Reflections on Grace

I haven’t updated for 3 weeks! Time is flying by so much faster than I realized it would.
I have enjoyed being home: gotten to hang out with some friends, worked on my 30-page senior history paper, read 3 books, gone dancing once, hung out with my family, went on a ridiculous day trip to 10 cities, hiked from peak to peak on Mt. Diablo, … and gotten to keep in touch with my beloved Hotchkissians.

Earlier this week I read one of my favorite passages in the Bible: John 1.

I wish I could write about the entire passage, but I’m just going to talk about a section of it. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. … And from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.”

One, one of the phrases that always sticks out to me is that Christ is full of “grace and truth.”

Two, that from Christ’s fullness we have received “grace upon grace.”

I decided to mull around my reference books to get some background on these passages. What I found was encouraging, so I thought I’d share. Truth is what accords with reality. Truth is not abstract, but revealed in the actual person of Christ. He is truth because he is the revelation of God. Boice said truth “did not come to the world through philosophy or through any other form of human speculation. Truth came into the world through Jesus Christ.” That’s just astonishing to me whenever I think about it. Christ, the Logos, is truth. In him there is no falsehood. Christ revealed in the Scriptures is true. Amen! And Christ was full of grace.

Because of man’s sinfulness we do not deserve anything from God. We deserve to have awful, miserable lives. Yet God gives his children grace upon grace. I think even as Christians we forget how much the Lord blesses us with. As Christians we have peace with God. We are no longer enemies and under the wrath of God, we are no longer in bondage to sin, we have hope in Christ! If we lived in awful circumstances, yet knew Christ, could we complain? We’d have enough to forever sing praises. And yet the Lord gives us so much more than even that ultimate gift.

We’ve received grace upon grace.

I love how Verbrugge explains ‘upon’: it denotes a perpetual and rapid succession of blessings, as though there were no interval between the arrival of one blessing and the reception of the next. ‘Grace’: is poured out in overflowing fullness. MacArthur says grace is that ‘abundant supply [that] will never be exhausted or diminished; grace will continually follow grace in a limitless, never-ending flow.’

Ironside applies it: We are not called to live upon past experiences. Many of us remember when were first saved of the grace that was poured into our souls when that took place… but that is not our experience today. That was grace indeed, wondrous grace! What we have now should be grace against grace, grace following upon grace, all down through the years.

How apathetic can we become to grace. May it not be! As James says, every good gift is from above. Everything good is from our Father. How much do we have to be thankful for, how much grace are we showered with daily, hourly. Do we praise Him for his kindness, mercy, faithfulness, justice? Do we praise Him for fellowship with our fellow believers? Do we thank Him for his grace in covering our sins? Do we thank Him for answered prayer? Do we thank Him for his Word?

Psalm 86:8-13.
There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God. Teach me your way, O Lord; that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depth of Sheol.

If you know Him, praise Him.
If you don’t know Him, why do you not trust in the One who is full of all truth and grace?

50th Post - and last one from Hotchkiss

So, it's very late and I'm having trouble staying awake. But...

I just wanted to say what a blessing it has been to live in Hotchkiss and attend Master's. The Lord has taught me so much through my friends here and I leave Master's with a meloncholy heart. I am so excited to see where the Lord will take me soon, but I also am reflective on my time here. I have been shown so much grace while at Master's in so many ways - and to leave this context is a bit hard.

So, congrats to Tanner and Jimmy - my fellow HUB graduates, and all my other friends who have graduated tonight!

Wed-Thur-Fri

These past few days have been amazing. I've had a lot of fun and been blessed to see the Lord's grace in different areas very clearly.

On Wednesday I had my last lecture of my college career! So strange to be done with "class." I have one book report, a 30 page essay, and two finals, but that's it. That's all that left for me to do before I get my diploma! Crazy. Thankfully, my large paper won't be due for several more weeks. I also hang with my best friend and then chilled at Baskin Robbins with friends. Wednesday night I also got to see a friendship restored. It is so sweet to see a friendship restored by the Lord. I've seen it in five relationships this year at Masters, and everytime I have been so amazed at how the Lord works. He always works in a mighty way that I can't understand. It's been so humbling to see my brothers and sisters walk like Christ.

Yesterday I didn't have class, but kept busy somehow. Had homework, then lunch with Tanner and Beaks, coffee with Telle, took a friend on an errand, and then spent the rest of the day at the Keller's. I absolutely love Joe and his family. I can't begin to say what a blessing it was to spend time with them. Joe is such an example to me. It was so great to spend time cooking with them, hanging, running to the store. The Lord has taught me so much through Joe, and it was a blessing to be able to spend time with him before I leave Masters. I think Hotchkiss/Placerita Baptist/Joe are the three things I'll miss the most about being here.

Today I went to my last chapel. Hung at Starbucks with one of my professors and my class. Wrote a five page paper. Went to McDonalds. And saw Iron Man with Tanner, Matt, and Ryan. Amazing movie, and it was a blast to hang with those three!!

At Baccalauratte Chapel with Jimmy, Tanner, and Ryan.
At 31cent Baskin Robbins night with Beaks and Tanner.
Hanging with friends.
One of my favorite guys: Joe Keller.