Oh But By MY GRACE...You Would !!!!!

The title to this blog should cause you great pause and reflection..Think about those words just for a few moments before embarking on the rest of this entry..

Let me set this up.. I wrote a blog, oh I don't know, some few weeks back and it was an attempt to ascertain "Grace"..what it is and what it means... You see intellectually I felt as if I could at least explain what Grace is, but internally I was still and still am struggling with the concept of Grace and how it plays out of the lives of God's children. Grace is probably one of the most misunderstood concepts to the common man and we (at least I have) use the term frequently without really understanding it's true meaning and function...

Ok..Now I understand that it is by God's Grace I am able to call Him Lord and Savior...and it is by God's Grace that my marriage has survived and become one of the most enjoyable aspects of my life...and it is by God's Grace that I have been give the opportunity to Father three Girls...so that was essentially my basic understanding of Grace...but check this out..

I was sitting in church this Sunday and we had our Student Pastor fill in for Jeff to preach the message..His name is Ryan Brice..anyway He taught on Romans 1:18-23 about God's Wrath on Unrighteousness...How God has already begun to unleash His wrath on the people..Some of us think that when we hear the word wrath, we think total destruction and annihilation...but that may be more of the human terminology instead of God's use of it..at least till the day Jesus comes and splits open the skies and bears a Sword riding on a white horse..to finally destroy evil and sin.. Popular belief of God's current wrath is Him turning us over to our debased minds and allowing us to do whatever we desire without His intervening.. Just read Romans Chapter 1 versus 24-32 and you will get the picture of God's Wrath being poured out...but let me digress back to my original point about Grace..It ties into the Wrath of God but there is a more profound lesson here for us to see...

Ryan gave an illustration of a pastor friend who he admired and respected a great deal..even having him over to his home to visit...This was a man who had preached the Gospel and proclaimed the Word of God like few others he had ever heard...A man many would look up to and admire for their ability to harness the Scriptures so handily and spill out such clarity to those who listened...and then the unthinkable..It was found out that he has been covering up a major part of his life for 2 decades...(Ryan not really mentioning what this was but it seemed based on his description to be something of sexual promiscuity).. This made Ryan very ANGRY..and so he said this anger led to Pride in that he was saying to himself..I have never done anything like that...How could he do this to his wife and kids..I would NEVER put myself in a position like that..I mean what was he thinking...and then he said the Spirit of God fell on him and said to him....

"Oh, But by MY GRACE, you would do the exact same thing".

Do you see this..Here is Grace played out in all its clarity for us to see..After hearing this, my mind became overwhelmed with thoughts of my prideful self..I had been pulled from the desolate pits in September of 2006 and I give God all the credit for saving me and my life and my family..however I have been giving myself all the credit for staying on the proper path...in living my life in accordance with God's will..I would say to myself..I don't put myself in places or situations any longer that would cause me to slip and falter..I don't fill my mind with worldly things any longer such as filthy music or TV programs..I don't chase all the wrong things anymore..Do you see the pattern here..I..I...I..I..I was giving God the credit for saving me and giving myself the credit for staying "clean" if I can use that word for lack of a better way to describe it..but that is exactly what got me in the problems I was in before he saved me..I was taking credit and control of my life and Good Grief..what a disaster that was..and in my "righteous" thinking now, I once again have allowed myself to feel like I have something to do with my own current well being..How could I let this happen..God spoke to my heart this Sunday and said DIRECTLY to me.... "Oh, but by My GRACE, you would be exactly where you were before I saved you..It is not you who keeps you safe, but ME...I am the reason you are living the way you are..I am the reason you are spending time with me..I am the reason you are even writing these blogs..I am the Reason that anything Good has happened to you at all ...and it is by my GRACE, my Child..that you are no longer being a servant of this world...

How could I be so arrogant as to believe I had anything to do with my ability to do anything that glorifies God and keeps me from the wretched grasp of evil itself..This is the epitome of how strong the sinful heart is and how evil we are as people...We are evil filthy rags without God's Grace and Mercy..and the second we deviate from this understanding is the perfect opportunity for satan and his legion of demons to attack us and deceive us into believing something so utterly false, that it just seems implausible..YET we do....

Lord, I am so thankful that you spoke into my heart and allowed me to see the TRUTH as it is proclaimed in your Word..I am so undeserving of your Grace yet you allow it to flow in me anyway..I am so Thankful that you are a HOLY GOD, with powers and abilities my mind can't comprehend and that you have chosen me to be a child of Yours. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts and see if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way of everlasting life

EB

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