The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be,
As long as life endures.

Amazing Grace
By: John Newton, 1725-1807

Listen as you read.  This version is from Grace by David Tolk.

The rainbow after the Flood was given by God as a sign of His promise to us.  It is only one example of the many promises we find in God’s Word to us, the Holy Bible, our source of hope.  A quick Google search will reveal numerous lists compiled around any number of subjects.  Type “Promises” in the search on YouVersion and you will find no shortage of devotionals structured around promises.  The problem is not with the promises, the problem is with us.

Context

I thought about compiling a list of the promises of good things that the Lord has promised to us, but the prospect of that was overwhelming, especially considering the scope of what it is I want to help you accomplish on a normal Tuesday.  I want to help you tune your heart.  Any musician will tell you, when it’s time to tune, you generally ask for one note.  Generally.

I was rehearsing with a violinist recently and learned a little trick.  I thought I should give her an A first, and I was correct, but then she asked for a second note to provide context, I believe it was the E below it.  She said it was a good way to impress a string player, to play that second note for context before the tuning player requests it.  I thanked her and we began.

I mention that here because I want to provide a single promise, but one whichI believe  provides a context for this tuning.  And what is that promise you ask, 2 Peter 1:4.

And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

This is the context of our hope, all His promises to me, and you.

Hope, Secured

Hope is generally defined as a feeling, and for us it is certainly that.  But because of God’s Word given to us it is that and a whole lot more.  You see, feelings are fleeting and often are reactions to external circumstances beyond our control.  This is not how the Bible describes the hope we have in God’s promises.

To take this one verse as our context, consider the two aspects it sets forth.  Because of His promises to us we get to

1. Share in his divine nature, and
2. Escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

I don’t want to speak for you, but I draw a lot of hope from those two realities that flow from all of God’s promises to me.  I get to be like him, and be free of the corruption of this world, even while still living in it.

So let’s keep this simple.  To tune today, simply take a few moments and thank God for all of His promises.  Ask for His forgiveness for the times you have failed to believe them and so have not lived as if your hope was secure.  Thank Him for the blessing of sharing in his divine nature, and then ask him to reveal how he wants to change you so you may reveal it better today.  Thank Him for the privilege of escaping corruption, and then ask Him to show you what desires need to change in you so you can experience that freedom.

Then the next time you are reading some of His promises, and I hope it is soon, take a few moments right then to evaluate how you can experience them by adjusting your living within that context.

Happy Tuning!

Jesus, thank You for all the promises You have made to us in the Bible.  Help me to read them regularly, and when I do, to ask the Holy Spirit to open my blind eyes and give me understanding.  I want to learn Your promises, so they may fill my weary soul with hope. In Jesus name.  Amen.

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Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

Amazing Grace
By: John Newton, 1725-1807

Listen as you read.  This version is from Sacred Piano by Paul Cardall.

So here’s one of those times when it is helpful to understand one of the more obscure words in the hymn text in order to be able to appreciate what the writer in saying.  Being a musician, the first thing that comes to mind to me is those twisty metal things at the bottom of a snare drum that give it that distinct sound.  But that is not the snare being alluded to here.

The Fowler’s Snare

No, this is a snare that is specifically designed to trap its intended prey.  Fowler’s, or people who deal with fowl or birds, make use of snares to trap birds.  They come in a few different forms, but suffice it to say, the image of this one that looks essentially like a net gives a rather graphic representation of what a snare truly is.  Looking at that poor bird, a beautiful boat-billed flycatcher, caught in that snare caused me to feel physically uncomfortable.  [Disclaimer:  I had to search google with the image because I do not really know birds that well.]  I relieved a bit of my discomfort by searching YouTube to see this lovely creature moving around freely in it’s natural habitat.  You can do that too here if you like.

This was helpful for me to recall and even imagine some of the things the Lord has brought me through, many of which I have never even realized were there.  It’s not like the spiritual life has sign posted so you know when you are entering a troublesome patch.  On the contrary, the enemy of our souls, the Fowler who sets all those snares for us, is quite clever at disguising the traps so we do not even know they are there until it is too late.

But that is not the fate that Grace has made available to us.  See the impact of grace in this context?  Grace has brought me safe this far, and grace will lead me home.  There are both immediate and ultimate advantages to walking in and with grace.  Let’s consider both briefly.

Immediate

Now I want to be careful not to push the illustration to far, so think about your own life for a moment.  So here is the first part of the tuning.  What snares has grace brought you safely through, or delivered you out of?  You could think about it the other way as well.  What snares have I fallen into when I have not followed the path of grace?

For me it is often trouble with my tongue, or rather trouble my tongue creates when I do not let grace lead me.  I am referring to those moments when I speak before I think.  When I let grace bring me through those times as opposed to my flesh, I am able to avoid the snares.  This allows me to get and stay in tune with the Father’s activity in me.

I think of it in terms of a prayer I came across tears ago.  “Lord, deliver from the temptations of my flesh, this world and the Devil.”  You see, if it were not for my flesh, I would not have to worry about the world or the Devil, but until I get my new body, when I finally get Home, I am going to need grace to help me get through all the perils of this life, many of which I inflict on myself.  This brings us to the consequences of following grace which are…

Ultimate

If we follow the bird-snare illustration out, our Home could be our nest.  Think about the relief of that flycatcher above if it was able to get free from that snare and safely arrive at it’s nest.  That nest is really not much to look at but think of what it represents to the bird.  Safety and rest, maybe belonging and certainly memories.

For us, there is not only the relief of arriving in a safe place like our home after we have made it through another day filled with dangers, toils and snares, but also a more ultimate arrival.  The arrival at our final destination which for the believer will be Heaven.  When we arrive there we will know better than we ever have that it was indeed Grace that led us there, through the moment of decision, and along through the life that followed, until we finally arrive at…home.

Here is the other part of the tuning, which actually really informs the former.  Knowing Grace is leading us to our Heavenly Home, makes allowing Grace to led us through these Earthly Days.  I have often said that is it odd how little we think about the place where we will spend so much of eternity.  Think a little about Heaven right now.  Let what you know overwhelm you.  If you don’t know much about what the Bible says about it, I would recommend Heaven by Randy Alcorn.

Happy Tuning!

Jesus, thank You for all the trouble you have lead me through already.  Teach me to follow You more closely in the remaining days I have here.  Remind me to think about my ultimate home in Heaven more often, and live like someone who is being led by grace, now and forever more. In Jesus name.  Amen.

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’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Amazing Grace
By: John Newton, 1725-1807

Listen as you read.  This version is from Sacred Piano by Paul Cardall.

Well, it probably was not the first appearance, but it certainly was the first time I saw it as such.  And I remember it well.

March 29, 1992.  I remember where I was sitting and what Scripture passage was being presented, I Corinthians 6:2.  I remember the tears I shed, tears of relief.  I remember someone coming over to me and telling me they had been praying for me for several years.  Thank you Bill.

Fear,  Learned and Unlearned

It is interesting to think about the view where being taught to fear is a gracious thing, but it is when that fear is a right fear of how God views sin.  Grace teaches our heart to fear, and then graciously relieves the very fear it just taught us.

We all have fears.  Things that simply paralyze us.  Fear of failure.  Fear of what others may think.  Fear of heights.  But this fear, this one that grace teaches is not like any of those.  Most other fears we do not really learn, at least not in the same way.  This is the fear that comes from a proper understanding of our standing before God.

And that is a part of what is so beautiful about grace in this circumstance.  It teaches us that our standing is made right through grace, and that knowledge is what relieves the very fear that our knowledge of our doomed position before God evoked in the first place.

Think about that for a minute.  You have nothing to fear.  Nothing.  Not your standing before God, or any other lessor thing, which would be every thing since nothing matters as much as that.

So what are you afraid of?  What just came to mind.  Ask God right now to relieve you of that fear.  That is what grace does after all.  That is what it means to tune.  To adjust to any revelation from God, about Himself, or you.  Developing this as a habit, or way of life, is what helps you to get and stay resonant.

Ears? Check, Eyes? Check

And here again we get another of the senses involved in our grace encounter.  Like the first stanza to our ears, “how sweet the sound”, now grace is precious to our eyes.  What made it appear so precious?  I realized that although I had reason to fear, mostly the wrath of God, my fears were relieved.  I did not have to perform. I was going to get what I did not deserve.

So can you remember “the hour [you] first believed”?   Can you recall how you felt seeing grace for the first time?  I can, albeit through tear-filled eyes.  Has grace lost some of that quality for you?  How can you regain it?  Think back to those moments and draw from your memory.

Holy Spirit, thank you for helping me see grace in the first place.   Thank You for teaching me to fear, and then relieving me of it.  Tune my eyes to see Grace around me and in me everyday, and enable me to choose to align the music of my life to it more and more.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

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Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.

Amazing Grace
By: John Newton, 1725-1807

Listen as you read.  This version is from Sacred Piano by Paul Cardall.

Well, I think it sounds like a lot of different things, but I would agree with John Newton that it’s always sweet, and when rightly considered should always leave me amazed.   So why is it that I tend to not be very amazed, and often do not realize just how sweet grace is?  I suppose some of that has to do with the fact that I don’t realize just how lost or blind I was,  and tend to still be when I do not live in a conscious awareness of Grace, of which my Savior is the embodiment, but I will leave that for Thursday Thoughts.  See Lost and Blind, Not a Very Enviable Position.

I was attending a church service when I first heard it.  Sitting there in that pew I was wrestling with what I had heard before and what I was hearing.  I had been struggling to reconcile my desire for understanding with my need for faith.  Grace reconciled this.

A few weeks later I was baptized.  But before I went under the water, I stood and sang this new song I had learned which expressed really well how I felt about the transaction that had taken place, and the new position I had before God.  You guessed it, “Amazing Grace”.

I want to encourage you to consider what it sounded like to you when you first heard it.  I know the next stanza speaks about how precious it appeared, but for now I want you to remember and imagine what it sounded like.

Newton says “how sweet the sound”.  The juxtaposition of sweetness with wretchedness gives us a glimpse into the contrast that was apparent to him .  My inclination is to think about something tangible like candy versus garbage, but I want us to stick with the analogy of choose by our writer.

Grace Aids Intonation

If grace is sweet, then lostness is wretched.  But what might be our musical parallel?  If grace is tuned, then wretchedness is detuned, or untuned.  See where I am going with this?

This analogy will resonate within the hearts of the musicians especially, but I am certain it is not lost by most others.  Try to imagine a clear sounding note on a piano.  Did you know that middle C has two strings that are tuned in unison?  Old pianos which are not maintained have that detuned honky-tonk sound.  A tuned middle C versus an untuned middle C are a reasonable example of sweetness and wretchedness.

When a piano note is not tuned to unison, there is a dissonance within a single pitch.  It makes many of us cringe to hear that terrible sound.  When it is tuned to unison, that dissonance disappears.  That lack of dissonance is called consonance, but suffice it to say, it sounds good.  Here is a simple example of these differing sounds.

Consonance versus Dissonance

In short, grace sounds sweet.  Grace reconciles the dissonance in our souls.  It may be better said that grace creates the consonance our souls crave, then we spend the rest of this life trying to maintain that sound.  That sweet, sweet sound.

So how do you do that?  Maintain that consonance.  Well, that’s the journey we are going on together, but it begins by acknowledging we know what it sounds like, because after all that is the only way to tune ourselves to it.

Holy Spirit, the Strobotuner

The memory that comes to mind to me is standing if front a tuner in my high school band room trying to get the needle to go straight up, or the bars to stop moving, something like the one pictured above.  There are digital versions that simulate that on our smartphones today, and maybe even do a much better job.  Any musician will tell you playing in tune is something that you really have to work hard at doing, developing your internal sense of tuning, and always listening to the other sounds around you.

The same is true of the spiritual life.  The Holy Spirit is our Strobotuner.  We have to come back to Him to make sure we are in tune.  We have to work at it, developing our inner sense of how to stay in tune, and listening to what God is saying around us as well, constantly making adjustments because our flesh is prone to pull us out of tune.

But then there’s Grace.  Grace gently shows us we are out of tune.  Grace tunes us.  Grace helps us learn how to stay in tune, and helps us realize when we are out of tune.  Grace is sweet.

Holy Spirit, thank you for helping me hear grace in the first place.   Thank you for cultivating in me a desire for consonance, and helping me identify the dissonance in my life, and my inclination to create more apart from You.  Tune my ears to hear Grace around me and in me everyday, and enable me to choose to align the music of my life to it more and more.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
By: Robert Robinson, 1735-90

Many of you probably immediately identified the familiar Christmas Carol text, “I Wonder as I Wander”. [Listen here] Don’t worry, I am not confused, and neither are you.   I have switched the words around to put emphasis on the wandering.

I have a friend who has a problem with the idea that I am “prone to wander”.  His point is that my new nature is not prone to wander.  While I would agree with Him, I contended that my nature is not prone to wander, but my flesh certainly is.  “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”  Matthew 26:41

This is why Robinson in His text asks God to bind his wandering heart to Himself by virtue of God’s goodness.  In our context I would say our tendency is to get out of tune, to wander away from the Perfect Pitch, God Himself.  So we echo that prayer to be bound and set fast in “tune”, but our flesh is bent on getting out of tune.

When I stop and wonder at the marvelous love God has shown me in sending His Son, [I wonder…how Jesus the Savior did come for to die/for poor, orn’ry people like you and like I] my wondering is not so much, “Hum, that’s interesting” as much as “Wow! why would He do that!?!” When I stop and wonder at His grace toward me, I am overwhelmed by it all.  The issue is not my wondering, but my wandering.

See, if I would stop long enough to wonder, in other words if I would just stop wandering, my mind might be able to slow down enough to allow my spirit to be taught by His Spirit.  I mean wandering in the sense of meandering, going to and fro purposelessly, pictured by the above image.  I think this is a rampant condition for many souls. I think Robinson was acknowledging that through his words.

I do not want to wander anymore.  I want to be bound, settled, centered in God’s goodness.  A fetter is chain used to restrain a prisoner, typically placed around the ankles.  Generally fetters are not thought of as a good thing.  But when the fetter is not a chain, but an awareness of God’s goodness, and that fetter constrains my wandering heart to the singular purpose of embracing the grace of God, that fetter is a very good thing.

I do not want to wander.  I want to wonder.  Help me Jesus!