Grace Inspirations

  Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.                       In 1865, those words were written by Elvina M. Hall. Little did she know that those words would continue to ring in churches all over America over one hundred and fifty years later. The words are very simple. But they tell the story of the man who came as the ultimate sacrifice. The Bible tells us in Genesis chapters 2 and 3 that God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. All things lived in perfect harmony with one another. But one day, a serpent tempted Eve to eat from the tree that had been forbidden by God. Eve yielded to the temptation and ate the fruit. She gave some to her husband, Adam, and he ate as well. After they ate, the Bible tells us that “the eyes of both of them were opened” (Genesis 3:7). They saw their sin and they hid, but God came looking for them. Once Eve had eaten the fruit...

                 In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he separates the things of the flesh from the things of the Spirit. We can find the fruits of the Spirit in chapter 5, verses 22-23.   “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23   The fruits of the Spirit are a model of what we as Christians should look like to others. Of course no one can perfectly perform all the fruits at the same time 24/7. If we could, then Jesus’ crucifixion would have been in vain. But, God calls us to follow in Jesus’ example and we should obey Him by displaying the fruit of the Spirit. The thing is, I have read these verses over and over again and I have had them memorized for years, but I have one question: Why are they called fruits? I have been trying to think of everything. Pears, peaches, pineapples, plums, but I have come up short. That’s when ...

            The Love Chapter is the 13 th   chapter of 1 Corinthians. I am excited about this post because 1 Corinthians 13 is my favorite chapter of the Bible. It explains what God’s love is and how we are supposed to share that love. There are so many sides to these verses and in this post, I am going to cover three. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast. It is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” (1Corinthians 13:4-8) SIDE #1                 Side #1 is the most obvious: it’s a definition. The verses all combined make up a list of things that define what God’s love looks like.  When you read them they paint a pic...

                    Throughout the New Testament we marvel at the miracles that Jesus performed. He healed the sick, made the blind see, turned water to wine, and performed many other mind-boggling miracles. Have you ever thought about how many of those miracles were performed by using words? Think of when Jesus healed the man of his leprosy.  “Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ’Be clean!’ Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.” (Matthew 8:3)  Think of when Jesus calmed the storm. “…Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.” (Matthew 8:26) Now let’s go way back to the creation of the world. “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3) When God speaks, in Heaven or on earth, He means business. In Isaiah 55:11 it says, “…so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accompli...

     Christmas is one of my favorite holidays. I love hanging all the ornaments on the tree and having that nostalgic feeling that it gives you. I love when it’s cold enough to have hot cocoa. I love belting out Christmas songs and seeing family. But the birth of our Savior is the only reason Christmas is worth celebrating. He wasn’t just a good man that did good things. He gave His life for us so that we could see God face to face. He died so that there was more to life than just living. The Christmas story is just the beginning of a new life in Christ and a new hope of things to come. It is the beginning of a light that was going to spread like a wildfire.               “ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.   He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him...

     Today, I am bringing a message to you that was brought to me a few years back. It was a sermon that I heard at my church and took notes on. Unfortunately, I don’t know who presented the sermon, but I used the points from my notebook and added parts of my own to create a revised version. I hope you enjoy!      During our week, we come in contact with several people. Think about how many opportunities that gives us to share the love of God with others! As followers of the Almighty God we have been called to share the Gospel with as many people as possible. Mark 16:15 says, “…’Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.’” God has provided so many opportunities to share, but it’s up to us to make the bold choice of sharing our faith with others.      There are two reasons why people are deterred from sharing the Gospel. They are unsure where to start and they don’t know what specifically to share. In five short poin...

Hello everyone! This is my fourth and last post in my “What God Says About You” series. When I started to write this post, I was reminded of a children’s book called “You Are Special” by Max Lucado. Even though it’s a children’s book, it’s a powerful allegory that explains a very small part of God’s vast love for us. The story begins with a village that was filled with little wooden people called the Wemmicks. Every Wemmick was different, but they were all created by Eli, the woodworker. Every Wemmick had a box filled with gray dot stickers and star stickers. The little people would give stickers to every other Wemmick in sight. The Wemmicks that were talented, beautiful and in good condition were immediately given stars. But the ones with chips, peeling paint and no talent, were given dots. Punchinello was a Wemmick who was always given dots. He had so many that he was afraid to go outside for fear that he would do something wrong and receive another dot. One day, Punchinello met a ...

     This is my third post in my series: What God Says About You. This series has been about your new identity in Christ after you become a Christian. First I talked about how you were chosen before you were born to be a part of God’s family. Next I talked about how you’ve been made righteous. Now I want to talk about how you are FREE in the Lord. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1-2      In order to understand this verse in its entirety we need to go back. Like way, way back to Adam and Eve. Basically, everything was perfect until Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. Then sin came into the world and everything was messed up. Here is where we run into the “law of sin and death”. God’s people, or the Israelites, were living under the old covenant. This covenant said that the Israelit...

As many of you know, this is my second post in my first series: What God Says About You. After you have been saved, you get a new identity in Christ. The Holy Spirit comes to live inside you and you become a new person. In this series I’m digging deeper into this new identity. My last post was about being Chosen. But in this post, I want to talk about something else God says about you. He says you are RIGHTEOUS. First, the definition of RIGHTEOUS is: Acting in accord with divine or moral law: free from guilt or sin. There was only one man to walk the face of the earth free from guilt or sin. His name was Jesus. The same Jesus died a horrible death and rose from the grave for us so that we could live eternity in Heaven. Whether you are a Christian (someone who has been saved) or not, your flesh is sinful because you were born into a world that was and is sinful. But when you accept Christ as your Savior, the Holy Spirit comes live inside your spirit. The Holy Spirit is RIGHTEOUS ...

               Hello everyone! I know I haven’t posted in a while, but the Lord put something very special on my heart to share with you. I am going begin a series of posts about what God says about you, starting with this one. Once you have been saved, you get a new identity. In this series, I will pull verses from the Bible that reveal your true identity in Christ. To begin, I’d like to start with CHOSEN. You were CHOSEN to be a part of God’s master plan.   When you have accepted Christ as your Savior, you become part of God’s family. But before the universe existed, you were CHOSEN. God knew you would choose Him. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart…” Jeremiah 1:5                 You were set apart by God as one who was CHOSEN. He knew you, knew your name, and knew exactly how m...

                In this blog, I will be speaking a little bit about anatomy (the study of the human body). Don’t worry, it won’t be gory, since I am talking about the Spiritual Body of Christ. In the Bible, many times you will find analogies that the writer uses to help the reader better understand what he/she was writing. The Bible and the story of Jesus can be very complicated. Even explaining the resurrection can be complicated. So, the Bible uses lots and lots of analogies so that we can better understand it.                 The Body of Christ is similar to an analogy. As we work through this, be sure to remember this isn’t Christ’s actual body that came to earth. Let’s look in Ephesians 4:15-16: “…him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and b...

I’ve talked a lot about sin in the past. Sin is one of those unavoidable topics when you’re talking about Christ and the Gospel. Sin was the main reason Jesus came and died on the cross. Because of sin, we were separated from God. But, as I have discussed before, when Jesus rose from the dead, that meant we will rise again in Heaven with Him if we repent and accept Christ as our Savior (1 Corinthians 6:14). But that isn’t the end of the story. That’s why the Holy Spirit led me to write a post about sin.                 Almost everyone knows the story of Adam and Eve. If you are unfamiliar, you might want to check back at my “Repent” post, or read Genesis 2-3. That is where sin on earth started. It’s the background info on sin. Before I go any further, I want to make sure everyone knows what sin is. Sin is anything that separates us from God. (The Ten Commandments has a few examples of sin.) Now that everyo...

                Amazing Grace is one of my favorite songs. Not because my name is literally Grace, but because of the song itself. God’s grace is truly amazing. The reason why God’s grace is truly amazing is what this post is all about! So get out your hymnal and find Amazing Grace. Amazing Grace, How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me I once was lost, but now am found T'was blind but now I see                 This isn’t the entire song, but this is the part that I’d really like to focus on. It summarizes the Gospel in four lines. Trust me, right now I am learning how to summarize and it’s not that easy. But while the writer did a great job summarizing, this song was written in 1779. That’s quite a ways back! Because of the time difference the words might not make sense. But if we look at it closely, this song might s...

I haven’t posted in a while, but what better time to post than in this time that everyone is calling a crisis. It feels like there is no peace anywhere to be found. Everyone keeps saying that God is in control and that everything will be okay. But the number of COVID-19 cases seems to be rising constantly. Every time there is a new reported case, all kinds of fearful thoughts come into our minds. Will I get sick? Should I go to the store? What about my family? Are they safe? But Martin Luther King had a great quote that I want to share with you. “You cannot keep birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.” –Martin Luther King                 The birds are your thoughts. The enemy uses your thoughts to make you start believing things that aren’t really true. You can’t keep thoughts from flying over your head, but you can choose what thoughts you want to dwel...

                When you’re playing a team game, like basketball, baseball, football, or soccer, you have to pick a side. Let’s say there is a red team and a blue team. You wouldn’t say that you’re on the purple team. So let’s look into what it means to spiritually pick a side. Today, we are going to go back in the Old Testament. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s the first 39 books of the Bible. One of these 39 books in the Old Testament is the book of Joshua. We are going to be in the very last chapter, which is chapter 24 and verses 14-15, 20: 14  “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord . 15  But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrat...

                As most of you know, I am a homeschool student. For those of you who are unfamiliar with homeschooling, I do all of my school at home and my parents are my teachers. Some homeschoolers do all their work online, but I can do most things without a computer. In my studies, I have been learning about the book of Philippians. One verse really stood out to me, and I wanted to share it with you. It is Philippians 1:12-14. “Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.” -Philippians 1:12-14                 It’s a r...

One day, not too long ago, my mom and I came home. As usual, our dog, Sadie had my mom’s pajama pants in her mouth. She was wagging her tail hysterically, when my mom’s happy disposition took a 180. She spotted one of her favorite books on the floor. Sadie had ripped off the cover and eaten it. My mom was irate. Sadie, on the other hand, knew she had done something VERY wrong. Her head went down, and she tucked her tail between her legs. I was just there, watching the event as it unfolded. It really got me thinking.                 Anger is everywhere. At work, at school, even when driving to work or school. Like when your boss tells you have to work, even though just a few days ago she said you could go on vacation. After school, your kids explain their problems. They tell you all about their day, and how this group of kids is so mean, and how they always get away with everything. Then, this one truck com...