"Amazing Grace" - Have You Experienced It?" - (With 2 videos) -Inspirational Weekend

Grace!  Without the grace of God, we would have no hope of eternal life with the good Lord.  It has been said that the gospel message of Jesus Christ is all about God's grace.  

"But none of these move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God."  -    Acts 20:24

Jesus is the epitome of grace and truth !

"And the Word {Jesus} was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth."  -   John 1:14

The Bible calls grace a gift.

"But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ."  -  Ephesians 4:7

Most of you may be familiar with Ephesians 2:8-9 which follows:

(8) "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.  (9) Not of works, lest any man should boast."

One hymn that is well known to all is "Amazing Grace."  My favorite version of it has been posted on this blog once before, but here is another version by an adorable child.

The above hymn gives us a good understanding of what it means to be saved by grace, which is God's undeserved favor, and shows His love and forgiveness of our sins.  It is God's blessing on the unworthy.  Read the account of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-24.

The wayward and sinful son in that account typifies all unbelievers, and the father there who forgives and welcomes the prodigal son back joyfully and with love, is representative of God, who forgives us sinners.

Following is a short 5 minute sermon clip on the prodigal son by Pastor David Wilkerson.  The pastor talks not only about the prodigal son, but gives us assurance about how God truly loves us and rejoices over us; and how He desires of us constant faith.

God's Holy Word tells us that we cannot do anything to earn our salvation.  Isaiah 64:6 informs us that "And we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags."

2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us "For He hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."

In Romans 4 it speaks of ancient Abraham's great faith and how he gave glory to God (verse 20).  Romans 4:21-22 tells how Abraham's faith was accounted to him as righteousness, in that he believed and trusted God to fulfill His promises.

Romans 4:24-25 says "But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead: Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification."

It is evident that God is love ( 1 John 4:16), and that He gives grace to the humble and to those that come to Him with a sincere repentance and with a true faith and belief that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the Savior.

How grateful we should be for all of His love and tender mercies, His grace!

We should glorify Him and praise Him !

We finite humans cannot even begin to comprehend such a strong love from God and Jesus.  We can only understand in part right now.  When we are in glory in heaven, no doubt we will have a fuller grasp of the depth of the good Lord's love.

"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him."  -  1 Corinthians 2:9

"In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him."  -   1 John 4:9

This age of grace we are currently experiencing will soon end, when Jesus returns to rapture His true believers to be with Him in heaven.  After that is the 7 year Tribulation period, when the Lord will pour out His wrath upon the wicked with the horrors and plagues and destruction in the Tribulation.  You do not want to be here then!   Although the Bible does inform us that many will be saved during that 7 year period, they will do so by their death by the antichrist system; because as Christians they will not pledge allegiance to the antichrist by taking the "Mark of the beast".  They  would rather die than not be true to God.  (Revelation 13:14-18; Revelation 7:3-14; Revelation 20:4)  And when these new Christians are beheaded (Revelation 20:4), they will go to be with the Lord in heaven for their faith.

Do not wait !  

Time is running out!

Repent and pray for forgiveness and commit your life to Jesus by believing in Him as the Savior; that His shed blood at Calvary can wash away your sins as He paid your sin debt in full by the Redemption that His death and sacrifice provided for you.  This belief is not just intellectual knowledge that Jesus is the Savior.  It is a strong, living belief with all of your heart and soul.... your very being - and you will love Him and not want to do anything to grieve Him.

Romans 10:9,10,13 tells us: (9)  "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.(10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me."  -  John 14:6

"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."     - John 3:3

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."   -  John 3:16

Have a blessed and Christ centered weekend -  and life !!

"The Gift Of God" - Inspirational Weekend

God gives us many gifts, such as the gift of hospitality, the gift of empathy, the gift of service to others, and to some the gift of being effective pastors.   But those gifts and many others, as important as they are, are not the "gift of God" meant here.  You mature Christians already know where I am going with this article.

"For by grace are ye saved through faith;  and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.  Not of works, lest any man should boast."   -   Ephesians 2:8-9

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."  -  Romans 6:23

Eternal Life !   

That is God's gift to us !  Like any gift, it is free.  All we have to do is accept it with gratitude.  We do this by believing that Jesus is the Savior and that by putting our faith in Him we may have everlasting life, and all of eternity with Him.  

Even in this life we may have foretastes of the gift of God to be enjoyed, such as peace with God and a quiet trustfulness as to the future, and many other joys as well.  There is much comfort in knowing the good Lord is always near !

"Forget not the channel through whom it flows; it is a gift to thee, because thy Lord paid it all."           -  A.G. Brown

Jesus took our place on the cross and suffered a terrible and painful death so that He paid our sin debt in full.  He was our Redeemer and He did it all out of such a great love for us -  a love so strong and true that we cannot begin to comprehend the depths of it.

When you think about it, eternal life actually begins the moment you surrender your life to Jesus; the moment of conversion, when the soul passes from death to life.  He that hath the Son hath Life. You have freedom from condemnation (Romans 8:1), communion with God, and you begin to grow into the likeness of Christ.  There is no longer any fear of death.

Jesus told His disciples (and by extension, us as well) that He was going to prepare a place in heaven for all true followers.  This is found at John 14:1-3, which follows:

(1) "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me.  (2) In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  (3)  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."

With such a wonderful hope - eternity forever with the Lord - how can some people shrug their shoulders in complete unconcern and indifference and go their "merry" way instead, sinning all the way to hell?

And what is equally disturbing, how can professing Christians go the way of the world and still be putting the good Lord first in their lives?  They can't.  Some so-called believers go to bars with worldly people; they talk and act and dress worldly and try to blend in as much as possible with the world.  How does Christ, who bled and died for them, feel when He sees their rebellion?

James speaks of spiritual adultery when he says at James 4:4 :

"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?  whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."

And then there are the verses at 1 John 2:15-17 that tell us: (15) "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.  If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  (16) For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.  (17) And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."

If you find yourself guilty of being worldly and sinful, think of how it must make Jesus and the Heavenly Father feel after all their love for you has done; after Jesus dying a cruel death to save you if you would but believe in Him.   And then you go and become His enemy by friendship with the world?  That is not showing gratitude for His great sacrifice and His love for you.

Let us be mindful that new converts to Christianity do, for the most part, still exhibit carnal ways and worldliness.  They are "babes in Christ" who, in time, will mature and leave their worldly ways behind them and become more Christlike.  We need to be patient with them until they develop a close, intimate, personal, love relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ.

"And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ."  -  1 Corinthians 3:1

Let us examine ourselves and determine to put the good Lord first in our lives.  He loves us with a love we cannot even begin to fathom; it surpasses anything we can imagine.  

Remember what it says at Ephesians 2:8?   "For by GRACE are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."

To obtain grace, you need to be humble.

"........  {He} giveth grace to the humble."  -  James 4:6 b

It takes humility to confess your sins and to realize that you are a sinner in need of a Savior. 

It takes humility to say, "Not my will, Lord, but thine."

It takes a humble person to surrender all to the good Lord.

After the Lord "woke me up" to be more spiritually minded, every time I heard or sang the hymn "Amazing Grace" I was brought to tears.   I was so grateful to Him for saving me and bringing me out of the darkness and into His life-giving Light.

Following is one of the most beautiful renditions I have ever heard of that wonderful hymn:

Have a blessed and Christ centered weekend ......  and life !!