Laced With Grace

A comical saying by a precious “mama” in the Lord is, “Well, Jesus loves me, warts and all”.  There is much truth in that funny little statement.  

I remember my Grandbuddy “thinking” he had to be perfect before he could come to Jesus.  Okay, what’s wrong here?  If you were perfect….why would you need a Savior?  You wouldn’t.  Jesus expects us to come to Him as we are.  Warts and all.  The filth of the world covers our lives, along with the stench of sin.  He takes us into His arms and cleanses us right then and there, as we bow before Him in our repentant state.  We are now clean.

In a recent sermon by Pastor Potter, I realized he was hitting some very thought lines I had been having.  Allow me to share.

Sometimes we think like Naaman.  Surely, I must do something great to be freed from this disease called sin!  Surely, it can’t be as simple as “dipping” in a river.  But  surely  it is.  As simple as calling on the name of Jesus and immersing our lives into His life, as His blood covers our sins.  We are cleansed.

To view Naaman as a man and great commander of the king’s army, resplendent with his “finery” which I am sure he was clothed, you might not be aware of the disease that was eating away his flesh.  He hid it daily.  But underneath all the trappings of his job….lurked a disease that was taking his life.  A disease that would soon make him an outcast.  Apparently only his household knew. 

The simple instructions of the great prophet must have seemed ridiculous to him.  But the servants of Naaman thought otherwise. 

“Naaman’s servants went to him and said, My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” 2Kings 5:13

With that, Naaman did as the prophet instructed….and low and behold….he was healed!  His skin was restored and he was made whole.

How many of us hide something within our hearts and lives everyday.  Thinking that no one knows.  I am sure that it is guarded so well that people that see us don’t know, but what about the Holy Spirit?  What prompts us to hide it?  There must be a layer of guilt.   Why else would we hide?  (Think about Adam and Eve here.)  Undoubtedly, we know that it is sin.

I remember times in my own life, caught up in things I had no business in, but yet trying for all I could to hide it—-even thinking I was hiding it from God.  But I could not hide from God, nor could I hide it from myself.   You can fool some of the people, some of the time….but there is no fooling God.  Just go ahead and bring it on out!   God knows….and pretty soon, mama will too!

We go about day after day, pasting on a smile, covering our tracks, making sure no one can see the scar, the limp, the loss.  All the things in our lives that sin has caused or is causing.  Thinking of my daughter (she gave me permission to use her), and the lengths she went to in order that we, nor any member of our family, would know the extent of her sin.  We might not have known with our “physical mind”, but my heart knew.  Sin was taking it’s toll on her life.

 We cover the outside, but God sees the inside.   Only when we allow Him to peel away the layers and reveal the condition of our hearts, as He pours in His healing ointment of forgiveness, do our wounds heal.  But as long as it is kept hidden and secret, the enemy continues to destroy our lives.  Revealing the ugliness of our sin to the Lord, closes the door firmly on the enemy.  Slam!

Once we are covered by the blood of the Lamb of God, the enemy can no longer use that against us.  It’s not a secret.  We can talk about our “warts” or problems freely with the Lord.  We no longer feel the need to hide.  We are under His covering.  His protection!  We are His child!  He loves us—-warts and all!

‘See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that runs away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.’ Hebrews 3:12-13

Father in heaven, today we need to make sure there is nothing hidden.  Nothing that the enemy can use against us.  Open our hearts to Your word.  Reveal to us any area of our lives that we have neglected to have You “cover”.  We hide nothing, we hold nothing back.  We give it all to You today.  Free us from all unrighteousness.  So that we can live freely, emersed daily in Your Holy Spirit.  I don’t want anything to hinder my walk with you.   In the awesome name of Jesus, we give You glory for all that You have done, all that You are doing and all that You have planned to do in our lives—Amen—Hallelujah!

 Trusting Him,

Angie

“Say the name,” It was about 1:30 am this morning. I had just turned off my computer after discarding several posts that I was either not pleased with or not ready to share. I headed to my bed wondering how I would be able to keep my commitment when I just simply couldn’t find the words to say. As I lay in my bed a line from a song came to my mind. “When you can’t find the words to say, say the name.” So if you don’t mind for today, I’ll just say the name.

And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:8-11 NIV (emphasis mine)

This name has been my anchor so many times in life. There have been times when I was going through a situation and I just couldn’t find the words to pray and I’d just call on that name. The great thing about it is that when we say his name, “Jesus!” He knows just what we’re trying to say. The only word coming out of our mouths may be Jesus but he hears the thoughts behind it,

Jesus, (I’m hurting)

Jesus, (I don’t know how to handle this situation)

Jesus, (I don’t understand)

Jesus, (I need to hear from you)

Jesus, (place your thoughts in here)

So today, I’ll encourage you in the words of this song by Martha Munizzi, just in case one day you feel a little like me and you can’t find the words to say or pray either… Say the Name

Say the name of Jesus
Say the name of Jesus
Say the name of Jesus
No other name I Know
That can calm your fears, and dry your tears and wipe away your pain
When you don’t know what else to pray
When you can’t find the words to say
Say the name Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
He’s gonna make a way when you say the name Jesus…When you don’t know what else to pray
When you can’t find the words to say
When you can’t make it through another day
Say the name

I have a confession. I loathe the Proverbs 31 Woman. Really, in years past I would read through these 31 verses and feel like I went two rounds with a professional boxer.

I was convinced there was not a woman alive who could measure up to the woman on these pages. After all, this woman was up before dawn organizing the house, the kids, and servants -she had servants! She ran a business; dabbled in real estate, packed lunches, dressed like a movie star, brought home the bacon, fried it up in the pan, and never let her husband forget he’s a man. Then she stayed up half the night knitting. For crying out loud!

I really believed she was unattainable. I was sure God didn’t “really” want me to be exactly like her. It was impossible. She would never happen to me.

Guess what? God snickered. When God gets to laughing you can bet someone’s gettin’ some learning! Yep, it was lesson time.

Several years ago I signed up to lead a Bible study. This was the very first time I led my own group. Imagine the look on my face when the Women’s Ministry Leader handed me a study of the Proverbs 31 woman? However, I liked the Proverbs gal, even though she was still a bit lofty. But, could I actually be her? I wasn’t convinced.

Fast-forward five or six years, I am still leading Bible study. Once again this fall, our group is working through the study of the Proverbs 31 woman. This is my THIRD study of this lady. The irony is I picked this study. —Lord, I am getting the message.

Seated around the kitchen table this morning with twelve other women, we discussed Mrs. Proverbs. I realized as we talked, that I genuinely love her. She IS a woman to emulate, someone you can model your home after.

Our verse study today was:

Proverbs 31:27
She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.

In our study, Living Life On Purpose, by Lysa Terkeurst, Lysa describes the woman of this verse like this: The Proverbs 31 woman is a disciplined and industrious keeper of the home who creates a warm and loving environment for her family and friends.

With this thought in mind the women around the table began to share stories about how this is relavant and real in their homes. Each one had a unique gift for creating a loving environment. These are some of my favorites:

Candace’s family will have an impromptu slumber party in the family room. She blows up the air mattress and the whole family camps out on the floor. Minus the campfire mind you. They read books, have popcorn fights, and stay up all night or until 10 o’clock when the girls, age six and eight, pass out. It’s a ton of fun.

My friend Beth’s specialty is spontaneity. Unplanned trips for ice cream after school or hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and brightly colored sprinkles, tickle her kids. These seemingly small surprises will be life-long treasures stored in their hearts.

Around the table we went. Finally it was my friend Karen’s turn. She looked up and said to all of us, “We have a DOOT party at our house.”

I hesitated, “Karen, ahem, what is DOOT party.

“Dad’s Out Of Town Party.” We all burst out laughing. Karen and her teen-age girls rent movies, eat pizza, and hang out.

As I looked around the table at the smiles and the love on the faces of these wives and mothers. I saw the Proverbs 31 woman. She isn’t perfect or unattainable. The Proverbs 31 Woman is you and I.

Lord, I love you so much. You leave nothing to chance. You have provided women with exactly what we need, The Owners Manual. Your Holy Word changes us into amazing women, not perfect, but perfected. In Jesus name, Amen.

I am a Proverbs 31 Woman.

Thank you for joining me here today. I know you are busy. I am humbled you took time to spend a minute with me.