Day Ten in the Wilderness

 

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established 
in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s 
holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high 
and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love
 that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to 
the measure of all the fullness of God." 
Ephesians 3:17-19
 

        "For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace." 💕

                                                  John 1:16

I've pondered these three words this morning:

GRACE UPON GRACE

The Amplified Bible translates John 1:16 this way:

 “Out of His fullness [the superabundance of His grace and truth] 
 we have all received grace upon grace
 [spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing, favor upon favor, 

and gift heaped upon gift].”

 

"What’s abundantly clear is that, when we come to Christ, 
He dishes out grace in heaping, huge servings." (GotQuestions.org)

 

                 Do I actually "get it"? I know it's a LOT 
                 but do I get the enormity of His GIFT? 
                                    His FREE gift?
 

Abundance is described this way:

 

"An overflowing fullness or ample sufficiency; 

profusion; copious supply;

 superfluity; plentifulness."

 

Wow! That IS a LOT! But do I understand all that it means?

 

So what does grace mean? 

It's defined as: 

Unmerited mercy (favor) that God gave to humanity by 
sending his Son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross, 
thus securing man's eternal salvation from sin. 

So, as a wretched sinner, I don't deserve God's grace but when 
I repent (sincerely regret) of my sins I am extended favor, 
God's abundant grace. ️
 

About 20 years ago (really young in my faith) I had a really hard 

time defining sin in my life. After all, I had a wonderful family, 

loving husband, great kids, a relationship with my parents, 

pretty amazing extended family. 

I was kind and loving.
 

Was I a sinner?

 

I am really thankful that God gives the ability to "look back" into our 
lives to not only re-examine but to see the progress.
If you simply look to the 10 Commandments you think,

• I don't steal
• I've not murdered anyone....nope
• Never committed adultery...
• Idols? What idols?
• Given false testimony against my neighbor? Never!
• Of course I honored my mother and father, right?

Not all ten but you get the picture......

 

And slowly, painstakingly, over years and years, God revealed my heart
and showed me my sin. See, if you just pluck the words 
from the Word of God and go no further you really can say, "I've obeyed."

It's actually hard for me to write here my thoughts from long ago 
because by each of these thoughts I am immediately reminded of 
how I broke each one.....and though I've repented and ask God to
forgive me I'm still very aware of the feeling I had upon realization 
of those sins and how that feeling has not completely reformed me as 
I am still a work in progress.

So, lets take a look.....

1. I have stolen....a pair of earrings when I was 12 years old....

at the  instruction of a friend who told me how to slip them into 

my mouth and walk out of the store. You can dismiss it as a child's 

prank but the fact that I broke a commandment does not change.
 
2. Adultery? A very long time ago I certainly liked the attention 

I received from a young man at work.
In my heart I wished my husband could be more like him.
 
“You have heard that it was said, "You shall not commit adultery" 

but I say to you that everyone who [so much as] looks at a woman 

with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
Matthew 5:27-29
 
Women are not exempt.
 
3. Murder - no I haven't physically killed anyone but I've wished 
someone death in anger and many times my heart has wished harm 
on those who have hurt me.
 
“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 
‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to
 judgment.’  But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or 
sister  will be subject to judgment." Matthew 5:21
 
4. Idols? Oh my!
 
Idol - an image or representation of a god used as an object of worship.
 
I've too many to list!  So many that I've placed ahead of my love for my Savior.
 
An amazing teacher described it this way: Think of an umbrella. 
At the top is God. Over all. From the umbrella hangs "life".
Family, job, hobbies, house, cars, money, status, education, worry,
anxiety, fear.... insert whatever displaces God at the top, simply put, 
it's an idol.
Can't begin to list all of the ways I've done that.
 
5. I held a grudge against my dad for years and years until 
God revealed it to me. I honestly did not see it that way....then....
now I can't see it any other way.
 
6. And just last summer I talked to a new neighbor about her neighbor,
 a man our family has had many run ins with over the years. But 
this young woman ministers to him as crotchety as he is. Why I felt 
compelled to tell her how wretched he is I do not know.  I apologized 
to her when I realized I was trying to taint her view of him. That was NOT right.
 

I haven't talked about all of the commandments but suffice it to say 
I've broken them all. That's a really hard, humbling statement. 
It shows the depravity of my heart.
 

But God....

 

Extending Grace upon grace to me, a sinner. 

 

As I began, I end...

 

I can't grasp the vastness of His love but I believe it 
with all my heart.

 

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with 
power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ 
may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you,
being rooted and established in love, may have power, together 
with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long 
and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love 
that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure
 of all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:16-19 NIV
 
And ending with this:
 
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all 
we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work 
within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus 
throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
Ephesians 3:20-21