AMAZING GRACE!

We’ve all heard the song Amazing Grace. It was written by a former slave ship captain who begged God for mercy during a storm when he thought his ship was sinking. Later in his cabin, John Newton realized that God answered his prayer directly and showed mercy to him and all that were on board his ship. John later became a preacher and a songwriter. His church services became so overcrowded that his church had to be enlarged.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

In 2007, Chris Tomlin released his hit song Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone), adding the following verses:

My chains are gone
I’ve been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love, Amazing grace.

There are several definitions for the word GRACE but the ones I like best are Mercy, Clemency, a temporary immunity or exemption and reprieve. God sent His only Son to die a horrible death to grant you clemency from an eternity separated from Him. But the problem here is that we humans don’t want to admit that we are not supreme in the universe and we don’t want to give up control. God has a plan for you, but you have to allow Him free reign in your life and then after you have given God control over your life, you must be obedient to follow Him wherever He leads you. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are free; your chains have been broken! You need no longer fear death because Jesus has overcome death for you! Your home is not here on earth, so why should you live like it is?

God’s mercy is unending. We go about our daily business, never even thinking about how the Holy Spirit (who is God) came to live in us when we were saved. If you are like me, usually we are thinking about the three people most important to us: me, myself and I. I’m sure that I unknowingly sin countless times a day, but it is because of God’s unending love and mercy raining down on me like a flood, that I am forgiven. The only thing that keeps me going is His unending love. As a Christian, it is the only thing that keeps you going too.

If you don’t know Jesus as your personal Savior, but you do want to be free and you want your chains broken today, then I am asking you to open up your heart to Him....right now! If Jesus Christ is your personal Savior, then I am asking you to consciously make an effort at all times to fully realize that the Holy Spirit is living inside you and has a wonderful plan for you! It is up to you to be obedient, to listen to His voice and to follow wherever He leads you. If God can so totally change a despicable slave ship captain, lead him to preach the gospel to thousands and to write a song that millions have heard and loved....what can He use you to do? But, you must listen to Him and you must be willing to let Him use you for the great things He has planned for you!

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.” Eph 2:4-9 (NIV)

To find out more about receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Savior please read our blog titled New Life in Christ (April 2, 2010).

@copyright 2010 LVC Ministries, Inc

John Newton (1725-1807) Amazing Grace
The story of John Newton - http://www.anointedlinks.com/amazing_grace.html

YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN

Against my better judgment, I was watching the news the other day and all I could think about was “Lord, what are we going to do?” Every story was depressing and demoralizing. How and when did we allow our country and the world to become like it is right now?

In Ezekiel chapter 34 we read how the shepherds quit taking care of the flocks that God had given to them, instead they began to feed off of their flocks. The shepherds no longer strengthened those who were weak, they no longer healed the sick and they no longer bound up the injured. The shepherds were so busy taking care of themselves, seeing to their needs and making sure that they had the best that life could offer, that they no longer went out in search of the sheep that were lost.

Maybe, just maybe that is why this country has gotten off track. Somehow, the sheep have allowed some shepherds to teach things in the church that is of the world and not of God. When it comes to God, there is no gray area, it’s always follow me and obey my commands, or pay the consequences. The law of physics tells us that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Maybe, right now, today this country (and the world) is reaping the reaction of our past actions.

I know that it is not “politically correct” to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, that is, Jesus is the only way to salvation (Matthew 14:6) but, yes, He is the only way to salvation and apparently many of our churches today have forgotten that. It seems that some parents have forgotten to teach their children that also. Call me old fashioned, but a child’s foundational knowledge of salvation and the Bible must begin at home. So, really, we can’t actually blame it all on the church, we all must take some of the responsibility.

So now what do we do? Matthew 9:37-38 says “Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. 38 Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” (HCSB). As Christians we are told by Jesus to pray to God that He will send out people to witness to those who are lost. Jesus also tells us “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you...” Matt 28:19-20 (NIV). These two verses tell me that not only is there an abundance of people in the world that need to hear about the Gospel, and not only are we supposed to pray to God to send workers out into the field, but we are the workers! We are to go out into the fields and reap the harvest of lost souls for the Kingdom of God and where the church is concerned we must be “like the Bereans” (Acts 17:11) and examine the scriptures with eagerness to see if our shepherds are leading the flock in the direction that the Lord has commanded.

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last...” John 15:16 (NIV).

@copyright 2010 LVC Ministries, Inc