A S P E C T S - a monthly devotional journal For subscription information on receiving Aspects every month via e-mail, or the laser-printed edition by mail, see NOTES, COPYRIGHT & SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION near the end of this file. Aspects is written by David S. Lampel. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Issue #01, November 1990 (Internet Edition) G R A C E . . . ----------------------------------------------------------------- In this issue: Perspective - from God to Man Perspective - through Jesus Christ Perspective - Living Perspective - toward each other ----------------------------------------------------------------- When I was but a young lad, it fell to me to spend the balance of one summer with my Uncle Floyd and Aunt Estelle. Three distinct memories from this summer are still with me. The first is the memory of seeing my very first major league baseball game, (Chicago Cubs vs Milwaukee Braves). The second is the memory of scaling and gutting my first fish. The third, and most painful, is the memory of breaking Uncle Floyd's back porch window. It happened after we had returned home from that baseball game. I was out back, tossing a newly-acquired ball against the side of the barn. Only, in my imagination, I was really standing on the mound, pitching for the Braves. My pitch fell squarely inside the imagined strike-zone and ricocheted back into my glove. I whipped around to throw the man out at first and the ball sailed unpleasantly through that large, expensive window. Uncle Floyd was not impressed with my athletic prowess; his concern was for the eventual replacement of the window and the immediate warming of my backside. My solution to the inevitable was avoidance; if I could successfully avoid my Uncle, I would avoid his punishment. Put simply: I was afraid of him! Isn't it comforting that we needn't be afraid of our heavenly Father? The ancient prophet Micah voices for us all the wonder of His grace: Who is a God like Thee, who pardons iniquity, and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? (Micah 7:18) He finds His delight in forgiving us and loving us. It's not only unnecessary avoiding the Father, we are encouraged to go to Him: Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16) Uncle Floyd had every right to be angry with me. So does my heavenly Father. The difference is grace. _________________ Grace is so often thought of as an abbreviation for "getting away with murder." We don't deserve salvation, God gives it to us anyway, and that's grace. Very true, but God's concept of grace goes well beyond that. His grace is timeless: it was demonstrated to the first human, Adam, and it is being demonstrated to you this moment. The Old Testament idea of grace is best seen in the Hebrew word hanan, meaning "to be gracious," or "to be merciful." It is a picture of a compassionate person helping another. The New Testament word for grace is the Greek charis (verb: charizomai). Similar to the Hebrew, it means "a gracious favor or benefit bestowed," but additionally includes an "agreeable human quality," as in "performing with grace." In the next four sections we briefly look at four aspects of God's grace: Week 1 - the grace God displayed to man, primarily before Christ Week 2 - the grace God displayed to and through Jesus Christ Week 3 - living by God's grace Week 4 - the grace we display toward each other _________________ Be creative with Aspects. You could carry it in your car, your lunchbox, or your briefcase; pull it out when you have a moment to refresh yourself from God's Word. You could use it as a guide for a daily quiet time, breaking each week's page into daily sections, allowing yourself time to meditate on all the nuances to God's grace. Jot down insights, questions, and goals in the space provided each week; then write down, on the last page, any conclusions reached (in the space marked This Month). If you are interested in the sources to much of the material in Aspects, the notes can be found at the end of the issue. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Perspective F R O M G O D T O M A N ------------- We dare not define God, for by defining him we shrink his greatness by the limitations of our earthly sphere. But we can seek to know him, to understand his qualities. Those qualities begin with grace--specifically his graciousness--without which he would have no relationship with man. It is God's graciousness that brings his compassion and love down to our level. Most importantly, his grace is shaped by who he is; it has nothing to do with who we are. Thy Statutes Are My Songs(1) Then the LORD said:"...The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the LORD, will do for you." -Exodus 34:10b For the LORD your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him. -2 Chronicles 30:9 O LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress. -Isaiah 33:2 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! -Isaiah 30:18 GEN 21:1-3 EXO 34:4-10 1SA 2:21 2CH 30:6-9 NEH 9:5-38 PSA 111:1-4 PSA 145:8-9 ISA 30:18-19 JOE 2:13 GAL 1:11-24 HEB 4:16 JAM 4:6 1PE 5:10 Children of the Heavenly Father God His own doth tend and nourish, In His holy courts they flourish; From all Evil things He spares them, In His mighty arms He bears them Neither life nor death shall ever From the Lord His children sever; Unto them His grace He showeth, And their sorrows all He knoweth.(2) I considered putting off my prayer time this morning. My head was filled with fog and a headache was destroying any focus to my thoughts. But I persisted, and began by calling on God to take away the fog so I could properly commune with Him. And He did. I suddenly found my thoughts and words tumbling effortlessly from my lips--sharing the moment with God with clarity of thought. Woven throughout my conversation was glorious praise for this immediate miracle. Once again He had graciously shown me His concern for the smallest things in my life. It is difficult to put into words the emotional bond I experienced this morning with my God. As I called upon the Holy Spirit to translate my stumbling words, I felt His power surge through me; as I called upon God to cut through the gray haze enveloping my mind, I felt myself being lifted, joyously, into His presence. And once again, he demonstrated His gracious consideration for who I am right now. "While the dew is on the grass, let grace drop upon the soul." (Spurgeon) "Our appreciation for God's name leads us to turn to him, but it is his love itself that moves him to respond to us." (Richards) "Mercy pardons sin, grace bestows favour; in both the Lord abounds." (C.H.S.) "Grace comes into the soul, as the morning sun into the world; first a dawning; then a light; and at last the sun in his full and excellent brightness." (Adams) "As Grace is first from God, so it is continually from him, as much as light is all day long from the sun, as well as at first dawn or at sun-rising." (Edwards) "The central thought, grand and marvellous, which is enshrined in [the word Grace], and which often is buried for careless ears, is that of the active love of God poured out upon inferiors who deserve something very different." (MacLaren)(3) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Perspective T H R O U G H J E S U S C H R I S T ------------- Never has God's grace been better demonstrated than it was in our Lord Jesus. See him with the children his disciples tried to shoo away(4); see him healing the blind, the lame, the possessed; see him at the cross, with his compassion for those who had crucified him(5). Jesus was God's grace in flesh. But then he also became the conduit through which we could experience God's grace. He is the door, our access to the Father. Thy Statutes Are My Songs From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. -John 1:16 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. -2 Corinthians 13:14 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. -Ephesians 2:8 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. -John 1:17 LUK 2:39-40 LUK 4:14-22 JOH 1:14,16-17 ACT 14:1-3 ACT 15:7-11 ROM 1:1-6 ROM 5:14-21 ROM 16:20 1CO 1:4 2CO 8:9 2CO 12:9 EPH 2:6-10 EPH 4:7 EPH 5:1-2 2TI 1:8-10 TIT 3:4-7 HEB 2:6-9 REV 22:21 And Can it Be? And can it be that I should gain an int'rest in the Savior's blood? Died He for me, who caused His pain? For me, who Him to death pursued? Amazing love! how can it be that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me? He left His Father's throne above, so free, so infinite His grace! Emptied Himself of all but love, and bled for Adam's helpless race! 'Tis mercy all, immense and free, for, O my God, it found out me. Amazing love! how can it be that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?(6) "Christ, indeed, is a direct reflection of God's very essence. He is the Word. Jesus Christ was and is God's expression of Himself to man. And just as we use words to express ourselves to others, God communicated who He is by sending Jesus Christ (His Word) to dwell among us. 'The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being.' (Hebrews 1:3)"(7) "Grace: That which God does for mankind through His Son, which mankind cannot earn, does not deserve, and will never merit. It is God's unmerited favor in spite of the response of humanity. It is summed up in the name, person, and work of the Lord Jesus Christ." (Swindoll) "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1, NKJV) "God's love assumes many forms, and is lovely in them all." (Spurgeon) "The measure of love is how much it gives, and the measure of the love of God is the gift of His only Son to be made man, and to die for sins, and so to become the One mediator who can bring us to God." (Packer)(8) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Perspective L I V I N G ------------- Thy Statutes Are My Songs But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. -Ephesians 4:7 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. -Romans 6:14 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. -2 Corinthians 9:8 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. -2 Peter 3:18 PSA 112:1-6 JON 2:8 ACT 6:8 ACT 16:22-34 ROM 5:1-2 ROM 6:13-18 1CO 3:9-11 1CO 15:9-10 2CO 1:12 2CO 9:7-10 EPH 4:7 HEB 13:9 JAM 4:1-7 1PE 1:13 2PE 3:17-18 JUD 1:3-4 Blessed Assurance Blessed assurance, Jesus is Mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. Perfect submission--all is at rest, I in my Savior am happy and blest; Watching and waiting, looking above, Filled with His goodness, lost in His love. This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long; This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long.(9) _________________ We were stopped at a traffic light when out of the far corner of my vision I spied a brief shadow of white. It drifted closer, swooping and dancing upon an invisible current, something purest white drifting down from heaven. It had no weight, so fluttered tirelessly upon drafts incapable of moving anything more substantial. The feather seemed to care nothing of the bustle of traffic, the grating cacophony of the city. It was oblivious to the stench of exhaust and the cloying wrap of urban smog. It felt none of the press of calendars and clocks and schedules and meetings. It was but a feather, purest white and lingering but for a moment, only passing through on the barest wisps of the air. It slowly drifted past us, teasing in that back-and-forth manner of things so light, making us believe it could somehow defy the laws of gravity and remain aloft forever. Oh, to be as that feather: so clean and pure, so far above and detached from the world through which it must pass--so carefree and happy to be supported by some force invisible to the rest. But then, gravity did take hold of the feather, and gradually--almost reluctantly--it drifted down to the pavement. A few vain tugs by the invisible force could not dislodge the feather from the spiny talons of the asphalt, and it stayed there, trapped where it had fallen, now a sad bit of fluff to be trampled under the boots and treads of the oblivious traffic. At the moment it touched down, the feather became something common. No longer the spotless, dancing sprite, it was now soiled by the world and compromised by its values. It was no longer out of the ordinary, something to be admired, but now a part of the world it had for so long labored against. "Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves...the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship... "Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock... "It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life."(10) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Perspective T O W A R D E A C H O T H E R ------------- Thy Statutes Are My Songs Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. -Romans 15:7 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. -Ephesians 4:2-3 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. - Colossians 4:6 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. - 1 John 3:18 MAT 5:38-48 ROM 15:5-7 1CO 8:1-13 EPH 4:1-3 EPH 5:24-28 PHI 2:1-18 COL 4:5-6 PHM 1:1-25 1PE 2:11-17 1PE 3:7-9 1PE 4:8-11 1PE 5:5 God of Grace and God of Glory Lo! the hosts of evil round us Scorn Thy Christ, assail His ways! From the fears that long have bound us, Free our hearts to faith and praise. Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, For the living of these days, For the living of these days. Cure Thy children's warring madness; Bend our pride to Thy control; Shame our wanton, selfish gladness, Rich in things and poor in soul. Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, Lest we miss Thy kingdom's goal, Lest we miss Thy kingdom's goal. Set our feet on lofty places, Gird our lives that they may be Armored with all Christ-like graces In the fight to set men free. Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, That we fail not man nor Thee, That we fail not man nor Thee.(11) _________________ Passages such as the first three verses of Ephesians 4 can be intimidating: How in the world can we hope to attain such magnificent perfection? On a temporal level, it helps to remind ourselves that each day--regardless our condition--Jesus continually displays these graces toward us. The bottom line, however, is that we will never model even the easiest of these gracious qualities without the healing power of the Holy Spirit. "To do evil for good is human corruption; to do good for good, is civil retribution; but to do good for evil is Christian perfection. Though this be not the grace of nature, yet it is the nature of grace." (Secker) "That word 'Grace,' in an ungracious mouth, is profane." (Shakespeare) "Grace is but glory begun, and glory is but grace perfected." (Edwards) "God appoints our graces to be nurses to other men's weaknesses." (Beecher)(12) ======================================================================== NOTES, COPYRIGHT & SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION Notes ----- 1. Psalm 119:54 2. Carolina Sandell Berg; translated by Ernst W. Olson; Hymn #44 in The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration, WORD Music. 3. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, an English Baptist preacher, (June 19, 1834 to January 31, 1892); Lawrence O. Richards, Expository Dictionary of Bible Words, (Zondervan, 1985), p.317; Thomas Adams, born 1614, The Treasury of David by Spurgeon; Jonathon Edwards, 1703-1758, Ibid.; Alexander MacLaren, D.D., Litt.D., Expositions of Holy Scripture, Romans, p.69. 4. Matthew 19:13-14 5. Luke 23:33-46 6. Charles Wesley; Hymn #203 in The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration, WORD Music. The most soaring, Spirit-filled rendition of this hymn I ever heard was from a musical titled Song of Thanksgiving (WORD), by Stephen Nielson and Ovid Young. 7. Dick Eastman, A Celebration of Praise (Baker, 1984), p.33. 8. Charles R. Swindoll, Growing Deep in the Christian Life (Multnomah Press, 1986), p.416; Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, on Psalm 86, verse 15; J.I. Packer, Knowing God, (InterVarsity Press, 1973), p.114. 9. Fanny J. Crosby; Hymn #345 in The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration, WORD Music. 10. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (Collier), p.47. 11. Harry Emerson Fosdick; Hymn #292 in The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration, WORD Music. 12. William Secker on Psalm 7:4, The Treasury of David; William Shakespeare, 1564-1616; Henry Ward Beecher, 1813-87. Copyright Information --------------------- All original material in Aspects is Copyright (C) 1996 David S. Lampel. This data file is the sole property of David S. Lampel. It may not be altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety for circulation as "freeware," without charge. All reproductions of this data file must contain the copyright notice (i.e., "Copyright (C) 1995 David S. Lampel."). This data file may not be used without the permission of David S. Lampel for resale or the enhancement of any other product sold. This includes all of its content. Brief quotations not to exceed more than 500 words may be used, with the appropriate copyright notice, to enhance or supplement personal or church devotions, newsletters, journals, or spoken messages. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture is from the New International Version. NIV quotations are from the Holy Bible: New International Version, Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission. NASB quotations are from the New American Standard Bible (C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Subscription Information ------------------------ Aspects is published monthly. There are two preferred methods of receiving it on a regular basis: 1) You may subscribe to the laser-printed (hard copy) edition, which is sent out via regular mail. 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