Overwhelmed by Grace

As I was working out this morning it hit me. I can't even come to fathom the grace of God. Really, think about it for a second. Do we realize how blessed we are? Do we understand that we were destined for eternal condemnation? We were objects of God's wrath (Ephesians 2:3).

"But God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved." - Ephesians 2:4-5

If you are like me then often times you forget the "great love with which he loved us." Our circumstances and situations in life leave us often times feeling unloved. The sense of loneliness may surround us when we take our eyes of the cross of Jesus Christ and forget about his love and grace.

Hillsong sings a song called "To Know Your Name" and the lyrics go like this:

The precious blood of Jesus Christ redeems
Forgiven I'm alive restored set free
Your majesty resides inside of me
Forever I believe
Forever I believe
Arrested by Your truth and righteousness
Your grace has overwhelmed my brokenness
Convicted by Your spirit led by Your word
Your love will never fail
Your love will never fail

The line that sticks out to me is "your grace has overwhelmed my brokenness." So my question is has it? Has the grace of God overwhelmed your brokenness? I want to encourage you today to reflect on the Scripture from Ephesians and the lyrics from the song. My prayer for you today is that the grace of God will overwhelm your brokenness.

His Grace is Sufficient

So it has been awhile since my last blog. Life, ministry, and living with 7 other people can tend to make life a little crazy. So in the midst of taking on the weight of others, the burdens of those you care deeply about, and wrestling through extremely tough decisions I found myself a little stressed out today. Have you ever tried to be "Superman?" Usually I don't struggle with this and tend to give my cares and burdens over to the Lord but today for some reason they seemed to pile up on my shoulders. They started to block out my faith and trust in God and started to pour thoughts of worry, doubt, and inadequacy into my life. As we arrived at New Grounds Cafe to prepare for our weekly outreach called "RE-connect" I found myself starring blankly at my computer. Then in the background I heard "Your Grace is Enough" by Chris Tomlin. Immediately 2 Corinthians 12:9 came to me,

"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

That truth resonated with me and assured me that I don't have to be "Superman." That in all actuality I can do nothing apart from the power of Christ. That I need to stop relying on Travis and start relying on Jesus Christ and the truth of His word. So today my prayer for you is that you would know that God's grace is sufficient and you would see his power made perfect in weakness.