I was inspired by Joe Cross when he sang Amazing Grace at church Sunday, and added to something I had written some time ago. It fit so well, and I'm sure more will come.
The Sound of Grace
Titus 2:11
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.
John 1:17
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind, but now I see
The song says, "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound." The sound of "I love you" and "I forgive you" is sweet music to our ears. The sound of "I love you" brings comfort, security, and safety to our mind, our soul. The sound of "I forgive you" brings relief and release from our bondage and burdens. These sounds are so powerful they bring relief and peace to the hearer.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.
I was a mess, in a deep well of depression and oppression. I was sunk so low I never saw the light and I though I would never get out.
I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now I see.
I was lost in the darkness. I could not see where to go, what to do or what to seek. I was so lost, and I thought there was no way out.
But a voice called to me, softly, gently, insistently, "Come to me, I will set you free. Come to the light and you will see the path to your freedom, and if you choose it, you never be in the darkness again. Come to me and I will set you free."
I went to the light, and what I saw inspired me, so I chose the light. Now I see the Blood of Jesus and how He set me free. Free from shame, free from guilt, free from darkness and the chains that bound me.
I chose the light. Now I fly with the eagles in the sky.
I chose the light and now I see the blessings that God rains on me: life, hope, peace, joy, faithfulness, mercy, grace, and so much, much more.
I chose the light and now I know God loves me and He sets me free. He sets me free because He loves me.
But there's more to grace than sound. What about the other actions of grace? What about the no condemnation? We no longer have to feel guilty about our past. It has been wiped clean. We can feel remorse, even grief, but it should not consume us. Because of God's grace, we can hold up our head and look another person in the eye. We don't have to hide with God inside us.
Because of grace, we can show compassion, mercy and love. We can give it to others because we have received so much ourselves. Because of grace, we are supposed to BE compassion, mercy and love. Grace and mercy are linked arm in arm and are watching our backs. We are safe in our walk with God because of grace and mercy.
We have received hope, joy, peace, love. Because of grace, we are able to receive these and so much more from God. And we don't have to worry about what is expected in return because it is freely given. The price has been paid.
The death of one for the salvation of millions...
What a price!
Because we fall under grace, mercy is granted to us. We must pay a price for our actions and words, but we aren't under God's wrath, and we won't be destroyed when we fall if we turn back to God. He promised this to Noah, and proves it with a rainbow after every rain...
in the rainbow - which is part of a circle, part of the ark of God.
God isn't carried around in a special wooden box called the ark any more. He's carried around in everything around us, but WE are His living temple. We are the temples not built with hands. And God uses us to show others who He is -
The Living God. The Just God. The Mighty God. The Jealous God. God, who is Love. The God who hands out Grace and Mercy to all of us who accept Him as our God, our Lord, our Saviour.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. I agree.
But also, amazing grace, how sweet the actions and results that took a wretch like me and changed me into God's image...
Loving, compassionate, just, righteous, jealous, mighty, alive and full of light...
As long as we let Him rule.
Grace - amazing, isn't it, at what it can do.
We fall under grace. Because of our shortcomings, we fall down. We leave the favor of God. When we leave God's favor, we usually go to our knees (fall to our knees) or lay face down (fall on our faces) because of all the weight from the darkness, the burdens darkness puts upon us. When we repent, we fall down because we are seeking grace and mercy, and we are showing awe (fearful respect) at the power of God.
Ephesians 2:8, 9
8. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the give of God:
9. Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Grace raises us out of the ashes of death like a rising Phoenix, and leads us to life - everlasting life. Grace lifts us up. And then mercy follows and we are forgiven for turning away because we have returned. We have turned around to face God again. Isn't it funny how darkness weighs us down but grace lifts us up? Grace gives us the opportunity to accept the light, to be filled with God's light, to become lighter than air so we can soar with the Holy Spirit in the heavens.
Grace is an action word. Grace is movement. Grace is sound. Grace is sweeter than honey. Grace is beautiful. Grace is from God.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.
Sin and death make us darker, make us move slower and slower, becoming more bent over, more stooped, closer to the grave. Sin and death make us darker and darker, move us farther and farther from the light. They weigh us down with burdens too heavy for us to carry and we fall down. We fail.
Grace takes us towards heaven, makes us victorious, makes us free to fly, to soar.
If it wasn't for grace (and mercy, because mercy is grace's constant companion), we would never have the opportunity to live in eternal light. We would not have the opportunity to be loved and to love as God loves us. In my opinion, grace is one of the best blessings God has given us because it is among the first given to us and it lasts the longest.
The sound of grace: I love you. I forgive you.
The inner ear, where we hear the sound of grace, is made up of the hammer, anvil, stirrup, and the eardrum.
The hammer and anvil of grace: tap, tap, tap. They break the hardness of our hearts. They enable us to become more flexible, less set in our ways. The anvil helps us to become the pliable clay God can mold into His image.
Becoming pliable isn't easy. That's why there's mercy along with grace. It's hard for us to let God have His way. We want our feet in the stirrups, not His. We want to have our own way, not God's. We don't want to be led. But when we step aside and let God do His thing, even whenwe don't understand the wherefores or the whys, we become as God because we are God who lives in us. We are part of the I AM, the living God. We are cells and members of one family, one body.
Grace and mercy follow us, are a part of us, and if we are part of God, we are showing that same grace and mercy to everyone else, Christian and non-Christian alike, for we are all sinners and have fallen short in our efforts to reach holiness, to reach God.
The sound of grace:
I love you, so I forgive you. I forgive you because I love you.
God's grace. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. Amazing, isn't it, at what grace can do.
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.
John 1:17
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind, but now I see
The song says, "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound." The sound of "I love you" and "I forgive you" is sweet music to our ears. The sound of "I love you" brings comfort, security, and safety to our mind, our soul. The sound of "I forgive you" brings relief and release from our bondage and burdens. These sounds are so powerful they bring relief and peace to the hearer.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.
I was a mess, in a deep well of depression and oppression. I was sunk so low I never saw the light and I though I would never get out.
I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now I see.
I was lost in the darkness. I could not see where to go, what to do or what to seek. I was so lost, and I thought there was no way out.
But a voice called to me, softly, gently, insistently, "Come to me, I will set you free. Come to the light and you will see the path to your freedom, and if you choose it, you never be in the darkness again. Come to me and I will set you free."
I went to the light, and what I saw inspired me, so I chose the light. Now I see the Blood of Jesus and how He set me free. Free from shame, free from guilt, free from darkness and the chains that bound me.
I chose the light. Now I fly with the eagles in the sky.
I chose the light and now I see the blessings that God rains on me: life, hope, peace, joy, faithfulness, mercy, grace, and so much, much more.
I chose the light and now I know God loves me and He sets me free. He sets me free because He loves me.
But there's more to grace than sound. What about the other actions of grace? What about the no condemnation? We no longer have to feel guilty about our past. It has been wiped clean. We can feel remorse, even grief, but it should not consume us. Because of God's grace, we can hold up our head and look another person in the eye. We don't have to hide with God inside us.
Because of grace, we can show compassion, mercy and love. We can give it to others because we have received so much ourselves. Because of grace, we are supposed to BE compassion, mercy and love. Grace and mercy are linked arm in arm and are watching our backs. We are safe in our walk with God because of grace and mercy.
We have received hope, joy, peace, love. Because of grace, we are able to receive these and so much more from God. And we don't have to worry about what is expected in return because it is freely given. The price has been paid.
The death of one for the salvation of millions...
What a price!
Because we fall under grace, mercy is granted to us. We must pay a price for our actions and words, but we aren't under God's wrath, and we won't be destroyed when we fall if we turn back to God. He promised this to Noah, and proves it with a rainbow after every rain...
in the rainbow - which is part of a circle, part of the ark of God.
God isn't carried around in a special wooden box called the ark any more. He's carried around in everything around us, but WE are His living temple. We are the temples not built with hands. And God uses us to show others who He is -
The Living God. The Just God. The Mighty God. The Jealous God. God, who is Love. The God who hands out Grace and Mercy to all of us who accept Him as our God, our Lord, our Saviour.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. I agree.
But also, amazing grace, how sweet the actions and results that took a wretch like me and changed me into God's image...
Loving, compassionate, just, righteous, jealous, mighty, alive and full of light...
As long as we let Him rule.
Grace - amazing, isn't it, at what it can do.
We fall under grace. Because of our shortcomings, we fall down. We leave the favor of God. When we leave God's favor, we usually go to our knees (fall to our knees) or lay face down (fall on our faces) because of all the weight from the darkness, the burdens darkness puts upon us. When we repent, we fall down because we are seeking grace and mercy, and we are showing awe (fearful respect) at the power of God.
Ephesians 2:8, 9
8. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the give of God:
9. Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Grace raises us out of the ashes of death like a rising Phoenix, and leads us to life - everlasting life. Grace lifts us up. And then mercy follows and we are forgiven for turning away because we have returned. We have turned around to face God again. Isn't it funny how darkness weighs us down but grace lifts us up? Grace gives us the opportunity to accept the light, to be filled with God's light, to become lighter than air so we can soar with the Holy Spirit in the heavens.
Grace is an action word. Grace is movement. Grace is sound. Grace is sweeter than honey. Grace is beautiful. Grace is from God.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.
Sin and death make us darker, make us move slower and slower, becoming more bent over, more stooped, closer to the grave. Sin and death make us darker and darker, move us farther and farther from the light. They weigh us down with burdens too heavy for us to carry and we fall down. We fail.
Grace takes us towards heaven, makes us victorious, makes us free to fly, to soar.
If it wasn't for grace (and mercy, because mercy is grace's constant companion), we would never have the opportunity to live in eternal light. We would not have the opportunity to be loved and to love as God loves us. In my opinion, grace is one of the best blessings God has given us because it is among the first given to us and it lasts the longest.
The sound of grace: I love you. I forgive you.
The inner ear, where we hear the sound of grace, is made up of the hammer, anvil, stirrup, and the eardrum.
The hammer and anvil of grace: tap, tap, tap. They break the hardness of our hearts. They enable us to become more flexible, less set in our ways. The anvil helps us to become the pliable clay God can mold into His image.
Becoming pliable isn't easy. That's why there's mercy along with grace. It's hard for us to let God have His way. We want our feet in the stirrups, not His. We want to have our own way, not God's. We don't want to be led. But when we step aside and let God do His thing, even whenwe don't understand the wherefores or the whys, we become as God because we are God who lives in us. We are part of the I AM, the living God. We are cells and members of one family, one body.
Grace and mercy follow us, are a part of us, and if we are part of God, we are showing that same grace and mercy to everyone else, Christian and non-Christian alike, for we are all sinners and have fallen short in our efforts to reach holiness, to reach God.
The sound of grace:
I love you, so I forgive you. I forgive you because I love you.
God's grace. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. Amazing, isn't it, at what grace can do.
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