The Night Grace Saved Me

I spent a few hours with a dear friend tonight talking about the way that our lives can be so radically changed in such a short amount of time when The Lord pursues us. So much of the way that God can use us is by pointing back to His glory through our story. I wanted to share a piece of my testimony in the hopes of encouraging you to do the same. This post is from a blog I wrote over two years ago, but I love to look back to remind myself of how far The Lord has brought me. He will wreck your life so that you can share the change that He gracefully offers.

So I've been thinking a lot today about what my life was like five years ago on this day. I woke up and ran errands without eating breakfast, found out my car was rejected for inspection after getting four brand new tires put on only to hear that my brakes were bad. I thought it was the end of the world. I went home and cried because I didn't know how I was going to stretch my pennies everywhere they needed to go.

That night, we went out to "celebrate" my husband's new job. I ate my first (delicious) meal of the day, and accompanied it with too many glasses of wine. We then went to "celebrate" a little more at a bar, and another bar, and another bar. Then, we headed home. Since I had drank so much to help celebrate, my mouth was pouring out a lot of colorful talk—loudly, angrily, bitterly. My husband stopped the car on 460 and got out to start walking home. I got behind the wheel and yelled convincingly for him to get back in. I drove us home. Made it to the top of the driveway and he got out again to go for a walk (the conversation was filled with words of anger, unforgiveness and jealousy) so I decided to go for a drive. I hit the gas and I never let off, even when I saw the headlights heading toward me (because I was in their lane) and heard my husband's voice screaming for me.

I was upside down in the ditch. My husband was trying to pull me out and he couldn't because I had my seat belt on. I made my way out the window. We held each other in the ditch until the police arrived and found us both sobbing. I had a piece of glass between my eyes. That was it, no other injuries.

My heart was sober even though my body wasn't. For the first time, I realized that God wanted me. His Grace was the only reason that I walked away from that accident. That curve had claimed many lives before and has since. I was spared  to share this story about what He has done for me and all of us. 

My life isn't perfect, I have gone through trials and heartaches since that night. The difference is that I don't face those issues with the hopeless heart I had before. I'm not angry. I'm not bitter. I'm not jealous. I am covered by the blood of Jesus and I am so grateful. I am brought to tears when I think about the chance of missing these past 5 years, and everything that has changed so much since then. Our marriage is stronger now than I ever could've dreamed it would be then, we have an incredible daughter and all of our needs are met. God provides. He never fails. Never. 

We may not see it in the midst of the trial, but God makes all things work together for our good. 

For those of you who read this and knew me before five years ago, I hope this can explain the changes you see that may leave you puzzled.

I am a new creation, 5 years strong. Thank you God.

The Lord pursued me before I even considered turning to Him. I had no idea that the very thing that was missing in my life was the only thing that I would ever truly need. A real relationship with a real Savior. If you are reading this today and you find yourself living in despair, ask Jesus to come into your heart and make you whole. Your life won't be perfect, but you will have the true anchor of Hope beside you every step of the way.

　

"As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says, 'In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.' I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.'" -2 Corinthians 6:1-2

"But what does it say? The Word (God’s message in Christ) is near you, on your lips and in your heart; that is, the Word (the message, the basis and object) of faith which we preach, because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation." -Romans 10:8-10

About the Author:

Emilee is a Christ following wife and mother who lives in Wilmington, North Carolina. She is a former hair stylist who is committed to being used by God in whatever way He sees fit.

Book Review: Victim of Grace

To put into words an accurate description of this book that needs to be understandable...

First word that comes to mind? Graceful.

This book shares stories of grace from Robin Jones Gunn life as well as stories of grace from the bible that she has related to different stories of her own life.

There is so much that can be learned in this book. Granted its full of stories but those stories are lessons waiting to be learned and applied.

There are a few chapters that stood out for me completely, even after I finished reading. One such chapter is chapter 6, Banner Word. This chapter stood out to me because I love to read, I enjoy writing and sharing. Something I share with Robin Jones Gunn. And after reading this chapter I have prayed for my own Banner Word; one that I can study and can learn from. Another chapter is chapter 4, A Blessing inside the Obedience. This chapter stood out because I tend to have a problem being obedient at all times, especially when I can't see past the moment. And it has cost me/us dearly. There have also been times when I have seen the benefit that could come from being obedient and it has blessed me/us.

There has been so much I learned from chapter 4. One thing that stood out for me was consistency and obedience sets us up for our blessing. The blessing may be months or years down the road but the blessing will come because we have served with obedience and consistency. Many times it is not always about do we want to do it but if we will be obedient and do it anyways.

One thing I am sure of is that my heart has gone through a much needed washing. And I have a stronger resolve to see God's grace in everything and to be obedient in everything. My obedience and consistency is necessary not optional. I’ll be honest I’m not there, I’m a work in progress just like you are a work in progress.

You can find more on Robin Jones Gunn at http://www.robingunn.com/.



{Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher, Zondervan, in exchange for an HONEST review. These are my heartfelt words.}




Written by Kris Bush

Book Review: Grace by Max Lucado

By Kris Bush

Grace.  Five letters packed with power. ALL of us need grace. Yet the question that many of us seem to need to fathom is what does grace look like? Where does it come from? Grace is when you need to make enough money to pay your bills but God sends overflow and it culminates in you being able to satisfy a few wants! You can’t give grace until you’ve been given grace. Grace comes directly from God.

This is what Max Lucado addresses in his bestselling book ‘Grace’. It’s something we need, that we don’t deserve and no matter how much we try to imagine it, it is way more than our minds can visualize. 

“More than we deserve…Greater than we Imagine…this is Grace."  -Max Lucado

 Not only does Max explain grace in terms of the bible, he relays people’s story of grace, of times when God extended not just mercy but HIS grace to them. Mercy would have forgiven the prodigal son, but grace threw him a party and decked him out in new threads.

In my life, I have seen grace so many times. Mercy kept me from dying from an accident. Grace allowed me to bear children even though I was told I would never carry full term.

Max describes grace in action. Two different ways Grace acts. Grace can be saving. There is the grace that God extends to us when we repent. Then there is sustaining grace. Sustaining grace is the grace that gets through each day. As a mom, I need sustaining grace daily, it keeps me sane and replenishes my patience each morning.

I recommend that every believer read this book. Every person who has ever doubted their salvation ever doubted the grace extended to them and has ever had a hard time extending grace to others. This book will further confirm to you the grace God has extended to you, strengthen you to extend grace and remind you why it is important.

This book can be found for $14.88 on Amazon (Hardback) & for 14.99 on Christianbook.com.

Grace: A Snapshot

I got a speeding ticket a few weeks before Christmas. Today, I spent my time between the court house, insurance agency, and the driving school office with the arduous task of finding out how to reduce the effects of my infraction on my driving record. Surprisingly, this was my first ticket in ten years. I suppose you can say that I regularly speed, but, rarely get caught.

I’ve always viewed speed limits more like a speed suggestion. After all, most people speed a few mph over as it is what we as typical drivers consider “acceptable” and expected. Honestly, I’ve always tried to drive with the “flow of traffic” and when driving on a road alone have kept my speed to a ballpark range of what I have viewed as acceptably safe. In general I have showed little regard for the actual enforceable limit. (Please tell me I’m not the only one who drives this way?)

This morning I sadly became aware that if I don’t go to driving school the “ding” on my driving record will remain for several years and could potentially cause a rise in my insurance costs. Apparently, driving school is traffic enforcements penance system and attendance will actually esponge the ticket from my record as though it never occurred. Reluctantly, I decided a few hours of my time and a small court appearance would be the penalty I must pay (in addition to my actual fine) to take care of my unlawful driving.

As I considered all of the work associated with this ticket--- my annoyance at the time, cost, and penalty increased. What a pain! Though I very much deserved the ticket, being held accountable for the fact that I broke a law is really crappy. God used this ticket incidence to paint a portrait of how sweet God’s grace is when it comes to my daily law breaking and sinful habits.

Like speed limits, most humans treat the ten commandments more like ten suggestions. We pick and choose which laws to follow and how strictly to adhere to them. We unconsciously decide that minor infractions are okay because everyone is doing it. We are commanded to have no other gods, however, if it’s work, or family, or charity that comes before our worship it seems justifiable. After all, those are good things right? We know thou shalt not bear false witness, but white lies, well, those don’t really count do they? We know we ought to honor our father and mother, but regularly disobey, sometimes ridicule, and often disrespect them.

Every single one of us, daily breaks God’s rules. Daily we are guilty and deserve to be ticketed. Fined with a fee that we would forever be incapable of paying. But Jesus offers grace to the greatest humans among us and more importantly, the least. The poor. The neglected. The sinful. The outcasts. Jesus offers grace to some we wouldn’t even shake hands with.

Next time you fall short, remember the outrageous gift of God’s grace. You could never deserve it, but you don’t have to. It’s yours to just accept. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Grace says, the fine has already been paid. Grace says, your record is free and clear. The beauty of grace is that you owe nothing but gratitude.