Weekly Devotional
GRACE
Unearned Grace for us Sinners:
"For
it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves,
it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus to do Good Works, which God prepared in advance for us to
do." (Ephesians
2:8-10) NIV
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We're digging into the
ridiculously simple and enormous idea of grace. Read what Paul tells us about God's saving
grace in this famous passage from Ephesians.
His words put a handle on the idea of God’s Grace.
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| Boiled down, grace is "unearned
good." In our connection
with God, "unearned good"
is the most ridiculously out of this world
thing ever. It is eternal life; it is living
as we were meant to live with God—with meaning, and without any death, mourning,
crying, or pain. |
In these verses Paul tells us three key things about that grace:
1.
Grace is how
we are resuscitated.
2.
Grace is a present
from God.
3. Grace is not worked for or earned by us in
any way, at all—"Period."
Think:
Do
you believe in God's grace in your head?
Do you believe in your heart that He gave you this life for free and not
as a result of anything you have done or ever will do? If so, why would you or someone else have
trouble believing in God's grace for people like us?
Pray:
Meister Eckhart once said,
"If
the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be
enough." Thank God for
the gift of His saving grace because you could never have saved yourself.
Do:
Read
Ephesians 2:1-10 to see how these verses fit into Paul's longer thought.
Ephesians 2:1-10 (New International Version)
Made Alive in Christ
1As for you, you were dead in your
transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you
followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the
spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us
also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature[a] and following its desires and thoughts.
Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of
his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive
with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have
been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him
in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming
ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his
kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been
saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not
by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us
to do.
Quotes:
"The Grace of God is a wind which is always blowing."
~Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa—1836 – 1836. He represents the very core of the spiritual
realizations of the seers and sages of India. His whole life was literally
an uninterrupted contemplation of God. He reached a depth of God-consciousness
that transcends all time and place.
"I am only one, but I am one. I can’t do everything, but I can do
something. The something I ought to do,
I can do. And by the Grace of God, I will."
~Edward Everett Hale—American Clergyman and Writer,
1822-1909
Weird facts:
 The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows. It was the
fashion in Renaissance Florence
to shave them off! |
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That’s
funny:
Children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic school for
lunch. At the head of the table was a
large pile of apples. The nun made a note: "Take only one, God is
watching."
Moving through the line, at the other end
of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies. A boy wrote a note:
"Take all you want, God's watching the apples."
SURF
REPORT:
Movie review of The Princess and the Frog
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/movies/reviews/2009/princessandfrog.html
Movie review of Leap Year
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/movies/reviews/2010/leapyear.html
Inawendiwin (Ina-wen-di-win), Bob
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