Your Grace

May 6, 2022

(Singing)

Thank you Lord for being there for me.

Thank you for a new day. Thank you for your love and our grace. Your grace that extends and covers all of us. When I think about it, it is something that as Christians we truly take for granted. And in a way, we are correct to do that, because we don’t deserve it. Nothing we do could ever earn it.

Grace: (Charis) Yahweh’s unmerited favour. Kindness we get that we don’t deserve. Spontaneous, unmerited gift of divine favour in the salvation of sinners. Divine influence operating in individuals for their regeneration and sanctification.

Right, some ten dollar words here, but I think I like the first two definitions for their simplicity. We receive something  from Yahweh because we don’t deserve it.  And the truth is, everything we have or is able to do is an act of grace. The air we breathe is only because of the grace of Yahweh: we don’t deserve it. But he gives us anyway because he loves us.

Romans 11:6 – If they were chosen by God’s kindness, they weren’t chosen because of anything they did. Otherwise, God’s kindness wouldn’t be kindness.

When we truly compare how Yahweh moves to the way the world moves, it is no wonder he says, his thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are higher than our ways. As people we are prone to demanding penance, sacrifice. We are prone to be exacting – he didn’t do this, so I won’t give him that or do so or so for him and it becomes a burden. 

But that isn’t the way Yahweh works. We can never earn your favour no matter how hard we try and if we keep on using our own measuring stick for so many things that Yahweh is offering us, then we would lose out.

Romans 11: 10 – Let their vision become clouded so that they cannot see. Let them carry back-breaking burdens forever.

When our backs are broken, we become invalids, we can’t function. Hmmmmm. David may have meant it as curse (Re: Psalm 69:23) but maybe it’s a blessing in disguise. When we can’t do anything for ourselves, we have no choice (well we still do), we are more likely, more willing to accept help from someone else because we can’t do it ourselves. But then there are those who the more of an invalid they become, the more they want to prove that they can do it themselves.

But you extend an open invitation to us. Always open. For us to hold on to you. To use you to stand up. Thank you for your kindness to us. Help us to hold on to you.

I’m here at this moment trying to choose what scripture to focus on and honestly it is so much – Romans that is. It shows so much of how you operate in your kindness. You desire to be merciful to all people. You would prefer that we would all be disobedient (and recognise that disobedience) so that we can accept your grace. Rather than believe that whatever we have is because of the hard work that we do. (Romans 11:32).

Thank you for that desire to forgive us all. To draw all of us closer to you. Yahweh, thank you for who you are. You are amazing. Btw, my mind makes me smile. I think in songs. I think in emojis. I literally started singing a song based on that one line and then I remember someone saying when I sent them an emoji in the chat, that they could actually see me doing the motions. I had to laugh, because so could I. 

Thank you for the way you made me, flaws and all. Because in those flaws you get to show off. Let your Spirit flow through me and fill in the gaps, cover me so that everything that I do is truly of you. Thank you for you. You are worthy above all to be praised. You are great, everything written about you is great.

Dream Revelation

OMG! Thank you!

Revelation of the Dream (at least one part) 

No matter how it looks, no matter how dilapidated it looks, it is still Yahweh’s church. We are still your people. You still accept our worship. We are messed up. We are in need of repair but we can still come to you. Thank you for accepting us as we are. You are truly a merciful God. You accept my messes. You accept their messes. I need to look past our messes and focus on you. You carried the weight of the world on your shoulders. Thank you for carrying us. Thank you for loving us despite our messes and using us for your glory. Thank you. You can make it happen. You can fix us. You can restore us. Hallelujah!

Dream: 

I left home and went walking, no particular direction. I passed several groups of people on the road. Said good morning to them. The road was kinda overcast/overshadowed. The second group of two guys responded to the greetings. As I walked I had to duck in between some clothes/sheets on some lines in order to continue. I passed someone among the clothes and kept walking. I heard someone walk-in behind me and they started walking so fast that they overtook me. However after turning a corner I saw them standing at the top of a hill waiting – like they weren’t sure how to go down the hill.

The hill (really a small incline) had half of a large pvc pipe (that was slightly connected to a wall) lying on the ground. I told the guy, it wouldn’t be a problem to go down. Let’s go. We both slid down the incline, but my slide dislodged the pvc pipe a bit and my feet sunk deeper into the dirt, but I made it to the bottom before him, stopped by a galvanise. When I looked back, there was someone else helping him.

I continued walking and the scene shifted. I was close to Steph’s house and told her that I was coming by her. She said something about cleaning. And I said (I think), it’s okay, I don’t mind, that I wasn’t even sure how I ended up here, but I was walking and I did. 

She said okay and let’s go inside. Shift scene again and we were in a place to pay taxes and had to speak to a specific person. We had to sit and wait and while waiting a gentleman came out and spoke to the same person that we had just spoken to. He then took out a phone and called someone. He was standing close enough for me to hear the call and I realized that it was my phone he was calling. But I did not have my phone. I signal to him that I was right here and he ended the call with whoever had answered the phone. When he spoke to me he said that the person didn’t say or do anything weird or wrong. 

Then Steph and I were standing in front of a teller window, the same guy on the other side. There was no one else behind us. But the next teller had a line going out the door. The guy told us that even though the notice (or whatever we had come for) said that we have to pay, we didn’t. It was okay. Steph whispered something in my ears at that time and I missed what was the next thing the guy said. Next thing he was outside at the back. We could see him through the glass. A cleaner on my right laughed and said that I missed it. 

Steph and I left, weaving in between the line of people. She made a space toward the end of the line behind a young man. I said excuse me and passed behind him also. After passing I realised that I had no slippers and was not going to walk through the city barefoot. So I asked Steph for my slippers which were in her bag (which actually wasn’t there before). The dream ended as I put on my slippers. I woke up.

Yahweh, I don’t know if this was a dream-dream or a vision-dream. It was so vivid. And honestly I was tempted not to write it because that would be two dreams, two days in a row. I pray that if it is a vision dream that you will reveal what it means. I also ask that in everything that I am called to do, I will still trust you. That you will continue to lead. I know that you will. But I also want to ask. Thank you for who you are. I love you. 

Like Me

The truth is, this feels like me. I love my job. Not every day is fulfilling, but I do love my job. I love baking for fun. I like design and decoration, I love writing. Poetry, prose. I love reading. I’ve had people tell me I should open a bakery. I’ve had friends tell me I should write novels. And none of those ideas appealed to me. I don’t want to bake because I have to. I want to be because I want to (on occasion). I love writing but the level of character development for a novel never appealed to me either. But the moment Yahweh whispered to do the blog, my spirit settled in agreement. I had no idea how hard it would be. The work it would take, but it fits me. And I love the work. After I took a step back and allowed my mind to settle regarding the design of the page, I got to work. And I enjoy it. I am so thankful for this blessing. I’ve always said that I didn’t want an after hours job. I wanted to live off of one thing. But you know something? It’s not a job. It’s me. It’s what I was asked to do and every time I see Yahweh give me strength to take another step, I am encouraged and I am thankful. Thank you for preparing me and changing me. For being my strength. My life. My everything I love you.