I think that too often when we look at the Law in the Old Testament we, as Christians today, consider it a burden. The Law is something we don’t understand completely and feels too heavy or onerous. Yet, the Law was never designed to be burdensome or a stumbling block for the believer in the Old Testament. Instead, the Law was supposed to be a light and a guide in a very dark world. While many may look at the Law with disdain, God’s provision of the Law was an amazing moment in human history, it was a true moment of His grace. Have you ever heard that before, that the Law was grace?

Prior to God’s giving of the Law, God had not communed with His creation in such an intimate way since the days of Adam and Eve. After Adam and Eve’s disobedience toward God, God banished them from His presence because of their sin, but He wasn’t through with them. When God wrote the Law and presented it to Moses, it was first time since the fall He spoke to His people in such a clear and concise way. The Law was a letter from God to His people Israel that describes who God is and what He desires from His people, and how His people should treat one another.

The moment God spoke to His people through the Law, this act of speaking or revelation is nothing but His grace! Why? Because God spoke and told us about Himself! I believe whenever God speaks in the Bible it’s an act of His grace that He so generously shares with us.

The apostle John picks up on this idea of God’s grace and applies it to the birth of Christ in John 1:14–16, saying, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of  the Father, full of grace and truth…. And of His fullness we have all received, and grace [upon]  grace” (ESV).

I believe John is trying to convey the fullness of the meaning and purpose for the coming of Jesus, the Son of God, when He came to Earth. When God spoke to His people Israel through the Law, it was grace, even though it was engraved on tablets, it was grace because He revealed Himself to them. But, when Jesus came the very God that engraved the Law on the tablets came to physically walk among His creation in a very intimate way, it’s grace upon grace. A letter from God is enough to understand Him, but to walk with God is to know and experience Him! It’s grace upon grace.

This Christmas season stop and remember, the manger scene is more than just a “baby Jesus,” it’s God with us, grace upon grace!

Merry Christmas!

About the Author

I remember the day like it was yesterday.

With our oldest in preschool, my husband, Chris, and I sat in the waiting room, eager to hear and see the heartbeat of our second born. What was it going to be like to add another baby to the mix, we wondered. It was fun to think about. That first appointment began with excitement as the ultrasound technician confirmed our baby’s heartbeat but then slightly derailed us as she also reported a concerning heart rate for baby. Our doctor scheduled us to return in two weeks to make sure all was well.

This wasn’t the first time we had heard this.

Three years prior, almost verbatim, we heard those words the first time we were pregnant. We saw a faint heartbeat at the first ultrasound. We were told to return in two weeks for another check on baby’s heart rate. I asked my doctor to shoot straight with me: What did this mean? She told us to prepare for either a miscarriage or to see a healthy heart rate. Only time would tell.

That pregnancy ended two weeks later. There was no heartbeat when we returned, for which we began mourning the loss of the hopes and dreams we already had for that baby.

We were devastated, but the Lord, as is His custom, almost immediately started to rebuild the parts that had fallen in our lives. As we grew to accept our circumstances and grieve our loss, Chris and I found strength in the Lord, where we otherwise could have floundered. By God’s grace, almost exactly a year after our miscarriage, we were overjoyed to give birth to a healthy, beautiful baby. We were grateful to our Creator for giving us such a sweet gift: our daughter, Olive.

I didn’t know it then, but looking back, our miscarriage was a devastation that needed something greater than myself for healing. The Lord was rebuilding and the joy of the Lord was my strength. He continued to build and rebuild parts in us as we moved forward in life.

Which is why, after having Olive, when we were told a second time that the one heartbeat we were seeing would need to be monitored and checked two weeks later, I remember feeling confident in the Lord.

This time, we returned two weeks later to find out great news. The heartbeat was perfect! In fact, the heartbeat was perfect for both baby one and baby two––TWINS!!! The same ultrasound technician got goose bumps on her arms as she had seen only ONE baby the first time. Though I cannot speak for my husband (ha!), I was deeply overjoyed for the Lord’s sweet double blessing.

The Lord was being overly generous in His rebuilding in our lives.

Even now, as my healthy, twin boys, Cohen and Preston, grow and are in what some may call the “terrible twos,” I just have to smile. Each and every day I hold them for just a moment and thank the Lord for His grace and mercy over us. When people say “you have your hands full,” or “how do you do it?” I feel compelled to say “the joy of the Lord is my strength!” because we all know, it’s A LOT OF WORK that I could never manage in my own strength.

In the book of Nehemiah, we see his heartache at the devastation of Jerusalem. We see opportunity after opportunity unfold for Nehemiah to rebuild the great city. And he did so with great success. In chapter 8, the covenant is read and the people are reminded of the Lord’s presence in their lives. The weight of our sin in light of the grace of the Lord can often be too much to bear.

But we must embrace it, for He is good.

“Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

Do you remember a time when all you ever wanted crumbled right before your very eyes? Today, as you sit here and read this, can you recall the rebuilding the Lord has done in your life? And how He got you from that point to where you are presently?

Perhaps the Lord is rebuilding right now and you don’t know how the story ends yet.

Well, today is special for all of us. “For this day is holy to our Lord.”

Whether you are in the midst of the rebuild, in need of a rebuild, or watching nervously as your twin sons tackle one another and then hug it out and then tackle each other yet again, whatever today may bring, my prayer is that you may know, with great assurance, that the joy of the Lord is your strength.

 

About the Author

Psalm 63 is one of the psalms king David wrote while hiding in the desert from King Saul (1 Sam 23: 14–15, 24:1) or his son Absalom (2 Sam 15:23, 28). Whoever David is talking about, his suffering and difficult experiences were the same for both of them.

Life in the wilderness is not easy, especially  living as a fugitive running from your enemy. David’s enemies did all they could to hunt him down, even waiting for him in all the known places in the desert where there is water and food. So David was forced to hide in the driest, most  barren places.

While being in his hopeless situation, deprived from all basic needs to sustain life, David said that his hunger and thirst for God was greater than his hunger for food and water.

We all know the great importance of real food and water to our body, but the best food and the purest water do not produce the tranquility, safety, peace, and fellowship that can only be found in God’s presence. Even through time of dire situations, David did not complain against God, but openly and loudly he declared that Yahweh is his Lord and that he seeks Him all the time, even from the beginning of each day.

“Early will I seek You…“

The Hebrew word is Ashachareka (אשחרך), which means “to seek diligently,” derives from the word Shachar (שחר) which in Hebrew means “dawn.” David is saying that he seeks God early in the beginning of each day. It was the first thing he did after he woke up. The first thing David was hungry for was – God!

All David had in mind was not to enjoy the benefits of being a powerful king, but to be present in the house of the Lord and to enjoy the presence of God. There he saw the service of the Lord, which was  the ministry of the priests. He heard the reading of the Word of God and had a constant reminder of God’s holiness and sovereignty in handling his nation throughout the generations.

There in God’s house (then in Shiloh), he had a daily reminder of God’s plan of salvation, which would be paid by the highest price of His servant, His only Son, the Messiah, for the benefit of sinful mankind.

When David mentions the words grace of God, he means all the things God provides to His beloved which they do not deserve.

A graceless life is characterized by the lack of fellowship, loneliness, sickness, loss, sorrow, and pain.

A life full of grace is only measured with God’s presence and the ability to internalize God’s plan and work in this world. It allows the saved child of God to see the events in this world through God’s eyes. Therefore, God’s grace provides peace, security, healthy fellowship and eternal life with God.

Due to David’s saving faith and experience with God, he says that the grace or lovingkindness of God is better than life, therefore his lips always praise God. For the same reason he said in Psalm 27:4: “One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple.”

Psalm 63 was written in time of serious war and hardship for David. Though we are not all at war, we all experience challenges that shake our lives and test our faith. It’s in such time we should remember that the grace of God that was given to us through the atoning blood of Christ Jesus, which is greater and more important than any earthly event and challenge.

To seek God early each day, a person must experience an intimate and personal relationship with God. David knew God. Therefore he knew that the Lord Himself is better than food and life.

What is your desire early each morning?

About the Author