My Song of Praise

"Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." -2 Corinthians 8-10

When the song writer penned the gospel arrangement of "Amazing Grace will always be my song of praise" he opens this hymn with a positive purpose. Then he goes on and expounds why Grace is his song of praise, "...for it was Grace, that bought my Liberty." Now sit back and allow the details of this complex statement to be pondered in your mind. That grace allowed him a sense of freedom. Grace freed him from bondage. He continues with, "...I do not know just why he came to love me so..." recognizing that it is not something he had earned or even dare to expect to deserve. Moreover, to confirm this understanding he states, "He looked beyond my Faults and saw my needs." Such an awesome wondrous statement that wraps up just what grace is.
Isn't it great to know that He looked beyond our sin stained life to see what we needed, a Savior. In the same way, we shouldn't get so hung up in our faults. We should get hung up in our Savior more so. It's good to be remorseful and sorry, however, if you look at how flawed you are, you will upset yourself and interrupt the presence of God and His perfect work within you. You will begin to see your faults as greater than God. In essence you have put your eyes back on yourself, and that's a mess. Keep looking to Jesus even when you mess up, to the saved person His blood covers all, and He sees deep in our heart and knows our need for Him.
There is something we need to understand about the love of our Savior. It's like I said in my last post, we have a very wrong view of Jesus at times. We don't see His love correctly either. Love isn't a sweet, sappy, make you nauseous, get well soon card, two dimensional kind of love. Love is at times intervention. We see love in action through out all the gospels, even with Jesus tossing the temple tables, because love is fierce and protective. Look at the cross!!! The Father loved His Son, but the Father also loved the creation that was made in His image. Makes you do a double take.
God’s grace saves us from our failures. God’s grace saves us from our sinful nature. Grace is Sufficient! Grace is more than a mealtime prayer, it is beyond our ability to earn or repay. God’s grace was provided to us when he sent down his Son.
Acts 15:11 tells us we are saved because of it
Romans 4 says we are justified by it.
Ephesians 2:5 tells us we are restored by it!
2 Corinthians 1:12 tells us we are abundant because of it
Titus 2:12 brings us out of our worldly nature and into His presence.
2 Peter 3:10 says it calls us unto His eternal glory!

Oh what a Savior...