Becoming a Woman of Grace
Preface
Amazing grace – how sweet the sound! Grace is a lovely word and a prized attribute, manifesting
itself in steadfast kindness and benevolence. To be known as a gracious person is a high compliment.
It was last year that I felt led to write a Bible study on grace. I actually had another topic in mind,
but the Lord seemed to say quite clearly, “Cynthia, it is time that you learned about grace.” So began my
immersion into the vast ocean of God’s unmerited favor. It often seemed that I was treading these gracious
waters looking for the shore – for grace itself is infinitely deep.
This study has probably been the hardest to write of any I have embarked upon. I have read more
commentators, deleted more sentences, and rearranged more chapters than in the development of any
other guide. I have to smile while recalling how the Lord whispered in my heart along the way that I would
have a personal testimony to His grace when I finished! Because of unexpected circumstances in my life
coinciding with the time set aside for this writing, I have experienced the freshness and abundance of God’s
grace in completing this undertaking. The conversations between the Father and the Child arose as He led
me to a deeper understanding of His loving faithfulness.
I pray that you will discover new facets of grace and experience new areas of freedom in your life.
To glimpse the fullness of His grace is a life-changing revelation. May His grace so infuse your heart and
direct your life that others will be blessed as you become a woman of grace.
Grace to you!
The Father and the Child
Dear child, it is time for you to understand My grace.
Yes, Father; I know little of Your grace.
If you do not begin to comprehend the depth and breadth of My grace, you will not
live in freedom and holiness that I have purposed for you.
I want to live fully as You have intended.
My grace to you came at a great cost, and I desire that you become a woman of grace.
How will I learn of Your grace?
By listening carefully to My Word, drawing close to Me in prayer, and allowing My Spirit to teach
you. Come, child, let us begin. I long to show you My graciousness.
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Becoming a Woman of Grace
CHAPTER ONE
GOD IS GRACIOUS
“And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and
therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord
is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.”
Isaiah 30:18 KJV
Before sin entered the world, Adam and Eve experienced God’s goodness
not as a response to their demerit (since they didn’t have any) but still without
deserving God’s goodness. You can’t deserve to be created. You can’t
deserve, as a non-being, to be put into a lavish garden where all your needs
are met by a loving Father. So even before they sinned, Adam and Eve lived
on grace. And God’s will for them was that they live by faith in future grace –
God’s daily, fatherly care and provision.
John Piper
From its opening pages Scripture shows us that God has always longed to be gracious. His creation of a
marvelous world out of nothing is amazing evidence of His grace, and He placed His children in it to be
recipients of His grace. In the garden, Adam and Eve were immersed in God’s goodness. They did nothing
to earn their place there, and they did nothing to receive His love. God simply chose to be kind, merciful,
and compassionate to them. Charles Ryrie observes, “God’s love for man is the first motive for His acting
in grace on behalf of man.” From creation onward we find that God has showered upon us His undeserved
favor. Truly He is the God of all grace.
God’s Smile
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1.
Just as God in His sovereignty chose to create Adam and Eve in order to love them, He also created
a relationship with His chosen people in order to love them. Read Deuteronomy 7:6-11 and record
the evidences of Israel’s undeserved favor.
2.
Derek Kidner portrays Old Testament grace as the “smile of God.” Read the verses below and
describe God’s “smile” on Noah, Abram, Jacob, and Joseph.
Genesis 6:5-8
Genesis 12:1-3
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Genesis 33:1-11 (Jacob was meeting Esau for the first time after years of estrangement following Jacob’s
theft of Esau’s birthright.)
Genesis 39:19-23 (Joseph, sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers, had become a servant to
Potiphar, whose wife falsely accused him of attempting to seduce her.)
The word favor is the nearest Biblical synonym for the word grace. In this
connection it may be observed that the one thought which is almost
exclusively expressed in the New Testament by the word grace, is, in the Old
Testament, almost exclusively expressed by the word favor. Grace is favor,
and favor is grace. Thus, in considering the Bible teaching on this great
theme, equal attention should be given to all passages wherein either the word
grace is used or favor is found. Grace means pure unrecompensed kindness
and favor.
Lewis Sperry Chafer
God’s Favor
3.
Moses was privileged to hear the Lord speak to him “face to face.” Record God’s communication of
His grace to Moses in Exodus 33:11-23.
So right at the center of God’s self-revelation is the declaration that he is free
in the way he dispenses his grace. And this freedom belongs to the very
essence of what it means to be God. God is gracious to whom he will be
gracious. He is not limited by anyone’s wickedness. He is never trapped by
his own wrath. His grace may break out anywhere he pleases. John Piper
4.
The psalmist David has given us some of the greatest testimonials to God’s grace in all of Scripture.
Read Psalm 103:1-14 and summarize David’s characterizations of God’s graciousness to himself and
others.
5.
David prompts us in Psalm 103 to remember God’s benefits. Write down some of God’s “benefits,”
or ways in which He has shown His graciousness to you.
Isaiah relates God’s response to rebellious Judah in Isaiah 30:8-19. Describe Judah’s rebellion and God’s
response.
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Judah’s rebellion:
God’s response:
He will wait to be gracious; he will wait till you return to him and seek his
face, and then he will be ready to meet you with mercy. He will wait, that he
may do it in the best and fittest time, when it will be most for his glory, when
it will come to you with the most pleasing surprise. He will continually follow
you with his favours, and not let slip any opportunity to be gracious to you.
Matthew Henry
AUTHOR’S REFLECTION – I’ll never forget an unpleasant experience I had in junior high. I was
invited over to a friend’s house for lunch after church, and as we were eating, my friend and her dad got
into an argument. I was appalled when he jumped up from the table in a fit of anger, stormed over to
where she was sitting, and slapped her. Afterward, I tried to comfort her while she cried. I also decided
that I never wanted to return for another visit to her home.
Sadly, many fathers are harsh with their children. Consequently, it is easy to view God as a stern
figure who is easily provoked to rage and quick to punish. Many people struggle to see Him as anything
more than a judge waiting to pass sentence on their sins and lack of perfection. This mistaken
understanding of God’s character hinders our trust and surrender to our Lord. God is righteous and He
does exercise justice, but His actions are characterized by grace, mercy, and compassion. He chooses to
be gracious, He longs to be gracious – even to disobedient children. He patiently waits to manifest His
grace.
“Never be sympathetic with the soul whose case makes you come to the conclusion that God is
hard,” advises Oswald Chambers. “God is more tender than we can conceive.” And this is our God. He
would never act as my friend’s father did, striking out in rage. Even when He chastens us in the midst of
our sin and unfaithfulness, He does so with loving patience and always for our good. We, who repeatedly
ignore the instruction of the Lord and by our actions say, “Stop confronting us with the Holy One of
Israel” (Isaiah 30:11, NIV), are undeserving. Yet God earnestly waits to be gracious and to show us mercy
and loving-kindness. How blessed are all those who long for Him, for they will experience His grace.
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All that God wanted man to do was to believe in Him. What a man believes,
moves and rules his whole being, enters into him, and becomes part of his
very life. Salvation could only be by faith: God restoring the life man had lost;
man in faith yielding himself to God’s work and will. The first great work of
God with man was to get him to believe. This work cost God more care and
time and patience than we can easily conceive. All the dealings with individual
men, and with the people of Israel, had just this one object, to teach men to
trust Him. Where He found faith He could do anything. Nothing
dishonoured and grieved Him so much as unbelief. Unbelief was the root of
disobedience and every sin; it may it impossible for God to do His work. The
one thing God sought to waken in men by promise and threatening, by mercy
and judgment, was faith.
O the many devices of which God’s patient and condescending grace made
use to stir up and strengthen faith, one of the chief was – the Covenant.
Andrew Murray
Amazing Grace
6.
“The supreme divine objective is, then, that infinite love may manifest itself in superabounding
grace,” writes Lewis Sperry Chafer. Take time to write a prayer asking God to lead you into a deeper
understanding of His boundless grace in your life.
SUGGESTED SCRIPTURE MEMORY: Isaiah 30:18
“And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and
therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord
is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.”
Isaiah 30:18 KJV
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CHAPTER ONE – SCRIPTURE VERSES
Deuteronomy 7:6-11
6. For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a
special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
7. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than
any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:
8. But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto
your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the
house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
9. Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and
mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
10. And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that
hateth him, he will repay him to his face.
11. Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I
command thee this day, to do them.
Genesis 6:5-8
5. And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
7. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man,
and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made
them.
8. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
Genesis 12:1-3
1. Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from
thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
2. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou
shalt be a blessing:
3. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families
of the earth be blessed.
Genesis 33:1-11
1. And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred
men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids.
2. And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and
Rachel and Joseph hindermost.
3. And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came
near to his brother.
4. And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they
wept.
5. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are those with thee?
And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.
6. Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves.
7. And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed themselves: and after came Joseph near
and Rachel, and they bowed themselves.
8. And he said, What meanest thou by all this drove which I met? And he said, These are to find
grace in the sight of my lord.
9. And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast unto thyself.
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10. And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at
my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast
pleased with me.
11. Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me,
and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it.
Genesis 39:19-23
19. And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying,
After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled.
20. And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners
were bound: and he was there in the prison.
21. But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the
keeper of the prison.
22. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison;
and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.
23. The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the Lord was
with him, and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper.
Exodus 33:11-23
11. And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned
again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the
tabernacle.
12. And Moses said unto the Lord, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not
let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast
also found grace in my sight.
13. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may
know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.
14. And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.
15. And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.
16. For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is it not in
that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are
upon the face of the earth.
17. And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found
grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.
18. And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
19. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the
Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom
I will shew mercy.
20. And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
21. And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
22. And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and
will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:
23. And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.
Psalm 103:1-14
1. Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
2. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
3. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
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4. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender
mercies;
5. Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6. The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.
7. He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.
8. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
9. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.
10. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
12. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
13. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
14. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
Isaiah 30:8-19
8. Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come
for ever and ever:
9. That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord:
10. Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto
us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
11. Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from
before us.
12. Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression
and perverseness, and stay thereon:
13. Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose
breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
14. And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters’ vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not
spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or
to take water withal out of the pit.
15. For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in
quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
16. But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the
swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
17. One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee; till ye be left as a
beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill.
18. And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted,
that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait
for him.
19. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious
unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.
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