This week’s study is inspired by the song, The Point of Grace. It came to me on March 17, 1997 for the contemporary Christian women’s quartet, called Point of Grace. Since a couple of the girls were from Oklahoma, we were already familiar with one another's ministries and, coincidentally, had both signed recording deals with Word Music, I believe, in 1993 or 1994. All I know is Melinda and I were invited to the Word Music Christmas dinner in Nashville in December for new artists signed to Word in the early 90s and I recall thinking how cool it was to have two ministries from Oklahoma signed to the same record company.
Of course, Point of Grace made a huge impact on Christian radio and were touring quite a bit in the following years. In the spring of 1997, Heather (soprano of the group), had their manager call and ask if I would be willing to come to their concert at the state fairgrounds arena in Oklahoma City and lead the girls in a pre-concert devotion. Of course, I quickly agreed to do that and immediately began seeking the Lord as to what He would have me share with the girls.
What I heard in my spirit was simply to sing over the girls. Personally, I knew that, based on my own experience with ministering to people in a concert setting and listening afterwards to the stories and burdens shared with me by those in attendance, that after a while, those burdens can become weights upon the shoulders of those who minister.
There were over 10,000 people in attendance that night, but my family and I had gotten there early enough to meet with the girls and their band to share with them what God had put on my heart. The first thing I did was to remind them that God was their hiding place and that he would surround them with songs of deliverance, reminding them that God rejoiced over them with singing…and that he had given me a song from his point of view to sing over them. I told them I felt they needed to let go of the burdens of those they were singing to and give those burdens to God.
Since they did not have a piano in the green room where we were meeting, I had brought my guitar in order to convey this song to them. At first I felt completely intimidated because the guys that played guitar in their band were world-class musicians and I was a piano guy pretending to play the guitar.
What struck me right away was that God could use even a remedial level guitar player to convey His heart because it was evident that what I was singing had struck a nerve; maybe a better way to say it would be to say that God had touched their hearts. How could I tell? All four of the girls had tears streaming down their faces and seeing that gave me a sense that God was enveloping them with a massive dose of his love for them. When I had finished singing this song over them, there was a brief moment of silence as we all experienced the awe and wonder of God's mighty presence with us and amongst us.
Of course, the girls were genuinely grateful while at the same time, jokingly saying to me, “Thanks a lot, Dennis! Now we have to redo our make up!” I felt very blessed to have been asked to do that for them and I suspect they began using waterproof mascara after that night. Just sayin’.
So just what does the phrase point of grace mean? What is the point of grace? The best way to explain it is to share just a few of the lyrics with you before I let you hear the song. I believe you will be able to identify with these words. This is verse one and part of the chorus:
When the fire of life leaves you so dry
That your eyes have no tears left to cry
When heartache leaves you wondering why
Or wondering how you will survive
And when you’ve grown too tired to run the race
But find your strength is gone without a trace
When you’ve reached that lonely desperate place
You have reached the point of grace
Chorus
And I will meet you there where your striving ends
I will hold you there in My embrace
And you will find the place where true joy begins
When you’ve reached the point of grace
The point of grace is the place where I come to understand that I cannot live this life or deal with it circumstances on my own; the place where we have fallen so far we feel we cannot be reached; the place where we let go of our burdens and take God's hand in our own hands. The point of grace is the collision of my realization that I need help with the massive love of God.
We all need more grace. Grace is simply God’s power meeting us in our weakness and infusing us with all that He is. I encourage you to receive His grace for whatever circumstances you face.
And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 NASB
It's OK to admit we need Jesus. In fact, my personal belief is that Jesus is the answer to every question of life. I just need to learn how to see life; see the world from his point of view because it is there I will find the point of grace. This has become very personal to me in a way I never expected. Each and every day I wake up and remember I am dealing with Parkinson's, I immediately begin thanking God for another day of life and, at the same time, asking God for grace to get me through another day. His grace truly is sufficient. It’s enough to get me through.
Dennis Jernigan
To hear The Dennis Jernigan Podcast version of this teaching and to hear the song, just use the following link. As you listen, all I ask is that you disregard me and hear your Father’s heart singing over you: https://www.patreon.com/posts/point-of-grace-104164421
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