Extended Grace

Intro: I wrote the piece that follows over a week ago. The intent was to polish the rough edges and publish it right away, but some things circled in my life that halted the process. Here's why. Operating in obedience, I write whenever I feel led by the spirit of God to do so. In that, some stuff hits the press immediately, but I also have pieces of unfinished and unpublished content. There are varied reasons why some of the writings haven't met the internet space yet. One is, if my spirit is a little rattled, I can't publish anything in queue that my heart is not fully in sync with at that moment. Maybe strange, but very important to me...

A very rough draft of the post was previously shared with my husband and a friend, however, was on hold until I watched my church's Tuesday night Bible Study on YouTube. It is a powerful teaching of the book of Proverbs. Yes, p-o-w-e-r-f-u-l. The message closing the service really stirred up a refreshing, sweet, and welcoming aroma of grace and gratefulness for me! God spoke, in His timing, not mine, and I knew it was time to release this post---but only after hearing these spoken words, Lord, thank you for the work of your grace. Wow! Those nine words were on repeat for a minute, and every second was intensifying my "right now" gratefulness for His grace. In that moment, I remembered that over a week ago, I wrote a post entitled, "Extended Grace."

The Post

I was thinking...Some people have a propensity to attend most to; show more love to, the folk who do the least for them. Although we don't function in reciprocity, there can be a little "saltiness" that enters our spirit from time to time; when we feel that so-called reciprocal equity is way off. We think about it--more than once. Sometimes, we seek out a self-check from those we trust with our most intimate thoughts. Then, we may also drop a quick prayer to God----"God, maybe I shouldn't be feeling this way. Please remove it; take it---it has no place. Help me to further understand the dynamics of love, no matter how it looks. Amen.

Then, I thought...Wow, God probably feels the same about us. We often give much more love, time, and attention to 'things' and people, than we do Him. We fail to give all of that energy and time to the One who gives us everything we truly need --all the time. The difference is that He loves us through it; He understands our faulty behavior; and He extends us the highest level of grace and mercy possible anyway. It is a beautiful reminder that, no matter what, We Are Loved. Yes, even in those moments when we feel a lil' slighted by others. We are already the recipients of the greatest love ever possible! We should fully receive the scope of that love, and give God more.

Thank you, Lord, for being the good-good Father!! Thank you for your love, your mercy, and your amazing grace that we never deserve, yet all are extended every millisecond of each day. Forgive us for losing focus. Forgive us for failing to give you more than the needy, ragged version of us, as you also want our best 'us.' Let our extension of love to you reflect our love for you. We are reminded that no one dictates what time-spent means, in that sense. It is based on doing what it takes to have a more intimate relationship with you. As one of the vintage gospel songs states, we want "Just a closer walk with thee...." Amen.

Closing Prayer: Lord, I thank You for the work of your grace. I thank You for the work of Your grace!! I thank You that it extends to the work of biblical teaching that soulfully connects to our lives. Thank you, Lord, for the work of your grace through our pastor. Thank you for WTC on YouTube. I know that I am loved. Amen.

What started as a "Drip" post, obviously landed elsewhere... 🙌🏾

Peace & Blessings,

Lisa C-S