Prayer Cards - Grace & Peace

 1 Peter 5:8

Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

We need to be vigilant and watchful, wary of not only where we place ourselves, but who we surround ourselves with. Being a Christian put a target on us and now Satan is looking to take us down and keep us out of the fight.

We may stumble, we may fall, but we cannot retreat. When we stumble, we reach out for our Shepherd's help. When we fall, we repent of that which caused us to fall, in which our heavenly Father forgives us, allowing us to continue to move forward. We must keep our focus on the tasks He has given us, that we might be welcomed into the joy of The Lord when we have finished.

Consider the consequences of thinking wrong thoughts and putting said thoughts into action. Philippians 4:8 reminds us how we ought to think, and then our actions will reflect those thoughts:

  whatever is True

 whatever is Honorable

 whatever is Right

 whatever is Pure

 whatever is Lovely

 whatever is Admirable

 anything that is Excellent

 anything that is Praiseworthy

Philippians 4:9

Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice. And The God of Peace will be with you.

Peace: The positive, covenantal state that flows from God’s Redemptive work in Christ and is applied by The Holy Spirit to individuals and communities. (Topical Lexicon)

The Color of Worship - Blue

    

 I love the color blue, all shades. Blue represents the color of grace. The curtains in the tabernacle of God in the Old Testament were blue, purple and scarlet (Exodus 26:1). There were 10 curtains. Each curtain was 28 cubits long ( 1 cubit = 18 inches) and four cubits thick. {42' L x 6' D). The curtains which met in the middle had fifty blue loops on each edge and were attached to each other with fifty gold taches, or knobs.

Isaiah 53:5 & 6 He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Matthew 27:28-31 And they stripped Him, and put on Him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand: and they bowed the knee before Him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit on Him, and took the reed, and smote Him on the head. And after that they had mocked Him, they took the robe off from Him, and put His own raiment on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him. Matthew 27:50 & 51 Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;.

Wounded. Bruised. Chastised. Stripes. Beaten. Smote. Blood didn't just drip from His wounds: it poured. Blood ran down His face, oozed from His chest, matted His clothes to His back. Surely some of that blood was on His persecutors and tormentors. Some dripped into the ground where He stood, where He fell. Some blood seeped into the cross He was forced to carry after being beaten nearly to death. Some blood fell on the man who helped Christ to carry the cross. Some blood got on the men who nailed His hands to the cross and on the men who nailed His feet to the cross. Some blood splurted onto the men around Him as the cross was raised up, with Christ on it, and placed firmly into the ground, for all the world to see. Some blood fell on those who came near to see the worst criminal of all time: The Man who was given the title King of the Jews, The Man who claimed sovereignty as The Son of God. And some of that blood fell on me.

The wounding of Christ, the bruising, the chastisement (punishment), the whipping, the mockery of Christ was for us. He was wounded for our transgressions, our sins, our rebellious thoughts and hearts. For our blatant disobedience and disregard for The Word of God. God punished His own Son instead of you and me. Only The Son of God could take our place in that regard. He was a Man without sin. He was the firstborn, without blemish, without stain. When He died the veil, the curtains, in the tabernacle was ripped in two. Six feet of fabric was ripped like a piece of paper at the exact same time as Christ's last breath left His body. Instant access to the holy of holies was made available to everyone now. (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45)

Hebrews 10:19-21 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way opened for us through the curtain of His body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Romans 10:9 If you confess with your mouth (say it out loud) that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. Romans 10:13 For whosoever (anyone) shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.

 Every single person across the face of the earth has the opportunity through Christ to come into God's presence. He is the doorway. His bruises and His wounds, colors of blue and scarlet and purple created a permanent entryway into the throne room of God.

    

The blue gemstone in the wall around the New Jerusalem is Sapphire, Lapis Lazuli. Revelation 21:19 The foundations of the city walls were adorned with every kind of precious stone: The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald. 

This stone represents the divine presence of God communing with His people. Exodus 24:10; Ezekiel 1:26, 10:1. With this gem God’s plan of a permanent covenant relationship with His people is complete. For it is only through Christ, God’s redemptive plan of salvation, that we are able to commune with God at all. It is by grace, God’s grace, God’s mercy, God’s willingness to die for us, that we can be saved from eternal damnation and begin the holiness phase with which we will be equipped to make our entrance into God’s eternal, holy presence. 

Amazing Grace

 Amazing Grace 

Ephesians 2:8, 9

For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, / not by works, so that no one can boast. 

Acts 15:11

But we believe that through the grace of The Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.

Romans 3:20, 28

Therefore no one will be justified in His sight by works of the law. For the law merely brings awareness of sin.

For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

Romans 10:4

For Christ is the end of the law, to bring righteousness to everyone who believes.

Do you believe?

    We have no power within ourselves to save ourselves from the punishment of sin. Mere obedience to the letter of the law of God will not save us. For the law of God is the love of God explained and extended to God's people. To hear the law, and not obey it, is to ignore the law and the love of God. All day long He calls out our names and extends His arm of righteousness to a people who will not listen. 

    But the day is coming, and even now, is nearly upon us, when He will call some names for the last time. But those names who are written in The Lamb's Book of Life will hear God speak their name again and again for they will live forever with Him, having believed that Jesus Christ Is Lord and received the Salvation which God provided in Him and through Him. 

   Great is God's mercy and lovingkindness and faithfulness to reach out across generations and save as many as will believe Him. Do you believe? 

    Great is God's mercy and lovingkindness and faithfulness to a sinner, a wretch, like me. Once I walked and lived and died in darkness. But The Light of God's Redeeming Love stretched out across the years and called my name. Ashamed and disheartened I came to the cross and told God all my sorrows, all my transgressions: every dark thing in me I laid at the foot of the cross. And Jesus covered them with His blood: my sins were washed away! Amazing. Grace. 

    And a couple years or so after that I was baptized with His precious Holy Spirit and began to sing in a heavenly tongue. I was, and still am, awed that God would be so kind to do that in me. He has renewed me each time since then that I might be able to share the gospel with those He has placed in my path. Even you. Do you believe yet? 

    Just be honest with God: He knows your heart already: nothing is hidden from Him. But He desires that you speak aloud your belief that your salvation be known. 

    Romans 10:8-10

But what does it say? “The Word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, The Word of Faith we are proclaiming: that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved."

THE GOSPEL - Ryan Stevenson

HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD - Michael W. Smith

More Than Enough Grace

 2 Corinthians 5:18, 19

All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 

 

    In Christ we are more than enough because there is more than enough of Christ to save all of mankind, not just a few here and some there. Outside of Christ we are not enough. Nothing we do under our own power or strength will guarantee us a seat in heaven. We need a More Than Enough God to save us with His More Than Enough Grace. 

    In Exodus 20:6, God told Moses that His mercy could extend to thousands, if they loved Him and adhered to His commandments. Psalm 103:17 tells us that God's mercy, His loving devotion, His righteousness extends to our children's children (v18) to those who keep His covenants and obey His precepts. More Than Enough. 

Reconciled & Saved Through Christ

    Romans 5:10, 11

For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! Not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. 

    This is God's grace at work in our souls. God begins to change our hearts - how we love and react to being loved; change our minds - how we think, how we discern. He does not leave us where He found us: in the mire, in the dark, in loneliness, nor in confusion and doubt. He brings us up out of all that with His mighty right arm of righteousness: JESUS CHRIST, in Whom we believe and by Whose Name we are saved. 

     Reconciled (brought near to God) through the blood which Christ Jesus shed on the cross and saved (from eternal damnation and punishment for sins) by His Life Eternal (having conquered death, hell and the grave). 

    MORE THAN ENOUGH GRACE. More than enough LOVE, MERCY, LOVINGKINDNESS for each and every one of us who believe. From the time of Adam and Eve to the present day, there is more than enough life-changing, life-giving grace and mercy to all who come to God through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. 

    All we have to do is acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord of All, including ourselves. That it is by His Name we are saved, for There Is Power in The Name of Jesus. We must confess our sins to God that we might receive His forgiveness. We need to follow The Holy Spirit's direction in living the abundant spirit-filled life we are called to live. Before any other part of our lives need to prosper, our souls above all else, must prosper.

    In order to do that, we must read and study out for ourselves God's Word, in addition to taking in The Word being preached in church. If the whole Word of God is not being preached by mouth, by hand and by actions, then that church is not of God. The Spirit of God, if we let Him, will lead us to the church He wants us to be in. 

    The more we draw close to God in our Bible readings, our prayer time and our daily living, the clearer His voice becomes, and the easier it is to obey The Spirit of God when He calls us to enter into God's presence. 

    I serve a 'more than enough' God. He has More Than Enough for you, too. Do you want it? 

LAY IT ALL DOWN - Will Reagan, United Pursuit

Names of God - Stone of Help - Ebenezer

 THE ROCK WON'T MOVE - Vertical Worship

1 Samuel 7:12

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its Name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far The LORD has helped us.” 

EBEN HAEZER

(pronounced eh'-ben hah-ay'-zer) 

STONE OF HELP 

    Stones have life. They hear and stand as witnesses to God's salvation. Joshua 24:26-27 tells us this and we know it to be true. Stones have voices: they speak when God's people don't. Luke 19:40.

    Stones were set up as memorials commemorating some great event which God had orchestrated:

• Joshua 4:7
• Genesis 28:18-19
• Genesis 35:14

    Open tombs had large, heavy stones rolled across their thresholds. These stones required the strength of several men to be set in place. Only once in Scripture was a stone rolled away by the power of God: when Jesus conquered death, hell and the grave and walked out of it. The ROCK moved the rock. And showed us He truly is our ROCK of Salvation, our STONE of HELP. 

    For no greater Help have we ever needed than to be helped out of the darkness and into The LIGHT, out of our sins and into His GRACE. Christ Jesus is THE ROCK OF OUR SALVATION, The Chief Cornerstone. 2 Samuel 22:7; 1 Peter 2:6 . He is THE ROCK OF MY STRENGTH - Psalm 62:7. 

    Now, more than ever, I need Him to be my ROCK, my STONE of HELP. My Refuge in times of trouble. I am helpless without Him. And so are you. Now is the time to fall on THE ROCK before the rocks fall on you - Revelation 6:15-17. Don't be caught dead without JESUS. 

GOOD AND GRACIOUS KING - CityAlight 

EVEN WHEN IT HURTS - Hillsong United 

I GIVE MYSELF AWAY - Wm. McDowell

The Age of Grace

 

 

1 CORINTHIANS 16:23

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 

The age of grace began at the cross of Jesus Christ. Until then, a strict adherent faithfulness to the laws of God had to be met: with a love for God in their hearts and an expectant longing for His Savior, Whom He had promised several times over would arrive and reign on David's throne. 

But what is grace? And why do we need it? 

Grace is the extension of God's love toward mankind because He wants to be near us. We need His grace because without it we cannot enter His eternal dwelling place, nor can we stand in His holy presence. 

How do we get this wonderful grace which has been proffered to us?

Through Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son; Who obediently suffered and died for sinners everywhere and in every time period. Ephesians 2:8 tells us, "It is by grace you have been saved, it is The Gift of God." We didn't earn this grace: it is freely given to all who put their faith in The Name of Jesus Christ for their salvation. It is saving grace and Christ Jesus is the only way to obtain it. 

God's grace will not end until after the millennial reign which Christ will set up at the end of the tribulation years. Sin will still exist, as well as death. For Isaiah says, " No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; For the child shall die one hundred years old, But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed." 

It is amazing to me that when Christ is on His throne during that time, that people will not only see His loving face and hear His beautiful voice, but will choose to believe that He is not The Only Begotten Son of God and live their lives without Him in it. They will have the same opportunities you and I have now, except for one thing: the churches will be gone. 

And my heart is sad and burdened, even now, for the people in this day and age who choose to disbelieve The Written Word of God, who deny His existence and, again, prefer to live their lives without Him in it. 

Please don't be one of those people who lives without Christ. Come to Jesus. And enjoy a close, personal relationship like you've never experienced before. 

JUST AS I AM (I COME BROKEN) - Travis Cottrell 

LIVE IN ME, JESUS - Calvin B. Rhone 

COME TO THE ALTAR - Elevation Worship

Statements of Faith - I Am Salt

 

Matthew 5:13

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its savor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

Colossians 4:6

Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.

    Salty foods make a person thirsty. In order for the child of God to be considered salt, our witness and our testimony must be evident every single day of our lives for the rest of our lives. If nobody can see the changes God is wreaking in our lives; if our words do not match our actions, then our salt has lost its savor: it is useless. We must be on the alert at all times to remain in Christ as He remains in us. God's Word is alive in us and we are in a constant state of motion on The Potter's wheel. 

    Salt preserves. It prevents rot and disease. When we are filled with The Word of God, we are filled with the salt of it. We don't want to go to heaven alone. We urge and plead with you who are even yet unknowing of the wonderful grace which God has prepared for you when you enter into a committed relationship with His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. Jesus is coming back soon for His church, His bride, to bring her to the heavenly home He has prepared for her (1 Thessalonians 4:17; Mark 13:32, 33; John 14:2).

    After Jesus had witnessed to the woman at the well, and His disciples returned with lunch, He was not hungry. When they questioned Him, His response was "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me and to finish His work." Being obedient to God's will is satisfying. And how did He finish the work which God had prepared for Him to do? John 19:30 "When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished.” And bowing His head, He yielded up His spirit." "It is finished" were the last words He spoke before He died on the cross. His work was done.     

    Our work, however, is not; for we are still here. We still preach the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ to all nations. We preach this gospel in our homes with the love of God being manifested in us and through us. We speak love into the hearts of ur spouses and our children and our grandchildren. We speak Jesus into tired bodies, lonely hearts, distressed and despairing lives and broken minds. We speak the love of God into our neighborhoods and our communities and our cities. 

    We preach Christ crucified and resurrected, the first of God's children to do so. A great number which cannot be calculated have followed that first resurrection (Hebrews 12:1) and many more will follow. Our work for God is done in the love of God (1 Corinthians 13). Anything done in The Name of The Lord but not the grace and love of God is just empty words and wasted actions. 

    Our walk in Christ must align with Christ's steps. When you see Jesus in me, hear His loving words fall from my lips and see the grace which is upon me, then you will know that God has and still is changing me. And, hopefully, you will want this love and grace in your life, too. 

Matthew 5:6

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

SUFFICIENT FOR TODAY - TRIBL 

WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS

LORD I NEED YOU 

OPEN THE EYES OF MY HEART LORD 

 

Statements of Faith - Purchased

 

 

ACTS 20:28

Keep watch over yourselves and the entire flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.

    This is a gentle reminder to the church leaders not only to the church in Ephesus, but to church leaders everywhere even in this present time. For The Word of God is alive and ever flowing, like streams of living water flowing into His trees of righteousness, strengthening us and causing us to grow: in Him and in each other. 

    Jeremiah 3:15 tells us what the shepherds of God's people will be like: "Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding."

    John 21:15-19 shows us how Jesus reinstated Peter into the twelve after Peter's denial and Jesus' resurrection. Through Christ's neverending love and mercy, He was able to reveal to Peter not only what his life was to be about, but also his death. 

    God wants His shepherds, His church leaders, to have hearts like His heart: to seek and to save the lost; to have and to show the love of God by our words and our actions; to have knowledge and understanding of God's Holy Word that we might be able to share It with His wisdom, His Holy Spirit, active in us. 

    Every born again believer has been purchased by God with the blood of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. We are not our own: we have been bought from sin and its punishment at great cost: the blood of Jesus Christ. 

    Hebrews 9:14

How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

    Matthew 26:28

For this is My blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 

    This blood of my Jesus covers me. Now when I face God on my day of judgment, God will not see this fleshly body in which I currently dwell: He will see His Son and I will dwell in the house of The Lord forever. 

    What will God see when He looks at you on your day of judgment? 

Romans 10:8-10, 13

(8) But what does it say? “The Word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, The Word of Faith we are proclaiming: 

(9) that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

(10) For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved. 

(13) For whosoever shall call upon The Name of The Lord shall be saved.

    I am a whosoever. Are you?

    

SINCE YOUR LOVE - United Pursuit 

I AM NOT MY OWN - Keith & Krystin Getty

NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD - Jars of Clay

COVERED - Planetshakers

Statements of Faith - I Am Redeemed & Forgiven

 

 

EPHESIANS 1:7

In Whom we have redemption through His blood,

the forgiveness of sins,

according to the riches of His grace. 

GRACE THAT IS GREATER - Don Moen 

    

    Psalm 130:7

O Israel, put your hope in The LORD, for with The LORD is loving devotion, and with Him is redemption in abundance. 

    Acts 2:38

Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of The Holy Spirit."

    Acts 20:28

Keep watch over yourselves and the entire flock of which The Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood. 

    Romans 3:21-25

(21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, as attested by the Law and the Prophets.

(22)And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no distinction, 

(23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

(24) and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

(25) God presented Him as the atoning sacrifice through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand.

    Acts 17:30

Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent.

REDEEMED - Big Daddy Weave

    Why do I talk about Jesus so much? Why would I ever stop? It's because of His grace that I am who I am today. Jesus redeemed us with His blood and forgave us with His grace. His redeeming power and transformative forgiveness set me on the path of righteousness and holiness, which I continue to walk in today. 

    It is an old path and a narrow one. Not everyone will choose to walk with Jesus; a mind-boggling thought and a sad one. But the constraints of holiness give freedom in the liberty of The Holy Spirit. Freedom from dark thoughts, freedom from every form of addiction, freedom from the chains of sin. Freedom  in Christ Who died for us. 

    God's people love to talk about their God and how He redeemed us with the blood of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. We love to testify, tell about how He changed us from the sinful person we once were into the person He is transforming us into. 

I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY   - Katherine Hankey

Verse 1

I love to tell the story of unseen things above,

Of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love.

I love to tell the story, because I know ’tis true;

It satisfies my longings as nothing else can do.

Chorus

I love to tell the story, ’twill be my theme in glory,

To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.

Verse 2

I love to tell the story; more wonderful it seems

Than all the golden fancies of all our golden dreams.

I love to tell the story, it did so much for me;

And that is just the reason I tell it now to thee.

Verse 3

I love to tell the story; ’tis pleasant to repeat

What seems, each time I tell it, more wonderfully sweet.

I love to tell the story, for some have never heard

The message of salvation from God’s own holy Word.

Verse 4

I love to tell the story, for those who know it best

Seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest.

And when, in scenes of glory, I sing the new, new song,

’Twill be the old, old story that I have loved so long.

I Will Sing of My Redeemer

 

Psalm 96:1

O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth.

Psalm 40:3

He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.

Isaiah 42:10

Sing to the LORD a new song—His praise from the ends of the earth—you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who dwell in them.

Revelation 5:9

And they sang a new song: "Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation."

    What New Song is this which everyone is singing? The Song of Redemption. The Song of The Redeemed. The Song of Redeeming Grace, of God's Love Exemplified. 

I AM REDEEMED - Big Daddy Weave 
AMAZING GRACE - Chris Tomlin

    While the angels in heaven can worship with song and with music, only the redeemed of The Lord can worship from a sinner saved by grace standpoint. 

I'M JUST A SINNER SAVED BY GRACE - Gaither Vocal Group

    How did we get to be the redeemed of The Lord? By believing the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. He is our Redeemer, our Savior. Let me show you the Way. 

Nobody is good enough  to go to heaven on their own merits- Romans 3:10

Everyone is a sinner - Romans 3:23

But God loves us so much He sent His Son to die in our place - Romans 5:6; John 3:16

We deserve death for our sin but God's plan of salvation is a Gift to those who believe - Romans 6:23

When we speak out loud that we believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in our hearts that this is true, God saves us, redeems us - Romans 10:9-10

Everyone who calls on Jesus' Name for their salvation is saved - Romans 10:13

I'M JUST A NOBODY - Casting Crowns 

A Crucified Life - - Comprehends Mercy

 

    Romans 10:19

But I ask, did Israel not know? First, Moses says: "I will provoke you to jealousy by those not a nation; I will anger you by a nation without understanding."

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 801

Without Understanding: unintelligent, unwise, undiscerning

From the Greek word 'asunetos' (pronounced as-oon'-ay-tos): without comprehension, foolish, illogical because unwilling to use good reason.

    Deuteronomy 32:21

They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation without understanding.

    Romans 11:11

I ask then, did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Certainly not! However, because of their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous.

    1 Peter 2:10

Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

    The prophecy against Israel goes all the way back to Moses' time. It is beginning to be fulfilled in Acts 2, when the Spirit-filled disciples go out into the city and preach the gospel. But because persecution was swift, many left the city and went out to other countries, other nations, sharing the gospel message as they went. 

    Very thankful for that. Where would I be without God's mercy? I'd be dead and in hell. For I was without understanding. I was foolish and ignorant of God's lovingkindness. I knew nothing and in the darkness of this world, I sought that which I knew not, but where I looked for it, I found it nought. 

    Cocaine, marijuana, 'ludes, LSD and liquor brought me neither joy nor lasting happiness. I had no peace, no hope, no awareness that I was living/dying in the darkness of sin. Death tried to have its way with me. Until Jesus found me and called my name. And I began to make my way to His cross.

    God's grace and mercy are found at the cross of Christ, where the blood of His Lamb washes away the stain of sin on my life. At the cross I found the only God I would ever need again. He found me first and brought me to the place of forgiveness and hope, for I had no hope. I didn't know joy until I gave my heart to Jesus Christ. 

    At the cross I was grafted into the Vine. In order to be grafted one must first be cut from one rootstock and grafted into another. There is a separation from the old and a twisting into the new. 

    At the cross I saw the light of God's love. It was both beautiful to me and a horror to look upon. For the Lamb of God was tortured, and beaten and had heavy nails pounded into His hands and feet (to hold Him onto the cross). He was a bloody mess.

    Blood ran down His face from the crown of thorns that was pushed forcefully into His head. Rivulets of blood ran down His chest from the whip lashings He endured for my sake. Pain coursed through His body until His heart broke and He died. For me, for you: for a foolish, ignorant people that we might be restored to a right relationship with God. 

    At the cross we see Jesus. In the garden we see Jesus. Both times He is unrecognizable. Until He speaks. On the cross He speaks forgiveness for the ignorant. In the garden He speaks Life to the seeker. 

    Mercy is mine because I am forgiven. And because I want to be where He is, I went to the garden, too, seeking Jesus. And He spoke to me. He speaks Life because He is Life Eternal. He speaks Love because He is the representation of God's Love to a broken world, a lost people, an ignorant nation. I'm so thankful I made my way to the cross. It's the wisest, smartest decision I ever made. 

MERCY IS MINE, PRAISE IS YOURS 

A Thousand Hallelujahs 

God Be Merciful To Me

Holy Forever

River of Life

At The Cross

Greater

Flawless

Redeemed

Broken Things

Forgiven

Heart of God

Different