Receiving an Abundance of Grace

There's a lot of fuss over the resurgence of the Gospel of Grace these days.  Titles such as "Radical Grace," "Hyper Grace," "Greasy Grace," and "Sloppy Agape" have been assigned to the Grace message to warn people of the danger...well, I have some opinions on this topic, but instead of refuting the message of Grace (I'll leave that to the Apostle Paul, which you can find in the book of Galatians;) I want to share with you how Abundant Grace has transformed my thinking and how I will never be the same because of it.

A verse I am keeping ever before me in this current season of life is Romans 5:17, let's take a look at it:

"For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who RECEIVE ABUNDANCE of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ." (emphasis mine)

There's much going on this verse, but for today I want to focus on the word "abundance."  Let's look at this word in the Greek.  It is the Greek word "perisseia" pronounced "per-is-si'-ah."  

According to AMG Publishers "Hebrew-Greek Study Bible" this word is defined as "super abundance, abundance, superfluity."  One of the synonyms for the word is defined as "huperbole" where we get the word "hyper" from.  It is defined as a "throwing beyond others, supereminence, pre-eminently-abundance (far more) exceeding, excellency, more excellent, beyond (out of) measure."

I don't know about you, but sign me up for hyper Grace!  

The other word that is standing out to me in Romans 5:17 is "receive."  Now, I could list the definition of the word in the Greek, but it's lengthy...for the purpose of this post let's leave it as "to take."  

I am absolutely UNDONE at the revelation in this verse...if we want to reign in life we are to RECEIVE ABUNDANT GRACE!!!  It's not something I do, or you do; it's something Jesus already did on our behalf!!!

You know what else Jesus took care of on our behalf?  Sin.  Yet, we still struggle, don't we?  I'm currently struggling with the sins of worry and fear.  What replaces fear?  Perfect love.  Who is perfect love?  Jesus.  So, let's filter that through Romans 5:17.  What is my position in order to reign in life?  Receive abundance of His Grace and in my particular situation, His perfect love.

I love the late Dallas Willard's definition of Grace.  He says, "Grace is God acting in our lives to accomplish what we cannot do on our own."  Here's another Willard definition of Grace, "Grace is the personal presence of Jesus, enabling or empowering you to be and to do-All that He called you to be, All that He called you to do."

In my strength, I can strive all day long to overcome fear and it will NEVER happen...how do I know?  I've tried.  I've tried as recently as yesterday!  I come up short every time and back to where I started, actually, usually worse than when I started.

Grace doesn't just barely cover it, Grace covers it abundantly...more than enough!  He is a "more than enough" Papa!!!

Do you want to reign in life?  I do.  There's Grace for that...do you receive it?  I am convinced that right believing leads to right living.

Pray with me, "Papa, I thank You for the gift of Your Son, Jesus.  I thank You that because He sacrificed in my place I can reign in life.  I thank You that because of Jesus, I am righteous.  As I become more aware of this truth, I am empowered by Grace to be all that You created me to be.  I thank You for being a generous Papa, there is no lack in You.  I thank You for the divine exchange, it's more than just life for eternity, it's life here and now.  Today I choose to RECEIVE Your abundant Grace and receive the promise of reigning in life. In the name of Jesus, AMEN!"

Katy Perry, I See Jesus in You!

This past Sunday I had the pleasure of hearing Paul Manwaring speak in Atlanta.  He posed a thought provoking question, "If you've been born for such a time as this; what time is it?"

His message had many points, but he made one statement, in particular, I just can not get away from and it is this:  "If we (the Church) remain silent, people will find relief from somewhere else."

For the last several years I've been on a journey of discovering the heart of Papa God.  I've said it before on this blog, I think His heart has been grossly misunderstood by His children.  We then have turned around and mis-represented His heart to the world...the world who so desperately needs to know the unconditional love of the Father.

Through this journey, I have learned to challenge the status quo as defined by the Church.  Just because I've heard something taught for years and through multiple sources doesn't mean I take it as truth anymore.  I have become a student of Holy Spirit, viewing the Word through the lens of Jesus.   I now look at the Word of God looking for Jesus and He is in every word, both Old Testament and New and I must say, He is BEAUTIFUL!

If your my Facebook friend you may know I recently posted a link to one of Katy Perry's new songs, "Unconditionally."  I hear the heart of Papa in it and I know that although Katy is very confused about many things, this song was inspired by Holy Spirit.  It is full of truth.  So, I bought her latest album on iTunes.

Some of the songs I automatically hit skip, because quite honestly they are full of sexual innuendo and just don't make me feel good.  Not judging anyone who listens to them; they're just not for me:)

There are three songs which have my attention on this album and I want to focus on one of them in this post.  This post is going to be lengthy, hope you stay with me.

The name of the song is "It Takes Two."  Let's take a look at the lyrics:

"Is Mercury in retrograde or is that the excuse I've always made
'cause I wanna blame you,
But I can only blame myself

Yeah, it's easy to throw you under the bus
I'll call you crazy, while I'm filling my cup
I say these things to hurt you
But I only hurt myself

Oh, I can only take responsibility for me
It takes two, two sides to every story
Not just you
I can't keep ignoring
I admit half of it, I'm not that innocent, oh yeah

It take two, two sides to every story
Not just me
You can't keep ignoring
But let me be first baby to say "I'm sorry"

I face my demons, yeah, I paid my dues
I had to grow up, I wish you could too
I wanted to save you, but I can only save myself

Oh, I can only be the changing one to see
Yeah, I can see

I point my finger but it does me no good
I look in the mirror & it tells me truth
Why all these lessons always learned the hard way
Is it too late to change"

Ok, here is where my opinion is probably going to be different than most.  I don't know Katy, but I have a sense she is a believer in Jesus.  I think she bought into lies that led her down a path of destruction and poor choices.  What I see in some of her songs is a young woman coming back to what is true and who she really is, a much loved daughter of Father God.

Is her life messy?  No doubt.  Has she bought into the Hollywood scene and fast life that comes with it?  I think that is obvious.  Unlike most of us, she doesn't have the luxury of anonymity.  Her journey is out there for all the world to see.  Instead of looking at what Katy is not, I choose to look at her how heaven sees her.

If I want to see Christians bashing other Christians, current pop stars, entertainers and even ministers of the Gospel, I don't have to go any further than Facebook.  I think it's time we look at those who have influence in a different light.  Instead of bashing them and saying they are going to burn in Hell, why don't we choose to see them as Father God sees them, because my Bible tells me He loves them!  And, gasp, dare I say it, pray for them?

Let me tie this back into my opening quote from Paul.  Our children and our teenagers are looking.  They are seeking and unless they are living in a cave (good luck with that, btw) they are most likely looking to Hollywood for their direction.  Looking at what will make them acceptable among their peers and even looking for counsel through song lyrics (yeah, that's scary, isn't it?)

"If we (the Church) remain silent, people will find relief from somewhere else."  Silent about what?  Silent about the goodness of God, redemption, forgiveness, life, to name a few.  Oh, Christians are plenty vocal, but it's time we use our voice to speak and impart LIFE!

I want to dissect the above lyrics a little.  I'm not going to go into each line, but a few that stand out to me.

"I wanna blame you, but I can only blame myself."  Katy, how about we don't blame anybody?  Instead why don't we take responsibility for our words & actions and clean up our messes?

"I say these things to hurt you, but I only hurt myself."  This is truth.  When we hold onto unforgiveness, hate and bitterness, they eat away at our souls.  They weigh us down, not the one we harbor the feelings toward.

"Oh, I can only take responsibility for me."  Truth!  Truth!  Truth!  On your very best day, you have control of you.  You can not take responsibility for anyone else, unless you want to be co-dependent, which I don't suggest at all.

"But let me be first baby to say "I'm sorry."  Good advice.  I often tell engaged couples that is the best marriage advice I have to give them.  Say you're sorry even when it's not your fault!

"I wanted to save you, but I can only save myself."  Yes, you only have the power to save yourself by choosing to believe in what Jesus did for you.  You don't have the power to fix or save anyone else, but you can show them Jesus by your words and actions, making Him lovely to those who need Him.

"Is it too late to change?"  NEVER!  You, reading this that believe it's too late for you, let me be the one to share with you, it's NEVER too late with Jesus.  And, you get bonus, because He promises to use what was meant for your harm to your good.  Want proof of that?  Go read Romans 8:28.

Bottom line, the Katy Perrys of this world are influencing our children, we can either criticize and turn up our religious noses; or we can believe for her return.  Like the father in the Prodigal Son, I want to throw her a party!

Hmmm...Miley, you are next!

The Gospel of Grace has radically changed me.  I hope to share more about that with you soon...in the meantime, I encourage you to look for Jesus everywhere...He's not limited to the pages of the Book and this is just one more reason, My Soul Sings!

He. Still. Moved.

I can not pass up the opportunity to sit down this afternoon and write a short blog, sharing with you how my Daddy God blessed me with a realization this morning. 

Last week I asked a person this question, "What's more important, your commitment to Christ or Christ's commitment to you?"  In my opinion, Christ's commitment to me is far more important than my commitment to Him.  Religion would teach us our commitment is of most importance.  Personally, I don't want anything to do with something that is dependent upon my performance or lack there of.

Like most of you, I have issues in my life I am laying before the Father.  One area in particular I seem to volley back and forth with trusting God and picking up the worry/concern and trying to bear it in my own way.  When it is at His feet, I am at peace.  When I try to control or fix it, peace is far from me.  I place a high value on peace, so its' absent strongly impacts many areas of my life.

Aside from the one area I am continually having to surrender to Daddy, less weighty issues (in my estimation they are less weighty) pop up from time to time.  Such a situation arose this past week.  In all honesty the situation was a frustration to me.  I prayed about it and even thought it might be an area in which He was refining me.  Not wanting to miss the opportunity for an upgrade in my thinking, I told Him what was on my heart.

I'd like to say my attitude was all peachy, sunshine and roses, but it wasn't and you know what?  He.  Still.  Moved.  Not only did He move, He moved in the way I asked for Him to move...stinky attitude and everything.

As I was laying in bed this morning, He gently reminded me He was completely trustworthy and faithful.  It was then I realized He was building my faith in Him, to be able to trust Him with greater things in my life...you know, the one I keep laying down, picking up, laying down, picking up!  My heart filled with thankfulness and love for my Daddy God!

He's totally able to move in that situation too...after all, His commitment to me is far stronger than my commitment to Him...BUT, the more I realize His commitment to me, the more I rest in it and the more I rest in the finished works of the Cross and Grace, the more fruitful my walk becomes...not because of me, but all because of Him.  Resting in Him today, awed by His faithfulness and this is why My Soul Sings!

Known for Love

I've been thinking about something.  Uh-oh, there she goes thinking again:)  As I realize God's perfect love more and more, I just can't get away from it's simplicity, yet complexity.  Obviously, we've made it very complex, because if the body of Christ had an accurate and deep understanding of God's love I am convinced we would be living differently.

The Gospel of Christ is ridiculously good news!  So good, I think we have a hard time embracing just how good it is.  God's love comes with no strings or stipulations, why do we add them???  We go back to religious mindsets and mix old covenant law with new covenant reality.  There is such a burning desire in my heart to teach and impart the good news of the new covenant to everyone I know.

As I've written previously, the body of Christ impaling the body of Christ grieves me...DEEPLY!!!!  Honestly, there's not a day goes by I don't think of it and pray about it and look for ways to bring about reconciliation.  There are times I have considered taking a sabbatical from Facebook, merely because of posts that I feel are grossly misrepresenting my Jesus to a broken world.

What if, just what if, your only job as a follower of Christ was to love people?  I can hear the question now, what about the Truth?  What about what we stand for on topics such as same sex marriage, abortion, etc?  I get that, people.  I really, really do!  I believe marriage is one man and one woman.  I believe that abortion is murder.  But, seriously, it's not my place to impose my standards (which are derived from the Bible) on those who don't even believe in my God.  To quote the Bible at a person who doesn't believe in Jesus is utterly silly.

I go back to Romans 2:4 that it is His kindness that leads to repentance.  Repentance isn't wailing and crying for hours and hours proclaiming how sinful you are before the Lord, begging for His mercy.  Repentance is changing the way you think.  Turning from your worldly or sinful thought/belief in exchange for His.  Something like, "Father, I have believed a lie and I have made bad choices based on this belief.  I am truly sorry.  I receive Your forgiveness.  I choose to believe Your truth today."

Here lately, I can not get away from the Gandhi quote, "I like your Christ.  I do not like your Christians.  Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

You know what?  The Ten Commandments are still valid.  We are no longer under the law, but that doesn't make the law invalid.  Instead of worrying about people keeping the laws, what if we focused on the one law Jesus said was most important?  The law of love which is; love God, love others as you love yourself.

Henry Lewis Drummond wrote the following in 1890:

'If you love, you will unconsciously fulfill the whole law.  You can readily see for yourselves how that must be so.  Take any of the commandments. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."  If a man loves God, you will not need to tell him to put away other gods.  Love is the fulfilling of that law.  "Take not the Lord's name in vain."  Would a man ever dream of taking the Lord's name in vain if he loved Him? "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy."  Wouldn't a man be glad to have one day in seven to dedicate more exclusively to the object of his affection?  Love would fulfill all these laws regarding God.

In the same way, if a man loves others, you would never think of telling him to honor his father and mother.  He could not do anything else.  It would be preposterous to tell him not to kill.  He could not do anything else.  You could only insult him if you suggested that he should not steal-how could he steal from those he loved?  It would be superfluous to beg him not to bear false witness against his neighbor.  If he loved him it would be the last thing he would do.  And you would never dream of urging him not to covet what his neighbor had.  He would rather they processed it than himself.  In this way "love is the fulfilling of the law."  It is the rule for fulfilling all rules, the new commandment for keeping all the old commandments, Christ's one secret of the Christian life.'


Jonathan Welton says, "the difficultly of developing this type of lifestyle is that we must have our eyes focused not on a list of rules, but upon walking in love in our relationships."


The deeper I go in God's love the less I am tempted to break one of these laws.  Does that mean I am sinless?  NO!  When I do sin it's because I have left the truth of God's love.  Sin is a counterfeit way to get a need met.  When sin is present it is just an indication of an area where God's love needs to be received.  The grace of God empowers us to walk free from sin!

So, what's my point of this blog post?  Simple.  As believers I think we should take the words of Jesus to heart and start loving others.  If we were truly and accurately representing our Savior our churches would be full to max capacity.  The lost would be flocking to Jesus.

Body of Christ, it's time to stop hating and debating.  It's time to start representing our Father with excellence.  It's time to get over our divisions and disagreements and focus on the one thing that matters.  Jesus, oh sweet Jesus, Your love is amazing!

So, the next time you are tempted at work, on social media or wherever else you find yourself 'taking a stand for Jesus' by proclaiming what you are against perhaps try developing a relationship with someone who needs Jesus.  That girl who just had abortion, she doesn't need to hear how wrong it was.  She needs to know the love and forgiveness of Jesus so she won't make the same choice again.

My Soul Sings because I live in the new covenant and the Gospel of grace is such good news!!!!!  Help us, Jesus, become a people of relationship.  I want to be known for love and representing You well!

Grace for the Process

Wanted to hop on here and share with you a prayer Papa laid on my heart yesterday. It's a prayer I believe if we all prayed it, there would be a fountain of grace flowing more freely in the body of Christ.

I am not saying there is a lack of grace on heaven's part, but I think we have to be mindful that we have freely received grace for ourselves and it's time to freely give it to others as well. We need to be grace givers, not just grace receivers.

In life we are going to have conflict with others. Misunderstandings and offense are inevitable. Unless you live with your head in a hole, it's going to happen. I am at a point in my life where I want to use each opportunity to grow and become more like my Papa. Instead of avoiding or running from difficult situations, I want to meet them head on, in a spirit of love and grace. This is what I refer to as process. I am in process and everyone I come into contact with is in process...some are embracing the process and others are running from it:)

Graham Cooke refers to people in our lives that are difficult, needy or abrasive as grace growers. I have some grace growers in my life and I am sure you do too. Boundaries are necessary with your grace growers, but it's important not to completely shut them out because by doing so you will miss a wonderful opportunity to "grow in the Lord."

When we take offense and pick up our toys and move elsewhere we are just setting ourselves up to be introduced to more grace growers. He will continue to give us opportunity to grow up. It doesn't matter if the environment is different, the process is the same. Truth is, when we move, our junk goes with us...the same areas that need His touch and healing don't go away with new territory...you might as well deal with them where you are and save yourself some time and additional heartache!

For example, maybe you have a pattern of having issues with your boss. You think changing jobs is the solution, only to find the same issues surfacing within a few months in your new environment. Could it be possible, perhaps, YOU have an issue...maybe with authority? We can't control other people and we are only responsible for ourselves...so, take a look in the mirror. Allow Holy Spirit to shine His light on YOUR heart. Ask yourself the hard question...could I be part of the problem? Work on changing YOU and watch what God will do in your environments. It doesn't mean you won't have issues, but you will have His perspective and handling them with a goal toward solution will be possible with heaven backing you up!

So, the prayer He gave me was simply this, "Papa, help me to give myself grace in my process and give me grace for others in their process as well."

Yes, grace for my own process is important, because I have a tendency to beat myself up when I handle things less than "perfect." He isn't mad at me, therefore, I shouldn't be mad at myself. Who doesn't need more grace?

The day I realized I was trying to make people earn the grace I received for free was a day MY SOUL truly learned how to SING!

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