Amazing Grace...How confusing it seems to be for us
So I've been thinking...about grace.
"Unmerited favor"
"A gift"
"Undeserved"
So many words to describe the one simple, yet often unimaginable little word.
If we attempt to earn God's grace (which I think we are all guilty of), we are kind of making a silly gesture, right?! It' s like if someone gave you a birthday gift, wrapped, maybe even left it on your porch as a surprise.
What if you took that present, still wrapped, and jumped in your car and chased down your friend? "Wait!! I want to pay you for this!!"
Surely the friend would be a little confused, maybe even offended. "What? I gave you that for your birthday! You don't have to pay me for it!"
Every time the opportunity arose, you tried to "pay" that friend back with various gestures, serving in any and every way. "Well, let me buy you lunch, please? Here, I'll carry all of that for you. Ugh, I just need to pay you somehow for that present you gave me."
"Have you even opened it yet?" the friend might ask. "It was a GIFT!!"
(Fleshly me would probably be so annoyed if I was the gift-er, I would ask for the gift back at this point!!)
I'm sure you see where I'm going with this. Don't we treat the gift of grace like that? I know I do the same thing as in my example of the birthday gift...it just looks a little different (or maybe a little bit the same at times!) "Please, Lord!! Just let me do xyz amount of service projects. I'll be good this week!" Then, maybe I'll feel worthy of His grace.
But that's just the irony of the whole thing. How can grace be a gift if we earn it? That's the whole point. There is nothing we have ever done, and nothing we can do to earn it. Maybe it's more simple than that to some of you. For me, it gets a little blurry in the midst of life. Especially when the world DOES make us work for our worth. We have to look good, do good, be good...and according to THEIR standards, or else it's just not good enough.
Grace, grace, God's grace
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within
Grace, grace, God's grace
Grace that is greater than all my sin!!
*I have no idea who this guy is...just found him on a youtube search for this song. He's good, though!!! :)
Some food for thought:
Philippians 4:19...Ever thought of that one as an example of his grace? How in the world do we deserve anything...our needs? Some could maybe make a case for that one...but everyone reading this right now has so much beyond needs met. Grace!!
Isaiah 40:11...one of my favorite, and a constant reminder of His grace. I need to be reminded often of His grace granted to me, so that I can openly grant grace to my own!!
Revelation 3:20...He IS on our porch!! He IS the gift. The grace has been laid out right in front of us, we just have to open the door!!
Mercy? Well, that's a head scratcher, too...Not only do we not deserve this grace, but we DO deserve eternal damnation for turning our eyes away from Him. He not only gives us this gift of undeserved favor and blessing, He spares us from what we really deserve...but we'll save that for another day :)
"Unmerited favor"
"A gift"
"Undeserved"
So many words to describe the one simple, yet often unimaginable little word.
If we attempt to earn God's grace (which I think we are all guilty of), we are kind of making a silly gesture, right?! It' s like if someone gave you a birthday gift, wrapped, maybe even left it on your porch as a surprise.
What if you took that present, still wrapped, and jumped in your car and chased down your friend? "Wait!! I want to pay you for this!!"
Surely the friend would be a little confused, maybe even offended. "What? I gave you that for your birthday! You don't have to pay me for it!"
Every time the opportunity arose, you tried to "pay" that friend back with various gestures, serving in any and every way. "Well, let me buy you lunch, please? Here, I'll carry all of that for you. Ugh, I just need to pay you somehow for that present you gave me."
"Have you even opened it yet?" the friend might ask. "It was a GIFT!!"
(Fleshly me would probably be so annoyed if I was the gift-er, I would ask for the gift back at this point!!)
I'm sure you see where I'm going with this. Don't we treat the gift of grace like that? I know I do the same thing as in my example of the birthday gift...it just looks a little different (or maybe a little bit the same at times!) "Please, Lord!! Just let me do xyz amount of service projects. I'll be good this week!" Then, maybe I'll feel worthy of His grace.
But that's just the irony of the whole thing. How can grace be a gift if we earn it? That's the whole point. There is nothing we have ever done, and nothing we can do to earn it. Maybe it's more simple than that to some of you. For me, it gets a little blurry in the midst of life. Especially when the world DOES make us work for our worth. We have to look good, do good, be good...and according to THEIR standards, or else it's just not good enough.
Grace, grace, God's grace
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within
Grace, grace, God's grace
Grace that is greater than all my sin!!
*I have no idea who this guy is...just found him on a youtube search for this song. He's good, though!!! :)
Some food for thought:
Philippians 4:19...Ever thought of that one as an example of his grace? How in the world do we deserve anything...our needs? Some could maybe make a case for that one...but everyone reading this right now has so much beyond needs met. Grace!!
Isaiah 40:11...one of my favorite, and a constant reminder of His grace. I need to be reminded often of His grace granted to me, so that I can openly grant grace to my own!!
Revelation 3:20...He IS on our porch!! He IS the gift. The grace has been laid out right in front of us, we just have to open the door!!
Mercy? Well, that's a head scratcher, too...Not only do we not deserve this grace, but we DO deserve eternal damnation for turning our eyes away from Him. He not only gives us this gift of undeserved favor and blessing, He spares us from what we really deserve...but we'll save that for another day :)
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