Don’t we all love those days when everything goes right. Work is good, family is happy, lines at the store are short, you hit all the lights green, no flat tire today, you won a scratch off! Wow, life doesn’t get better. It is easy at these times – when things seem to go smoothly and our performance seems adequate – to think we are on God’s A-list and must be loved and valued.
Then there are those not-so-great days. Bad news at work, family struggling, bills mounting, taxes due,- and on and on the list may go. It is these days – when we feel discouraged, we may tend to think we are not on God’s “A-list.” The truth is we are on God’s A -list each and every day. No matter how many mistakes we make or bad days we have, God is always our Father.
The ‘amazing’ thing is that our lives have always been and always will be about grace. Amazing Grace. The Bible tells us “It is by grace (God’s undeserved favor) that we are saved from any punishment or judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation….it is a gift from God.” We start in grace, we walk every day in grace, and we end our lives on this side of heaven because of grace. (Ephesians 2.7-10)
Another special part of the Bible encourages me more of how amazing grace is – 2 Corinthians 7-11 confirms that Moses’ face shown so much with the Glory of God when he came from Sinai with the law they had to put a veil over his face. They could not look at the brilliance. Now the law is passed – God’s Word continues to ask us ‘How much more glory is there in grace- that will never pass away?’ These Words touched my heart in such a real and personal way when I needed to realize the magnificence of His grace to me and everyone.
Sometimes I judge others harshly. I see them as unable to be more like God, happier, more positive, less ‘human’ to be honest. Frail. Failing to be perfect. Easy to point fingers at others when I should be pointing them at myself for the many mistakes I make each day. Then, I see God again as the Giver of Amazing Grace to me and the ones I judge incorrectly. God does not see them the tainted way I do.
No matter how many difficult days we have, God is in each and every moment. God is Love and Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love NEVER fails. (1 Corinthians 13) And we have Jesus – our High Priest – who is touched with the feeling of our infirmity – any inability to cope, any weakness, and inherent flaws – anything we struggle with. (Hebrews 4.15) Isn’t it wonderful that we have a Savior Who knows everything about us – the good, the bad, and the ugly- , loves us with an everlasting love beyond our comprehension, does not hold our shortcomings against us, and wants to have us as His children. It truly is Amazing Grace.
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