GRACE…..so AMAZING!!
GRACE is a word I’ve heard all my life because I heard my sweet Mom singing “Amazing Grace” throughout our home and we often sang it at church. I’ve also heard it sung worldwide as an anthem of praise. And this morning as I type this blog, it is the second song Alexa played when I said, “Alexa, play praise and worship music!” I think I was getting a God wink when I knew my blog would be about grace today. Why would that old song still be relevant, especially when there are so many wonderful songs of praise that are written and sung today?
My godson’s big sister’s name is Grace. One of the definitions of grace is simple elegance with refined movement, which fits her tall, slender, elegant grace to a tee. I remember when we had a loan due at the bank and they gave us a GRACE-period. We’ll describe a dancer as GRACEFUL and people who devote their time to the needy as GRACIOUS.
Then there’s the meal-time prayer when someone says: “Who will say GRACE for us?” No wonder when a foreigner tries to learn our language, they are confused about so many definitions for one simple word GRACE. But the greatest of all definitions is the one that speaks of “Amazing Grace”– the one, saved by GRACE. That is God’s amazing GRACE — the free and unmerited favor of God, demonstrated by His great love for us in sending His Son, Jesus, to die for sinners (you and me) and pay the debt He did not owe. GRACE is getting what we do not deserve.
Back to that beloved hymn, “Amazing Grace”, that was written by John Newton, a former slave trader in 1772. It is estimated to be performed over 10 million times annually and has appeared on over 11,000 albums. It has been an anthem of hope and faith for generations. Why does that hymn still have such an impact? What was it that John Newton pointed out about God’s GRACE that resonates with us so strongly?
It probably has a lot to do with the truth that the Apostle Paul expresses here: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” Ephesians 2:8.
We all have AMAZING GRACE stories. It is about being right here, right now. We are alive, by the grace of God. It is His amazing grace of having peace that passes understanding, of hope in that with God nothing is impossible, of deliverance from addictions, sickness, a bad marriage, and having joy in the midst of the storms of life. And, it is God’s grace to us, that we can let flow through us to build others up in faith and trust in Him.
Indeed, God’s GRACE is amazing. We can never sink so far that God’s grace will not reach us. At the same time, GRACE does not leave us there. It raises us to new heights, causes us to demonstrate that grace to others in words and actions, and THAT “grace that brought us safe thus far? THAT “grace will lead us home”! THAT GRACE, my friends, really is AMAZING!