God's Grace Never Ends [Frankly Friday v. 10]

Grace, grace, God's grace,

grace that will pardon and cleanse within;

grace, grace, God's grace,

grace that is greater than all our sin!

I cannot get the refrain for the hymn "Grace Greater Than Our Sin" out of my mind. The theme of grace seems to be coming at me from everywhere. No kidding.

I reviewed a book on grace. (There is still time to enter to win a copy too.) My pastor keeps talking about the topic. I'm currently reading a book on parenting, which though it's really an attachement parenting, secular book, is laced with grace. There are situations Ben and I are facing in which we have felt called to extend grace.

I mean I can't run from it if I wanted to.

(Ok...well I guess I could but then I'd be living in denial. I've been there. I've done that. It ain't pretty, builds a mountain out of a mole hill, and requires a freakin' ton of time to clean up rather than just dealing with it in the beginning. So not worth the time to deny and repair. Plus, I'm not welcoming horrible feelings. I get enough of those without welcoming them considering we live in a broken world.)

One of the most important lessons I am learning about grace came through the connections pastor at our church: Jesus, the ultimate example, never let go of grace or truth. He always had a firm hand on both.

For instance, take the passage of the woman brought before Jesus who was caught in adultery. (John 8:1-11) After all is said and done, Jesus leaves her with these words: "I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more." (John 8:11 NASB) He extends grace by telling her he does not condemn her. (Please note, in biblical times, the Law carried a heavy weight and strictly enforced anyone caught in adultery be put to death. see Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22) This was huge in this time, and Jesus extending grace here speaks, to me, of it being a part of His nature. However, He completes His statement by telling her to turn from her sin: He holds fast to truth as well.

While the Law/Truth shows us our desperate need for grace, Grace sets us free to live knowing we cannot be perfect but produces a desire to strive to live rightly.

I don't know about you, but I think I'll be chewing on what my pastor said for a long time. I'm still processing it, struggling with it, wondering how on earth I will ever embody that statement at all. I know of my own accord it will not happen.

Oh, praise Jesus for the Spirit at work constantly in me!

Because I'm still thinking on, processing, chewing, mulling over this vastly incomprehensible yet partially understood concept, I don't know I have much more I have to share. I do want to share a note I jotted in my journal, something I feel God whispered to my spirit as I was reading One Way Love by Tullian Tchividjian:

I [God] never stop extending grace; the invitation is always open, always available, never expires. I will discipline sin in those whom I call My children [Hebrews 12:6] but I have never said, nor will I ever say, "You sinned too much: My grace is no longer for you, available to you." It completely contradicts the very work of the Cross, the work which I sent My Beloved Son to complete, and My very nature."

Umm...WOW! I still read what resonated in my spirit and find myself in complete awe. It makes me wonder if I've ever really allowed myself to feel the full extent of His grace. After all, I am constantly aware of my struggle to perform to please Him.

Last I checked, doing is fruit, not an "A+ you get in" card. "For it is by GRACE you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9, emphasis added) A verse well known, yet I'm curious how many of us actually live basking in that truth.

Grace: it will wreck your world, in the best possible way...at least, it's wrecking mine, but I'm feeling the call to press in, not run from it: a holy wrecking.

One Way Love [Book Review & Giveaway]

*And the winner is Erika B.! Congrats, Erika. Be looking for an e-mail from me letting you know what I need in order to get your copy of One Way Love mailed to you.*

Oh, am I so excited about this book review and giveaway! This book was really good. So good, in fact, I want to read it again. I want to take time to really soak up this breath of fresh air on Grace vs. Law. Because, in my opinion, that is exactly what Tullian Tchividjian discusses throught the entirety of One Way Love: Inexhaustible Grace for an Exhausted World.

Because of some different situations in my life and because we have a wonderful pastoral head at our church and because I married an awesome, philosophically driven guy, I've had several great conversations about Grace. I asked if I could read excerpts to my husband because I wanted to share what I had just read, as well as discuss it a little. I've had the chance to discuss grace with one of the pastors at our church, who I happened to run into in the middle of one of my groups at the church. Needless to say, this book is a great conversation starter. It definitely will get your mind reeling, in a good way, I believe.

In the introduction, Tchividjian says, "What you will encounter [in this book] is 'grace unmeasured, vast and free' - the kind that will frighten and free you at the same time. That's what grace does, after all." (p. 25) And indeed, he is fully telling the truth. I still struggle with what he says, yet I know my heart struggles out of the fear grace drives into our hearts. I think this is partially why I want to reread the book: while my heart wants to 100% say yes to grace, part of me wonders if maybe I read it wrong, maybe I didn't get the entire picture or misunderstood him.

Yet, this is exactly the struggle everyone has with grace, according to Tchividjian. The first chapter begins with him discussing how we live in a world filled with and run by conditions: "you do this for me, I do this for you" and the many other forms the condition can take. Nothing is free; almost everything has some kind of string attached.

He then navigates the dangerous waters of steering us back towards Grace with scriptural backing, quotes from other solid believers, and personal stories. He talks about his own struggle with truly, fully embracing grace as God has meant it. (Yes, he also mentions how even the grace we fallen, broken human beings show is only a shadow of the grace God continually bestows on us.) At one point he says, "Grace is radically unbalanced. It contains no but: it is unconditional, uncontrollable, unpredictable, and undomesticated - or else it is not grace." (p. 180)

I still read that last quote nodding my head in agreement, yet wondering can it really be? Oh man! It has shed a light on my heart with what I have been taught, learned, and missed all in one fell swoop: taught - by those who struggle themselves to fully accept the true meaning of God's grace, learned - as I have read the scriptures and sought to understand what God is trying to teach me through His word, and missed - the scriptures I have either observed and interpreted incorrectly or completely been blind to their meaning altogether. You guys, this book...so, so worth. it!

I'll leave you with one last quote from it, before I put up the Rafflecopter for your own chance to win a copy(!) - Tchividjian quotes Ralph Erskine's Gospel Sonnets (I'll not type up the entire book name here...it's really long) and I love this quote:

"The law says, Do, and life you'll win;

                          but grace says, Live for all is done;

                     the former cannot ease my grief,

                  the latter yields me full relief."

I want to taste Grace every. single. day. I want to be a vessel of grace. And as much as I am sure I will always have an internal struggle with this topic, I am so thankful for pastors who also write like Tchividjian so we may learn from them.

And now, on to the giveaway:

I have one copy of One Way Love by Tullian Tchividjian to give away. The giveaway is open to US residents with a physical address (no P.O. boxes, sorry!) age 18 and up. It begins today, Thursday, October 17th, at 12 am CST, and will close on Sunday, October 27th, at 12 am CST. The only mandatory entry for the giveaway is to leave a blog comment; I would love if you'd answer this question: Has the topic of Grace ever captured your interest? Why? The winner will be randomly selected via Rafflecopter. They will be announced in an addendum at the top of this post, as well as on the Rafflecopter form, within 48 hours of the giveaway's close. I will also contact them via e-mail. (Please ensure you use a valid, working e-mail address to enter with on the Rafflecopter form.) The winner will have 48 hours to contact me via the e-mail listed in the announcement post to claim their prize. I will need the winners full name and physical  address to forward to the blogger network sponsoring the giveaway so they can mail the giveaway copy to the winner directly. For any other information regarding giveaways hosted on my blog, please visit the official giveaway page.

a Rafflecopter giveaway "Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."