The quote . . .

"If you ever become what you became when Jesus saved you;
Then, you must believe that you became what you should become."

The above quote was given to me by the guy who is disciplining me. Since then I have given it to several other people and asked them to chew on it and let me know what they think. It takes a little while of thinking about what it is actually saying for it’s meaning to begin to sink in. The scripture reference that I was given helps in applying this statement. I’ll give you the scripture tomorrow, for now just chew on the quote.

I will give you this much of a clue – it does have something to do with living a grace life. That’s where I want to rest for a minute. Do any of us really understand the grace of God? Do we understand what it means to live under and through that grace? Do we even understand what grace is? Grace is a gift from God that we don’t deserve and we could never work long enough or hard enough to earn. Grace is the love of God that comes to us while we are still un-lovable. Grace is the substance that restores a broken relationship with our heavenly Father. Grace is that which makes us righteous (in right standing) so that we can approach God without fear of rejection. Grace is that person that allows us to live an abundant life. I believe that grace can be a substance or a thing, but it is also a person – Jesus – the pure embodiment of grace.

That’s enough for now. Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and chew on that quote – it can change the way you look at life.

I’m Back – I think . . .

Have you ever had one of Monday’s where it just seemed that none of your thoughts would connect into any thing that made sense? That is exactly where I am this morning. I am sorry that it has taken me so long to get back to the blogging world. Work has been crazy and I have not had a spare minute that I could focus on this. I really hate it when I don’t get to post over a length of time. I feel like I am letting myself down as well as those who may take the time to read this blog.

Let me take a minute and tell you where I am in my walk with Christ and where I want to go with posts this week. I have been convicted about my own discipleship ever since our trip to Idaho. Everything they do at Real Life Ministries is about intentional discipleship. While I was there I realized that as much as I enjoy disciplining others – I need someone who is disciplining me. I have asked Rev. Tim Lee to be that person and he has agreed. Tim was the last Pastor I worked with at Reedy River Baptist Church several years ago. We had a great relationship then and I look forward to where our relationship will go in the future.

Tim is challenging me about my thinking on grace. That is also what I taught on last night in our L.I.F.E. Group meeting at mine and Irene’s home. What I have come to realize – is that I really don’t understand as much about grace as I think I do. Oh, sure, I understand the basics of salvation by grace, but I don’t believe that I have fully embraced the concept of a grace life. I question sometimes if I am a grace abuser, now I wonder if sometimes I am a grace blocker also.

All of those last thoughts and a few more are things that I want to deal with for a while, so hang on to your hat. The topic is grace and it begins tomorrow. Until then – keep your eyes on Jesus and remember – grace is more than what you say over your meal – it is truly a way of life.