(*) Thoughts on Grace...

God, my heart is hurting... it aches when I see a homeless person in the hospital for disease of their situation and their mind; it aches when I see babies that are congenitally deformed and seeing the love of their parents poured out knowing their babies won't make it past their first birthday; it aches to know that around the world women and children are suffering abuse and neglect; it aches knowing that there are people here who are in such hopelessness and despair and completely impoverished in their emotions and spirit; it aches for my personal struggles with sufferings and disappointments; it aches for the ones I love who have to suffer...

God in His sovereignty allows, and many times destines us to go through hard times... even times to experience physical harm and death. I would like to believe that my God, who is an awesome God, King of kings, and LORD of lords, and a God to be revered and feared, and a God to be loved... I would like to believe that my God is in TOTAL control over my joys and my tribulations. Everything that happens to us is not and will never be a mistake! Everything that happens to us has a purpose. There are NO coincidences!

As Proverbs chapter 17 tells us "Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but the LORD tests the heart." God, let your holy fire burn through us! Let it burn off all the impurities in our lives so we can worship You with a pure heart! You've promised us that Heaven, the eternal dwelling, will have no more pain and suffering and tears, I look forward for that place.

Because Your holy fire burns for us, You, in Your wisdom have indicated to us that our physical bodies will not survive into eternity. You'll bless us with a brand-new and glorified body... so, why should we focus any longer on the conditions of our physical body? Why don't we focus on the condition of our 'Spiritual body,' which will survive into eternity?

God, this world is not fair, and there is no justice! Justice is corrupt. As king Solomon says in Ecclesiastes: everything is meaningless. Everything that we devise and is a part of this world is meaningless, chasing after the wind. We work so hard and fight so hard, but yet, when we pass away, all that we toiled for become spoils to other people.

Grace, defined by Merriam Webster: "1 a: unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification b: a virtue coming from God c: a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine grace." Our redemption and guarantee of eternal presence with God is granted by God to us, which is totally and completely independent of our performance. The presence of God's Grace makes obsolete the rules of this world. Previous to our acceptance of this free gift of Grace, our lives are full of lists of 'good' and 'evil' deeds. Everything we do in life either made us feel good or guilty. We gauge our closeness to God or to celestial attainment by how we perform.

However, in the light of Grace, this 'balance' and ever burdening 'list of good and bad' completely disappears. We are no longer held in the balance. Our actions are no longer good nor evil. Our bodies are no longer healthy or damaged. God’s Grace says that WE ARE GOOD ENOUGH. We are pure enough to be in His presence. He accepts us! In the presence of Grace, there is only one choice: the choice to accept it. To deny it, or to turn your back to it, means that you are turning down the best gift that you can ever be offered and to receive.

In the presence of our awesome King, the Prince of Peace, the Redeemer of our Soul and Spirit, and the Granter of Grace... every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that He is the LORD. We have no choice what kind of sufferings we have to walk through; we have no choice what kind of injustice we have to experience; we have no choice in our struggles to make sense of things... However, we do have just ONE CHOICE, which is TO ACCEPT GRACE.

I can fight, I can struggle, and I can deny... but in the end, the acceptance of Grace gives me PEACE to be ok with suffering and struggles. The presence of Peace takes away the physical and mental pain from my being so I can start to love God and to share Him with others. It is then that I can help those whom my heart is aching for.

Thank you Lord Jesus, I Accept.