Come as you are
This mornings devotional from Dr. Charles Stanley is just to good to not pass along.
Romans 5: 20-21
20 God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. 21 So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
What if someone came up to you and said, I don’t know anything about God, how would you describe Him? How would you answer their question? What would they think about God after your description? Would that person be discouraged about every having a relationship with God or be encouraged that they could have that relationship?
There is a lot of confusion, even among believers about the character of God. Many believers see God as a God of judgement and vengeance, and they live in fear of Him. That belief can leave us confused and wondering why God would stop loving us.
Scripture reveals the truth. God is grace, God loves loves you unconditionally. His love is a gift, it is grace. It is given to us whether or not we deserve it. Our good deeds or stellar qualities can’t earn us this grace, this unconditional love. Our failures can’t cause God top withdraw it.
In our world we look at grades, scores, and performance reviews to determine worth, but God doesn’t. I know it is amazing, but it’s true. Grace is given freely. There is no cost, and even though our world doesn’t work that way, but God does.
If you have given your life and heart to Him, you can be secure in the knowledge that He loves you and will never turn His back on you. If you don’t have that assurance, you can, the balls in your court.
the pilgrim
*Photo note: Lavender in the south of France. F100 film camera Velvia.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010 at 8:48 am
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
– Isn’t this lovely! I beevlie that we often fool ourselves if we think that relationship is all about giving. I KNOW God gives children to grow us and HE shows up in every relationship we allow our eyes to see Him in. It can be very humbling to learn from the one we are trying to teach. I know! Yesterday, over lamb practice my son & I filled ourselves with pride and self preservation and made demands while we sought to control a situation. But God came through and taught us both something about ourselves and where we need to RECEIVE and also about our relationship where we need to GIVE. God truly is in everything!
that if you lose your life for my sake, you shall find it, I meant lose it from your sense of self-salvation by being under the law.” Truely our weak & beggarly atptemts to keep the law as a means to be blessed and right with God blinds us from the reality of true humility in receiving everything dieing to self-salvation brings. As you stated, when we are ‘totally helpless’ we will empty any and all self-righteous atptemts to save our life by trying to keep the law. Grace is heavens ‘open arms’ inviting all who are tired of self-salvation by the law and are ready to find their lives by losing it out from under the law through Christ, by Christ and in Christ! I love you!