Introduction to this letter written to my father, Pops
But for the grace of God....
"Grace is the free, undeserved goodness and favor of God to mankind." Matthew Henry
Father God’s grace. It’s a word and concept we like to use a lot, at least I do. It can be inserted casually into almost any conversation. It also can be used in the deepest of thoughts and contemplations of life. The word “grace” and its broad use does not discount its meaning by any means because God’s grace is like the air, it permeates every aspect of our individual and collective “being.” You can’t go any where and not have Father’s grace present. Talk to a hundred Christ followers and ask them what “grace” means to them, you might just get a hundred different answers back and they might all be right. That’s how wide and deep God’s grace is.
There are days I will describe grace in one way and just as easy the next day, I will see grace in a different bent and its meaning in my life. Why, there are days (I don’t want to admit this) when the enemy and the world is throwing so many lies at me and I buckle under them that I’m duped into thinking Father’s grace towards me is entirely absent and missing. Foolish me! Yet, His grace doggedly follows me anyway, and that is grace!
“Grace will follow us even when we are going the wrong way.” Ricky Maye
I could fill endless pages of the many ways Father’s grace has been extended to me and I would still miss the majority of them. Daily, hourly, minute by minute to second by second, His grace washes over me. The fact that I have breath to type these words is only by His grace. All of the grace that I have experienced and will experience are, to be sure, totally underserved, outrageously underserved. Yet they are freely given and matched with equally outrageous Love.
I never heard my earthly father speak to me about the “grace” of God. As my children, when they were very young, never recognized the “graces” extended to them by their parents, day in and day out, it is so very easy to not see Father God’s, day in and day out, graces given to us. The wonderful thing about Father’s grace is that He doesn’t demand us to recognize this “amazing” grace for it to keep flowing to us, that is not love's style. Because He is pure Love, He just keeps it coming. I shake my head at this depth of love.
In this particular letter to Pops, the verse of James 1:17 led into a discussion of God’s grace. As I reread it I quickly realize that any discussion of Father’s grace is woefully inadequate and lacking. It is a subject we will only fully understand when we stand on the other side of Heaven’s veil. I wonder, even then, if I will understand the height, breadth and immensity of the grace give to me through Jesus Christ.
This letter was written to Pops on January 13, 2019
But for the grace of God....
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. James 1:17
Good morning Pops,
Our natural man does not like the truth presented in this verse. Whatever end of the spectrum of possible human stations a person falls into, we struggle with this notion that Father God is responsible for whatever is “good” in our lives. We would like to take the personal credit for any “good” we experience and most times we do.
The “gifts” James refers to are not just those things in the physical possession realm. They include anything “good” in my life. Relationships, health, wealth, spiritual and mental well-being and of course, possessions.
If one does not subscribe to the foundational truth that God is provident, that all things proceed from His direction and superintendence, a struggle will most likely ensue over this idea that “all good things” flow from Father God. Psalms 139 is the place I go to firm up this principle of Father’s big three attributes of omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience. Without these, He cannot be provident in the “all” of my life or yours.
Back to the “good and perfect gifts.” To try and understand why there is an appearance of great disparity with the distribution of many “good” things, especially in the physical domain, is going to be hard. The answer is beyond me and not to be found in natural thinking. We have to look behind the veil of Heaven for understanding. The presence of the disease of sin in this world has sabotaged and skewed the application of “equity” in Father’s good creation.
There are days I stop at a red light and my eyes drift to the car next to me and I see a car that really shouldn’t be on the road. Worn-out, unsafe, barely running. My eyes drift to the person driving, invariably they just look poor. Like their car, they look just as worn-out and barely running. The other occupants usually look the same. In my immature years, hopefully long ago, I would have foolishly and wrongly judged them. Now I quickly thank Father for His grace, knowing I am no better than they are. The question immediately comes, “Why me?” The only answer possible is grace.
The old me, again hopefully long ago, in answering the question “Why” would have quickly come up with a calculated answer. Things like; I work harder, I decided to go to college, I’m smarter, I took more risk, I didn’t give up, I make better decisions, I did this, I did that and on and on. How arrogant of me! If any of the things listed are true, they were also, only given out of grace. Every ability, every opportunity, every skill has been given to me only by Father’s grace.
"A state of mind that sees God in everything is evidence of growth in grace and a thankful heart." Charles Finney
Back to the question “Why me?” Apart from grace, I have no answer. Great Health-Grace. Good Looks-Grace. (God skipped the good looks in my case) Great Parents-Grace. Great Education-Job-Opportunity-Grace. Financial Well-being-Grace. Great Marriage-Grace. Wonderful Children-Grace. All is Grace.
Some might say that this distribution of grace is unfair. As just a regular guy and a Christ follower, I don’t have an answer to that either. I just know “it is” because my eyes verify its reality. Just being honest. I do know this though, in His kingdom there is total “equity.” We all have access to Father’s Kingdom in equal amounts. He freely offers to all of His creation the bounty of the eternal through His Son, Jesus Christ. He may allow the disparity we see in human conditions on this earth to force us to look “up” for the answers as to “why” instead of looking “into” our own humanistic reasoning. Man has tried to solve the perceived “injustices” for centuries, only to muck it up and make it worse.
Father’s Kingdom is not here on this earth. This earth is ruled by a hideous lying tyrant who goes about seeking to devour all that he can. Actually, he’s doing quite a bang-up job from what I can see. But Father’s Kingdom is being established nonetheless, one by one, in the hearts of men and women all over the world. There, in this kingdom, is equality and justice for all of who have entered in through faith in Jesus Christ. This earthly experience is but for a moment compared to eternity. In the meantime, let’s give Him thanks for every “good and perfect” gift that we have received through His Grace.
"Even when you don't see Him working, He's busy working on your behalf. Forever grateful for God's grace." Yvonne Pierre
Love you Dad!
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