Grace, O Grace, amazing is God's Grace. I walk blindfolded through a field of cesspools and my outer being is stained with excrement of my sin. It's inevitable that I will fall deeper into my pit of sewage. The stench fills my inner being- my mind, heart, and soul. Deep within my sewage I call out, but no one hears my cries. Thoughts of drowning in my surrounding waste now consumes me. "Deliver me!" I cry deep within my spirit. Uncontrollably, I weep; for I know I have no hope. "Praise be to my LORD and GOD!" He hears me. His mercy throws me a rope of Grace; His Grace that I must grab hold of. His Grace pulls me out of the pit of waste and puts me on solid ground. He removes my blindfold. Shows me the way to His home. Tells me if I would stay straight on His path, a path that He has laid out for me, a prize would be given to me for being faithful. He says His home is a land and kingdom without cesspools. He says that I must heed the warning not to wear the blindfold. He tells me that next to the path that leads to His home there are sewage pits. He insists that I be aware of salesmen that are also along the path promising wonderful and exciting things. He tells me they will allure me by asking me to sample their new and improved cesspool. Temptations of something new and exciting overwhelm me. His promise of a prize for faithfully following His path consumes my core, and my eyes are fixed upon His home. I am so saturated by His thoughts and ways that nothing else matters. Step by step, closer to the hope of the promised prize, I now notice the salesmen are mute and the echoes of a celebration are getting louder. The journey is long, very long. The path is filled to the brim with danger on both sides. "O praise be to Him that pulled me out of my sewage pit!" Yes, I'm here standing at the gates ready to enter into His home. He invites me to sit at His table. Yes His table. The room that once was filled with uncontrollable celebration is now quiet. He looks into my eyes and tells me that I've done well and have been faithful. He tells me that my promised prize is the gift of immortality and to rule and reign with Him in His kingdom forever. I'm speechless. I fall to my knees and begin to weep. I praise Him for His mercy, grace and goodness that He showered upon me. He lifts me up and gives me a hug that only a daddy could give. Once again, He looks into my eyes and tells me, "You are my son. let's celebrate!" Praise be our GOD and KING, forever and forever!
God doesn't want a casual believer. Galatians 6:7-9 says, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart."
By God's grace the children of Israel were freed from Egyptian slavery. All but two (Joshua and Caleb) died in the wilderness because they sinned against God. So, why do we think that because we are saved by grace we have a license to sin? Exodus 19:5-6 "We are to be a holy nation." Read Deuteronomy chapter 32- "It is your life and by this word you shall prolong your days." 1Peter 1:15-16 "..be holy, for I am holy."
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit." Jeremiah 17:7-8.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." 1 Peter 1:3-5
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