Blog 7

In  blog 5 I briefly mentioned ‘grace’.   I began to wrestle with the term “Grace”.   So many teachers have warned of the ‘grace movement’ that gives ‘freedom to sin’.  I never took the time to try to understand grace from Jesus point of view until recently.  What I found was that rather than grace ‘giving a license to sin’, it called me into a real and personal relationship with the One I had committed my life to so many years ago.  For the first time I began to understand that grace gave me the strength and freedom to live my life for the One Who gave me life and to do that in His strength, with His power and by His leading.  Grace, rather than leading me to unrestrained sin, introduced to me to a Love that set me free from the bondage of rules based living.  That Grace that previously was the ‘enemy’ became the Friend.  Rather than having a desire to sin, the desire was birthed in me to live my life in a way that honored the One who gave me life.  It was a radical shift in my thinking.  It was the catalyst that propelled me toward audacious hope.  We will continue this journey of discussing audacious hope, excellence, embracing resistance, thinking for yourself and the true walk of grace in the future.

Something I have been thinking about is how to maneuver and recover when life crushes me with a grip of unexpected life events.  I journaled recently: “When I feel like I am drowning from the heaviness of life You reach your hand to me and lift me above the raging torrents of life.  You alone can restore me, hold me, and comfort me.  I cling to you.”  I think of someone overboard in a raging sea that has been thrown a life ring.  My life ring is my relationship with my Creator; the life line is His Word to me in the Bible.   

There are days that feel like life is caving in.  How do you manage those days?  What do you hold on to?  Where is your safe place?  I recently dissected Psalm 91 and looked up all the Hebrew words to get a feel for the original meaning of the Psalm.  Something that I have started to explore more in-depth is: “He that dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty. “   Have you ever given any thought to what it means to “Dwell”: remain, sit, abide, to be set, stay.   Abide means: remain, rest, dwell, lodge in, continue in. Fortress: strong hold, castle, defense, strong place, protection.    

 

Here are the first few verses with the original Hebrew meaning of the words: I will remain and stay under the covert covering of the Most High God, Elyon, in a place where I cannot be seen.  There I will lodge in and rest in His protection, the protection of El Shaddai, The Most Powerful.  I will utter that Jehovah, The Existing One, is My Shelter from rain or storm or danger, and is my stronghold, my Ruler and Judge, Elohem.  I have confidence in Him.  Surely He shall snatch away, deliver, rescue me from the trap and from the bait layer and from the engulfing destructive  ruin of desire, and destruction and death.  He shall cover, hedge, fence about, block, overshadow and stop the approach of and protect by weaving together a hedge with His wings such as that of an eagle and under His cover I will seek refuge and flee to for protection.  His faithfulness, stability and reliability shall be thy shield and buckler. Wow, if you never read another thing in the Bible, those verses alone could sustain you.  

I like questions that challenge me to excel and I like to avoid regrets.   In a book by Mark Batterson, In A Pit With a Lion on a Snowy day ( Colorado Springs, Co, 2006) 27,   here is a question that challenged me:  “Maybe we underestimate our freedom in Christ.  Maybe it is not just freedom from sin.  Maybe it is the freedom to do the extra dimensional. 

What in your life would be extra dimensional?  Think about that this week and we will discuss it more next time!

Have a great week….