SET FREE BY GRACE

Time with Jesus - Tuesday, 08 January 2013

Hi all,

In the Methodist Church and some of the related churches, they speak of “prevenient grace”. By this they mean the grace that prompts us to come to Jesus. It must be a slightly different grace to “sniff out” someone who is a monster of iniquity”, reach out to him and save him. A useful little title is to call it the “grace that comes before grace”. Sure it’s all His grace. But to love us while we were still in the depths of our sin is extraordinary. Today, we meditate upon this “type” of grace. It includes my own testimony of His grace in my life.

Blessings,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Tuesday, 08 January 2013			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
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INTRODUCTION			DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	Set Free By Grace
Grace comes to us in all shapes and sizes. It’s never been given as “one size fits all”. God gives it to us “tailor made” for our individual situation. Then, when we suddenly find we need more, He provides just what’s needed. Never too much. Never too little. His grace is sufficient for you and me. But it’s never wasted! I’ll explain. Christmas 1980. My marriage hit rock bottom and divorce was on the horizon. Don’t go there. It’s hell on earth. Love’s shattered dreams pile up and do their very best to overwhelm you. The horrors of a covenant made and broken engulf you. The silly mistakes! The self-recriminations! The grief of arriving at a situation, contrary to everything you hold dear, feels like a ton weight crushing the life out of you. Some commit suicide. Some stoop to murder. I was thrown back on the God I had known and walked with in my youth and early twenties. I’d quit trying to be a Christian in 1963. My “re-dedicator” had “worn out” and I couldn’t face my own hypocrisy. So I’d quit. I was through with Him, but He wasn’t through with me. So in 1981, I returned to Him, begged forgiveness in the hope that miraculously, He would fix my marriage mess. Ultimately, He did. But not the way I thought. I’ve always loved singing. Not the actual tune. I’ve enjoyed singing the descant as others sang the tune. So I bought Christian music cassette tapes to listen to and sing quietly in my car. The “Praise” series by the “Maranatha” singers, (I think it was them) I listened to and sang with them over and over again. There was one song in particular that I kept repeating. It was called, “Set my spirit free”. I’ll never forget the words. “Set my spirit free that I might worship Thee. / Set my spirit free that I might praise Thy Name. / Let all bondage go and let deliverance flow. / Set my spirit free to worship Thee”. Many times I would weep as I sang the descant to the voice on the tape. This went on for about six months. Then as the pressure of the divorce began to reduce, I sang it less often. In fact, other titles on the tape touched me in different ways. The marriage ended in divorce! I carried on singing in the car with those cassette tapes. I’d also started learning to “hear from God”. That was a joy I’ll never forget. About a year after the divorce, I came across the “Set my Spirit Free” song again. I was touched by its richness. Suddenly, as I was driving, I heard a voice in my spirit. Somehow I knew it was the Lord. He said to me. “My son, I did. I set your spirit free to worship Me!” All I could do was cry tears of deep gratitude. I could hardly credit that God had answered this “sung prayer”. I didn’t even know I was praying! Some 31 years later, thinking about His grace to me, I sometimes still weep! Jim & Phyllida Strickland			5 They have told no lies; they are without blame (before the throne of God) Rev 14:5 NLT 20 In those days and at that time," declares the LORD, "people will look for Israel's crimes, but they will find none. They will look for Judah's sins, but none will be found. I will forgive the faithful few whom I have spared. Jer 50:20 GW 18 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. 19 He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. Micah 7:18-19 ESV 6 All those things bring praise to his glorious grace. God freely gave us his grace because of the One he loves. Eph 1:6 NIrV 22 But because Christ died, God has brought you back to himself. Christ's death has made you holy in God's sight. So now you don't have any flaw. You are free from blame. Col 1:22 NIrV 24 Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into His glorious presence without a single fault. 25 All glory to Him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are His before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen. Jude 1:24-25 NLT	The grace that Jesus offers is utterly unique. It is the very quality that we all need to seek. It’s not some smug acceptance that we can recognise. It’s being granted something that is more than a surprise. It’s having been His enemy and worked to bring Him down; And finding we’re forgiven and asked to share His crown! It’s getting just the opposite of all that we deserve; And taken to His Father’s House where we will have the nerve, To see Him as our brother. Adopted by His Dad! Knowing that what we have done, should surely drive Him mad! We cannot comprehend it. We’ve done our very best, To bring dishonour to His Name and found that we are blessed. He didn’t have to do it. He said that it was free. The cost was quite impossible for anyone like me. I knew I couldn’t buy it and that I couldn’t steal, This gift so indescribable; I thought it wasn’t real. How could the Blessed Saviour, who shouldn’t ever die, Do the indescribable, for folk like you and I? I knew I had insulted Him. I dragged His Name through mud. In terms of Christianity, I surely was a dud. Like every other sinner, my heart was frozen cold. And yet he said He looked at me and said He saw pure gold! I thought He must be seeing things. How could His words be true? It must have been somebody else; it wasn’t me on view. That’s when He said, “My precious child, you don’t appreciate, The limits of My sovereign grace and mankind’s fallen state. You’re right. You don’t deserve it. No man could ever earn, The price I paid to save you. So here’s what you must learn. No matter what you’ve ever done. No matter where you’ve been. I knew what you were doing and that you were unclean. You didn’t want to know Me. You much preferred your sin. Your mind can never comprehend the mess that you were in. But all it took to save you was a little tiny drop! The blood I shed on Calvary. My blood would make you stop, Your independent action and turn you back to me. It was My grace that touched you and set your spirit free. And in My sight you’re holy because of what was done By grace, for you on Calvary when you embraced My Son. Jim Strickland  written 8th January 2012