Pulling Grace to Your Heart

Mama Max with grand daughter Collins

Playing with Mama Max

Working diligently in my office, I began to sing the Christmas carol that played on the radio. “

“Joy to the world, the Lord is come!

Let earth receive her King;

Let every heart prepare Him room,

And Heaven and nature sing,

And Heaven and nature sing,

And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

As I sang the words, to the last verse, “He rules the world with truth and grace,” I suddenly stopped, as the phrase came to life. I pondered the words, and began to think that if Jesus rules the world with truth and grace, what would it be like if all of us ruled our lives with truth and grace.? I knew God was speaking something to me that wanted me to discover what was in His heart. It was the beginning of a Holy Spirit adventure. God loves us so much and wants us to seek Him. This was my invitation to an adventure with Him and I knew it.

I have sung and thought often of the words to that song and asked the Lord to show me what he wanted me to discover about the gift of His grace.   John 1:17 says “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” The provision for me has been made because of Jesus. His grace and truth will make a way for me in every situation. John 1: 14 states, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. 

Collins Maxwell

One definition of grace is the divine influence on our heart and the reflection in our lives, liberty, highly favored, and joy. Jesus was full of grace and truth, and since we are made in His image, we can be full of grace and truth too. But how does that happen in our everyday lives? For me, it began by realizing this was His desire for me and asking God to fill me each day full of His truth and grace and access this wonderful gift, especially when I needed an extra dose.

Then the test came...something that hurt me some time ago, resurfaced. As the tears rolled down my cheeks from the residual pain and grief, I saw a picture of me holding grace in my hands and God saying, “pull grace to your heart to cover the the pain.  I felt the Lord say, “each time something hurts, pull my grace to your heart to heal it.” Such a hope and freedom came to me, and the hurt dissipated. His grace engulfed me and I felt love for the those that caused much pain.

 My nephews and two grand babies

Sometimes we need His grace to help us embrace a truth because sometimes the truth hurts. When we pull grace to the pain, we can then see God’s truth about the situation.  To illustrate this, let me tell of you of a recent event. A woman came to me asking for prayer because she had discovered that her husband was having an affair. She was feeling lonely, rejected, abandoned and unloved. Embracing the truth of her husbands actions and her feelings was hard. As I prayed for her, I asked God to reveal His truth to her. She was loved by God, she was accepted  and precious to Him, God would never leave her and abandon her and He would give her grace and wisdom to know what to do in the situation. 

Perhaps this holiday season, you have to be around that relative that has been unkind to you and rejected you and caused you pain. I challenge you to pick up the grace Jesus has give each of us and pull it to your heart.  I ask Him to fill you full of His grace and His truth about the situation and pour His love into your heart. How exciting to discover that we can be full of His grace and truth. May it be your best Christmas ever as you discover Jesus- full of grace and truth.

Last Christmas...missing my parents this Christmas