A Martyr's Grace

Yesterday I was listening to Janet Parshall's America and she had Marvin Newell  on talking about his new book called A Martyr's Grace: Stories of Those Who Gave All for Christ and His Cause and I was struck by how Newell came up with the title of the book.  Apparently the title of the book came from a comment D. L. Moody made concerning a martyr's grace.  So I got curious and decided to do a search on this, and sure enough this is what D.L. Moody says concerning a "marty'rs grace."

I have sometimes been asked if I had grace enough to enable me to go to the stake and die as a martyr. No; what do I want with martyrs' grace? I do not like suffering; but if God should call on me to die a martyr's death, He would give me martyrs' grace. If I have to pass through some great affliction, I know God will give me grace when the time comes; but I do not want it till it comes.

Now I don't know about you, but I find these to be very powerful words for a few reasons.  First, I appreciate Moody's transparency concerning the fact that he does not like suffering.  Sometimes I think that us modern day Christians get this fantasy like idea that the martyrs of old enjoyed suffering.  Like Paul said, "May it never be!"  However, what is even more amazing to me is Moody's belief and faith in God that if God called him die as a martyr, God would indeed give him the grace to do so.

Moody also wrote the following concerning the idea that God wants us Christians to "swim" in His grace.

There is plenty of grace. Many Christians, if they have grace enough to keep them from outward sin, seem to be perfectly satisfied; they do not press on to get fullness of grace, so as to be ready for God's work. (68) Many are satisfied to go into the stream of grace ankle deep, when God wants them to swim in it.

To be honest, I'm sure that I am one of those Christians who has the ankle deep grace and not the swimming in it grace, but I can tell you this, I would  like to know God and His grace even more.  So I plan on reading this book by Marvin Newell and hopefully as I learn more about God's grace I will be able to understand martyrdom even more.