God's Gracious Grace

 

About a month ago, I was meeting some friends for dinner in Sulphur Springs.  It was a little over an hour's drive from where I now live and I was, as usual, running late.  I got tangled in traffic and was frustrated that my friends were waiting on this habitually late friend named Liz. 

As I reached Sulphur Springs and a few blocks from the restaurant half an hour late, I look in my rear view mirror and see flashing lights behind me.  "Well dangit" I said...."just what I needed right now!"  The police officer walked up to my window where I had my information ready and waiting for him so as to hurry the process along, when he wanted to chit-chat about why I was in such a hurry.  I explained I was late to dinner with friends and apologized profusely  for my crime.  The scowl on his face indicated to me that there was no getting out of this ticket. 

As he returned a few minutes later with his ticket-pad in hand, he paused...looked at his pad...looked at me....and started scribbling something on the ticket.  He then shockingly said, "I made a mistake on your speed.  Slow down and have a nice evening" and started walking away.  What?  As he walked back to his squad car, I hung out the window and said, "What does this mean?"  He once again said, "I made a mistake. Slow down.  Have a nice evening."  As I pulled away, I remember I was still flinging these 60-year old arms out the window thanking him profusely for his forgiveness.

It reminded me a bit of Colossians 2:14: "He canceled the record of the charges against us (you and me) and took it away by nailing it to the cross."  Much like this police officer, God found a way to deal with my daily, often-times hourly, mistakes.  He couldn't overlook them; to do so would be unjust.  He can't pretend I didn't commit them; to do so would be a lie.  But here is what He did do: God found a person with a spotless past.  He had never broken a law.  Not one violation, not one trespass, not even a speeding ticket.  He volunteered to trade records with me....to put His own name on my record.  Even though I did wrong, He put my crime on Himself and gave me His spotless record.

The perfect record of God's Son, Jesus, was given to me, Liz Etheridge....and to YOU (place your name here).  And our imperfect record was given to Him.  And what did He do with my poor driving record?  He canceled my debt, which listed all the rules I failed to follow,  just like Mr. Police Officer took the blame for my speeding crime.

But God NAILED IT TO THE CROSS...and gave you His perfect record.

 

*Excerpt from Max Lucado book, "Grip of Grace"

"In everything God works for the good of those who love Him"

 

Four years ago, after the election of Donald Trump, I wrote this in my journal:

"I have a prediction. I know exactly what tomorrow will bring. Another day of God’s perfect authority. He will still be in charge. His throne will still be occupied. He will still manage the affairs of the world. Never before has His providence depended on a king, president, or ruler. And it won’t start tomorrow."

"The LORD can control a king’s mind as He controls a river; He can direct it as He pleases." 

— Proverbs 21:1 NCV"

Fast forward 4 years to 2020...the most bizarre year most of us have ever lived through. And the year isn't over yet. We still have 46 days to go before we can turn the page from this crazy-mixed-up-off-the-wall year. And we are being told Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will most likely be our next presidents.

Although its no secret I didn't cast my vote for Joe Biden, I will support this man if indeed he is deemed my next president. I will treat his supporters with the respect I would of a good friend. I will not call them names. I will not curse at them. I will not think ill of them because they see things differently than me. Because I am told if I love God, I can't help but love my neighbor.....even when we disagree.

As thousands marched through the streets of downtown Dallas with me yesterday with our flags held high simply there to ask for fair voting, I saw people standing on the sidelines cursing at us, flipping us off, making rude gestures with their bodies and FULL OF HATE. And I heard many marchers saying back to these very same people, "God loves you".

“By this all will know that you are My people, if you have love for one another.” 

~ John 13:35

We are a divided nation....always have been, just not as obvious as it is today...and most likely, it's only going to get worse. But don't forget; God's still in charge of how this plays out and the true test of a Christ-follower is how we respond to those we disagree with....whether you voted right or you voted left.

"I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your TRUE selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty." 

~ Matthew 5:43 MSG

And one last thing, let's imitate Jeremiah. Lift up your eyes. Dare to believe that good things will happen. Dare to believe that God was speaking to us when He said:

"In everything God works for the good of those who love Him". 

— Romans 8:28"

 

 

We Hear Him In His Whisper

 NOTE:  I wrote this article below about three years ago for our church bulletin.  It's been a noisy week in our country and I thought we all could use a little less screaming and a whole lot more listening.  Enjoy.

 

WE FIND HIM IN THE WHISPER

When I was in my mid-20's, I taught a Sunday School class full of  5-year-olds.  It was the Kindergarten class at our church and I felt with my limited knowledge of Bible stories, it was the perfect place for me to be.

However, I found out that 5-year-olds don't sit still...and they aren't quiet....and they have an attention span of about 3 seconds.  Having never had children and being the youngest in my family, this was shocking news to me.  I found myself each week frustrated and wondering how to either talk fast enough to get my point in the 3 seconds before their attention moved elsewhere, or increase the volume of my voice to where they could hear nothing but me.  Unfortunately, this dog-and-pony show went on for better than a year and didn't work.

So I decided to have a special guest speaker come in and tell the kids a story.  I needed the break, but so did the Kindergartners.  As the kids were busy taking their shoes and socks off, messing up the kids' hair next to them, thumping their foreheads repeatedly, the storyteller, a petite woman named Sammie, started telling her story. Actually, she whispered her story.  I found myself in the back of the room leaning in....desperate to hear what she was saying...and so did the kids.  The room, for the first time ever, was quiet.  They were still.  They were leaning in to hear what Sammie had to say.  She had taught us all the SECRET to listening.

“Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and  shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.   After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the  earthquake.

After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.
And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”  (NIV) 1 Kings 19:11-12

In the words of the great writer Mark Batterson, "When someone speaks in a whisper, you have to get very close to hear.  We lean toward a whisper, and that’s what God wants. The goal of hearing the Heavenly Father’s voice isn’t just hearing His voice; it’s intimacy with Him.

That’s why He speaks in a whisper."

Awwww...there it is!  God could intimidate us with His outside voice, but He woos us with a whisper.   And His whisper is the very breath of life.

My Friend Dub

 

This is my friend Dub.

Dub was the son of one of my Meals on Wheels clients back when I lived at the lake. He was one of three siblings who adjusted their lives to stay with their mom Jewel so she could remain in the comfort of her home instead of going to a nursing home. Each month, he and his two sisters and their cousin Sandy would pull the family calendar out and decide who stayed with mom which week that month. In the 12 years I knew Jewel, this happened each month.

I instantly fell in love with this entire family......and they loved me back.

When Jewel passed away in late 2016; two weeks prior to arriving at her 110th birthday, (yep, you heard me right....she lived to be almost 110!!), these same siblings, cousin and I decided we needed to keep our friendship alive and going by meeting for lunches every 6 weeks or so, and our love for each other became even stronger. So much so, they called me their sister and they were now considered my siblings. Jewel would have been over-the-moon happy we all stayed together.

Dub was the only male....surrounded by 4 laughing and crazy females.....and if you were to ask him, he would tell you he wouldn't have it any other way. He loved being the only guy.....

In the past four years of our "Family Lunch Dates", three out of the five of us lost our spouses; Dub included. And it was this Clay family who wrapped their arms around each other, and me, during those hard times as if by doing so, made us one strong unit together. I can't imagine my life without this family. Truly, a hand-wrapped gift from God straight to me.

Last week, we met for our usual beans and cornbread lunch at one of the sister's houses. Now that I live in the Dallas area and so does Dub, we rode to East Texas together. Their was no empty air space in the Jeep on that 4-hour ride as we both were talking at the same time about everything. He held my hand most of the way home as I drove us back to Dallas late Saturday.

But Tuesday night, I got a call. A call that Dub had died suddenly and unexpectedly a few minutes earlier. An aneurysm. He had been the picture of health....even though he was in his early 80's, he had the health of a much younger man. My mind, and heart, still can't process our friend and brother is gone. He was suppose to live to be 110.

And I'm reminded by this sudden and unexpected exit from this world of ours that we never know when that last grain of sand called our-life-on-this-earth will fall from the hourglass of time. We were never promised tomorrow....just this moment we're standing in right now.....and what we do with this moment is all that matters. How we live our lives.....what we do with the time we are given...and most importantly, Who we put our trust in.

Live life fully....Love deeply and make sure, friends, that your last day on this earth becomes your first day in Heaven. It's the only thing that matters.