Tell the Story of Grace

Yesterday morning I heard a song on the radio called "Do Everything" by Steven Curtis Chapman.  I'm about 7 months behind on the whole music scene, so forgive me if they've been playing this forever, but I heard it for the first time yesterday.   I like the whole concept of the song, but one line in particular stuck out to me.  "Tell the story of grace with every move that you make."  Hmm, "the story of grace"... BEST STORY EVER.  Jesus Christ gave up His very life to bring many sons (and daughters :) ) to glory.  This is the story of grace.  "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).  Grace is the gift that cost the Giver everything, but cost the recipient nothing. 

Do I tell the story of grace with every move I make?  Or do I tell the story of selfishness?  What story does my complaining tell?  What story does my trying to justify myself tell?  The story of grace is one of forgiveness, of giving without thought of getting anything back.  My complaining speaks of an attitude of entitlement, of "I don't deserve this."   But think of Jesus, the author of the story of grace.  He clearly didn't deserve the cross, but instead of complaining about it, He endured it for the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2).  To bring glory to His Father and to become the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29). 

So, let us ask the Lord how to tell the story of grace with every move we make.  Something as simple as taking someone's plate, acting as a servant, tells the story of grace, of giving of yourself without a thought to what you will get for it.  Baking cookies for a friend.  Extending forgiveness, free of strings, free of conditions.  Emptying your bank account to meet the need of a brother or sister in the Lord.  Christ lives in us.  Let us ask Him first to reveal His grace to us, and once we have a true revelation of how undeserving we are of this grace, we will desire to extend this grace to others.

A day to celebrate God's love

More and more over the last few years, I have been enjoying using Valentine's Day as an excuse to celebrate God's love.  Here are two facebook notes I wrote a couple years ago that I think fit this theme.  May we dance with our Beloved, knowing He delights to lead us.

Dancing

I got most of the ideas for this from the book Do You Think I'm Beautiful. I just decided to summarize/extend this metaphor a bit.

I close my eyes and picture myself in a beautiful ballroom. I have on a beautiful dress. I sit near the wall watching all the couples dancing and having fun. I've resigned myself to drinking punch, tapping my foot to the music, and people-watching when I see Him walk across the room straight to me and offer me His hand. He looks into my eyes and asks, "May I have this dance?" I, speechless and unable to think straight, just nod, take His hand, and follow Him into the middle of the dance floor. He is an amazing dancer, and I'm afraid I'll step on His feet, so I keep looking down trying to concentrate on getting the steps exactly right. He smiles down at me and gently lifts my chin so I meet His eyes. His strong arms hold me tighter, and He whispers into my ear, "Just follow my lead." So I relax, melt into His arms and keep my eyes locked onto His. When the song is over I smile, thank Him, and start to walk back to my rightful position as a wallflower, but He asks, "Don't you want to keep dancing?" My smile widens as I return to His arms. One of my friends tells me later that I looked amazing out there and asks where I learned to dance like that. I tell her the only thing I can. I don't have any idea what I'm doing, I just follow His lead.

That's the way it is with life. We don't have to have it all figured out. In fact, when we think we do have it figured out, when we ask God to follow our lead, even if we have it planned out perfectly, it will never, ever be as good as if we had just followed. So many times I've been afraid to put myself out there, afraid I'll make things awkward, afraid I'll make a fool out of myself. So I keep my head down and when God asks me to dance with Him, to step outside my comfortable wallflower position where people can see me, I respectfully decline. I say, "You can sit over here with me and we can chat," or "Maybe next song," or probably most often, "I can't dance. But there are hundreds of other girls here who can. Ask one of them." But when I do say yes, when I focus my attention on Him and let Him lead, it always turns out good. He doesn't ask us so that He can make a fool out of us or laugh at our incompetencies. He makes it so those incompetencies don't matter. Things aren't always going to be easy, but I guarantee you that it will be so much better to live your life dancing with the One who invented the dance than with your eyes fixed on someone else or just sitting and watching.

Zephaniah 3:17

I want to be known. Inside and out. I want to be desired. I want somebody to know what will make me smile and to go out of his way to do it. I want him to be able to tell when I'm upset, sad, or angry. I want him to know when to hold me in his arms and when to give me space. I don't want to just know he thinks I'm pretty, I want to take his breath away. I want him to know my struggles and accept me as I am. Not to deny my flaws or to try to fix me, but to love me anyway, while calling me to a higher standard.

Zephaniah 3:17- "The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with his love, He will rejoice over you with singing."- Delight. I LOVE that word. And it give me chills when I am told that God, the same God that created the heavens and the earth, delights in me. He doesn't delight in some romantic idea He has about me. He knows every hair on my head, He's seen me every time I've fallen, every time I've deliberately ignored Him. And He takes me into His arms and tells me that He loves me anyway. He tells me I don't have to cry anymore, He quiets me with His love. When I finally lean into Him and say, "You've saved me. How can I thank You?" He rejoices. He sings. How many times have I seen a cheesy chick flick and secretly wished I was the one being serenaded? And I ignore the songs of love and joy and delight that my God desires to sing over me.

God fills every desire of my heart. Maybe someday He will bless me with a man who fills some of the desires I listed above, but for now I will be content to serve with my whole heart the One who delights in me just as I am, the One who knows me, the One whose love for me is beyond knowledge (Ephesians 3:19).