Not by work, Only By Grace

 

It seems rather fitting that God has placed the refrain “Not by works, Only by Grace” upon my heart at this outset of the Season of Lent, a time set aside to reflect on Jesus’ dying on the Cross to secure our Grace.

The sheer awesomeness of such a proclamation is sometimes hard to wrap my head around and believe—especially with the earthly world around me touting the merits and fruits of Hard Work.  Sometimes, as conditioned by experience with too-good-to-be-true claims, I notice myself looking for the catch, seeking if there are additional details hidden in the small print to qualify the offer of Grace.  However, upon reflecting, all this does is take up room, eat away at my timetime I could be spending delighting in the Message and experiencing Joy.  It delays, distracts, and perhaps robs me from actually living His Grace-filled Promise. And, if God weren’t the ever-loving, understanding and patient God he is with me, this futile exercise that I find myself repeating would no doubt, at the least, in my mind, annoy Himbut most likely, be an insult to the precise Gift His Grace is.

By tradition, in the Season of Lent, we honor His sacrifice by sacrificing something ourselves. So for Lent this year, as we Christians turn our communal focus to acknowledging and understanding the suffering and sacrifice of JesusI am choosing to sacrifice the Weight of Works once and for all, and welcome Grace wholly, fully, and forever.

If this touches something in you, I encourage you to join me on this journey.


Not By Works, Only By Grace….

Let us use these next 40 days to contemplate and come to terms with “Only By Grace” so His sacrifice was not in vein and any doubt in our hearts can be replaced and filled with love for Him, for His Grace and His Mercy.

Let us arrive quickly, confidently and victoriously over any doubts of His Grace with new eyes, minds, and hearts. Let us leave the wrestling behind and embrace Acceptance, so we may

find the Joy and Peace it provides. Let us find room to know Him better and more fully.  Let us find the space to listen to Him, know His voice and to follow, so we can be an Instrument available to Him to accomplish His Purposes.

Let us take these next forty days to take in the depth of His Love—to appreciate how our redemption was paid entirely in advance to free us—free our minds, free our thoughts—free us from the Weight of Works.


My Prayer is...

Dear Lord,

We thank you for our unearned Grace and Your Mercy.

We ask you to be present with us over the next 40 days as we spend time reflecting on the Grace extended to us through Jesus. We ask you to stamp “Only By Grace” on our hearts and minds.

Thank You that Jesus’ Sacrifice already created Space in our minds, hearts and lives, so we no longer need that space to store the clutter of effort and burden of making ourselves worthy. Help us remove all obstacles that may be holding us back, so we can move forward to be the people you want us to bequick to hear, slow to anger, quick to help, and quick to forgive debts and trespasses.

May the Fruits of the Spirit Love Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness and Faithfulnessblossom within us over the next 40 days, so we can be a physical reflection of You in this world.

May we be people who extend Your Everlasting Steadfast Love to others.

Amen

...also I’m going to give up screen time, too!

xo

Photo by Brian Patrick Tagalog on Unsplash


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