April has been a short yet sweet month. Short because I was able to take a week off from ministry work and I used that week to catch up on my sleep deficit. I am very thankful for the week off – as it provided not only physical rest but also spiritual rest. Let me explain what I mean by “spiritual rest”.
During that week off, I was convicted to finish reading and reflecting on a book that I had started last December – called Transforming Grace by Jerry Bridges. As I turned each page and each chapter, reading each word, it has greatly challenged me to think more deeply about the concept of “Grace” – it led me to the book of Ephesians (as any great Christian book should do – taking you to God’s word), in particular Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV) where Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God wrote: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.”
It really is amazing is it? No matter how undeserving we are, God chose to save us simply because of his “Amazing Grace”, it is never and will never be based on our performance. And it doesn’t matter if we are the conscientious, dutiful, hardworking Christian, or the most decadent hard-living sinner, we equally need God’s grace!
Please pray that I would rely on God’s grace and God’s grace alone for my salvation. Ask God to chip away my pride in time when I rely on my own self-righteousness or am putting confidence in my own spiritual attainments.
Please give thanks to God’s saving grace and the privilege that we live in God’s grace each and every day.
To help myself to be reminded of God’s saving grace – I’ve created a wallpaper and will be setting this as my desktop wallpaper and lock-screen.
Will you join me?
The Marsden Fund 