You may know what it’s like to carry a stigma.  Each time your name is mentioned, your calamity follows.

“Have you heard from John lately? You know, the fellow who got divorced?”

“We got a letter from Jerry. Remember him, the alcoholic?”

“I saw Melissa today. I don’t know why she can’t keep a job.”

Like a pesky sibling, your past follows you wherever you go. Isn’t there anyone who sees you for who you are and not what you did? Yes, there is One who does, your king. When God speaks of you, he doesn’t mention your plight, pain, or problem; he lets you share in His glory. He calls you His child.

God proved His love for us by sacrificing His Son. Psalm 103:12 says, He has “taken our sins away from us as far as the east is from the west.” Christ died for us while we were still sinners.

From In the Grip of Grace

Romans 5:8 says, “God shows his great love for us in this way. Christ died for us while we were still sinners.”

A friend of mine tells of the man who set out to adopt a troubled teenage girl. One would question the father’s logic. The girl was destructive, disobedient and dishonest. One day she ransacked the house looking for money. By the time he arrived, she was gone and the house was in shambles. Friends urged him not to finalize the adoption. “Let her go,” they said. “After all, she’s not really your daughter.” His response was simply, “Yes, I know. But I told her she was.”

God, too, has made a covenant to adopt his people. It’s one thing to love us when we’re strong, obedient and willing. But when we ransack his house and steal what is his? This is the test of love. And God passes the test.

From In the Grip of Grace

If a child you don’t know appears on your doorstep and asks to spend the night, what would you do? Likely you would ask his name, where he lives, find out why he is roaming the streets, and contact his parents. On the other hand, if a youngster enters your house escorted by your child, that child is welcome.

The same is true with God. By becoming friends with the Son, we gain access to the Father. Jesus promised in Matthew 10:32, “All those who stand before others and say they believe in me, I will say before my Father in heaven that they belong to me.” Jesus ushers us into that blessing of God’s grace we now enjoy and what Paul spoke of in Romans 5:2—”a permanent access by faith into this grace by which we now stand.” We can have a place with God because Jesus has presented us to the Father!

From In the Grip of Grace

How do I deal with the debt I owe to God? Deny it? My conscience won’t let me. Find worse sins in others? God won’t fall for that. Try to pay it off? I could, but we don’t know the cost of sin. We don’t even know how much we owe. What do we do?

Listen to Paul’s answer in what one scholar says is possibly the single most important paragraph ever written. Romans 3:24-25 says, “All need to be made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift. They need to be made free from sin through Jesus Christ. God gave him as a way to forgive sin through faith in the blood of Jesus.”

Simply put. The cost of your sins is more than you can pay. The gift of your God is more than you can imagine. We are made right with God, by grace, through faith!

From In the Grip of Grace

As children, the minute we got home from school we would hit the pavement. The kid across the street had a dad with a great arm and a strong addiction to football. He couldn’t resist when we would yell for him to play ball. He’d always ask, “Which team is losing?” Then he’d join that team, which often seemed to be mine. His appearance changed the whole ball game. He was confident, strong, and most of all, had a plan. “Okay boys, here’s what we are going to do.” You see, we not only had a new plan, we had a new leader. He brought new life to our team.
God does precisely the same. We didn’t need a new play; we needed a new plan. We needed a new player, Jesus Christ, God’s firstborn Son. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he’s a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”
From In the Grip of Grace

It’s the universal strategy of impunity. Even kids use it. If I can get my dad more angry at my brother than me, I’m off scot-free. So I accuse…I compare. Rather than admit my own faults, I find faults in others. The easiest way to justify the mistakes in my house is to find worse ones in my neighbor’s house.

Such scams don’t work with God! God isn’t so easily diverted.  He sees through all smoke screens and holds you to what you’ve done. Did you think just because he is such a nice God, he would let you off the hook? God is kind, but he’s not soft. He takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life change. We aren’t good enough to judge. Can the sick mock the ill? Can the blind judge the deaf? Can the sinner condemn the sinner? No. Only One can judge…it is God.

From In the Grip of Grace

Rather than worship the Creator, we worship the creation! No wonder there is no wonder. We have figured it all out. Ever wonder why people sleep in on Sunday mornings, whether in bed or in the sanctuary? They’ve seen it all. Why get excited? They know it all! There’s nothing sacred. The holy becomes humdrum.

Can you see why Paul says in Romans 1:24 that people became full of sexual sin, using their bodies wrongly with each other? You’ve got to get excitement somewhere. If there’s no purpose to this life, nothing sacred about this life, what’s to keep us from doing whatever we want? How does God feel about such a view of life? Well, let me give you a hint. How would you feel if you saw your children settling for crumbs when you had prepared for them a feast?…Exactly!

From In the Grip of Grace

As surely as a child breathes, he will someday wonder, “What is the purpose of my life?” Some search for meaning in a career.  My purpose is to be a dentist. Fine vocation but hardly a justification for existence. They opt to be a human doing rather than a human being. They work many hours, because if they don’t, they have no identify. For others, who they are is what they have. They find meaning in a new car, a new house, new clothes.  They are great for the economy because they’re always seeking meaning in something they own. Sports, entertainment, cults, sex, you name it. Paul says in Romans 1:22, “Claiming themselves to be wise without God, they became utter fools instead.” Contrast that to God’s vision of life when he said, “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to devote ourselves to the good deeds for which God has designed us!” (Ephesians 2:10).

From In the Grip of Grace