GRACE

"That he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, then to the Twelve." -1 Corinthians 15:4-5

(Following is a piece of my devotions this morning....it's stuck with me all day)
Have you ever made the connection that Peter, the same man who denied Jesus three times before His death, was the first apostle to see Jesus after his resurrection? What an amazing display of the grace of God - what a brilliant example of the Father's heart to restore fellowship with one of His followers! Be reminded, by Jesus' example here, that no matter how far you think you've fallen, there's a Savior ready to take your hand and cradle you back into the most fulfilling fellowship with Himself.


How many times do I sin in just one day? Comprehending this along with the words above...I feel I am just beginning to understand what 'GRACE' truly is. I have been sitting, staring at this screen. Typing, deleting, typing again. deleting, repeat, repeat, repeat. Tears just falling down my cheeks. I deserve nothing. But the GRACE He has given for just one offense is love. Pure, unconditional love. Let alone all that I am guilty of. Image after image, remembrances I would rather forget...all playing before my heart. The tugging of this 'lesson' is almost unbearable. GRACE. I thought I was grateful for it before. Now I know that I didn't have a clue.

I am still alive, very much alive, by His GRACE alone. Medicine...a work of His GRACE. Doctors...a work of His GRACE. Cancer, gone....a work of His GRACE. Raising my kids....a work of His GRACE. Living a 'fairly' normal life....a work of His GRACE.

It's so easy to think of Peter as the one who betrayed Jesus. Because he did. But so do each of us. So do I. Many, many, MANY times. To say that it is human nature is true. We are made this way. We will sin. BUT. Why would I keep doing it knowing what GRACE truly is?! His GRACE is undeserved. But yet it is free. No wait, the only cost is to allow Him to live in me...it seems to be a win win situation. So why would one want the lose lose options?

"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions -it is by GRACE you have saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him, in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his GRACE, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by GRACE you have been saved, through faith -and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." -Ephesians 2:4-10

Rather than be heartbroken for what I have done, I choose to move forward with firm premeditation of how I should take each step. With GRACE guiding me.