“…he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.”
Today I find myself asking;
“What did I do to deserve all that I have?”
The truth is none of us deserve anything we have been given. I think Psalm 103 puts it best…
“The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his deed to the people of Israel: The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins DESERVE or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far he removed our transgressions from us.”
If God were to decide one day; I’m going to give every person what he or she DESERVES! Think about the effect that decision would have on your own life. Wow! We are given so much grace! If God were to give me what I deserved… I would be the lowliest creature to walk the earth!! People throw the word deserve out pretty often. Statements like: “I deserve your respect.” Or “He just… doesn’t give me what I deserve.” And “She deserved it!” Who are we to decide what we deserve? Who are we to condemn others by telling them what they deserve??
The truth of the matter is—we ALL deserve death. Romans 3:23 reminds us: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Thankfully it doesn’t end there… but we’ll come back to that. Turn a page to Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—for before the law was given, sin was in the world.” Sin condemns us to death long before we even have a say about the matter. We are sinners living in a sinful world. No one can deny that. Yes? Yes.
It would be quite sad if the story ended there.
But it doesn’t.
The second part of Romans 3:23 says: …and are JUSTIFIED freely by his GRACE through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ.” Our sins… our wickedness… our failures… justified. And by what? His GRACE. I don’t know about you… but I constantly have to work on my “giving of grace”. When people wrong me—giving them grace is the last thing on my list! That seems a little unfair in my mind. I mess up- God gives me grace, forgives me, and accepts me as I am. Someone does me wrong… and what do I do? Everything BUT. I’m sure I speak for a lot of people when I say; we could all stand to learn a little more about giving grace.
I believe with everything in me that my life is a testament of God’s grace. Like I said… if I was given what I deserved… I would be barely scrapping by.
I don’t deserve my family—but God gave me an incredible one; full of love, laughter, and safety. They accept and love me just the way I am. And... they keep me pretty entertained.
I don’t deserve to sing in front of hundreds of people every week. Singing is my spiritual gift. God gave it to me, and it is only by his grace that I am given opportunities to use it. And lord knows… when it’s NOT about him, and I make it about ME—It’s never as sweet as when I surrender and let him take the wheel. I want to thank him for the oppurtunity, by GIVING IT TO HIM!
I don’t deserve friends. Truth is… I’ve struggled with having friends that were girls for a long time. I’ve never gotten along with them… didn’t understand them…etc. I guess that’s what I get for growing up with a house full of boys! Yet, but by God’s grace—I have godly girls in my life. It may only be a small handful, but I think he knew just how many girls I could handle!!! :) And they are wonderful. Life is so much easier with sweet girls to confide in!
I don’t deserve my fiancée. John is 100% everything I have ever dreamed of having and MORE. He has completely turned my world upside down. If you took a picture of my life a year ago today and compared it to today, you wouldn’t recognize me. I could write a novel about how much he means to me, so I’ll keep it short. The fact of the matter is, I don’t deserve anything that he does from me. He is truly a gift from God, and GOD is the only reason we are together today. I’ve known John for over 2 years now… and I would have never in my wildest dreams imagined us being where we are today. And I thank God for it, because he did it! Not us. Him.
But above all else, I don’t deserve Grace. But it is given freely anyway. God’s grace comes pouring down on me every day. If that is not a blessed life—I don’t know what is!
“If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- because anyone who has died has been FREED from SIN.” Romans 6:5-7
WE ARE MADE ALIVE IN CHRIST!!!
"But because of his great love for us, God, who is RICH IN MERCY, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-- It is by GRACE that you have be saved."-
Ephesians 2:4-5
I am so thankful...
“…he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.”
Today I find myself asking;
“What did I do to deserve all that I have?”
The truth is none of us deserve anything we have been given. I think Psalm 103 puts it best…
“The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his deed to the people of Israel: The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins DESERVE or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far he removed our transgressions from us.”
If God were to decide one day; I’m going to give every person what he or she DESERVES! Think about the effect that decision would have on your own life. Wow! We are given so much grace! If God were to give me what I deserved… I would be the lowliest creature to walk the earth!! People throw the word deserve out pretty often. Statements like: “I deserve your respect.” Or “He just… doesn’t give me what I deserve.” And “She deserved it!” Who are we to decide what we deserve? Who are we to condemn others by telling them what they deserve??
The truth of the matter is—we ALL deserve death. Romans 3:23 reminds us: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Thankfully it doesn’t end there… but we’ll come back to that. Turn a page to Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—for before the law was given, sin was in the world.” Sin condemns us to death long before we even have a say about the matter. We are sinners living in a sinful world. No one can deny that. Yes? Yes.
It would be quite sad if the story ended there.
But it doesn’t.
The second part of Romans 3:23 says: …and are JUSTIFIED freely by his GRACE through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ.” Our sins… our wickedness… our failures… justified. And by what? His GRACE. I don’t know about you… but I constantly have to work on my “giving of grace”. When people wrong me—giving them grace is the last thing on my list! That seems a little unfair in my mind. I mess up- God gives me grace, forgives me, and accepts me as I am. Someone does me wrong… and what do I do? Everything BUT. I’m sure I speak for a lot of people when I say; we could all stand to learn a little more about giving grace.
I believe with everything in me that my life is a testament of God’s grace. Like I said… if I was given what I deserved… I would be barely scrapping by.
I don’t deserve my family—but God gave me an incredible one; full of love, laughter, and safety. They accept and love me just the way I am. And... they keep me pretty entertained.
I don’t deserve to sing in front of hundreds of people every week. Singing is my spiritual gift. God gave it to me, and it is only by his grace that I am given opportunities to use it. And lord knows… when it’s NOT about him, and I make it about ME—It’s never as sweet as when I surrender and let him take the wheel. I want to thank him for the oppurtunity, by GIVING IT TO HIM!
I don’t deserve friends. Truth is… I’ve struggled with having friends that were girls for a long time. I’ve never gotten along with them… didn’t understand them…etc. I guess that’s what I get for growing up with a house full of boys! Yet, but by God’s grace—I have godly girls in my life. It may only be a small handful, but I think he knew just how many girls I could handle!!! :) And they are wonderful. Life is so much easier with sweet girls to confide in!
I don’t deserve my fiancée. John is 100% everything I have ever dreamed of having and MORE. He has completely turned my world upside down. If you took a picture of my life a year ago today and compared it to today, you wouldn’t recognize me. I could write a novel about how much he means to me, so I’ll keep it short. The fact of the matter is, I don’t deserve anything that he does from me. He is truly a gift from God, and GOD is the only reason we are together today. I’ve known John for over 2 years now… and I would have never in my wildest dreams imagined us being where we are today. And I thank God for it, because he did it! Not us. Him.
But above all else, I don’t deserve Grace. But it is given freely anyway. God’s grace comes pouring down on me every day. If that is not a blessed life—I don’t know what is!
“If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- because anyone who has died has been FREED from SIN.” Romans 6:5-7
WE ARE MADE ALIVE IN CHRIST!!!
"But because of his great love for us, God, who is RICH IN MERCY, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-- It is by GRACE that you have be saved."-
Ephesians 2:4-5
I am so thankful...
“…he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.”
