We’re having a GIRL! Carys Lynn is due June 20, 2016. After six boys, grandchild number seven is a girl, and indeed a lavish gift of grace, a good and perfect gift from above. We are in love with all six of our precious boys, but this family needs a baby girl and we are all excited! Especially her three older brothers…and her Grandma. But I’m sure you can’t tell from this newsletter!
Carys…I love her name! Carys is derived from the Greek word, cariß, or “charis”, meaning “that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech.” The term occurs 148 times in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, the word most often translated “grace,” is hen or “chen” [ej], and occurs about sixty times, including thirteen times in the book of Proverbs! It may also be translated in the English as favor, charm, or adornment. (www.Biblestudytools.com, Retrieved January 27, 2016)
Proverbs 22:1 (NASB) says, “A good name is to be more desired than great wealth; favor (grace) is better than silver and gold.” When I was growing up in church, I always heard grace defined as “unmerited favor”, and I have always struggled to truly grasp the meaning of the word. It seems like it is a term that has escaped from heaven (like Hallelujah or Amen!), and in our human minds, we cannot fully understand the fullness of it. However, when we know the One who is the initiator and giver of “charis”, we can experience it personally – and we are then able to give such “charis” to others!
God’s grace stems from His unfailing love, for grace is something that is “lavishly bestowed” (Ephesians 1:8) on us and is completely undeserved or unmerited (Titus 3:5). Nothing we have done brings us into favor with God, but by His mercy, we are saved. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…” (John 3:16). “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Because of God’s love, He gives us “charis”. Because of “charis”, we may be saved through faith. Even this faith is given by God and not of ourselves. (Romans 12:3; John 6:44) And nothing we have done can keep us from His love or His grace, for “He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (II Peter 3:9)
As we receive grace, we can now give “charis,” or grace, to others. Many years ago, I remember my sister-in-law saying that she was praying “grace” for her children for each day. I found it difficult to comprehend exactly what she meant at that time in my life, but as she prayed and lived out her love toward her children, she was giving God’s grace to them through her actions, her words, and her sacrifice. This was grace given to her through the Lord Jesus, as she loved Him and served Him. As she was an example of the grace she had received, her children became recipients of grace. Then, in turn they were learning to give grace to others.
That reminds me of the Proverbs 31 woman. This godly lady lavishly extended grace to everyone from her family to her servants to those who were poor and helpless. As a result, her husband and children praised her, extending more grace to her. What a picture of giving grace to others because God’s grace has been given to us.
I am so thankful today for the riches of God’s “charis” in my life…abundant grace (I Timothy 1:14), even as I rejoice in the announcement of this precious baby girl, Carys, in our family…sweet grace, indeed a blessing from above!
My prayer today for you is this, as the apostle Paul prayed for the Ephesian church in chapter one of his letter to the church at Ephesus:
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ…(Ephesians 1:15-18)
Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ!(Ephesians 1:2)
On the Journey Together,
Kim at ProverbWise
