Guest Post: A Monument of Grace

Early Fall

by Tim Reaves

... a time to heal...

- Ecclesiastes 3:3

Welcome September!

Another beautiful season is just around the corner-- autumn!

How I love the changing seasons!

A graphic reminder of the passage of time, and an invitation for us to allow God to do His renewing work in our lives!

Fall is a season of harvest,

a season of preparing,

a season that invites us to slow down, and unwind...

before the cold season of quiet winter rest comes tiptoeing in again!



I got back from Baguio City just a few hours ago.

There are many things on my heart that need to be put in writing, so that what God has done can be shared and partaken of. I also took many lovely pictures...all just waiting to be uploaded on this blog!

September ushers me into yet another meaningful season of my life! God spoke so clearly to me over these past four days that I was up in the mountains of Baguio!

This being my very first post for the month of September, I want to open it by sharing the theme for this segment of my life journey: the grace of restoration and rebuilding.

And what better way to do that than to invite a blog friend, Linda of Absolute Grace to share what she has written on this very topic!


Absolute Grace is one of my favorite blogs.

Grace continues to be one of the recurring themes of my life story; thus, it is understandable why this blog has caught my attention.

Grace is the golden thread that Linda has woven through the fabric of her blog. The pictures, songs, personal stories, and devotionals that she shares with her readers never fail to touch my heart.


In this post Linda is my blog's featured guest. Below are three of her recent posts that have blessed me tremendously.

Thank you, Linda, for granting me permission to re-publish these entries here. I have no doubt that they will bring a deep encouragement to anyone who reads them.



A Monument of Grace
July 30, 2009 by absolutegrace

A Monument of Grace

You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ…Behold I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, and He who believes in Him shall not be disappointed.

I Peter 2:5, 6

We are called with a holy calling, according to God’s sovereign purpose, grace, and mercy! Our purpose as a spiritual building of the Lord–a monument of grace–is to offer sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving to Him Who abolished death and gave us life and light in our darkness!

The following hymn really captures this thought and expresses my own heart’s longing and prayer. It was written by John Kent, and unfortunately, is not recorded in many modern hymnals, but may be found in Spurgeon’s, ”Our Own Hymnbook.” [1]

Monument of Grace

Indulgent God! how kind are all Thy ways to me,
Whose dark benighted mind was enmity with Thee;
Yet now, subdued by sovereign grace, my spirit longs for Thine embrace.

How precious are Thy thoughts, that o’er my bosom roll;
They swell beyond my faults, and captivate my soul;
How great their sum, how high they rise, can ne’er be known beneath the skies.

Preserved in Jesus, when my feet made haste to hell;
And there should I have gone, but Thou dost all things well;
Thy love was great, Thy mercy free, which from the pit delivered me.

Before Thy hands had made the sun to rule the day,
Or earth’s foundation laid, or fashioned Adam’s clay,
What thoughts of peace and mercy flowed in Thy dear bosom, O my God!

A monument of grace, a sinner saved by blood:
The streams of love I trace up to the Fountain–God!
And in His sacred bosom see eternal thoughts of love to me.

John Kent, 1766-1843

[1] C.H. Spurgeon (compilation, 1866), Our Own Hymn-Book, Pilgrim Publications, Texas. 2nd Ed, 2002.

A Monument of Grace - Me?
August 1, 2009 by absolutegrace

A monument of grace, a sinner saved by blood:
The streams of love I trace up to the Fountain–God!
And in His sacred bosom see eternal thoughts of love to me.”

John Kent, 1766-1843

Today, my prayer is that I may stand, humbly, as a monument of grace.

Dear Lord, may others see that the same grace you’ve given me is abundantly available to them, today, always. Let my life be a living monument of grace, amazing grace, that saved this wretch, whereon it is written,

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.

Galatians 2:20

and

It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among who I am chief!

I Timothy 1:15

Amen.

A Monument of Grace - You!
August 3, 2009 by absolutegrace

A monument of grace, a sinner saved by blood..

John Kent, 1803

When I wrote earlier that I long to be a ‘monument of grace,’ I realized that such a declaration could sound prideful or be misunderstood. On the contrary, given the context of the hymn and Scriptures, a monument of grace is not an invincible statue or unattainable standard. Rather, as Paul David Tripp notes in his book Whiter than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy, a monument of grace is humbly

realizing that my story of God having rescued me by his grace is a tool that God intends to use in the lives of others….I’m not teaching the person about grace..I am sharing my experience of grace. People learn, not because I’ve opened the dictionary of grace, but because I’ve shown them the video of grace in operation. [1]

You, too, your story, your life, is a monument of grace to others. What are you showing others in your life about the riches of God’s grace? After confronted with his own sin, David was enlightened to the priceless, undeserved grace of God towards him, and said:

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways.”

Psalm 51:13

And in the New Testament we read,

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.”

Ephesians 1:7

so...

“to me, the very least of saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ.” Ephesians 3:8

Tripp continues that I/you,

have been called to a daily life of gospel transparency, where you’re ready, willing, and waiting to share your gratitude for the grace you’ve been given with someone who needs it just as much as you. [1]

Today, humbly, gratefully, lovingly stand as a monument–a testimony–of God’s grace; once lost, now found; blind, now seeing…to those around you who need precious, amazing grace, but don’t even know it.

[1] Paul David Tripp, Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy. Crossway Books. IL. 2008. pg 72.