God’s grace

snow: a world washed clean like grace in action

/ Joy Lenton / 8 Comments

 

There’s something rather wonderful about snow. It falls gentle as feathers. It rests like soft drapes to comfort a winter-cold world. In its clean, pristine brilliance it makes us gasp. We are awed by this glorious reminder that purity can exist and shine bold like this.

Until footprints make it fluff and scuff. Until rain dissolves it into mush and slush. Before ice makes it treacherous to traverse. Prior to hands reaching out to grab handfuls to shape into hard-hitting snowballs.

Before all this and a world having to push through it to go about its business, we see earth hushed into reverent silence. We witness the chill and warm ourselves on thoughts that comfort cold hearts. We warm our souls on the awe and wonder reminders of God’s goodness and grace.

We are reminded that the Light of Christ and His amazing Love shines blindingly laser-bright, more radiantly than this, and we too are washed pure and clean by His cleansing blood sacrifice on the Cross.

The season of Lent may feel like it goes on forever and maybe it does in our souls to some extent. But oh what a vibrant Hope awaits us once the dark road to Golgotha is walked and we meet Jesus on the other side of His resurrection morning rising!

Today I bring you a helping of haiku. A trio of thoughts inspired by the sights out of my window or seen from a doorway, where opening up has become a rather challenging task due to the weight of wonder sitting on the step in all its glorious whiteness.  🙂

white like ice-cream

barely settled snow
ridges of white like ice-cream
waiting to be scraped
©joylenton

night-time snowfall

earth has the blues

green earth has the blues
draped in chill, shadowed and still
her colours show through
©joylenton

blue-shadowed snow bathed in sunlight

heaven’s coverlet

a world blanketed
with heaven’s white coverlet
snug and sleepy now
©joylenton

a garden blanketed in snow

shine: how we can shine like water to the thirsty

/ Joy Lenton / 6 Comments

 

When we read about the way Jesus was crushed for our sin, made weak for our sake, bled freely from myriad wounds, suffered a thorn-pierced brow and died an agonising death nailed to a cross, do you ever wonder just what that has to do with you and me? My answer is: Everything.

Because the incarnation of Christ reveals just how much God identifies with all of us in our broken human condition. Jesus’ sacrificial death holds huge significance for mankind. While taking human flesh and living like one of us, He was, is and ever more shall be the One and only Son of God.

Death could not hold Him captive.  He arose from the grave in resurrection glory. Made heroes out of fearful disciples. Our history shifted to become His Story. During this season of Lent, God’s Holy Light can seem shielded at first, dimmed by the dark stain of our sin, not quite ready to shine in full wattage until we reach the end of the Easter story and Christ’s glorious resurrection to come.

But for those  of us who live in the here and now reality of the resurrection with our faith rooted in Jesus and our lives as living testimony, whether we’re aware of it or not, a constant glow of grace lights up our hearts and floods our thirsty souls like the  ever-flowing Living Water it actually is.

Shine like water

The Rock must be crushed
and spring red life, like rust
beneath an enormous forest
Let it blow cool purple
and light of I AM will
shine like water in us all
© joylenton

 

Jesus shines on in our hearts, radiating out of our broken cracks and crevices, leaking His love to the world at large. The fruit of Christ’s sacrifice is eternal life, hope, joy and peace, as grace gifts given to us when Holy Spirit takes up residence in our hearts. They are gifts we get to savour here and now and enjoy to the full in the life to come.

Deep-seeded peace

Our intuition has grown
fertile-fresh, sweet and greener
from the fruit of happy peace
breathing sanctuary to nature
through quiet night murmurs
of secret breeze rustle song, as
long and deep as seed would be
© joylenton

grace: a drenching in holy rain #thedailyhaiku 26

/ Joy Lenton / 6 Comments

 

God is lavish with His Love, magnanimous with His Mercy, perfect with His Peace, jubilant with His Joy, free with His Forgiveness and wildly generous with His Grace.

We don’t have to beg for it. We don’t have to worry that it will run short. God’s grace is freely available to all of us, all of the time. How good is that?!

We can easily become saturated by grace, like a drenching in Holy rain. This is no mere trickle or a small shower. This is more like a flood, a pounding waterfall that roars with power.

What does it do? Here’s a brief description:

  • God’s grace takes, breaks and remakes us.
  • We are washed clean from our sin.
  • We are changed from the inside out.
  • Grace sustains and strengthens, knits together and mends.
  • All that is weak and wounded, flawed and faulty, broken and bent in us is gradually rewired, renewed, restored and refreshed.

Why do I call God’s grace wild? Because it’s so indiscriminately and generously given, untameable , out of our control. We don’t have to pass a test or do anything else to be deemed worthy of being washed in God’s grace. All qualify. Period. For all time.

In a very real sense, you could say that God’s grace is wasted on us because that’s exactly what it is. Not one of us has done anything to deserve grace. It is literally God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense, bought and paid for at the Cross, poured out freely on us.

wild grace

there’s a wildness here
a drenching in holy rain
we are rewired, changed
©joylenton