And the sad truth. So many people do ignore it.
Hello readers. Welcome to my heart. Let's begin.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 1 Corinthians 12:8
I was driving home from an early morning bible study with some great older men of the faith, and a song I was playing in my car just reminded me of the gospel. Here are the lyrics.
Beauty for ashes
Joy for pain
Mercy instead of my blame
Ruins me for more
I'm lost in Your presence Lord.
It's from the song Over My Head by Starfield. And the gist of the song is the writer is clueless and seemingly wrecked at God's love for us. It's over his head, it doesn't make any sense. And as I'm listening to those lyrics this morning, they just jump out and hit me in new way. I've heard this song a thousand times (literally), but this time, it was such a refreshing truth on the ride home. And as tears rushed to my eyes as I thought about my own life and all God has seriously done and continues to offer as exchanges for me.
Son, you have ashes, I'll turn them into beauty.
Son you have pain, I'll exchange them for joy.
Son you feel the blame, I'll exchange it for mercy.
The biblical definition of grace is to get something that we do not deserve; unmerited favor.
Hmm....Receiving something that we do not deserve?
Who doesn't love that? How many of your friends would allow you to fully abuse them and yet, whenever you ask for anything they are right there to give it to you, an abundance of times? I will go ahead and answer that for you. None of them will.
I've questioned the hearts of man. I have a very deep misunderstanding of how anyone can ignore the love of God. I know what the Bible says about the god of this world, Satan, has blinded the eyes of the unbeliever (2 Corinthians), but can the blind see again today? Please?
I'm extremely wrecked by the gospel, which enlightens me to the fact that both believers and unbelievers need the gospel. If you are an unbeliever, let me help you know what that means. A person that does not believe in the birth and life and resurrection of Jesus Christ and have not put their faith in Him, this is for you. Hey, He loves you. And I know, you may have heard that before. You may have read a bumper sticker that said it, but you're reading it again. Jesus loves you. He has paid for the sins you may have just committed today, yesterday, last weekend, or right now, or about to do. Jesus has covered it, paid for it, because of His grace and mercy for you. Stop ignoring this free gift. No, don't focus on what's expected from you to be a Christian. God will deal with that when He gets you first. He wants YOU! And please for a minute forget the Christians that may have hurt you or given you a bad image of God, I'm about to get to them in a minute, but this is for you-----God is not like them. They should be more like God, and yes they may have shown you blatant hypocrisy, but again, that's the purpose of the gospel. That is the purpose of the cross. God saw that we were going to continue to be a fallen people, continue to rebel, to war, to disagree, to fight, to verbal abuse, to covet, to abandon, to judge, to hate, to hurt and yet, His son, has beautifully died and paid the price for our sins. So that hypocrite's short comings that turned you away from God, God paid for them, so who are you to judge them? There is no condemnation for them----but please know this is not an exclusive group. You can be well under that promise of no condemnation yourself, of eternal life for yourself and freedom from your sins. That's available for you. They have been died for, just as you have been. Stop ignoring the grace and come to Him. Come to Him. Come to Him.
Believers, now it's your turn. REST. Experience the gospel daily. We have to start living as if this home is not ours, and rest in the fact that WE ARE OKAY. You have eternity in heaven if your future, so calm down and rest. If you fail that class, guess what? You have eternity in your future, and a different GPA, but still, you're okay. Remember that your works are desired by God but only of an outpour of your love for Him. It does not earn your approval anymore, it does not earn you any more love. You are redeemed and forgiven. Live in it. Rejoice. Calm down and live. You're alive. Rejoice in the Savior. Love the Savior. Give your life to your Savior. Live in daily repentance, because I guarantee you, you will mess up later today or very soon. Because even on your best day, your works are not good enough. So rest in the truth that you're covered, and pursue Jesus and pursue His holiness and godliness out of the love of your heart for God doing what He has done. Stop ignoring that you have this grace and live in it. You are free dear friend. You are free. And go easy on them unbelievers. They need to see the love you claim to know--which is you claiming a certain love you have. They need to see you actually be the church. They need to actually see your life wrecked for the gospel and transforming your mind because you've placed your hope in Him. Stop ignoring the fact that you must share this grace, but first you must know it yourself.
The gospel is for us all. I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of god for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. Romans 1:16
Jesus my friends, has delivered a beautiful gift to us. If you've speed read through this blog, slow down right now.
Jesus
died
for
you.
His grace is sufficient--which means, that sin or brokenness or heartache or whatever you are finding hard to deal with, try Him on it. He said it was sufficient--- let Him prove it to you.
Love you all. Thanks for reading.
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