I had a dream the other night and it began with a vision of my sharing my testimony to a large group of people. When I got onstage to do so, I didn’t say anything, rather I suddenly began singing Amazing Grace at the top of my lungs. It was truly amazing because I sang it beautifully, which was quite remarkable due to the fact that my singing with this normally weak and scratchy voice is . . . well awful.
I pondered this dream today and wondered whether God was telling me something by it, and if so, what the significance might be. I have concluded that it did come from God and it does have significance. And so I examined the lyrics to look for an answer to what the significance might be.
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.
Hmmm . . . Like John Newton I was definitely a wretch and like Paul I was blind but God removed the scales from my eyes where I could see.
’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
You know I was so miserable I actually desired death and really didn’t fear much of anything until I realized that hell was for real and forever. I feared everlasting hell.
Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
I have faced so much tragedy and craziness in my life that I should be six feet under and in hell, but Christ’s grace saved me. When He did I immediately knew that nothing could ever remove His love and grace from me and hell is no longer an option.
The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be,
As long as life endures.
His Holy word the Bible became and remains my source of protection and will continue to be so through the remainder of my time on this earth. By reading and studying God’s word and clinging to my unending faith in God I am shielded from the evil in this world.
Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.
These three verses all deal with the end of the battle on this planet and speak to the peace and joy we shall at last truly know throughout eternity. It also speaks to the sheer love and gratitude that will be expressed in heaven for God and His grace. I am convinced that I will have a beautiful strong voice in heaven and will be singing in that choir at the top of my lungs with tears of joy streaming down my face. (And no one will be wincing when they hear me.)
Ah . . . I can’t wait, but there is yet work to do and sharing my testimony is one of those tasks. I’ve offered my testimony thousands of times through the years and many of you have heard it more than once. On January 10th at Honey Lake Church’s second Sunday service I’m going to give it again, but in a different manner than ever before. I’m going to focus on the amazing grace of God in a way like I’ve never done before, and how His grace so radically changed me that most people cannot believe that I was once the monster that I was. I encourage you to mark the date and attend and bring a friend, preferably someone who has lost hope and everyone has given up hope on, (aside from God and His true believers that understand grace that is).
2 Cor. 12:9
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. I have been a fool!
December 17, 2015 – Click here to listen