"Grace"

 Deep down in the heart of man,

There’s something really wrong,

Some think if they try they can,

Sing a different song.

But bottom line it can’t be done,

We cannot do enough,

And that is why God sent His Son,

To heal what’s wrong so tough.

The deepest hurt you ever got,

The pain that won’t let go,

Lord knows you have cried a lot,

But didn’t let it show.

The stupid, selfish choices,

The addictions that we’ve known,

Listening to wrong voices,

The problems that have grown.

For all of these and even more,

The answer is God’s grace,

Jesus’ death throws wide the door,

He gladly took our place.

And all that satan tried to steal,

The Lord’s love will restore,

And that’s because the grace is real,

And that is what it’s for.

You cannot earn it, never try,

Because Christ paid the cost,

His truth casts out the devil’s lie,

And brings back all the lost.

The Lord knows what we really need,

Without Him cannot get,

The Spirit plants salvation’s seed,

His promise, a sure bet.

“God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God…” (Ephesians 2:8, NLT)

There are many reasons that the only way to be saved is to receive the gift of God’s grace. Here are two of them. The first is that the problem of sin and its penalty are too great a problem for any human solution. The problem, in fact, was so serious that it took the death of God’s only Son to fix it. The second is that if any of it was due to human effort, humans would find a way to take credit for it. It would become a source of pride and arrogance if we could say “I did this or that” to earn my place with God. Nope, it’s up to the Lord and He gets all the glory when it happens. Receive the grace, then share it.

Lord, help us to receive and share Your grace, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Mark Maggiori, markmaggiori.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Mark, and God bless you.