Grace

I always felt connected to the word FAITH. FAITH in God, Love, Family, Friends...but during my bible study this morning GRACE was the word I was pulled to.

Grace, think about it.

We talk as though we understand the term. The bank gives us a grace period. The seedy politician falls from grace. Musicians speak of a grace note. We describe an actress as gracious, a dancer as graceful. We use the word for hospitals, baby girls, kings, and pre-meal prayers. We talk as though we know what grace means.

But do we really understand it? Have we settled for wimpy grace? It politely occupies a phrase in a hymn, fits nicely on a church sign. Never causes trouble or demands a response. When asked, “Do you believe in grace?” who could say no?

Max Lucado asks a deeper question: Have you been changed by grace? Shaped by grace? Strengthened by grace? Emboldened by grace? Softened by grace? Snatched by the nape of your neck and shaken to your senses by grace?

God’s grace has a drenching about it. A wildness about it. A white-water, riptide, turn-you-upside-downness about it. Grace comes after you. It rewires you. From insecure to God secure. From regret riddled to better-because-of-it. From afraid to die to ready to fly.

Grace is the voice that calls us to change and then gives us the power to pull it off. Let’s make certain grace gets you.

10-5-2012 daily devotion
Grace...

When the world says:
YOU MESSED UP…
Grace says:
YOU ARE LOVED NO MATTER WHAT!
When the world says:
YOU BETTER CHANGE…
Grace says:
LET ME CREATE THE CHANGE IN YOU!
When the world says:
I’M GOING TO HOLD IT AGAINST YOU AND KEEP RECORD OF YOUR WRONG…
Grace says:
YOU ARE FREE FROM ACCUSATION. NOT JUST FOR YOUR PAST MISTAKES, BUT ALSO FOR YOUR FUTURE ONES!
When the world says:
IF YOU JUST TRY HARDER…
Grace says:
YOUR MERITS MERIT NOTHING. MY WORK MERITS EVERYTHING!
When the world says:
YOU WILL ALWAYS BE ALONE…
Grace says:
YOU ARE ADOPTED INTO MY FAMILY!
When the world says:
I CAN SEE YOUR IMPERFECTIONS SO CLEARLY…
Grace says:
I SEE IN YOU A MASTERPIECE ABOUT TO HAPPEN!
When the world says:
YOU BETTER NOT TELL ANYBODY…
Grace says:
CONFESSION IS A PROCLAMATION OF YOUR TRUST IN MY GOODNESS!
When the world says:
LOOKS LIKE YOU’VE FINALLY HIT THE BOTTOM…
Grace says:
I WILL MEET YOU AT YOUR POINT OF NEED AND EQUIP YOU WITH COURAGE, WISDOM, AND STRENGTH!
When the world says:
IF YOU DO BETTER, YOU’LL BE LOVED MORE…
Grace says:
OF ALL THE THINGS YOU MUST EARN IN LIFE, GOD’S UNENDING AFFECTION IS NOT ONE OF THEM. YOU HAVE IT!
When the world says:
YOU BETTER BE A GOOD CHRISTIAN, OR ELSE…
Grace says:
YOU CAN TRUST MY HOLD ON YOU MORE THAN YOUR HOLD ON ME!
When the world says:
MAKE SURE YOU DON’T DO ANYTHING BAD…
Grace says:
I AM CREATING IN YOU A RESOLVE TO DO GOOD!

Taken from GRACE: More Than We Deserve, Greater Than We Imagine
By Max Lucado