Mercy and Grace

Ok, so after my Chinese, I felt ready to tackle the serious topic I mentioned in my previous post... :)

We attend a small group (Bible Study) on Thursday nights. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our small group. We have an amazing group of people, all in different stages in their walks with Christ. I know I can count on these individuals for love, support and prayers and that is an awesome feeling. I feel like the small group is where I really learn and grow, not that I don't learn and grow in weekend services at church, but small group is just different.

So, anyway..... back to my post.....

This Thursday we talked about God's mercy and grace- two words I have heard over and over and over, but honestly, never stopped to really question their meaning. Our leader gave a really great definition of the two. He said grace is "receiving what we don't deserve" and mercy is "not receiving what we do deserve". I hope that makes sense. Hearing those two words defined like that, gave me a totally new outlook on God's grace and His mercy. I'm still in awe.....

We also talked about how when a person becomes a Christ-follower-WAIT- let me explain what I mean by this. I have heard a lot of confusion about this. There is a difference in a person who believes in God and a person who has accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. Believing in God will not get you to heaven. John 4:16 states that Christ is the way, the truth and the life. No one can get into heaven without Christ (kind of paraphrased).

I think this is a difficult thing for some people to grasp. My husband had a hard time with this one before he became a Christian. I hear so many people say that if you are a good person, that will get you into heaven. It's just not the way. Actually, I am glad that is not the way into heaven. If that were the way, we would constantly be insecure about how much good we have to do, if what we were doing is actually good enough, if we were doing as much "good stuff" as our neighbor..... and on and on and on. I am so thankful that Christ died for us, our sins, and all we have to do is confess that we are sinners and accept him as our Lord and Savior.

Yep, it's just that easy. I remember the night I received Christ. It was 2 days after Christmas and I was with two of my high school friends. I didn't exactly know what it meant to be a Christian, but I knew I wanted it. I saw the peace and joy that my friends had captured and I wanted it, with all of my heart. When they prayed that little (or BIG, considering it changed my eternity) prayer with me, my first response was "THAT'S IT?!" I could not believe that praying that 2 minute prayer, and meaning it, was all I had to do to secure my place in heaven. It seemed way to easy, but it was true. Jesus did the work for us. God's grace and mercy are offered to all, it is up to us to accept His gifts.

God gives us a choice. He is a God of free will. We get to choose whether or not we want Him to be a part of our worldly life. He loves us all and longs for each of us to have a relationship with Him. He loves us so much that He lets us choose.

I could go on and on and on about this subject. It is one of my favorites to talk about. I never get tired of discussing God. I pray that someone reads this post and it triggers something for them. I pray that this post makes someone want to search a little deeper, learn a little more about our amazing God.