By Grace

If you're anything like I am, sometimes you have to be reminded of the concept of grace. Grace is such a simple thing that we are taught from a small age, but it is something that Satan is constantly trying to snuff out and replace with the freedom sucking, life crushing falsehood of a works based salvation. Personally, it is a real struggle to keep the mindset that I can neither subtract nor add anything to my salvation. Sometimes, the thoughts that run through my mind are that if I am messing up, I am not allowed to be with God.

This is completely opposite of what was accomplished by Jesus. He came and tore the veil so that we could come boldly to the throne! He didn't come so that we would be motivated to try harder and do better, he came so that upon believing in Him, we would have his righteous as our own.  He came so that we would be able to have relationship with God. Let me say that again, Jesus died so that we could be reconciled with God. So we are always in right standing with God! I am never in a spot, nor will I ever be, that will keep me from coming to Him. All of my past, present, and future sins are conquered once and for all. The end. Sayonara.

But I know first hand that hearing about grace, and living in the freedom that grace brings are two different things. Often I, and I think many of us, put down the gospel of grace and pick up one of works. We forgo our relationship with God because we have been tricked into striving and struggling instead of resting and accepting what God has for us. So why do we have such a tough time keeping this straight? Why does it seem that we just can't keep our stories straight when it comes to how we are saved? Well I believe it is due to two main things. I like to call them grace crushers.

Thoughts that are not from God
I put thoughts first on my list because I think that the mind is where most if not all of the major battles in our life are won or lost. What you dwell on has the power to either bring you closer to everything God has for you or send you down a path that steals, kills, and destroys. The fact is, Satan doesn't want us to be with God. Plain and simple, Satan will give his best effort to keep you from having a real, deep relationship with God, and he will try to get you to meditate on and believe lies in order to do so. Now let me just say that we have more power by the name of Jesus than Satan could ever hope to fart out. He should not be something we live in fear of addressing. But it is in our best interest to be aware of what we are thinking about day to day. The smallest of thoughts can rapidly ballon into something that governs or every decision if not handled in its infancy.

Proverbs 4:23 says, "More than anything you guard, protect your mind, for life flows from it." Protect your mind. You don't have to let every little thing in there. You can have standards even for what you think. Practice being aware of what you are thinking. Don't take what is zooming around as neurons in your cerebral cortex lightly. If something comes into your mind that doesn't line up with what the Bible says, you don't have to lie down and accept it as truth. Realize this, friends, if it is in your mind, it is still not guarantied to be truth. The devil's language is lies. If it doesn't line up with the Bible and all the promises that God has for you, then ask God to show you a verse to stand on. If you habitually struggle with thoughts that are not from God, then tell a friend. Get an accountability partner and don't face the struggle alone.  I know it takes bravery, but God will put a trustworthy person in your life to go to battle with you. You never have to face this alone.

False Advertisement
Next on the grace crusher on the list is wrong teachings. My husband and I were reading a devotional together, and something that I read struck me. The author said that the point of being a Christian is pretty clear, to be Christ-like. And I have to say that even though I know that was meant with every good intention, that it is wrong. The point of saying yes to Jesus is not to become someone who doesn't slip up. Yes, part of a byproduct of having a relationship with Jesus Christ is that we are changed from the inside out, but that is not the point. Jesus did not endure the pain and suffering of God's wrath for our actions. Hear me, friends, God did that so that He could have a deep, meaningful, real, loving, intimate relationship with YOU. His mission has always been for people, from creations to the cross and into the future. God has been working behind the scenes so that the veil made by our sin and sin nature could be torn and we could once again be with Him. Doesn't that sound way better than accepting Jesus into our lives so that we could nitpick every little thing that we do? Of course it does! That's because it IS better! That is true "good news", is it not?

We have had all of our sins wiped away just by accepting Jesus into our lives! This should attract every person from every corner of the planet, but often times, it just doesn't. That's because frequently, the beautiful message of love and intense grace and forgiveness is squashed by the heavy burden of human effort. We see all that the Bible says, and sometimes, our view is warped. We miss the message altogether sometimes. We watch the whole movie and come out talking about how much we loved the previews. The main point is completely missed, and the best part lost. And any message outside of grace or love will loose the power to turn people to God and will instead turn our eyes to ourselves and arch our backs for the burden of taking our salvation upon ourselves.

This last week has been a personal struggle for me. The reason that there is a space of time between my last post and this one is because I had many things pop up and consume my time. I was emotionally bombarded with despair, and I felt unable to function. And to be honest, after I was out of the mess that this past week had turned out to be, I was very apprehensive about coming back and finishing this blog post. When I thought about coming back to write this, I started to rationalize with myself and talk myself out of posting this because of how big of a struggle I had just gone through. 

How would I, someone who had just gone through a tough few days, write something with authority after messing up so many times? But despite the choices that I made that were less than perfect, despite the time I wasted being consumed with thoughts about myself and my situation that were completely untrue, I can still come back and write this particular blog. The grace of God covers me, and it never stopped, even in my darkest hour. So after some thinking and listening to God's still sweet voice, I knew that I had to continue on with this post that I had started on Monday. 

I realized that when I was considering not finishing this post, because of my own shortcomings, I was walking in exactly what the devil had hoped for.  But the gospel is one of freedom, and victory, and the liberty to be with God. Any attempt to bring that to light will be met with as much force that that any opposing forces can muster, but in the end, God has won. He has victory and freedom for your life. So I can write about this, and I can be imperfect at the same time, because it is by GRACE I am saved! It is Jesus righteousness that I claim, and not my own.  And NOTHING that I have or will do can take away from that.