Even me. Amazing grace.

Oh how foolish a life this old man of flesh lived before I found Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I proved myself doomed to destruction time after time with my choices,  with my actions,  with my words. In my ignorance,  I used the idea of salvation like a trickster,  twisting words to fit my own goals – excusing my rebellion and continued sin, wearying the Lord with my foolishness and disobedience.

I knew nothing of Christ. I knew nothing of a renewed life surrendered to the Lord. I just knew the example of hypocrites around me practicing their religion and buying their get out of hell free tickets. But oh, how things have changed.

I finally got it,  and not through anything that I can claim to my own credit. No, I finally was stumbling deep enough in the darkness that I heard His knock,  and I realized that my foolishness was not only sin and disloyalty to others,  but more importantly it was disloyalty to God,  because I was not only leading myself into the way of destruction – I was a party to the enemy, I was a stumbling block to the saints, and I was a living advertisement for the ways of this world.

Oh how patient the Lord must be to allow even me to receive His mercy!

Oh how amazing He is to offer even me a taste of His sweet grace!

Do you know the weight of a condemned man’s life,  friend? I know the weight,  and it is a heavy burden to bear.

Proverbs 6:20-35 NLT
My son, obey your father’s commands, and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. Keep their words always in your heart. Tie them around your neck. When you walk, their counsel will lead you. When you sleep, they will protect you. When you wake up, they will advise you. For their command is a lamp and their instruction a light; their corrective discipline is the way to life.

It will keep you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of a promiscuous woman. Don’t lust for her beauty. Don’t let her coy glances seduce you. For a prostitute will bring you to poverty, but sleeping with another man’s wife will cost you your life.

Can a man scoop a flame into his lap and not have his clothes catch on fire? Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet? So it is with the man who sleeps with another man’s wife. He who embraces her will not go unpunished.

Excuses might be found for a thief who steals because he is starving. But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole, even if he has to sell everything in his house. But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys himself. He will be wounded and disgraced. His shame will never be erased. For the woman’s jealous husband will be furious, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge. He will accept no compensation, nor be satisfied with a payoff of any size.

Malachi 2:13-17 NLT
Here is another thing you do. You cover the Lord ’s altar with tears, weeping and groaning because he pays no attention to your offerings and doesn’t accept them with pleasure. You cry out, “Why doesn’t the Lord accept my worship?” I’ll tell you why! Because the Lord witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows. Didn’t the Lord make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth.

“For I hate divorce!” says the Lord , the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty, ” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.”

You have wearied the Lord with your words. “How have we wearied Him?” you ask. You have wearied Him by saying that all who do evil are good in the Lord ’s sight, and he is pleased with them. You have wearied Him by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”

Yes, I know the weight of a condemned man’s life friend. But because I know the heaviness of that burden,  I have much to celebrate today,  friend!

Because I have been forgiven. I have received Jesus Christ into my life and the old is buried and the new is raised to life in Christ.

I have so much to be thankful for,  so much that I cannot stop rejoicing at the kind mercies of my Lord and Savior. Yes,  He loves even me! He forgives even me!

I hope so deeply that you know His love and His forgiveness in your life today,  friend.

Receive His forgiveness and cast away those chains of your past.

Value His instruction and guidance and walk in His presence.

Know thankfulness for your restored life and live to honor and glorify His name.

Be the Christ that is either waiting to be asked into your life today,  or that is alive in you already and looking to work through you and in you today.

Live.

Grow.

Walk.

1 John 2:12-14 NLT
I am writing to you who are God’s children because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.

I am writing to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.

I am writing to you who are young in the faith because you have won your battle with the evil one.

I have written to you who are God’s children because you know the Father.

I have written to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.

I have written to you who are young in the faith because you are strong. God’s word lives in your hearts, and you have won your battle with the evil one.

He has won the battle.

Walk in victory.

Walk in Christ.