A Verse
Ephesians 2:8-10
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
A Comment
Some of you are probably wondering if there is any hope for you. Some are wondering is there any hope for my spouse. Others are asking, is there any hope for my children? You are crying out, “Is there any grace left for me? Has He run out? Is there any mercy left for me?” Does God really offer grace to a person like me? Do you know the things that I have done? Do you know the types of things that have been done to me? Do you know how broken I am? Do you know the shame that I feel? No one has ever wanted me. How could God ever want a person like me?
To you, I would simply say, you are the only type of person that God ever wants! You are the only type of person that there is outside of faith in Christ. Do you not remember how even Paul spoke about himself in verses 1-3? We were all dead in our wrongdoings and our sins. We were all walking according to the course of this world. We were all broken. We were all abused. We were all full of shame. We were all children of wrath by nature! That is our story. That is our family heritage. That is our shared problem. We are by our very nature and our choice rebels against our Creator.
But God! But God! But God being rich in mercy! But God, because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses! But God, made us alive together with Christ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus! But God intervened in Christ to save us by His grace! For by grace we are saved!
A Prayer
If you have not already done so, would you pray with me and call upon Jesus to have mercy on you?
A Blessing
Now the eternal God who is
your refuge, be a rock that
is beneath you, the tower that is
around you, the shelter that is
above you this day and all the days
until Jesus comes. Amen.
from Dale Ralph Davis, Grace Be with You: Benedictions from Dale Ralph Davis
The Implications of God's Grace (Part 3)