Life is a Blessing Best News Ever By Tracy McCoy
Some say, “Don’t give up” And hope that your good is good enough Head down, keep on working If you could earn it, you deserve it Some say, “Push on through” After all, it’s the least that you can do But don’t buy, what they’re selling It couldn’t be further from the truth These song lyrics from contemporary Christian group Mercy Me, sum up what I thought I learned about Christianity growing up in church. If I wasn’t good, then God was mad and I would probably be “in trouble”. I was not the perfect person that I thought I had to be in order for God to love me, in fact I was just the opposite! I owed it to God to be good and thought I had to earn His favor but I just couldn’t measure up. Like the song says, “this couldn’t be further from the truth!” I had heard about the grace of God in the same church, but somehow I missed its true meaning. I sang the words to Amazing Grace for years before I grasped what is so amazing about it. I grew up hearing “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!” Not true with grace. Pastor Charles Stanley “Grace is the unmerited favor of Almighty God. It is when we get what we don’t deserve. Mercy on the other hand is rich in the forgiveness of God. It is when we don’t get what we deserve.” Read that again and let that sink in. Some say, “Don’t ask for help” God helps the ones who help themselves Press on, get it right Otherwise, get left behind Some say, “He’s keeping score” So try hard, then try a little more Hold up, if this were true Explain to me, what the cross is for. You see, when a person admits they’re not perfect and brings their wrongdoings and sins before God and accepts the gift of redemption Jesus offers freely, they are free. FREE is a word we all love to hear. Free lightens our load, brings joy, makes us feel special. In fact the word brings a smile to my face. Being saved is not well understood outside of the faith community. What does that mean, “I am saved”? Another term used for choosing to follow Christ is “I gave my heart to Jesus”. Being saved and giving your heart to Jesus are two of the most FREEing things you can do, but it sounds like it’s something you accomplished. The fact is Jesus did it all the
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day He willingly died for your sins. Salvation has zero to do with your good works and EVERYTHING to do with grace. What if I were the one to tell you Well, I think your day’s about to get better What if I were the one to tell you That the work’s already been done It’s not good news It’s the best news ever When it is said that Jesus died on the cross for you, that is a complete sentence. There is not a single if, and, or but that follows that. All that needs to happen is you acknowledge that you are imperfect (we all are) and you ask God to forgive you for the times that you chose the wrong path, treated others unfairly, hurt those around you or yourself. These are sins that we all commit and the price was paid for them already, and because of Christ you have been freed from the penalty of them. If you accept this grace that Jesus offers you are free from condemnation, you’ve been given eternal life. You are given the right to be called a child of God. You are loved and treasured beyond human comprehension and you can have a relationship with the God of the Universe! You can’t earn it and you’ll never be good enough to deserve it, it is the requirement is that you come. So won’t you come Come all you weary and you burdened You heavy laden and you hurting For all of you with nothing left
life, everything else will fall into place. Once you experience that relationship of Father and child with your Creator and come to really know the nature and heart of Jesus, all of those “works” will be second nature. Oh you are still human, don’t get me wrong. I’ve never met a perfect person aside from the son of God. But with the relationship comes the sweet Holy Spirit of God that inhabits your soul. He will offer a gentle nudge or may knock you off your feet if you need reminding of what’s the next right thing to do or if you need to sit down and have a heart to heart with our Father in Heaven. You will see the world in a new light, you will see yourself changing and becoming more like Christ as you follow his teachings found in God’s word. He summed it up for His disciples when they asked Him, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in
