The Beauty of Grace

Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

2 Peter 1:2

Today's verse was inspired by music. Specifically a song by Krystal Meyers, entitled "The Beauty of Grace". Take a listen to the song. The message is pretty basic. God's grace saves us. Woo hoo! It's always good to come back to the basics and be reminded of that fact. No matter what doubts we're having, or questions we're asking, one thing remains true: We are saved by God's grace. We have eternal salvation. That's an infinity mile warranty that never expires and is non-transferable, but always shareable. His grace covers all our pain and all our sins. We are washed clean by His blood. That knowledge brings all sorts of peace.

For those who are interested, here are the lyrics, from LyricsMania.com:

Tell me why'd you run?
You say you’re so ashamed
Bruised and broken
Thought if I figured out the mess you made
Then I’d leave

But anywhere you are
Is never too far away
There’s freedom from your scars
The mistakes that you’ve made
Forgiven
The memories erased
Baby, that’s the beauty of grace

La de da, la de da da

Tell me what is love?
I’ll never hold you to
The things you may have done
You say you want new life
In My arms there’s mercy

Anywhere you are
Is never too far away
There’s freedom from your scars
The mistakes that you’ve made
Forgiven
The memories erased
Baby, that’s the beauty of grace

La de da, la de da da

So blow a kiss goodbye
To all the pain you hide

Anywhere you are
Is never too far away
There’s freedom from your scars
The mistakes that you’ve made
Forgiven
The memories erased
Baby, that’s the beauty of grace

La de da, la de da da

http://kairosverse.blogspot.com

Adding to Your Faith

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1:5-8 (NIV)

The web page I got this from said this: "You have a choice about whether or not you're effective and productive." This honestly goes with the previous verse rather well. I kind of think that the whole thing isn't a perfect string. Like one doesn't depend on the other - to a degree - because I find certain of those things easier than others. self-control and perseverance are kinda my weaknesses. I am a huge slacker - as evidenced by my dirty kitchen. I get myself into trouble putting things off and procrastinating - but I still do it.

What makes one godly? Goodness, knowledge, brotherly kindness, love - these are a bit easier for me. Knowledge is an ongoing thing, and I can always work on the loving my enemies thing more. For you, these things may be quite different.

So then this verse is kind of some steps for the previous. Not like do A then B, but here's a way to get from one to the other and you don't have to perfect A to move on to B, and you can always go back. Like the 2 Cor verse from last week (2 Cor 12:9-10) said though, His grace is enough. Just gotta trust in it. "Let go and let God." Seems a lot harder to do than say doesn't it?

http://kairosverse.blogspot.com