What is it about Grace?

Grace: the unmerited favor of God. It is undeserved; unearned; unjustified; unwarranted; and, many would utter, unfair.

We live in a world that is based on trade. You give me something, and in return, I give you something.

Even as small children, when we are taught to do chores, we are rewarded with an allowance; a payment for a job well done.

These trades, or payments, are often associated with money; something many of us value too dearly.

Let’s face it; rarely does a day go by where we are not involved in some sort of ‘trade.’ Whether it is through our purchase of groceries, gas, coffee at Starbucks or Tim Horton’s (dependent on where you live), parking fees, or just general mall shopping…daily we are bombarded with doing business...the business of trade.

Those who are gainfully employed, work for a wage. At the end of each week, a paycheck is handed out in compensation for duties performed.

We really can’t separate ourselves from ‘trade,’ can we?

Consequently, when it comes to our relationship with the Lord, we allow our trade agreements to greatly affect the way in which we relate to and with Him.

Truth is, God doesn’t work on a trade agreement. We know this, and yet we consistently adopt it into our relationship with Him.

We must remember, His thoughts are not our thoughts. His thoughts are high above ours.

Some may dispute that there is indeed a trading system with the Almighty.

He sent His sinless Son, Jesus, to the cross to die for our sins; He is our Savior. If we accept that and ask Jesus to be our Savior, our debt has been paid and we are now in the family of God. We inherit eternal life with Him.

Trade?

Impossible.

Trade is based on some form of equality.

The love of God; the love of Jesus Christ, offers no common ground here.

When we open our Bibles, when we bow our heads in prayer….

As we relate to the Holiness of our God….

there is nothing, absolutely nothing, we bring with us that can ever compare.

There is nothing we can offer, nothing we can give.

What we must do is accept God’s grace based on who He is, and not on who we are.

When we do that, we will certainly find ourselves in a state of awe.

Once we are saved by the Grace of God, there are no trade offs, but there is verification of a truly transformed heart. There is evidence when one walks with the Lord.

Growing and maturing in our Christian walk is merely the evidence of a life lived by one who has chosen to believe in the truths of Scripture; to believe what God has spoken.

We have made the decision to follow Him instead of our old worldly ways. We have made the decision to kill off our flesh and, as difficult as it is, to love and forgive. These are evidences of our transformed heart. Not trade.

God loves you…that is why you are offered Grace.

Gladly receive the Grace God offers and be thankful each day that He made a way for us to return to Him.

Thoughts versus Truth

This blog posting is a response, based on Lysa’s book Unglued.

Oh my, how my thoughts have battled through the years to even consider there might be a grain of truth that was other than my own unconstructive thoughts.

Insecurity is a terrible thing to live with; for the one who suffers with the negative thoughts, as well those who are on the receiving end.

I’m certain you have all heard this accusation, “You will twist and bend anything I say in order to have your own way with it.”

I was a pro at that!

And I am not proud of it…no, not at all.

I could twist anything to have it result in absolute proof that I was not loved; not wanted; not cared for.

Pick one!

Heck, pick them all!

What a miserable existence.

Admittedly, I still battle with this, yet my ‘imperfect progress’ is recognizable.

While it is unquestionably not an easy task to change ones way of thinking, it is productive…and Godly. Yes, don’t ever forget that…it is Godly.

Even if someone’s actions are questionable, or maybe even nasty…I don’t need to entertain them. It does me no favor in my walk with the Lord.

It hurts my walk.

It ruins my day.

It forms frown lines. :0(   ….and one thing I definitely don’t need are more lines, thank you very much!

Living with Godly thoughts; positive thoughts; good thoughts about myself and my actions….only produces more and more good thoughts and behavior. The results of that need no explanation.

Regardless of anything…..anything, I am loved.

That is truth. I am created in God’s image. God’s image.

I may not always act as if I am…but, I am.

I am learning to literally ‘toss’ the negative thoughts out of my head and just get on with my life.

I have found the key to doing this is to spend time with the Lord daily and to read His Word daily as well. I also need to remember, each moment, how special I am; how precious I am. I am God’s child; His precious child.

I am on this earth to grow in Him; to glorify Him.

That is a high calling, and the God of the universe would not have called me unless He knew I was capable of handling it. He knew I would be an ‘over comer’ because He has faith in me. He has more faith in me than I have in myself.

I have looked and searched on this earth for acceptance and approval only to be disappointed and often to see what is not there through my negative lens. Now I am finally learning to look only to Him for my acceptance and approval…and it is working! Praise God!

One Scripture verse in particular that Lysa used, is a favorite of mine, and that is the Philippians 4:8 verse: “Whatever is true…..think on such things.” I try to recall this verse during my challenging times. I believe we all need a verse to call upon in difficult times.

In chapter twelve, as Lysa wrote about a difficult situation she dealt with regarding another woman’s scorn, she wrote: “It said a lot more about Abby’s hurt than it did about me or my ministry.”

I think this is vital that we all remember that when others do hurt us, they are dealing with their own ‘baggage.’ We mustn’t take everything so personal; it’s not about us.

It helps to remember our own baggage and the hurts we’ve caused others by it.

Forgive; love and pray.

My prayer is that each one of us will overcome and conquer, with the Lord’s help, our individual struggles with our ‘thoughts vs. truth.’