Grace

I was listening to yet another great podcast from my favorite preacher, Patrick Mead, when the line that is in BOLD down below caught my attention.  I really liked it...  so much so that I took my life in my hands as I was driving to look down at my phone and take note of where he was in his sermon so I could go back to it later.  :)  I found it when I got home and listened more closely to what he was talking about and just had to write it down because it speaks to my heart and what I so often feel when I consider the grace that has been shown to me, even as I look back with sadness over those I have hurt along the way in my life.  I don't deserve it, that's for sure.  And I do struggle with grace, at least in understanding why it has been shown to me.  But it has, in abundance, and I am so very thankful.  I'm trying to think about that a lot in this month where we often focus a bit more on 'thankfulness.'  So even as I am often haunted by my mistakes, I love this idea of 'fighting back' by reminding the devil who has the victory in the end.  And I am thankful for the extravagant grace that bought us the opportunity to be on the Victor's side.

"We have a hard time with grace. 

Many of us are still haunted by things (we've done) that God has forgiven.  We know that God has forgiven us because He has promised that He would, but the scar of what we've done is still there...  

We have repented; we have been forgiven; but we still see the faces (of those we have hurt.)   Do I believe that God will hold (what I did) against me?  No, not at all.  But I understand why people have difficulty with the concept of grace, because even with my faith, it does not erase the memory.  Our sins are always with us...

Now, my general rule of life is this: 
Every time the devil reminds me of my past, remind him of his future.

You need to have a comeback to the devil for these things.  What I do when I'm woken up in the middle of the night and I'm plagued by this is I spend my time thanking God for forgiving me and then asking him to send His Spirit out to do the same for the people that I hurt. 

That's all you can do at that point, and that's probably enough."

If you are interested in the whole lesson, check it out here...

http://eastsidechurch.us/listen-online/    (If that doesn't take you straight to the lesson, it's Theology 101, Part 17)