His beautiful eyes.

In the Grip of Grace = finished! I find myself still more captivated, awed, and in-love with our great God and what His grace and His Son have really accomplished for us. I want to dedicate this entry to the genius and talent of God via Max Lucado. It will possibly be very long. It would really be nice to type the entire book on here! But would you really read it? I do want you to!

• God doesn't get angry because He doesn't get His way. He gets angry because disobedience always results in self-destruction.
• The question is not, How dare a loving God be angry? but rather, How can a loving God feel anything less?
• The problem is not that God hasn't spoken, but that we haven't listened.
• Sacrificed upon the altar of godlessness is the purpose of man.
• We are significant not because of what we do, but because of Whose we are.
• God is kind, but He is not soft. In kindness He takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life change. (Rom. 2:4)
• We are unworthy and unqualified to judge others. Dare we judge a book while its chapters are yet unwritten? How can you dismiss a soul until God's work is complete? Be careful! The Peter who denies Jesus at tonight's fire may proclaim Him with fire at tomorrow's Pentecost. The Samson who is blind and weak today may use his final strength to level the pillars of godlessness. A stammering shepherd in this generation may be the mighty Moses of the next.
• Holiness demands that sin be punished. Mercy compels that the sinner be loved. Mercy understood is holiness desired.
• Ponder the achievement of God. He doesn't condone our sin; nor does He compromise His standard. He doesn't ignore our rebellion; nor does He relax His demands. Rather than dismiss our sin He assumes our sin and sentences Himself. God's holiness is honored, our sin is punished, and we are redeemed. God is still God. The wages of sin is death. And we are made perfect.
• Grace fosters an eagerness for good. Grace doesn't spawn a desire to sin. If one has truly embraced God's gift, he will not mock it. In fact, if a person uses God's mercy as liberty to sin, one might wonder whether the person ever knew God's mercy at all.
• God doesn't want us to sin. He didn't give us His grace so we would sin. But He knows His children. He made their hearts and knows everything they do (Ps. 33:15). And He knew that we would someday need His grace... God's grace is older than your sin and greater than your sin.
• One word from the Palace offsets a thousand voices in the streets.
• Formerly, God had sent His prophets to preach; now He has sent His Son to die. Earlier, God commissioned angels to aid; now He has offered His Son to redeem. When we tremble, He points us to the splattered blood on the splintered beams and says, "Don't be afraid."
• Not only has a price been paid, a vow has been made... baptism is a vow, a sacred vow of the believer to follow Christ. Just as a wedding celebrates the fusion of two hearts, baptism celebrates the union of sinner with Savior. We became part of Christ when we were baptized.
• Confession does for the soul what preparing the land does for the field. It is the act of inviting God to walk the acreage of our hearts. God's seed grows better if the soil of the heart is cleared. And so the Father & Son walk the field together, digging and pulling, preparing the heart for fruit.
• Content: a state of the heart in which you would be at peace if God gave you nothing more than He already has. What if God's only gift to you was His grace to save you? Would you be content? ... from Heaven's perspective, grace IS enough.
• He doesn't give laws for our pleasure, but for our protection. Had I never seen the law, I would have never seen how selfish I am.
• There should never be a point when our grace is exhausted. You will never be called upon to give anyone more grace than God has already given you.
• God loves me and makes me His child. God loves my neighbor and makes him my brother. My privilege is to complete the triangle, to close the circuit by loving who God loves.
• Our faith was born at the sight of His fondness. And so we went.
• Unity does not need to be created; it simply needs to be protected. Unity doesn't begin in examining others, but in examining self. Unity beings, not in demanding that others change, but in admitting that we aren't so perfect ourselves.
• The answer to arguments? Acceptance. The first step to unity? Acceptance. Not agreement, acceptance.
• Will you pray with me for the day when the world is won because the Church is one?
• Vagabonds and ragamuffins all, He saw us before we were born. And He loves what He sees. Flooded by emotion, overcome by pride, the Starmaker turns to us, one by one, and says, "You are my child. I love you dearly. I'm aware that someday you'll turn from Me and walk away. But I want you to know, I've already provided you a Way back." And to prove it, He did something extraordinary. Stepping from the throne, He removed His robe of light and wrapped Himself in skin; pigmented, human skin. The light of the universe entered a dark, wet womb. He who angels worship nestled Himself in the placenta of a peasant, was birthed into the cold night, and then slept on cow's hay. Mary didn't know whether to give Him milk or give Him praise, but she gave Him both since he was, as near as she could figure, hungry and holy. Joseph didn't know whether to call Him junior or father. But in the end called Him Jesus, since thats what the angel said, and since he didn't have the faintest idea what to name a God he could cradle in his arms... "Can anything make me stop loving you?" God asks. "Watch Me speak your language, sleep on your earth, and feel your hurts. Behold the Maker of sight and sound as He sneezes, coughs, and blows His nose. Look into the dancing eyes of the kid in Nazareth; that's God walking into school. Ponder the toddler at Mary's table; that's God spilling His milk. You wonder how long My love will last? Find you answer on a splintered Cross. That's Me you see up there, your Maker, your God, nail-stabbed and bleeding. Covered in spit and sin-soaked. That's your sin I'm feeling. That's your death I'm dying. That's your resurrection I'm living. That's how much I love you."

I'm literally left speechless when I read that. There are no words to truly describe His love. There is no formula or recipe or explanation for us to follow to earn and keep that love. He just loves us anyway. Does that make you uncomfortable? Because it kind of makes me feel that way!! There is nothing, absolutely nothing I can do to control or manipulate that love. I can't stop it. I can't avoid it. I can't get past it. What a wonder, this Person... it's almost scary to think about Him, to really think about Him, because He is so much more than me. But that shouldn't scare me, that should be my comfort and security. The fact that I cannot ever escape Him or abandon Him, because He is in everything and through Him all things have life, reiterates the Truth that He can never leave or abandon me. We are together in this world, and even outside of this world. This causes me to cry. I'm not even sure why it does. Maybe because it's a joy unspeakable? Or because I feel undeserving? Whatever the true reason, I think He accepts it as worship. Like the girl who fell at His feet and gave Him what she could-- wet, snot-covered, feet, perhaps a little less dirty than before. But He saw that as unabashed, unashamed, abandoned love and gratitude. That is often the only thing I can bring to Him... my gratitude, a snotty, tear-stained face, and a heart with such deep longing to please Him and serve Him.

I'm learning and experiencing this new servant-hood, which I believe is exactly what Jesus meant when He said to be the greatest you must be the least. It's a giving of yourself for people who will show no regard or thankfulness for you. It's having a loving and encouraging spirit when those you love and encourage will walk away and reject you. It's a desire not to gain success, but to be useful in His hands. It's not so much about how many people you have led to Christ by a prayer, but how many have seen your life, seen His grace in action, and tangibly felt the presence of God that's within you. It's our love that will make a difference. Not our arguments or our being right. But our love and acceptance of all people. Yes, that means people who don't speak english, or smell good, or look nice. People who aren't members of our church, or even the same religion.

Please know that I'm writing this for myself. I do not have this all down. Not even close! It's way out of my comfort zone to approach a homeless person, a prostitute, a stranger. But I do it because Jesus wants me to. Because Jesus is with them, too. Because I was not saved for myself. I was given a free gift, and I want to freely give. I'm working towards that contentment by letting Him continually and openly work in me. I want to see my salvation as more than enough. I want to sing those lyrics, "We don't want blessings, we want You," with conviction and honesty. His grace is more than enough for me... and you.

Now I want you to listen to Misty Edwards' song, "Arms Wide Open." I'll leave you with a snippet of her words:

"What does love look like?" is the question I've been pondering.

What does love look like?

I once believed that love was romance, just a chance.

I even thought that love was for the lucky & the beautiful.

I was once believed that love was a momentary bliss,

but love is more than this.

All You ever wanted was my attention. All You ever wanted was love from me.

All You ever wanted was my affections, to sit here at Your feet.

If all of life comes down to love then love has to be more than sentiment.

More than selfishness and selfish gain.

Then I saw Him there, hanging on a tree, looking at me.

He was looking at me, looking at Him, staring through me.

I could not escape those beautiful eyes.

And I began to weep & weep...

He had arms wide open, a heart exposed.

He was bleeding, bleeding.

This how I know what love is.

And He said to me...

"You shall love Me."