Sacred Masterpiece

We were dead. All of us. You, me, the entire human race. Dead. It wasn't a physical death, but a spiritual one that was a result of our sins and transgressions. Many people don't realize the ramifications of living in sin, but the Bible tells us that spiritual death is the result. When you combine spiritual death with physical death, well, that's the point of no return.

 

When one is physically dead, he can not raise himself up to life. He is powerless to change his position. The same is true of spiritual death. For this reason, God chose to step in and come to our rescue. He is omnipotent so he is powerful when we are powerless. Take a look at what happens when God gets involved:

Ephesians 2:1-10

1 Once you were dead, doomed forever because of your many sins. 2 You used to live just like the rest of the world, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passions and desires of our evil nature. We were born with an evil nature, and we were under God's anger just like everyone else. 4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, 5 that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's special favor that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms -- all because we are one with Christ Jesus. 7 And so God can always point to us as examples of the incredible wealth of his favor and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us through Christ Jesus. 8 God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.   

While we were still conniving, ungrateful sinners, God sent Jesus to die for us which made a way for us to come alive, be raised up with Christ, and live forever in Heaven. I'm not sure about you, but that's a lot more than I could offer anyone who was on my enemies side. The best part is that God, in his kindness, makes it so easy for us to come to him (we're the ones who make it hard). He offers grace; all he asks is that we have FAITH.

 

Those who accept God's grace are spiritually re-created and experience this glorious plan that He designed for us. No longer defined by our sin, we become God's MASTERPIECE much like some of the great paintings and sculptures found in history. Even a poem can be considered a masterpiece. I love poetry and have often written poems when I am in the depths of emotion (whether it be joy, grief, anger, etc.). Each poem is so personal to me that they are almost sacred. In that same way, we are God's poetry.

 

                Source: Cast a Line, 2011, license

This says a lot about our value and purpose. Our worth as Christians is not based on how good we can act, how many rules we can follow, or how righteous we appear to others. The only value we have was given to us by a holy God and there's nothing we can do to earn it. It is a free gift that changed us from a dead sinner to a sacred poem of the Most High God.

You are His sacred masterpiece!

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My Grace-o-meter Is Broken

There are some people who are always kind, encouraging and full of grace toward others. If someone messes up, they tell them it's not as bad as they think and proceed to tell them all their good qualities so they are not discouraged. I love those people! I can think of one person in particular who has been that for me. She encouraged me when I needed it the most and always has a way of cheering me up. She saw something in me when no one else did and she fought hard to give me the chance she thought I deserved. For that, I am eternally greatful. She is one of the nicest people I've ever met and truly seeks to honor God with her gifts and talents.

Not only that, but when she is faced with annoying, self-seeking people she does her best to try to make the situation not quite as frustrating for everyone else by keeping the peace, sharing a wink or sneaking in an understanding giggle. She just makes you feel like everything is going to be alright and she tries to keep everything in perspective.

I hope to be like her one day...full of grace. As it stands now, there are times when I think my "grace-o-meter" is broken. It doesn't happen often (thank goodness), but there are times when I am confronted with a mean, selfish, or obnoxious person and my grace level bottoms out and "mean nasty Christy" rises up to bear her teeth. My mind begins to spiral into the land of "I'm gonna tell you one thing, buddy!" From that point it just gets ugly.

In those moments, what's a girl to do? I found it ironic that I was faced with that situation today, of all days, when my meditation focus was on God's attriubute of being "full of grace." Hmmm. So if my grace-o-meter is broken, but God is full of grace, I guess I know who I need to go to for help when I'd love nothing more than to firmly put someone in their place.

It took a while for me to "get it." I fell into the temptation of mentally telling this person off when I realized I was not exhibiting grace. (Ouch, Lord! Did you have to step on my toes THAT hard?!) So I knew what I needed to do.

First of all, I needed to repent of my terrible attitude. Then I needed to ask God for help. HA! That sounded so nice like all I said was, "Dear Lord, help me," but the truth is that I prayed like a mad woman! I knew that left to myself, I may give in to the temptation to let my tongue fly off like toilet paper in a wind storm. I asked Him to teach me about His attribute of the fullness of grace by helping me to be graceful in this moment. I figured you might as well start with a doozie because anyone can be full of grace around a pleasant person. Grace is put to the test when it's hard.

And let me tell you....it was hard. However, in that prayer time, I also remembered the grace that was given to me when God sent His son to die for my sins. That must have been considerably more painful than what I was facing. He did it because He valued my soul just like He values the soul of the people who annoy me. He did it for the bigger picture.

That made me ask, "So what is the bigger picture of this situation?" My thoughts began to be led to how the value of people's souls are worth so much more than my dignity, pride, rights, comfort, respect, and feelings. My heart began to soften towards the situation eventually and I began to see that I stepped out of a place of full surrender in order to defend myself. I don't need to do that. If I fully trust God and truly want to surrender to Him, I need to maintain that attitude of surrender even if it means I am mistreated.

That's when I realized that God had just taught me what it means to be full of grace. In no way do I think I have arrived, but I do believe that God placed a little drop of grace (or even a big dollup) in my tank so that my grace-o-meter was revived.

Here's a little something about God's grace for you to cling to the next time your grace-o-meter bottoms out:

Ephesians 1:5-8

5 His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the wonderful kindness he has poured out on us because we belong to his dearly loved Son. 7 He is so rich in kindness that he purchased our freedom through the blood of his Son, and our sins are forgiven. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.  

Put Your Dukes Up!

I'm pretty scrappy. Ever since I was little, I wanted to fight and wrestle with my dad and my brother. I don't like to give in and I will continue even if I'm wounded. My mom always said I would get hurt, run to her and cry, then right jump back in the pile. I would always tell people that I never played sports because I wasn't a competitive person. The truth is that I'm just TOO competitive. Growing up, I was never a good sportsman and I HATED to lose.

Every once in a while, I would stumble upon someone who was just as scrappy as I was and we'd have a battle to see who was the toughest. My mom would often lecture me for playing a game called "6 inches." For those who don't know, "6 inches" is a game where you make a fist and position yourself exactly 6 inches from your opponents flexed bicept. Then you directly punch them as hard as you can without pulling your fist back for added force. They take their turn and this continues until one person can't take it anymore. I finally saw the light on that one when I came home with 6 inch black bruises on both arms and could hardly move them. Game over.

While you may not have heard of "6 inches," you've probably heard of the game called "Mercy" (or as some people call it, "Uncle"). This is a game where you interlock your fingers with your opponent and you both begin to simultaneously maneuver your hands to see who can get their opponent into a position of pain to the point where they surrender. In order to surrender, one has to say "Mercy!" in order to be released.

Hey what can I say? I was the only girl in the house raised with an older brother for most of my life. It was survival of the fittest!

This game came to my mind as I began to think about today's attribute of God, which is "God is merciful."

Many people think of God as an opponent in the game of mercy. They think He just punishes you or hurts you until you can't take it and you finally beg for "Mercy!" It breaks my heart that people think that way and I desperately want them to know the truth. That is NOT what mercy is at all.

The truth is more along the lines of the fact that we were caught in the death grip of sin. In fact, the truth is that we were dead in sin (we're talking skeleton here), never truly knowing how to live. Then God steps into the picture with His perfect search & rescue plan, allowing His only Son to endure the humiliating death on the cross as the final sacrifice that would ever be needed to cleanse us of our sin. In that instant, the grip of death and sin lost it's power and there was no need for us to cry out for mercy. It was freely offered and freely given. There is nothing left for us to do but walk away from the sin that had bound us and walk into the outstretched arms of our Redeemer.

Here's what Holy Scripture says:

Daniel 9:9

9 But the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him.

Deuteronomy 4:29-31

29 From there you will search again for the LORD your God. And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him. 30 "When those bitter days have come upon you far in the future, you will finally return to the LORD your God and listen to what he tells you. 31 For the LORD your God is merciful -- he will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the solemn covenant he made with your ancestors.  

Mercy is the fact that God loved us when we were unloveable, offered the gift of His Son when had nothing to give in return, forgave us of a debt we could not pay. I am not worthy of the mercy that has been offered to me. God forbid that I ever take it for granted!

Holy Father,

You're love and your mercy are too much for me to comprehend. Even though I am so unworthy, you gave me the best gifts of all. You gave me freedom, healing, hope, life, forgiveness, mercy, and the promise of eternal life. In my human mind, it makes no sense to love someone like me, but you do and I am so thankful. Thank you that you love us all and offer this gift to every single person you've created. Help us to know you and love you more with every passing day. You are worthy of all our praise!

In Jesus Holy Name I pray,
Amen

Saved by a....string?

God is love, but not the love we understand as humans. As powerful as human love can be, God's love is so deep and strong that it is unfathomable. We can't understand it.

1 John 4:7-10

7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God -- for God is love. 9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.  

The only reason we even have the ability to love is because we are made in the image of God. God made us to love Him and love each other. He demonstrated how love works Himself by sending His only Son, Jesus, on a rescue mission for our souls. He gave up someone who meant a lot to Him and allowed him to be abused, mistreated, and beaten for our sakes. His Son was perfect! He commited no sin and yet He died for our sin. He took the blame, shame, and responsibility for us. He took the punishment that should have been ours (we are the ones who deserve it, after all) so we didn't have to.

That is love as well.

Because of the love of the Father and the love of the Son, we are free from the bondage of sin, death, and eternal punishment. What do we get instead? God! Heaven! Eternal LIFE!  Freedom! That's worth shouting about!

Some might say, "Yeah, but love is never free. There are always strings attached." While I can see why would may think that on the human level (I know I have thought that on many occasions), God's strings are much different. Here's what God wants from you....He wants you to:

1. Tell him that you know you've sinned and that you are truly sorry.

2. Turn away from your sins and ask God to forgive you and be the Lord of your life.

3. Believe that Jesus died for your sins and accept His gift of grace and love.

It's true that love comes with strings sometimes. Some strings bind you to things you don't need or want. The strings with God's love are like the very strings that pull you to safety when you're drowning in the sea. These strings bring life, healing, and never-ending love from an infinite, holy God.

I can't imagine why He would love me. I know what a mess I am at times and I know that many times, I fail Him. I have been mean, ungreatful, rebellious, and disrespectful to Him. I have sinned and fallen short of His desires for me. I have been so thick-headed that at times I thought God would have to hit me over the head with a brick to get through my thick skull. And yet, He loves me. He loved me first which is why I even have the ability to come to Him and apologize for my random acts of selfishness and stupidity. Every time I mess up, God is there and always ready to offer forgiveness and restoration.

It's when you look at God's love that you realize that you don't know as much about love as you thought. Holy Father, please teach me more about your love and help me to love You and others better.