The Best Things in Life are Free

Take salvation, for example. It's free. Ephesians 2:8,9 says It's a free gift. Has anyone every paid for gift?

How about grace? Ephesians 1 says God has "freely" given us his "glorious grace". Furthermore, it says that He lavished grace on us with all wisdom and understanding!

So what IS grace anyway?

I have been saved for 36 years now.

For 36 years I have "supposedly" walked with God. In 36 years I have never fully understood or comprehended God's grace. This summer I substituted for a S.S. teacher and I was supposed to be teaching the kids about grace. I "taught" them without even knowing myself! Scary, huh!

Then my counselor recommended Phillip Yancy's book "What's So Amazing About Grace?"
I started to get the picture, but I still don't think I had "gotten it" fully yet.

And you know what's so amazing? I knew the "definition" of grace - or that is what I have been taught. and the cute acronym we learned.

Cute Acronym - God's Riches At Christ's Expense (What does that mean to me?)

Cute Definition (goes along with definition of mercy)- Mercy is not getting what I DO deserve and Grace is getting what I don't deserve.

And actually that is exactly right. Grace is God giving me something I don't deserve. What is so hard about understanding that? But I didn't. I understood the words, but I didn't understand the meaning TO ME! What a difference!

But now, I DO GET IT! Thank God!

And now everytime I sing about grace or read it in Scripture (or anywhere for that matter) it has a whole new meaning...more in the next blog....