Hurricane Grace

From his fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. John 1:16 NIV

"Another storm in the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Grace," came the meteorologist's report.

"Did I just hear that right? A storm named Grace?" I questioned myself.

Grace what a name for a storm, I mean if it turned into a hurricane what kind of destruction and devastation could it leave behind. Not exactly the idea I have for grace. Luckily, Tropical Storm Grace dissipated in the Caribbean.

Grace, God's amazing grace-God's Riches At Christ Expense.

God's grace has always been there. It's been there since before He created the world. God's grace has been there from the moment you were conceived. He has always loved you and cared for you and He always will. He woos you to Him, calling you, caring for you, being there for you even before you recognize that it's Him.

So we've messed up, we've done things we hope nobody will ever find out. God has a cure for that. It is through His son's sacrifice that we are saved. This is where Christ Expense comes in. He came to earth for one purpose, to become the unblemished lamb to take on all the sins of men/women. He took these on himself even before we were born. The only way to receive this grace is to accept this free gift Christ has given you. He will bear your faults, sins, secrets...don't worry He can take it.

Maybe if Tropical Storm Grace had become a strong Hurricane we could have seen all of our messes and mistakes spinning around the center, the eye. God is like the eye, the calmness of the storm watching us all spin out of control. Each of us creating our own havoc, with Him just sitting there wondering when we will come to Him and His calmness. Then once we do He will calm the winds and dissipate the storm.

God's grace will bring you many blessings, blessings that only He can bring.

Emptiness

"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ a lamb without blemish or defect." 1 Peter 1:18-19 NIV

Have you ever felt empty? Like somethings missing? You can't quite figure out what it is, but you desire to fill it.

You've tried lots of things to take the emptiness away. You thought love from others would fill it. Soon though you learn of the heartbreak loving others brings. Maybe the person hurt you physically or mentally. Maybe the person left or died. Sure there's a natural emptiness when you lose somebody you love, but how long has the emptiness consumed you?

Maybe the love of others wasn't enough or didn't work, the emptiness only grew larger. Soon you were trying to dull the emptiness with alcohol or drugs. The emptiness stays away just for a short while, but soon it comes back and one drink or one pill doesn't fill it enough. After awhile it takes more drinks or more drugs to get to a happy fulfilling place.

Instead of these things maybe you've tried exercise to immerse yourself in. You workout until you hit the max of what your body can handle and then you push it more just so you don't have to think about this void in your life. Maybe it's books, movies, social media, video games...still in all you've done nothing has taken away this longing, this missing link that has a hold on your life.

No worries, I have felt the emptiness too. Fortunately, I found what fills it. Sure my life isn't perfect, it isn't without troubles. People I love still suffer from illness or die. I still have a longing, but it's different. Now it's a longing to know Jesus more.

My emptiness has been filled. You see I believed others when they said I needed Jesus. At the age of twelve I asked him to forgive me and come live in my heart. It was superficial, but it was enough to keep praying to him daily. "Now I lay me down to sleep...God bless my mom, my dad, my brother..." I might have cracked open the Bible on occasion, but mostly it sat on my shelf. You might say I didn't trust God enough to make Him my pilot, He was OK just sitting in the passenger seat.

One day though when all was falling apart around me, I cried out to Him, the one who saves, the one who can completely fill my emptiness. I surrendered that day, I asked Him to become Lord of my life and I would do whatever He asked me to do. I never have regretted a minute of it.

You see nothing can fill the void in your life except the love, trust and faith in Christ. No matter how many friends, lovers, drinks, drugs, exercises, books, movies, social media sites, video games...it will never be enough. Only HE can satisfy.