when i was a kid i really disliked my name. in my head i grouped it in the same category with Bertha & Gertrude (which probably at one point were gorgeous names..??). the only Grace's i knew were old & graying, might've been because where i grew up was retirement-central. i remember telling my mom how when i turned 18 i'd change my name to Sarah, and at one point would even practice writing my 'new name' out. of course as i grew up, the name sorta grew on me. i was kinda shocked when i left home for uni and met so many other grace's my age. who'd have thought its actually quite the popular name, especially among asian girls lol. anyways, 24 years with my name and still I am learning new things about what 'grace' means. i often joke saying my parents named me grace cuz ' I need lots of it ' , but truth is.. i do.
Yesterday Pastor Steve started a new sermon series on 1 Timothy, teaching us how the church ought to be in practical terms. So how does the church avoid drifting, how can the church continue staying on the line? simply by being grounded in g r a c e . i'm reminded again as to the treasure that is the gospel we have in our hearts & minds, this gospel which is the power of salvation for all who believe. and this gospel which is grounded in grace, not in intellectually stimulating theological debates or vain discussion for puffing up or in speculative ideology and guesswork. & because this is a gospel grounded in grace and not in ourselves, it is outward-moving not inward-staying, it is ever-growing and never-stagnant, it seeks to place others first against our natural inclincation for selfish ambition & vain conceit (phil 2:3-4). so what's the point in all this? that we be people who's aim is extending Christ's love and life outwards, and this stems from a pure heart (in the now), a good conscience (from the past), and a sincere faith (as we step out to the future).
I am not what I ought to be —
ah, how imperfect and deficient!
I am not what I wish to be —
I abhor what is evil, and I would cleave to what is good!
I am not what I hope to be —
soon, soon shall I put off mortality, and with mortality all sin and imperfection.
Yet, though I am not what I ought to be,
nor what I wish to be,
nor what I hope to be,
I can truly say, I am not what I once was;
a slave to sin and Satan;
and I can heartily join with the apostle, and acknowledge,
“By the grace of God I am what I am.”
- John Newton
some quotes on g r a c e (Paul Tripp)
"You have real hope when your hope is rooted in grace. Grace forgives your past, empowers your present and secures your future."
"The unrelenting power of transforming grace is greater than the unyielding idolatry of your wondering heart."
"We are not kept in the faith by our own discipline and resolve, but by the loving chains of faithful, rescuing grace."
"Grace invades your strength and proves you are weak, then meets you in weakness and makes you strong."
"Trials = Uncomfortable grace...God will take you where you do not want to go to produce in you what you could not achieve on your own..."
"Grace pries open our hands so we let go of the temporary pleasures of this fallen world to hold to the greater pleasures of God's kingdom."
"Grace enters your life in a moment and will occupy you for eternity. It will dash your hopes, but never leave you hopeless."
"Grace reaches down to where you are and lifts you up to where God designed for you to be."
"When your biggest thrill is not some personal pleasure, but Kingdom advancement, then you know grace is transforming your heart."
"Self-righteousness is why we are content with superficial Christianity. Convinced we are okay, we do not long for the daily rescue of grace."
"No promise broken, no provision not delivered, no need unmet, his presence never denied, his power freely given, now that's grace!"
"Grace doesn't free you from the call to obedience, but liberates you from the delusion that you can obey your way into God's acceptance."
"Rest in the reality that there is never a moment when you don't need transforming grace and never a moment where grace isn't operating."
on another note, what a happy month it has been :)
