27-01-2005, 06:37 AM
STUNNED BY GRACE
by Max Lucado
I've never been surprised by God's judgment, but I'm still stunned by
his grace.
God's judgment has never been a problem for me. In fact, it always
seemed right. Lightning bolts on Sodom. Fire on Gomorrah. Good job,
God. Egyptians swallowed in the Red Sea. They had it coming. Forty
years of wandering to loosen the stiff necks of the Israelites?
Would've done it myself. Ananias and Sapphira? You bet.
Discipline is easy for me to swallow. Logical to assimilate. Manageable
and appropriate.
But God's grace? Anything but.
Examples? How much time do you have?
David the psalmist becomes David the voyeur, but by God's grace becomes
David the psalmist again.
Peter denied Christ before he preached Christ.
Zacchaeus, the crook. The cleanest part of his life was the money he'd
laundered. But Jesus still had time for him.
The thief on the cross: hellbent and hung-out-to-die one minute,
heaven-bound and smiling the next.
Story after story. Prayer after prayer. Surprise after surprise.
Seems that God is looking more for ways to get us home than for ways to
keep us out. I challenge you to find one soul who came to God seeking
grace and did not find it. Search the pages. Read the stories. Envision
the encounters. Find one person who came seeking a second chance and
left with a stern lecture. I dare you. Search.
You won't find it.
by Max Lucado
I've never been surprised by God's judgment, but I'm still stunned by
his grace.
God's judgment has never been a problem for me. In fact, it always
seemed right. Lightning bolts on Sodom. Fire on Gomorrah. Good job,
God. Egyptians swallowed in the Red Sea. They had it coming. Forty
years of wandering to loosen the stiff necks of the Israelites?
Would've done it myself. Ananias and Sapphira? You bet.
Discipline is easy for me to swallow. Logical to assimilate. Manageable
and appropriate.
But God's grace? Anything but.
Examples? How much time do you have?
David the psalmist becomes David the voyeur, but by God's grace becomes
David the psalmist again.
Peter denied Christ before he preached Christ.
Zacchaeus, the crook. The cleanest part of his life was the money he'd
laundered. But Jesus still had time for him.
The thief on the cross: hellbent and hung-out-to-die one minute,
heaven-bound and smiling the next.
Story after story. Prayer after prayer. Surprise after surprise.
Seems that God is looking more for ways to get us home than for ways to
keep us out. I challenge you to find one soul who came to God seeking
grace and did not find it. Search the pages. Read the stories. Envision
the encounters. Find one person who came seeking a second chance and
left with a stern lecture. I dare you. Search.
You won't find it.