Encouraging Word from David Hall (Co-Pastor)
Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved, through faith; and that is not from yourselves. It is the gift of God.”
Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved, through faith; and that is not from yourselves. It is the gift of God.”
To get a greater understanding of our salvation is that we are born into a world that is sinful, therefore, our very nature is sinful. And that is where we stay, or at least until we make a choice to receive Jesus Christ. At that very moment, however, He makes us eternally alive in Him.
This verse tells us about the ONLY way for a person to be saved and go to heaven is by the Grace of God. To properly understand that we should know the definition of ‘grace.’
Grace is God giving us what we do not deserve, and Him NOT giving us what we do deserve. Or, lifting us above the fate of our sin and not making us suffer the just punishment of the sins we have committed.
When we drop all worldly pretenses and simply humble our hearts, we will accept Christ and that shows God that we do have faith in Him. When we show God that we have faith in Him, He blesses us with His wonderful grace. But we should know that it is from God, not from us and that we do not deserve any of His loving blessings. We get them solely because He loves us that much!
There were two fishermen who met for coffee. And, as all fishermen do, they began to swap stories. One said he caught a 400-pound bluegill and the other, not to be outdone, said he had gone fishing off the coast of Florida and had hooked something really heavy. He said when he brought it up it turned out to be an old kerosene lantern from the 1700’s and the amazing part was, the wick was still burning! After thinking about it, the first fisherman said he would take 150-pound off his bluegill if the other fisherman would douse the light in his lantern. We do at times like to exaggerate or tell our little fibs. The trouble with that is they are actually little lies, and all lies are sinful in God’s eyes because they are not the truth, and God only deals in truth.
We can see how much we need God’s grace, which is a special gift. We cannot do anything to earn it, and we certainly cannot buy it. All we can do is receive it when offered, but it will never be offered unless we strive to live for God. Many people claim to be Godly, but they don’t ever seem to have any time or room for God in their lives and that is sad.