I wrote in my first book, You Can’t Get to Heaven Saving Green Stamps (which was such an obvious success that all 100 copies sold out within five years. Mom was slow in buying them up!) that grace fills in the gap of what God needs from us. If He needs 100% and we can only offer 65%, grace fills in the remaining 35%. I was wrong.
My faulty description isn’t grace. It’s putty. Grace is 100% of God’s participation as none of me carries talent. Anything effective about me is due to His gift; not my skill. Any part of me which shines is not due to one particle of my brilliance for I possess none. It is all about Him/from Him/due to Him.
John White wrote, “Most of us, you see, think of God as a ‘God of the gaps.’ We don’t intend to, but we do. Having been educated in the West there is a deistic twist to our thinking, causing us to view a tree as growing by natural laws. We fail to see God everywhere (God pulling and shaping each leaf, each blade of grass) even though we may subscribe in general to the notion. We are affected by our knowledge of science…..The God of the Bible runs everything. He created Nature and Supernature which are actually all of a piece with no division between them. Nothing in Nature works by itself. God ‘works’ it.”
Adjusting to believing God works 100% in and from us shifts the load. It is on Him. We are more wonderfully graduating to the real roles of God’s intention; vessels. We contain Him. He does the work. He has rented our space and chooses to do Life from our shells. God does the work. He is not grace-putty. He is Life Abundant from within and all around. Step back that He might get a Word in edgewise!
3 comments:
First of all, just seeing the words "Green Stamps" makes me feel really old! I'm sure most of this generation has never heard of "green stamps"!
On your post, you are so right on. I love this line "He has rented our space and chooses to do Life from our shells." Don't we all just think we have at least a little something in us that's ours and that we can claim? When there is nothing in us at all... we are but a mere shell! Love you friend!
As late as 1990 I was still hearing that view of grace taught in our churches and defended vigorously against us younger preachers who didn't understand grace.
Thank you for illuminating the idea that God puts his treasure in us, meager jars of clay.
I also wanted to thank you for encouraging us to watch the conventions. As a political cynic I tend to avoid such displays. However, watching with a critical eye towards stealing their best techniques was sheer genius on your part. Thanks for the daily encouragement you dispense through this medium.
Caleb
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