Grace in Disguise

"But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." ~Genesis 6:8

Often when we think of the story of Noah we think of the verse above... how Noah found grace in God's eyes, how Noah and his family were spared the fate that so many other people had fell victim to, by their own choice.

Rarely do we think about what grace looked like on that ark on the 23rd, or on the 32nd, or on the 39th day. Rarely do we think about the fact that grace is not always pretty when living through the preliminaries, especially when we don't yet realize they are simply just that....a beginning, not an ending.

The Bible says in Genesis 7:24 that "the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days." 150 days living with a bunch of stinky animals....Imagine how gross those stalls must have been!

The smells...the claustrophobia...5 months!!!

Oh, but then consider the alternative.

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. ~Phillippians 4:11

Calvary was very ugly. It's hard for us to even comprehend the brutality that occurred on that day, but it was even worse for those who had walked with Jesus day in and day out, who had to stand by and witness God in flesh being treated worse than a criminal.

If  only they could have truly understood then, what we are so blessed to understand now.

Circumstances in your life may look bleak. You may feel like you have "drawn the short straw" ...possibly multiple times over. Know that His grace is sufficient. He trades beauty for ashes and makes all things beautiful in His time.

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. ~Isaiah 61:3

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ~2 Corinthians 12:9

What about the Potter?

So, it's past 1:00 and I am wide awake...the tragic result of drinking coffee too late. Anyway, earlier today..I mean yesterday, I was taking some time to read back through my prayer journal and came across this entry from early May. I  believe at that time that I was reading from Numbers (thus the reason for the references to Israel's relationship with God). Just felt this might be something worth sharing....Hopefully it will at least speak to someone...

"But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, long suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth." ~Psalm 86:15

"I've been thinking about how God's relationship with Israel, as with us, is so much like that of a parent.  In one instance Israel will do something wrong and God will discipline them, yet, in the next instance, He is telling those in opposition to Israel to basically "treat them right or die." The wilderness was forty years of discipline for Israel, yet, at the same time, God was keeping outsiders from hurting them.  His Word is sure and He won't let anything happen to prevent it from coming to pass. Like a good parent, He always keeps His word, always protects, and always does what's best, whether painful or not, to make sure His child becomes the best He can be.

Yesterday, while having a potter walk my friends and I through the step by step process of the art of old fashioned pottery making, I found myself thinking, "Wow, that's ALOT of effort and inconvenience just to make that cup, bowl, etc...but then I realized, that's exactly the way God is with us!  Often I read poems and such about "being on the potter's wheel", written about yielding to the Potter's hand and they are always beautiful and well said...but, what about the Potter?!! Oh the patience, Oh the love!!!...Thankful for a God that never gives up on me. He protects me. He provides for me. And, above all else He's STILL working on me."

Unredeemed

One of the perks I enjoy best about serving God is getting to watch Him work miracles. Every time I see Him work one it just reminds me how much He loves us and how His love is limitless. Thankfully I have been blessed to get to see quite a few miracles lately...some in my own life, others in those of my friends and acquaintances.

Recently I have had the privilege of watching God begin to restore a family to which I am quite close. A while back I wrote a blog entitled "The Battlefield". In this blog I referenced my dear friend and the guilt and misery she was feeling at the time. Shortly after on Facebook I posted a video to a song that I felt very strongly to share with her. What to many would look like an impossible situation, God could and is redeeming. Below are the lyrics to this beautiful song. "But when anything that's shattered is laid before the Lord"---This is the key. God HAS TO be in it for redemption to come...and because of grace it WILL come. The catch? You must ALWAYS keep God the center of your universe. He's only going to show off for those who will give Him the praise He alone deserves!

Redeem: to release from blame or debt

Grace: unmerited (undeserved) favor from God

Unredeemed
The cruelest word
The coldest heart
The deepest wound
The endless dark
The lonely ache
The burning tears
The bitter nights
The wasted years

Life breaks and falls apart
But we know these are
Places where grace is soon to be so amazing
It may be unfulfilled
It may be unrestored
But when anything that's shattered is laid before the Lord
Just watch and see
It will not be unredeemed

For every choice that led to shame
And all the love that never came
For every vow that someone broke
And every life that gave up hope
We live in the shadow of the fall
But the cross says these are all
Places where grace is soon to be so amazing
It may be unfulfilled
It may be unrestored
But when anything that's shattered is laid before the Lord
Just watch and see
It will not be unredeemed

Places where grace is soon to be so amazing
It may be unfulfilled
It may be unrestored
But you never know the miracle the Father has in store
Just watch and see
It will not be
Just watch and see
It will not be unredeemed

Never Never NEVER Give Up

"Never, never, NEVER give up." ~ Winston Churchhill

The blog below (posted by another one of my close friends) tells the testimony of a dear friend of mine, a friend I just met this last summer, but that I now feel like I've known forever. One day this last July her and another friend and I went to a restaurant for lunch on a Sunday afternoon. I had heard she had an amazing testimony and asked her to please tell me it. Two hours later this girl I had just met that morning had me in tears right there in that restaurant as she shared her testimony with me. The tears came because God in a strong way began to speak to me to never give up on anyone. To ALWAYS keep reaching and to NEVER place judgement. Isn't that exactly what Jesus would do?

I hope this short version of her testimony ministers to you as it did to me.


Fancy~Shmancy: A letter from Angel: "In late September, I met a young lady with a big smile and lots of spunk. Her and her friend Linda were introduced to me and my friends thro..."

Beneath the Blood

Today a long lost memory came back to my mind...one I'm sure I had buried on purpose, and will probably rebury after writing this blog, but that I believe God has brought back to me for a purpose. Maybe that purpose is you..I don't know, but I do feel to share.

A long time ago, when I was around 13 or 14, I sung in a youth choir, directed by Bro. Johnathan Dean. I absolutely loved it. We would travel some and this one particular time we were to sing somewhere in Louisiana (I forget where now) at a 2 day youth choir concert/ lock-in called Variety. Up until that point it was one of the most fun, inspiring, unique meetings to which I had ever been.

However, while there I received some bad news. Some really bad news...news,though, that could have had a much worse ending than it did. I didn't tell anyone. It was news about one of my best friends...news that had devastated me. I did my best at hiding any of the internal emotional turmoil I was feeling...until a choir (I believe from Denham Springs) got up to sing the song whose lyrics I am enclosing below. When the soloist began singing the 2nd verse I fell to the ground crying and felt God's comfort that day like I had never felt it before.

You see, this verse hit home with me. One of my closest friends had taken a bottle of pills in an attempted suicide. All kind of thoughts were running through my mind. Why would she do this?! Am I a bad friend that I didn't see this coming? Am I a bad friend that she wouldn't have talked to me about the reasons behind her attempting to do this in the first place?! This particular friend was a few years older than me, as most of my closest friends at that time were, and while she attended church faithfully, she was not living right. Being young and naive, at the time I was oblivious to the extent of some of the things she was mixed up in. (Luckily God's hand of protection was upon me. I've since learned that sometimes ignorance is bliss, but other times it can get you in trouble.) Praise God, though, that she did end up surviving. I never did actually come out and ask her why she had done it. I just tried to shower her with love and let her know that if she ever felt those feelings again to please talk to me first.

So what does all this have to do with "The Blood"? A lot. You see, there were two ways this song spoke to me that day. I questioned if my friend had looked around and seen the state she was in and began to question if she could turn back. I also questioned if my own life was right and if I had failed as a friend in someway. Had I been reaching out to her enough? Been a good & strong enough example?

That day I repented for myself and travailed for her...for God to save her life and for him to redeem her. Maybe I needed to repent. Maybe I didn't. But, at that moment I felt that if there was more I could have done, and I didn't do it, than I had fell short.

If you have "a past" or have a burden for a loved one or friend that does, remember, no matter what the situation, there's bigger sins than that beneath the blood. God's blood can cover any sin.

Also, if you or that person had a call on your life before, "God's gifts and his call are irrevocable". (Romans 11:29) Sometimes when people who have had a calling on their life come back to God, I believe they feel it is an impossibility to still fulfill their ministry. Due to the un-God-like judgements made my some Christians, there is often a barrier present, and it can be more challenging, but never impossible. God's always on your side, even when man isn't. However, I also think sometimes the person dreads facing the challenge and actually ends up running from their calling, taking the easy, but in truth miserable, way out, deciding that "that was before, God can't use me that way now." This can be either a lie from man or a lie from the devil. Either way though, it's a lie.

No matter what you've done, there's bigger sins than that beneath the blood. Accept his mercy. Accept his grace. Thank him for it. And move forward into your destiny. Our days left here on earth are very short & eternity is very long.

Bigger Sins than That

Verse 1:
So you think you made the ultimate mistake,
And Satan says, "There's just no use to pray",
Cause you have gone beyond God's grace this time",
Did you know that was Satan's favorite line?

Chorus:
There's bigger sins than that beneath the Blood;
Darker deeds by far that He's forgiven people of.
So don't let Satan blind you, where you can't
See God's endless love.
Because there's bigger sins than that beneath the blood!

Verse 2:
Somewhere in the darkness of the night
A teenage boy decides to take his life,
Cause he feels he's not worthy of God's love.
If he could only see beneath the blood!

Bridge:
Don't let him deceive you.
Cause Jesus will forgive you!

Also lyrics to another very good song that's by PCD:
Let the Blood Speak for Me

His Grace....It STILL Amazes Me

Your Grace Still Amazes Me ~Phillips, Craig, & Dean

This song has been in my head 3 days now. I've been falling asleep thinking about it, as well as waking up to the though of it in my mind.

A friend that I've know my whole life was visiting my church on Sunday. I didn't even know that she was there until the person leading the service (my friend's uncle)asked me to step out into the foyer to watch her baby,a beautiful baby less than a month old, that I had yet to get to see in person. Needless to say, he didn't have to ask me twice. :o) I quickly relieved my friend so she could go sing a special..the song she sang was "Your Grace Still Amazes Me".

As I sat there, holding her adorable baby for the first time, while listening to her sing those words, I began to think about the blessings God had brought her way the last few years. A Godly husband. A job in which she is able to help people in which she has a burden, a burden derived due to her own personal life circumstances. She is also a youth pastor's wife and now mother of one of the cutest babies I've ever seen.

Through the years we have randomly shared our hopes and dreams. Many of which, have been very similar, other than the location of our callings. As I sat there, I realized I could have felt jealous, that many of her dreams are already coming to pass & most of mine are still in process. But I wasn't. This same friend is the one that had shared words of encouragement with me about this same time the year before and had been one of the greatest sources of encouragement I had received in a long time. No I wasn't jealous at all; I was just very thankful for her.

Not long ago I was talking with another friend. One of the best girls I know. One who hasn't had luck on her side lately or for quite a while it would seem. Many of the circumstances she has faced and has to face I can't imagine going through. However, the one we were discussing that particular day..that she was going through at that moment, I not only could imagine, but had experienced. She began to say things such as "It's not fair! I deserve better. WE deserve better!" Though I wanted to be her friend and shake my head and say, "Yes, you're right! You're absolutely right!" I had to tell her the truth..that WE don't "deserve" anything. Every blessing we receive is a gift; we don't nor can we "earn" God's blessings.

A line of one of my favorite songs, whose lyrics I believe I have already shared on here, says:"Every good & perfect gift that I possess was sent from the Father above." And that's exactly how it is. We were born sinners; we were born undeserving. BUT, thanks to God's grace, He still chooses to bless us.

Do I have any idea why some people seem more blessed than others? No. I've seen some of the most dedicated people I know go with out many desires and some of the least committed people I know squander blessings those dedicated ones would have given their right arm for.

However, as I sat there holding my friends baby, thinking about God's blessings in her life, I thanked God for grace. Grace for her. Grace for me. Grace for anyone who will accept it.

The words of another favorite song say:
"Where would I be, if not for your grace?
Carrying me, through every season.
Where would I be, if not for your grace?
You came to my rescue. And I want to thank you
For your grace.

Yes, His grace STILL amazes me. Past. Present. Future. And I thank Him for it.

Amazing Grace

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:Not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

An evangelist preached at my church today. He gave his testimony. Raised in an evangelist’s home, seeing all kinds of miracles while growing up, at the age of 17 he decided he didn’t believe in God anymore. For the next 20 years he was away from God; getting mixed up in some of the worst drug situations possible. Eventually he found himself facing 40 years in prison, as a plea bargain for dealing drugs. He never even began the first of those 40 years. When he turned to God and promised Him he’d do what God had called him to do a long time ago, God took control. God can, after all, do anything He wants. God took control and rescued this prodigal son from impossible circumstances; circumstances that were of the son’s own making. Through the miraculous process of God delivering him from both drugs and the extreme legal situation, many people were saved, and, no doubt, all connected learned what God’s glory is really all about…and what His grace is about as well.

Amazing Grace…Amazing. Grace.
False Accusations. True Accusations.----
Amazing Grace.
What time limits do we, as Christians, place on one becoming “new” again?----
Amazing. Grace.
1 year?..10 years?...How about 1 second?----
Amazing Grace.
To whom did God give permission to decide that any sin is unpardonable? And to decide which sin that would be?----
Amazing. Grace.

It truly is amazing that God can forgive us of ANYTHING and use us again. Not “anything but…” -----Anything.

Saul killed Christians---lots of them. David had an affair then had someone killed due to the results of his own sin. Peter, who had the privilege of walking with God in the flesh, denied even knowing him, not once, but 3 times. Moses was a murder…Rahab was a harlot…The list could go on and on.

History proves that God not only forgives, but uses those whom he forgives sometimes in even greater ways then He had before. So my question is this…

Who are we as the church to stop God’s process?

Innocent or Guilty should not be the question.

Repented?...Check.
Forgiven?....Check.

That’s where the list must end my brothers and sisters.

Perhaps the next Moses, Peter, or Paul is sitting on your church bench, pastor, and you are too busy dwelling on his past to realize he has an amazing future before him…if you’ll only allow him to walk through that door.

Perhaps, saint of God, that brother or sister who you keep holding back with reminders of who they once were is the individual God has ordained to be the key to the great revival and harvest you have prayed for in your city for so long. Yet Satan has used you to plague their mind with thoughts of worthlessness; any distraction to keep them from their full potential. This is one of his greatest tactics. Do not allow him to use you as a tool.

Amazing. Grace.

Yes, it is amazing how a God so powerful and mighty can love us so dearly, so whole heartedly; how he can forgive so greatly and say “It is finished” before we’ve even had the chance to breath “I’m sorry.”

Who better to tell of His amazing grace than those who have benefited from it the greatest?

Still questioning if God can really use ANYBODY? How’s your faith meter? If this is something you question, it is not a matter of doubting men’s capabilities to change, but a matter of questioning God’s omnipotence.

Fact: We are clay.
Fact: He is our potter.
Fact: He can do absolutely anything He wants with the clay.

The Only Question: Is the vessel willing? (refer to the short checklist above…)

No doubt, if you’re reading this, you believe in God’s grace, and you believe it is truly amazing. Never place limits on something that has no limits.….Amazing. Grace.
….And never take for granted something none of us deserve.



Amazing Grace

The People God Writes About

I LOVE roadtrips. If I'm with friends, I love them because it makes for a fun trip. If I'm not, I love them because they are usually very inspirational times for me. I usually take a bunch of sermon cds, some of my favorite Christian cds, and have one very long devotional time with God. On the trip I took this last weekend I listened to a lot of great messages..Bro. Jason Sisco..messages from the Passing the Mantle Conference '08..and a message Bro. Stoddard preached at my church a few years ago. I had already listened to all of these at least once before, but still found myself gleaning something new from each of them. The message Bro. Stoddard preached: "The People God Writes About" is one of the best messages I have ever heard. I wish that every person serving God, who has served God, or has even thought about serving God could hear it.

The passage of scripture he references is Hebrews 11. The minister spoke about how all these men and women of God are not only mentioned in the past in the Bible..but mentioned yet again, for their faith, in what's pretty much a Bible "Hall of Fame". The author of Hebrews goes as far as to say that the world was not worthy of them....

YET...would not most "Christians" have been quick to write these people off? In this "Hall of Fame" is represented almost every sin under the sun. Yet God didn't write these people off. Not only did He not write them off, He chose to use them in amazing ways that we still read about and learn from even today.

If you are a saint who has fallen, pick yourself up, God still has faith in you.

If you are a saint that is looking down or talking about someone who has fallen, the word "Christian" means Christ-like. Christ wouldn't do this; therefore, if you are acting this way you are not a Christian. Besides, how will God ever be able to use that person as they are meant to me used if the same people who ought to be standing by their side are the ones blocking their way to His Promise?

God didn't write about perfect people. There are no perfect people. That's why there was a Calvary. God wrote about people who had faith in Him and realized that this world was not their home. People, who, when they made a mistake,learned, dusted themselves off, and continued on their journey.

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.