God’s grace

So He Could Cover Us With Grace

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments 

Now the tunic was seamless, woven from the top through the whole. So, they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but let us cast-lots for it to decide whose it will be”—
John 19:23b-24a DLNT

They stripped Him of his tunic
His seamless cloak with all the rest
Dividing up all that they could
Then gambled for the best

While above their heads He watched
As He fought His fight with death
In suffering still He loved us all
As He struggled for each breath

And when they took Him from the cross
Where He had suffered in our place
There He died for us, alone, exposed
So, He could cover us with grace

And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
Matthew 5:40 ESV

So He Could Cover Us With Grace by Peter Caligiuri 
Copyright © 2024 All rights reserved

Photo by David Dibert on Pexels.com

Author’s note: I have been intrigued by the stories of the shroud of Turin, and have watched with interest several presentations about its history. But, as I recently came upon the verse in the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus tells us to yield our tunic and cloak, I remembered how the soldiers, ruthlessly stripped Him naked and then gambled for His seamless robe. Then, I was ashamed to think that I had been drawn to stories of the cloth He may have been buried in, but never wondered about what He wore in life.

Amazing Grace

/ pastorpete51 / 10 Comments 
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Matthew 6:28-30 KJV

When I was a young man, I would sometimes work for various farmers during haying season. Though putting up hay was hard work, and the pay (2¢ a bale) was not much, I loved the challenge of loading those 75 lbs. square bales as fast as we could up on the truck. By the time we reached the second level, I was barely able to lift the bales up higher, so the bigger men asked me to stand up on top and stack. Then they gleefully threw the bales up as hard as they could, seeing if they could knock me over! Making a game of it, transformed our backbreaking work into great fun and it seemed as if time flew as the stack grew higher and higher. Once we reached the sixth tier, the driver would head for the barn, and I, seated like a king on his throne, would surveil my kingdom from on high. As the slight breeze from the movement of the truck cooled the sweat from my arms, I could look out over the hayfield and see thousands of tiny wildflowers, now revealed, which had been hidden by the tall grass, before the mowing. The aroma of those flowers along with that of the freshly mown hay smelled better than the priciest perfumes at the store and they remind me of today’s verse. Jesus told us that since not even Solomon was dressed in finer clothing than that field, that we should not worry, because God would clothe us as well. Then, I think of the cross, where our Lord Jesus was stripped and nailed naked to its wooden beams, while the soldiers gambled for his clothing. Then, as the blood flowed down onto the ground, Jesus paid the price for your sins and for mine, and purchased for us robes of righteousness, so that we could be clothed in heaven. There we will be dressed as He is in clothing that shines brighter than the sun and with an aroma sweeter than the freshly mown hayfields of earth. There we will be clothed, not because of our hard work in God’s harvest field, but because of the amazing grace of Jesus, who bought our salvation with His own precious blood.

He is Strong!

/ pastorpete51 / 7 Comments

Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10 NKJV

What in the world can the writer of today’s verse mean when he says he takes pleasure in sickness, insults and poverty? Then he sums all these issues up with the final word distresses. Who in their right mind, likes any of these things? The word distresses, that Paul says that he takes pleasure in, means being put into a tight place; like being backed into a corner. Have you felt that the circumstances, the people or even just your own past decisions have backed you into a blind alley? Today’s wonderful news that Paul shares with us is that even at those seemingly hopeless moments when we are surrounded on every side by problems, God is always and entirely in control. He gives us something even greater than deliverance from them: He gives us grace in them, and even in the middle of our distresses, He offers us His strength!