My
old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives
in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me.
This
verse might be the clearest picture of God’s grace in my life. Our humanity so needs to remove itself or be
removed with all it’s flaws and pain.
Literally our lives were exchanged by the high price and perfect life of
Christ.
That
is grace. Grace is what God did for us
that we couldn’t do for ourselves. Grace
is the understanding when we least deserve it that God loves us, forgives us
and accepts us no matter what and forever.
That is the grace I need. That is
the grace I want to extend to others.
Take a few minutes to think about the grace God has given you.
Grace never ignores the awful truth of
our depravity; in fact it emphasizes it.
The worse we realize we are the greater we realize God's grace. --- Randy Alcorn
Alcorn
said is better than I can. Coming to the
end of myself is the finding of the place where God begins. Empty of self means full of God. Understanding what empty means we have room
for God’s grace. Consider what Luther
said:
Faith is a living, daring confidence in
God's grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a
thousand times. --- Martin Luther
Wow. Not much else I can say. Coming to the place where we can experience
God’s grace over and over never gets old.
And you know, when you've experienced grace and you
feel like you've been forgiven, you're a lot more forgiving of other
people. You're a lot more gracious to
others. --- Rick Warren
That
is where I long to live. What I have
experienced, I want others to experience.
Too often when there is sin in our lives we have a desire to point out the
sin of others. On the other side when we
have seen, felt and been overwhelmed by God’s grace we will give and share that
overwhelming grace with anyone we come in contact with.
Experiencing God's grace in our brokenness, reminds us that His love
never fails. --- unknown
I
leave you with one last thought. Our
brokenness guides us to repentance which opens wide our spiritual window to see
in all it’s glory the wonder of God’s grace.
One of the greatest preachers of our day, John Piper, may have said it
best:
Forgiveness costs us nothing. All our costly obedience is the fruit, not the
root, of being forgiven. That's why we call it grace. --- John
Piper
May
God overtake our selfishness with His selfless expression and gift of His
grace!
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