So I know that some people recap one thing they are thankful each day in the month of November since it is Thanksgiving month and I am going to do just that on the blog...
November 1, 2011
Today, as I was trying to think about all the things I am thankful for and trying to figure out what I was going to post on the blog for the very first day- the ONLY thing that kept coming to my mind was God's Grace! Wow... How those two words, that one act has changed me! As I look at my life and what I have been blessed with, each thing has one common denominator- each situation has one common link that is the foundation for them all.... They wouldn't be possible without the grace that God has poured out over my life. As I look back on my life and I see all the times I have failed God... how I have let Him down time after time again, yet He still wants me- I don't get it! John Bevere says it best-
"Mercy is when we don't get what we deserve... Grace is when we get what we don't deserve..."
Go ahead, read over it again... Do it a couple of times!!! How humbling is that?? Being married and even though we were raised along the same lines, Chip has also showed me a whole other aspect of God! I have seen true humility through my husband... We were talking one night about all the things and situations God has saved us from and as we were talking, he got choked up because of how thankful he was that God has saved him from all of it... It wasn't that I wasn't thankful for what God did, but I had taken it for granted. For so long I looked at my relationship with God as "I was the one who asked God to come into my heart", or "I'm the one who deciding to live my life for Him"... Do you see the common word? "I, I, I..." Which with my mindset like that- it caused mine and God's relationship to be focused on "me, me, me..." Whats wrong with that picture? EVERYTHING! When I thought like that, I was belittling what my God did!! Not only what He did, but what He did knowing I was going to fail Him over and over again...
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." -Romans 5:8
So think about the worst thing in your life.... Yeah- it's hard to think about, BUT do it! As a human when I think about the worst things in my life that I have done- a sick feeling comes to my stomach! Not God though... When He was being beat to death- He knew exactly what we were going to do and exactly how we would fail Him... Instead of a feeling of disgust coming over Him, a feeling of unconditional love came over Him! That love is what took Him to the cross! He was Jesus... He had power to do anything! He could have easily broken out of the chains he could have easily gotten out of the situation of dying, but He didn't! He was thinking about YOU! He was thinking about ME! He wanted us to be whole... He wanted us to be healed!
"He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole, He was whipped so we could be healed." -Isaiah 53:5
When you think about the things you have done that you regret, if you let condemnation creep in- you are belittling what God did for you! He did what He did so you would feel LOVED! I am putting a video up and I am going to forewarn... It is graphic! Its from the movie The Passion... As you watch it, think about the things you have done, but think that while Jesus went through what He did- He was thinking of His Love for YOU!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment