Only By Grace.

fac·et

noun /ˈfasət/ One side of something many-sided, esp. of a cut gem A particular aspect or feature of something. I believe God to be multifaceted, a tapestry of amazing, astounding and endless characteristics that I can't even begin to fathom. Grace is just one of them.

I've been thinking about grace a whole load recently and the phrase which keeps going round and round in my head is "only by grace". Everything we do, only by grace, unfathomable, unmerited, undeserved, unadulterated, amazing, grace. God is perfect, perfect in love, perfect in justice; yet in his justice he's also perfect in grace. I physically can't get my around the concept, grace is I guess, undeserved, unmerited favour, and it's completely and utterly unfair. It's the small child whining "it's not fair".

Yet “As the heavens are higher than the earth, 

   so are my ways higher than your ways 
   and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:9 pretty much sums it up really, in my human-ness, I have no ability to get my around God's well "Godness", and quite frankly I love it. God has so many facets. I can delve into the mystery of God's many characteristics, I can muse, and explore, and it's beautiful, if anything it's my pleasure. However I can't rationalize God, or sanitize him, or predict or perfect the already perfect. So why do I sometimes think I'm in a position to place a roof on the being that created the skies? Frankly it's a waste of time. It's time to bathe in his mystery. Drown in his grace. And worship in reverential fear. I guess that's what I'm learning. Only God is ultimate.

 "Our God is in heaven;
   he does whatever pleases him"

(Psalm 115:3 NIV)

God chooses to show grace, when really I deserve anything but. God's gracious when I'm not plain-sailing, when i'm not easy company, and when i make things way harder than they need to be.

"Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you (Colossians 3:13 NLT) " That's a challenge if I ever heard one. When the world says one thing, I want to say the other. When the world rations forgiveness and skimps on grace, I want to show grace extravagantly, freely and without limit. Like God shows me, each and every day. I'm drowning in it, so now I need to start dealing in it; it's time for me to get extravagantly gracious.