, soul, mind and strength like nothing else. Transformation takes up residency, as it is never over. And your awareness of the presence of the Lord is very real and at times completely overwhelming.
SO HOW DO WE RESPOND?? What is correct and fitting for a human being, trying to say thanks to the creator of heaven and earth... how do we say thanks for THE MESSAGE OF THE CROSS... THE MESSAGE OF GRACE... A song hardly seems right.
But there are so many scriptures commanding us to sing and to make music, at least 41 of the psalms instruct us to sing... and as the only part of creation with a gift of self-initiated speech....that we can sing and speak by our free will... Giving glory to God is such an honour!
In 1st Chronicles 25...worship in music and song was established in the temple as highest priority, that the Lord's rule, presence and kingship would always be acknowledged first and foremost. This was even BEFORE grace had moved into the neighbourhood!
Ephesians 5 tells us to not walk as fools, and to MAKE sure our lives are filled with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs..... that we would be wise, and ever hungry for the reality of His presence.
