Posts Tagged ‘amazing grace’

Dark days in Israel

Posted: April 21, 2013 by Pam Larson in April, Devotionals/Commentaries, Judges
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We have reached Judges 19, a terrifying and awful account of how bad things had gotten in Israel.  D.A.Carson, in “For the Love of God, Vol 1″ says “the law of the jungle has triumphed in the fledgling nation of Israel.”

Indeed, Judges 19: 1 says, “In those days, when there was no king in Israel….” David Guzik comments, “this doesn’t only mean that Israel had no one political monarch, but that they refused to recognize God’s leadership over them.

The passage grows more tragic and dark.  Unfaithfulness, deceit, gang rape, murder…

Centuries later, this crime at Gibeah was remembered, and used as an example of wickedness:

They are deeply corrupted, as in the days of Gibeah . . . . O Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah (Micah 9:9 and 10:9)

2 Timothy 3:1-3 tells us that these days will come(are these days here now?)

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good (2 Timothy 3:1-3)

Makes me very thankful for God’s grace, tough and tender grace!

Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus

Posted: January 17, 2013 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, January, Psalms
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I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me; hear my words.

Wondrously show your steadfast love,
O Savior of those who seek refuge
from their adversaries at your right hand. —Psalm 17:6-7

C. H. Spurgeon comments on verse 7 “Show thy marvelous lovingkindness.”(KJV)

Marvelous in its antiquity, its distinguishing character, its faithfulness, its immutability, and above all, marvelous in the wonders which it works. That marvelous grace which has redeemed us with the precious blood of God’s only begotten, is here invoked to come to the rescue. That grace is sometimes hidden; the text says, “SHOW it.” Present enjoyments of divine love are matchless cordials to support fainting hearts. Believer, what a prayer is this! Consider it well.

  • O Lord, show thy marvelous lovingkindness;
  • show it to my intellect, and remove my ignorance;
  • show it to my heart, and revive my gratitude;
  • show it to my faith, and renew my confidence;
  • show it to my experience, and deliver me from all my fears.

I was reminded of the old hymn by the Norwegian composer, Haldor Lillenas, “Wonderful Grace of Jesus”, here sung by the Cathedrals:

Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus,
Deeper than the mighty rolling sea;
Higher than the mountain, sparkling like a fountain,
All sufficient grace for even me;
Broader than the scope of my transgressions,
Greater far than all my sin and shame;
O magnify the precious Name of Jesus,
Praise His Name!

Astronomical Grace

Posted: January 8, 2013 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, January, Psalms
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Watch this video, “Indescribable” from Louie Giglio:

Psalm 8 proclaims

O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

Graciously freed

Posted: October 21, 2012 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Jeremiah, October
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And in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, graciously freed  Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison. And he spoke kindly to him, and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon.  So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king’s table, and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king according to his daily need, until the day of his death, as long as he lived. Jeremiah 52:31-34

Grace is wonderful. For us and for Jehoiachin. He was treated graciously:

1.  Brought him out of prison!

Ps. 142:7 “Bring my soul out of prison, That I may praise Your name;”

2.  Spoke kindly to him!

Ps.119:103 “How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth!”

3.  Gave him a more prominent seat!

Ps.113:7,8 “He raises the poor out of the dust, And lifts the needy out of the ash heap, That He may seat him with princes; With the princes of His people.”

4.  Prison garments were changed!

 Zech.3:3,4 “Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel. Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.”

5.  Ate bread continually with the king all the days of his life!

Sounds like Mephibosheth!

Rev.19:9 ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’

6.  His provisions were supplied daily!

Phil 4:19 “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

Intentional grace

Posted: October 11, 2012 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, John, October
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Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.  A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”  (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) John 4:6-9

Did you notice what Jesus did?

  • Purposefully, he went through Samaria.
  • And purposefully, he sent the disciples to buy food so that he could be alone.
  • Purposefully, he sat on the well (she could not avoid him!)
  • Purposefully, he asked a woman—even though he knew was a Samaritan—for a drink. He didn’t just ask for permission to get a drink himself, but for a drink from her.

“Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.”  or “Are you really asking to use the same bucket of water as ME?”

Jesus designed this interaction. This is grace in action. He didn’t “just happen” to meet this Samaritan woman. This meeting was intentional.

Jesus was intentionally gracious with this woman and God is intentionally gracious with us.  What does this mean for our interactions with others?

“For I am God and not man”

Posted: December 4, 2011 by Pam Larson in December, Devotionals/Commentaries, Hosea
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My heart recoils within me,
my compassion grows warm and tender.
I will not execute my fierce anger,
I will not again destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and not man,
the Holy One in your midst,
and I will not come to destroy. Hosea 11:9

Wow, God’s grace at work! That is why he doesn’t give up on Israel, or on us. Our hope is based on the faithfulness of God, and His is not based on our unfaithfulness to him. The words of these two verses braid together strands of his grace into a rope of love, a cord of compassion that slips around our wandering hearts. God’s love is relentless and won’t let his people go. Although he does have to judge and punish them, he can never finally give up on them or hand them over to total destruction.

We see attributes of God in this passage in Hosea:

  • God’s holiness is foundational to his love.
  • God isn’t vindictive.
  • God is compassionate and tender.
  • He is righteous in his judgment.
  • His punishment is remedial.
  • His forgiving grace is at work.
  • His purpose in all the circumstances is reconciliation.
  • He is not like us.
  • His holiness, mercy and grace will ultimately bring his people back to the land.

Spurgeon: The blessed silence of a grateful heart makes true music before the Throne of God

Posted: November 5, 2011 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Ezekiel, November
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Ezekiel 16:59-63   “For thus says the Lord God: I will deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant,  yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant. Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you take your sisters, both your elder and your younger, and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of the covenant with you. I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord, that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord God.”

Charles H. Spurgeon, 1895 sermon “Two Immutable Things”:

Pardon from God for great sin is a silencer to all our pride. We never dare open our mouths, again, because of our shame. Yet the blessed silence of a grateful heart makes true music before the Throne of God—and when the Lord opens our lips—then our mouth shall show forth His praise.

Grace, Wonderful Grace

Posted: October 21, 2011 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Jeremiah, October
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And in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, graciously freed  Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison. And he spoke kindly to him, and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon.  So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king’s table, and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king according to his daily need, until the day of his death, as long as he lived. Jeremiah 52:31-34

Grace is wonderful. For us and for Jehoiachin. He was treated graciously:

1.  Brought him out of prison!

Ps. 142:7 “Bring my soul out of prison, That I may praise Your name;”

2.  Spoke kindly to him!

Ps.119:103 “How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth!”

3.  Gave him a more prominent seat!

Ps.113:7,8 “He raises the poor out of the dust, And lifts the needy out of the ash heap, That He may seat him with princes; With the princes of His people.”

4.  Prison garments were changed!

 Zech.3:3,4 “Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel. Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.”

5.  Ate bread continually with the king all the days of his life!

Sounds like Mephibosheth!

Rev.19:9 ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’

6.  His provisions were supplied daily!

Phil 4:19 “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

Isaiah 53: A beautiful revelation of Christ’s saving death in the place of sinners and a stunning validation of its truth

Posted: September 20, 2011 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Isaiah, September
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John Piper, in an introduction to a series of sermons on Isaiah 53:

Nowhere in all the Old Testament does the gospel of Jesus Christ shine more clearly than in Isaiah 53. Seven hundred years before Jesus came into the world, God opened the eyes of his prophet to see into the very heart of Christ’s saving work. And the heart of that saving work is substitution. The Messiah is pierced and crushed in our place. The righteous in the place of the unrighteous. The loving shepherd in the place of the lost sheep. The exalted king in the place of the rebel subjects.

So when we look at Isaiah 53 for the next several weeks, what we have is not only a beautiful revelation of Christ’s saving death in the place of sinners, but also a stunning validation of its truth. Christ not only died for sinners so that we could be saved, he died for sinners in fulfillment of explicit prophecy so that we could know more surely that we are saved. When you read the story of your salvation in detail 700 years before it happened, you have not only revelation, but validation.

And so I invite you this morning not only to revel in the great substitutionary work of Christ that takes away your condemnation, but also to be strengthened in your confidence that this is no myth, but the historical work of God who told his story long before it happened.

Infinitely-Loving Last Words

Posted: September 17, 2011 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Luke, September
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J.C. Ryle on Jesus’ gracious words of intercession from the cross: (Luke 23:32-37)

Crucifixion of ChristWe read that when He was crucified, His first words were, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” His own racking agony of body did not make Him forget others. The first of His seven sayings on the cross was a prayer for the souls of His murderers.

  •  His prophetical office He had just exhibited by a remarkable prediction.
  •  His kingly office He was about to exhibit soon by opening the door of paradise to the penitent thief.
  • His priestly office He now exhibited by interceding for those who crucified Him. “Father,” He said, “forgive them.”

The fruits of this wonderful prayer will never be fully seen until the day when the books are opened, and the secrets of all hearts are revealed. We have probably not the least idea how many of the conversions to God at Jerusalem which took place during the first six months after the crucifixion, were the direct reply to this marvelous prayer. Perhaps this prayer was the first step towards the penitent thief’s repentance. Perhaps it was one means of affecting the centurion, who declared our Lord “a righteous man,” and the people who “smote their breasts and returned.” Perhaps the three thousand converted on the day of Pentecost, foremost, it may be at one time among our Lord’s murderers, owed their conversion to this very prayer. The day will declare it. There is nothing secret that shall not be revealed. This only we know, that “the Father hears the Son always.” (John 11:42.) We may be sure that this wondrous prayer was heard.

Let us see in our Lord’s intercession for those who crucified Him, one more proof of Christ’s infinite love to sinners. The Lord Jesus is indeed most pitiful, most compassionate, most gracious. None are too wicked for Him to care for. None are too far gone in sin for his almighty heart to take interest about their souls. He wept over unbelieving Jerusalem. He heard the prayer of the dying thief. He stopped under the tree to call the tax-collector Zaccheus. He came down from heaven to turn the heart of the persecutor Saul. He found time to pray for His murderers even on the cross. Love like this is a love that passes knowledge. The vilest of sinners have no cause to be afraid of applying to a Savior like this. If we want warrant and encouragement to repent and believe, the passage before us surely supplies enough.

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