Today’s verse: “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” Ephesians 1:7
I have always been moved by the story of John Newton, the author of “Amazing Grace”. He lived a hopeless, desperate lifestyle filled with tragedy and dangers until that fateful day in 1748 when he was caught up into a powerful storm on the sea. His fear led him to cry out to the Lord and eventually, his lifestyle changed dramatically to one of reliance on God.
In addition to the beautiful poetry that comprises our version of this well known song, another verse was written by Newton that is equally as compassionate and moving:
“The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, the sun forbear to shine;
But God, Who called me here below, shall be forever mine.”
God’s gifts of grace, mercy and love are the most precious gifts we could ever receive, especially given our tendency as humans to neglect our relationships with Him at times or fail to share these gifts with our dear friends and neighbors. Yet although we were inherently selfish and full of sin, God chose to give us the greatest gift of all: His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior of us all.
In our present bodies, we can never fully comprehend the enormous sacrifice God made to us by offering His only Son, equal to Himself, to be humbled to the position of a lowly servant for the remission of our sins and to be nailed on a cruel and lonely cross instead of a murderer and insurrectionist who more justly deserved to be punished. Jehovah in His great wisdom and power planned the most precious gift of His Son for the very people who, motivated by jealousy and hatred, would falsely testify against Jesus and cry out for His death. Our Savior and Lord willingly succumbed to this abuse in order to fulfill His Father’s desire for us, who will never merit such love, to live with Him in Heaven forever comforted by His love and protection.
Tears of shame at my own sinfulness flow as I struggle to understand why the Father and Creator of mankind would seek this relationship with us. How can such forgiveness exist and why is it bestowed on unloving and selfish creatures as humankind? I deeply relate to Job's realization that he was infinitesimally insignificant in comparison to the Giver of Life and Lord of all Creation. Job, in his attempts to understand such a difficult concept, cried out, "What is man that you make so much of him, that you give him so much attention, that you examine him every morning and test him every moment?" (Job 7:17-18).
Upon being awakened to the trivialness of his existence in contrast to the significance and awesome power of God, David similarly asked, "When I consider 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, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor” (Psalm 8:3-5).
Praise Jehovah for His concern for us above all other creatures! He knows everything about us, including the very hairs on our head (Matthew 10:30), because He chooses to have this loving relationship with us.
Someday the faithful will know fully what now we only see in part. God’s amazing grace will be completely bestowed to us as we are welcomed into our eternal home with open arms. This thought reminds me of the last stanza of a poem I wrote a few years ago for a Ladies’ Day event at which I was honored to serve as a speaker. I pray that it will reach each of you and help you to feel the love, peace and blessings of God our Father today, tomorrow and for the rest of your life. Thank you, dear friends, for sharing these studies of God’s Word with me.
The LORD is Always Near
‘Neath the wings of His sheltering arm,
The Lord protects us, both night and day
Though the powers of darkness surround us,
In our haven of rest, the Lord with us does stay.
And even through the valley of the shadow of death,
We will fear no alarm, for our Christ lights the way
He gives us our strength, our courage and wisdom
To face our temptations and chase them away
With His peace, hope and love He blankets us safe,
And keeps us from harm as we sleep through the night
And in the morn, when we awake to the Sun,
We can begin our task anew to “fight the good fight”.
Our Father remains our shelter in the midst of the storm
He never leaves our side – His love is always near
May we never forget this, though we struggle at times,
That we will always be women whom our Lord holds dear.
For if we remain faithful to defend His just cause,
And love one another without bitterness or pride,
We know that someday, when He calls us Home,
That He’ll welcome us in, with His arms open wide.
Amy Lemmons
Authored in 2002
