Phillip Yancey wrote a book titled, “What’s So Amazing about Grace?” in which he recounted a story about C. S. Lewis.  He wrote:

       During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith.

       They began eliminating possibilities.  Incarnation?  Other religions had different versions of God appearing in human form.  Resurrection?  Again, other religions had accounts of return from death.

       The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis walked into the room.  “What’s the rumpus about? he asked and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity’s unique contribution among world religions. Lewis responded, “Oh, that’s easy.  It’s grace.”  After some discussion, the conferees had to agree.

       The idea of God’s love coming to us free of charge, no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity.  The Buddhist eight-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of Karma, the Jewish covenant, and the Muslim code of law — each of these offers a way to earn approval.  Only Christianity dares to make God’s love unconditional.

         How wonderful the gift of God that doesn’t require anything from us to meet God’s approval.  That God first loved us and now only asks that we be led to God’s grace through our faith is the east complicated, least burdensome answer to eternal life.  And it was all initiated by God through a promise to Abraham who found God’s favor credited to him because of his faith.  Amazing grace indeed that saves us all by faith.

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Gracious God, I’m eternally grateful for the faith that leads me to Your grace through a promise made by you. It is Your grace and faithfulness that keeps my faith and my hope alive.

         Trying to manage our lives by obeying God’s law is an exercise in futility.  It’s just that trying to do so puts us under a curse we’re unable to escape from because we’re unable to fully comply with the law as it’s written.  The law is excellent at helping us to know where we’ve gone wrong, but not so helpful in guiding us to know how to make course corrections — at least at the time the law was written.  But an exception to the law is that “The righteous shall live by faith.”  That changes not only the nature of the game, but the expectations and outcome of the game as well.

       So, those of us who were not required to live under the law had to meet God’s proof another way.  God — by the blessings of grace, and our faith that Christ became our curse for us — opened the doors of grace through faith so that those who were not bound by the law could be freed from its curse.  It’s within the exception that we find ourselves freed from the burden of the law and free to proceed with a faith that leads to grace.  God did it through Christ because of the promise made to Abraham.  It was God’s promise that led us to grace through faith.

• Does the idea of being freed from a curse of death by someone else’s death impact your understanding of God’s grace?
• What does being free from a curse of disobedience mean for you in your relationship with God?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Precious Lord, You are responsible from my freedom to be led to Your grace through faith in Your promise. For the blessings of Your grace, I am eternally thankful.

         It’s difficult for any of us to imagine what it’s like to be as good as dead.  Our ability to function — to be productive in any area of our lives — in many ways gives us a sense of hope.  Each day that hope allows us to wake up with something to look forward to.  But imagine for a moment being an athlete long past their prime or their ability to perform at any level being told at a very old age that they were not only going to play in the Superbowl, the World Series, Wimbledon, the NCAA Final Four, but that they would be the MVP (most valuable player) of the game or series.  Imagine being told and believing without a doubt that it would happen and then living to experience the event in real time, not because you were capable, but because you believed the person who told you it would happen.  That kind of faith is phenomenal.

         Most of us live with our hearts, minds, and spirits shrouded with a hope covered with a thin shell of doubt.  I think we believe up to a point because we have not yet fully grasped the reality of God’s promise.  After all, even Sarah laughed at first.  But the hope of a baby is something tangible.  When a woman feels life moving within her she knows that God’s promise is more than a pipedream.  But most of us live by a faith that is not fully formed.  We hope for something better but are unsure, impatient, and at times doubtful given our current circumstances that we’ll ever see the promises of God unfold in our lifetime.  And yet, hope that is seen is not hope (Romans 8:24).  But it was Sarah’s faith that led her to the grace that God’s was faithful and that God’s promises could be trusted.  Neither Abraham nor Sarah have seen God’s promise fulfilled.  They wait with hope.  But it is our faith that leads to grace — the same grace that enabled Abraham and Sarah who were as good as dead to realize God’s promises in their life.

• What faithful promise of God is has created a faith that leads to grace that’s keeping hope alive in you?
• How would you explain that living hope within you to others?
• What is it that keeps your faith alive?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Almighty God, help me to keep alive in me that faith that leads to Your grace. Empower my hope to be an instrument of faith that keeps me strong.