GRACE - GRACE - GRACE!
14th Jun 2023
I woke this morning with this song in my heart and soon in my mouth!
Only by grace can we enter
Only by grace can we stand
Not by our human endeavour
But by the blood of the Lamb
Into Your presence You call us
You call us to come
Into Your presence You draw us
And now by Your grace we come
Now by Your grace we come
Lord if You mark our transgressions
Who would stand?
Thanks to Your grace we are cleansed
By the blood of the Lamb
I had been thinking in the past days of how easily we lose the thrill of God’s grace and almost imperceptibly drift into rule keeping and trying to please God by our own efforts. We can’t; but it’s so easy to move away from the wonderful, amazing grace that God has given us through Jesus Christ, and without realising it slip into self effort, trying to please God, evaluating our performance, which usually ends in condemnation.
If that’s you - then stop now! Remember it is, “by grace you have been saved…. not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8) And be thankful to the Lord for His free, wonderful gift of grace - salvation.
Jesus took all the punishment you and I deserve. Jesus took your place on the Cross. He was judged, so you are free from condemnation. Jesus gave you a new life, the past behind you, His presence with you, and your future under His authority and control.
In Galatians chapter 2, Paul describes his determination to preach Grace, to live Grace and to resist anything to do with rule keeping. In other letters he encourages us to find out what pleases Jesus and do it. It has everything to do with relationship; because we love Him, we want to be obedient to His word, to please Him, to remember and celebrate the relationship of Grace we have with the God-head, and the privilege of being able to draw near, to pray, to be with Him and be thankful for all that He has done for us.
by Joyce Sibthorpe
