Last evening while a group was gathering for our granddaughters birthday celebration I was talking to one the members in the band that our oldest son plays in. The name of their band in "Grace Lane" and I told Rick that in this blog I had around 930 posts all revealing the revelation of Grace in the person of the LORD, Christ Jesus. And then it accrued to me that I may have reposted some of my own outline on this current topic of study. I was expressing this concern to my wife this very morning and she said that that was okay as the LORD Himself had the Prophets of old do the same thing. And so I will leave the past be the past and move on.
Yesterday I shared a little known secret of GOD that is revealed in what happen to the virgin Mary the evening of her visitation and her subsequent conception by the sperma (or revelation) of the Breath of GOD within her. As it is recorded by Luke in:
Luke 1:35-38, 39-44 And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of GOD. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God." And Mary said, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.
In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the LORD."
It is in much the same way that we each on his or her own merits will also receive of the hidden manna or revelation of Grace that is in Christ. This said I will again call on the writing of Pastor Hoekstra and his dealing with the Grace that is ours when we have also received the Christ as did Mary.
"The Dimensions of His Grace"
"In Him we have our redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His Grace . . . that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His Grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus . . . To me, who am less than the least of all saints, this Grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable (unfathomable) riches of Christ." (Ephesians 1:7; 2:7; 3:8)
"What are the dimensions of the Grace of GOD? How extensive are the resources of His Grace? So often we drastically underestimate the measure of GOD's supply of Grace for our lives.
God is rich in Grace. When He forgave our sins, He did so "according to the riches of His Grace." Think of the bountiful measure of Grace that was bestowed to remove our guilt and shame. GOD generously poured out His Grace in order to wash away our iniquities. Yet, in doing this He did not deplete the treasures of His Grace.
In Ephesians 2:7, GOD speaks of the "exceeding riches of His Grace." The LORD's Grace is far beyond any richness that we have ever yet comprehended or experienced. GOD's storehouse of Grace is so abundantly full that He will be pouring it out upon us for the "ages to come." Yes, it will take eternity for the LORD to fully demonstrate His Grace toward us. This everlasting demonstration of His Grace will involve showing His kindness toward all of us who are in Christ Jesus. Think of it — the dimensions of GOD's Grace are sufficient for Him to make us the objects of His kindness for ever and ever!
One could liken the riches of GOD's Grace to an infinitely vast ocean. Think of the immensity of the oceans of the world. Although they are magnificent in scope, every ocean can be searched out or fathomed. Every ocean has a bottom that can be reached. Though vast, they are finite.
Paul testified that the LORD gave him Grace to go forth and proclaim the "unsearchable (unfathomable) riches of Christ." There is more Grace available in the heart of GOD for us than there is water in all of the oceans of the world! Truly, no matter how much Grace we have already discovered in Christ, we have only begun to search out the riches of His Grace toward us."
All this said we will turn to the Breath of GOD and the Power it contains:
2Samuel 22:1-4, 14-32 "David spoke to the LORD the words of this song on the day when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said, "The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my GOD, my rock, in Whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence. I call upon the LORD, Who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.........
The LORD thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered His voice. He sent out arrows and scattered them; lightning, and routed them. Then the channels of the sea were seen; the foundations of the world were laid bare, at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils. "He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. He rescued me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support. He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me. "The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He rewarded me. For I have kept the ways of the LORD and have not wickedly departed from my GOD. For all His rules were before me, and from His statutes I did not turn aside. I was blameless before Him, and I kept myself from guilt. And the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in His sight. "With the merciful You show Yourself merciful; with the blameless man You show Yourself blameless; with the purified You deal purely, and with the crooked You make Yourself seem tortuous. You save a humble people, but Your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down. For You are my lamp, O LORD, and my GOD lightens my darkness. For by You I can run against a troop, and by my GOD I can leap over a wall. This GOD—His way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; He is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him. "For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our GOD?"
Job 4:6, 7-11, 12-14 "Is not your fear of GOD your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope?
"Remember: who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off? As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same. By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his anger they are consumed. The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion, the teeth of the young lions are broken. The strong lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
"Now a word was brought to me stealthily; my ear received the whisper of it. Amid thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, dread came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake."
Isaiah 11:1-5" There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what His eyes see, or decide disputes by what His ears hear, but with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His waist, and faithfulness the belt of His loins."
Isaiah 30:27-33 "Behold, the name of the LORD comes from afar, burning with His anger, and in thick rising smoke; His lips are full of fury, and His tongue is like a devouring fire; His breath is like an overflowing stream that reaches up to the neck; to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction, and to place on the jaws of the peoples a bridle that leads astray. You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel. The LORD will cause His majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of His arm to be seen, in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst and storm and hailstones. The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the LORD, when He strikes with His rod. And every stroke of the appointed staff that the LORD lays on them will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. Battling with brandished arm, He will fight with them. For a burning place has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it."
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