Captured By His Grace

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith. Philippians 3:8,9 (NASB)

 

 

I think believers in Christ take their position in Him for granted. It is true that we cannot lose our salvation, but aren't we suppose to workout what He has put in us? Maybe if we truly got a glimpse of what  Christ has done for us, we would be more grateful. The reason that I caught a glimpse of this, was because I had been a part of a religious cult that was built around works. Freedom is what Christ gave to me, when He saved me back in February of 1986. It was so amazing; yet strange. He delivered me from a life of  bondage but  I desired to become His slave. My greatest desire was to obey Him and to bring glory to His name. My greatest fulfillment is to live my life in such a way that one day, He will tell me "well done." 

 My life has never been picture perfect. I have had a lot of pain and hurt along the way. In 1981, I had a daughter to die at a month old, then in 1988 I had another daughter to die at 5 1/2 years of age.  I was a young believer in Christ at the time and I was filled with so many questions and I felt such anger toward God. Also around this time my husband and I were going through a divorce, but I found when all others ceased to comfort me; He never left me alone.   He was true to His word when He said "I will never leave you nor forsake you."  A passion within me grew to tell others about the wonderful love and grace of Christ.

 Eventually I felt lead to go to Southeastern Bible College, to better serve in the ministry. It was there that I got a better understanding of God, because with correct theology comes correct bible doctrine and correct doctrine supplies us with correct principles, which enables us to live out the word of God. I love His word. I know the reason for this love is because of His grace. When I teach or write about his word, I try to be totally transparent with people, my desire is for them to know that Jesus was transparent and in Him they too can be transparent. Being transparent gives us the ability to live out the freedom that we have in Christ. Which can give us great joy.

 
I have never shared this with my love ones but one of my greatest fears is that some of them may never accept Jesus and therefore, they will be eternally separated from Christ. My soul actually shudders at this thought.  This literally brings me to my knees in prayer. Sometimes I find myself prostrate before the Lord on behalf of my family members salvation. I would not wish hell for my worst enemy and I most certainly don't want it for my loved ones. 

As long as I live I will never understand why the Lord saved me. Who am I? I stand in amazement that the Lord would reach down from heaven and snatch me off of the wide road to hell and place me on the narrow road that leads to eternal life. Many times I have cried out to Him and said "why me Lord." I may never know "why", but what I do know is that He loves me. I am not the brightest and by no means am I the riches person who has ever lived, so the choosing of me could only be because of His grace.  

The only reason that I can teach, is because of His grace. The only reason that I can blog, is because of His grace. The only reason that I can love my family, is because of His grace and the only reason that I no longer use profanity, nor am I deceitful, is  because of the grace of Christ. I love you Jesus. Every good thing that I do, is because of the grace of Christ. You see, there is nothing good that dwells in my flesh. If you know something bad about me or have ever heard anything bad about me, I can top it with something worse, but guess what? God knows the worst about me, yet He stills love me. 
 

Daily I try to get in the presence of the Lord. There I am laid bare and it produces honest prayers and it shows me who I am and what the Lord wants me to be.The Lord knows that I do not have the stamina, strength or desire to serve Him, but His strength is perfect and He is the center of my desire. It is only because of His grace, that I am able to read and understand His word. It is only because of His grace that I am able to pray and intercede on the behalf of others and the only reason that I can attempt to witness for Him is because of His grace. All that I do and that I am is because of the grace that I have in Christ.

 The finished product is a warrior that is made spiritually fit for the kingdom of God. God has allowed me to do all of this to give me Glimpses of His Grace. Hallelujah What a Savior.

I want to fulfill my part of God’s mind. I want to find my true self. I yearn to want God to be my foremost desire. I want to die, so that I might be alive.~Ashlyn Ricklard