Sunday, December 21, 2008

Christmas: God's Grace at Work

Time for Charlotte's Spiritual Sundays, go here for lots more inspiration.


Again today I'm sharing another one of Rick Warren's devotionals.

Christmas: God’s Grace at Work
by Rick Warren

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NLT)
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God says, “I will give you my grace.” What is grace? That’s when God gives you what you need, not what you deserve. Grace is when God says, “I’m going to take your problem and make it my problem.” Grace is God’s Riches given to you At Christ’s Expense.

The Bible says: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV). In other words, you can’t earn your way to heaven. You can’t work your way in. It’s just a gift.
Did you know that’s why we give gifts at Christmas? Because that’s when God gave the gift of his Son to you – by grace. We give gifts because God gave us the greatest gift at Christmas.

I know I don’t look like it today, but for three years I was a lifeguard. And every lifeguard knows you can’t save someone as long as they are trying to save themselves. If somebody is drowning and flailing around in panic, a lifeguard knows to just stay back for a few seconds and wait until they give up. Because if you try to save them while they’re trying to save themselves, they will pull you under too.

When they finally give up, they relax, you put your arm around them and just swim back to shore. It’s really quite easy.

God wants to save you. Jesus Christ wants to save you from your hurts, your habits, and your hang-ups. He wants to save you for his purpose and by his grace. But you’ve got to quit trying to do it yourself. You’ve got to relax. You need to let go and let God be God.

7 comments:

SmilingSally said...

I love Rick Warren. This is a beautiful metaphor of us drowning. Thanks for sharing. Happy Spiritual Sundays!

Kathi~Lavender, Lace and Thyme said...

Katherine, this is wonderful advice, thank you. I bet you're a wonderful lifeguard, a person who can help those who are drowning come to Christ.

Christmas Blessings to you and your family,
Kathi :)

Anonymous said...

Amen to this post. I love the way you used being a lifeguard as an example. I had never thought about it that way.
Have a blessed Christmas.
Charlotte

Musings of A Minister said...

Wonderful words. I am thankful for the grace of God that saves us. I even like the sound of the word--G r a c e! I also like Rick Warren. I'm sorry he is being attacked for his beliefs. But I am happy that he is willing to take a stand on what the Bible teaches.

Ginger~~Enchanting Cottage said...

So many times I thought I put things into the Lords hand but I realy didn't I keep trying and trying like you said about drowning. It was not until I gave it to hime completly and I put him in charge. Thank-you for such a great, great post.
God Bless,
Giner

Jamie {See Jamie blog} said...

Rick Warren is great! Thanks for sharing.

Carrie said...

Beautiful post. Yes, of our own selves, we cannot assure our safety, but through Christ and His Holy Spirit, our future is assured and our present is blessed.