I sat and listened to her words. Tears poured out of her face as she said, "I just want to pay Him [God] back for all He's done for me."
I got her, I really did. I fully understood what she was saying. As a girl who has walked many rough roads of this life, God has been an amazing hero more than once for me.
But even though I understood what she was saying, I didn't agree.
The concept of grace is one that many people get lost in, myself too at times. Grace actually ends up being a game that you and I play in the subconscious of our mind. I believe there are two players of this game are:
The legalistic. I must repay God back for everything He has done for me.
or
The card player. I'm good, I'm covered because I have the..."grace card".
Can I confess something to you? I have played both sides of the table.
I felt so indebted to God for the forgiveness, mercy and hope that He has brought to my life I have felt as though I would stop at nothing to give back to Him all that's He's given to me.
But also, I have been guilty of doing something that I know isn't right and hoping and praying that grace will be enough to see me through.
In the book of Galatians, Paul writes this:
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do no let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." [5:1]
That whole "yoke of slavery" thing is huge in my life. It's the number one thing that brings me back to the need for repentance in my life. Because friends, as much as I would love to repay my God back for everything that He has done for me...that is a serious bondage that the enemy would love me to soak in.
I can do nothing to repay God back for something that was giving so freely, so supernaturally and beyond my comprehension.
Grace is not a response to Faith -Faith is a response to Grace.
I don't know where you are in your journey with Christ. Whether you are teetering on the edge of a relationship with Christ, in a deep place with Him or somewhere in between. But you and I have to know that we can do nothing to deserve grace in our lives. It's not ours to give and take away.
Walking and receiving this truth today,
Nicki
Thursday, May 27, 2010
It is...scandalous.
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8 comments:
You go girl! Awesome word today! Hallelujah!
Wylie
Just inhale and exhale!
Hey thanks for sharing this today! I was just thinking about this last night. I was reading in James and it just hit me (again) how incredibly amazing this thing called Grace is. God loves me no matter how much of a ding bat I am!! And nothing can take me from his hands :D There is so much hope and love in that!
And your so right! We can NEVER take our grace for granted and feel that we can sin because God's grace will cover it anyway!
Totally agree with ya on this . Many think because we are Christians,it will never be hard again.
If Jesus didn't have it easy,why do we think we'll have an easy time?
Grace....not ours to give nor take away! Awesome truth you've put out for us today Nicki! Something we need to remember daily!
Hope you have a great Memorial Day weekend!
Marilyn...in Mississippi
Balance... living in that comfortable space of not taking His grace for granted and, on the other extreme, killing ourselves trying to repay/earn it can be difficult at times. I pray God will keep me in "that space."
Thanks for sharing... it just what I was thinking about today!
I love your comment that grace is not a response to faith, but faith is the response to grace. Thanks for posting that.
In Him,
Brenda Coffee
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