God's Great Grace

     "But because of His great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved-through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2: 4-9)
     God is so rich in mercy and grace. He did not have to send His one and only Son to die for us, to take the punishment that we deserved, but He chose to do this simply because He loves us so much and wanted to have a relationship with us. Through His Son, God made a way- where there was otherwise no way- for us to come to Him and be forgiven and cleansed from all of our sin. 
     God's grace has nothing to do with us, but everything to do with Him. On our own my friend, we could never be good enough, do enough good works, read the Bible or pray enough to enter into the holy presence of the one and only mighty God. This marvelous grace is a gift from the One who created you, me and the world we live in. A gift from the giver of life who desires nothing more than for us to come to Him and believe that He is who He says He is. 
     The maker of heaven and earth "chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love, He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will-to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves (Ephesians 1:4-6)." 
     Some times I just sit and marvel over how awesome my God is! I look back on my life and see His hand even during the times I had my back turned to Him. God is sovereign and He knows exactly what He is doing. He loves us in spite of us. He loves us through all of our sin and rebellion and He patiently waits for us to come. If you are saved, think back to your life before you became a child of God. Take some time and reflect on who you were before God grabbed hold of your heart. If you were like I once was, you lived life your own way-living only to gratify your flesh and your selfish desires.  Sure, you may have gone to church some, you may have even been part of a ministry, gave to local charities and prayed some, but your heart was far from God. Jesus described this in the following verses: "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First, clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness (Matthew 23:25-28)." 
     Jesus is describing someone who appears to be holy, but inside they are dead in their sin and transgressions because they haven't been given a new heart-they have not been transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. They have not surrendered to the Lordship of Christ Jesus. God is the ONLY one who can make you new! He is the one who takes out your heart of stone and gives you a heart of flesh and places His Spirit within you (Ezekiel 36:26-27). He does this because He loves you. This same grace will carry you throughout your life! Once you are His, He will never let you go. "My sheep listen to My voice; I know them and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand (John 10:27-28). There is no one on this earth that will love you like your heavenly Father will. He will never desert you. He will never disappoint you. He will never leave you. He will never give up on you. He will never fail you. 
     Maybe you are scared to come to Jesus. You have been wounded by many. You may be skeptical and think, how could anyone love me that much? You may think you have gone too far. As the Lord answered Moses, He is saying to you, "Is the Lord's arm too short. You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you. (Numbers 11:23)." Find out for yourself right now my friend-taste and see that the Lord is good! Call on His mighty name! 
     "The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made. The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them. (Psalm 145:17-19)."
     

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