Amazing Grace

FRI., AUG. 12, 1983, 6:26 AM
FARM, STUDY

You sing this old hymn, and you do it rather well. And you are more than aware of what the two word title means. Still… as you come this morning, the first time since Sunday, you are taking direct advantage of this continual gift of Mine. It does have a sweet sound, doesn’t it? You are doing what you are doing now because of Amazing Grace.

Does lying in bed each morning this week instead of having this meditation with Me make you a wretch? Well, the term is a bit strong, but consider that you have consciously not kept an open appointment with Me. I am the Source of your life, your strength, and your being is tied inexorably to Mine. And yet you do not come. It is not a gross form of wretchedness, but you agree, I know, that in reality it qualifies.

Yet what happens when you return, without humble penitence and contrition? Are you “cut off?” Do you sit here and find Me silent? Of course not. When you give up “lost” for “found” I am here (wherever it may be). And this is the model for forgiving behavior that I urge you to follow… no matter how a person has failed you, when he turns, ever so tenuously, toward relationship again, be there, completely open and accepting.

Wouldn’t it seem to be wonderful if each nation of people in the earth would practice such grace with all fellow nations? Where would be the need for armies and armaments for which so much of the earth’s wealth, actual and symbolic, goes? In love and forgiveness all could live peaceably together… right?

For everything there is a season… As I have told you before, grace has no heed for standards, and forgiveness is offered even when it is not deserved. It must needs be balanced with justice and with the deserved punishment for letting standards slip. Cooperation, wonderful as it is, must be balanced by competition. In some situations Christianity needs to be assertive, putting aside its more characteristic humbleness.

The rhythm and the balance will be different in different times and circumstances. Yes, you must finish this later.

7:04 AM / 10:49 AM

And the rhythm will be different for different persons. I tell you again… I do not give the same message to all of My servants. Some, like yourself, will accept grace easily, and will forgive and condone more than you judge and condemn. Others will have a variety of balances, even including those who feel that grace is too cheap… that doing good works, and, particularly, putting down evil are essential for final acceptance. They are not wrong… just different parts of the Body that continues to be Me here in the earth.

When a servant, in My Name, says that the Lord never hates, judges, or punishes, she is not wrong, but she is incomplete and partial, as are all those who speak in My Name. Also, messages from Me do not have to be consistent by Western thinking patterns. I can be giving out amazing grace and amazing justice “at the same time.”

Seek to know My will and ways, but don’t seek too hard. Grace operates in the realm of understanding as well as that of matter and spirit. Through grace you can be given understanding that you could never achieve by effort. Yet it is not wise to just “sit back” and wait for grace to abound.