Grace trumps Pride

When I first surrendered my will over to God the word GRACE kept coming into my mind and I sensed His Grace all throughout my body, mind and heart.

 * * *

I knew, in no uncertain terms, that I had received a gift that was freely given and a gift that I did not deserve. 

God placed me in the center of Grace by His hand and everyday I am full of gratitude that he LOVES me THAT much.

All it took on my part was a willingness to be wrong. A willingness to surrender my own thoughts and beliefs of how God "should be" and be willing to see who He truly is. The same, yesterday, today and forever.

I just had to be willing to give up a human attribute God hates; Pride.

Proverbs 4
¹³ To fear the LORD is to hate evil;
   I hate pride and arrogance,
   evil behavior and perverse speech.

He hates pride because it's the one iniquity that tells us we don't need God. We can do it ourselves and we know all we need to know for our own lives due to experience, common sense, etc.

We don't need Him.

It reminds me of when we love someone, maybe a child or friend, a spouse or sibling and that person doesn't need or want us anymore. In most cases this lack of need breaks our hearts and that's because most of us want to feel wanted. Being wanted and needed makes us feel loved.

AND WE ALL WANT TO BE LOVED.

Our pride keeps us from saying we want and need help, love and support from anyone, least of all God.

It seems to me God feels that way too, but in massive proportion. HE CREATED US, gave us air to breathe, food to eat, stars that shine and everything else under the sun. HE EVEN GAVE US HIS ONE AND ONLY SON AS ATONEMENT FOR EVERY SINGLE THING WE HAVE DONE AND WILL DO WRONG and we don't need him?! Talk about a broken heart.  

I finally realized with stark clarity that my heart was prideful, deceitful, selfish, impure, coveting, jealous and to put it bluntly; rotten.

It was a hard pill to swallow and I felt ashamed,  repentant, and completely unworthy. But as soon as I felt those horrible feelings and saw the separation I had from God, is when He wrapped me in His loving Grace and brought me back into communion with Him. Now I want nothing more than to be the woman God created me to be; A woman after God's own heart. 

John 1:16-17
¹⁶ Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ.

As my sweet mother always says, "We don't need to be perfect or do good deeds to be in Gods presence, all we have to do is come to the cross." We don't need to change to get to Him; We go to Him and...   
He changes us. 

Gracious and loving LORD.

My prayer tonight is that you touch the lives of all those who read this and accept your Word and your extraordinary Grace. May those that haven't yet but want to, put away pride, and Ask, seek and knock because you have faithfully promised "For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." I pray you surround them in the center of your most humbling and loving GRACE. In the name of the Most Holy Jesus, I pray. Amen.

SHINE YOUR LIGHT AND LET THE WHOLE WORLD SEE

Matthew 5:14-16

   ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

May Grace and Peace be with you all!



Romans 5:12-21 (CEB)

Grace now rules

 ¹² So, in the same way that sin entered the world through one person, and death came through sin, so death spread to all human beings with the result that all sinned. ¹³ Although sin was in the world, since there was no Law, it wasn’t taken into account until the Law came. ¹⁴ But death ruled from Adam until Moses, even over those who didn’t sin in the same way Adam did—Adam was a type of the one who was coming.  ¹⁵ But the free gift of Christ isn’t like Adam’s failure. If many people died through what one person did wrong, God’s grace is multiplied even more for many people with the gift—of the one person Jesus Christ—that comes through grace. ¹⁶ The gift isn’t like the consequences of one person’s sin. The judgment that came from one person’s sin led to punishment, but the free gift that came out of many failures led to the verdict of acquittal. ¹⁷ If death ruled because of one person’s failure, those who receive the multiplied grace and the gift of righteousness will even more certainly rule in life through the one person Jesus Christ.
 ¹⁸ So now the righteous requirements necessary for life are met for everyone through the righteous act of one person, just as judgment fell on everyone through the failure of one person. ¹⁹ Many people were made righteous through the obedience of one person, just as many people were made sinners through the disobedience of one person. ²⁰ The Law stepped in to amplify the failure, but where sin increased, grace multiplied even more. ²¹ The result is that grace will rule through God’s righteousness, leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, just as sin ruled in death.