“After
a few failed suicide attempts and many failed relationships, lots of drinking,
even drugs - I knew I was lost. I was alone. Yet God NEVER abandoned me. I
always felt his presence, all the while ignoring it, but knew it was Him. I
felt convicted, horrible and like the worst Christian ever. I don't know if I
even considered myself a Christian. I was lost.” Several years ago, she was touched by the
Spirit. She and her husband found their
way to a church, heard the Word, wept through the sermons, and received God’s
grace anew. The rest of her story goes like this: “After a while we joined a small group and … our relationship with Jesus
continues to grow. … It's a process. My relationship with my Heavenly Father
continues to grow in the new light of my adulthood, thanks to the foundation
you, your family, and mine instilled upon me.”
Her story is one I have heard a thousand times, only the
names change and yet I never tire of
hearing them and I always well up with emotion – full of such gratitude that
God loves sinners, pursues us when we ignore Him, and gives us life we do not
deserve when we turn to Him! "Since
we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in
which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God."
(Romans 5:1-2, NIV) "God demonstrates his own love for us in
this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8,
NIV) "For the sin of this one man,
Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even
greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who
receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus
Christ." (Romans 5:17, NLT)
Do you know ‘grace?’ Do you treasure the amazing gift of
God?
There is nothing that the Evil One hates more than grace. As long we are gazing at
ourselves, taken up with our attempts to ‘get it right,’ trying to earn a sense
of being in good standing with our Creator, we will fall and fail, stumble and
stagger, exist in darkness. But, when we give up and fall on His mercies, we
find an amazing grace. Paul uses all kinds of superlatives to describe it. "Immense in mercy and with an incredible
love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ.
He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set
us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah. Now God has us
where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace
and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work.
All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role.
If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No,
we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He
creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good
work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing."
(Ephesians 2:4-10, The Message)
Are you a gracious Christian who knows his own total
depravity and yet lives in love because you have been changed by grace? Or, are
you one of those who claim Christ’s love but still hang onto attempts at
self-righteousness, quick to judge those who are enslaved by Self, unaware of
your own lapses, gaps, and hypocrisy? The
most beautiful Christians are those who experience a ‘grace awakening’ (thank
you, Chuck Swindoll) and are transformed into loving, hopeful, holy saints.
The Christmas story is a grace story. John sums it up like this:
"He was in the world, and though the
world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. … Yet to all who
received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become
children of God— …The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have
seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full
of grace and truth." (John 1:10, 12, 14, NIV) Receive the Gift! I did, again this morning, and renewed my
hope and assurance. Won’t you?
_______________
This Is Amazing Grace
Who breaks the power
of sin and darkness,
Whose love is mighty
and so much stronger?
The King of Glory the
King above all kings!
Who shakes the whole
earth with holy thunder,
Who leaves us
breathless in awe and wonder?
The King of Glory the
King above all kings!
This is amazing grace,
This is unfailing love,
That You would take my
place,
That You would bear my
cross.
You laid down Your
life
That I would be set
free.
Oh Jesus, I sing for
all that You've done for me.
Who brings our chaos
back into order,
Who makes the orphan a
son and daughter?
The King of Glory, the
King of Glory!
Who rules the nations
with truth and justice,
Shines like the sun in
all of its brilliance?
The King of Glory, the
King above all kings!
Worthy is the Lamb who
was slain,
Worthy is the King who
conquered the grave.
Worthy, worthy, worthy!
Jeremy Riddle | Josh Farro | Phil Wickham
© 2012 Phil Wickham Music (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)
Seems Like Music (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)
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