Grace...

What grace means to me…

GRACE…

What does this word mean?  Here where I live some responses may be…

“Isn’t something you say before eating?”

“Or being extremely elegant?”

Here In Australia, because Christian terms are not generally used outside of church, and that’s where the majority of people are, most people over the age of thirty…although they would know ‘Amazing Grace’…I’m not so sure if they’d know the meaning of Christian Grace…

I too, did not understand Christian terms and honestly there still are many Christian practices and meanings that I am unaware of…but in my opinion, it is wonderful to keep learning, and we should not be so quick to discard our rich Christian heritage…

So what does grace mean to me…and more importantly to me as a youngish, Australian woman? 

Firstly, I’m not sure about you…but…definitions help me A LOT! SO here’s an attempt…

Grace:  Undeserved, Divine love and mercy, lavishly spent.

My definition would not be complete, without my actual experience of God’s Awesome Grace…

• Uncontainable Love

• Unfathomable Forgiveness

• Indescribable Peace

• Undeserved Mercy

• Second Chances

• Unsurpassable Life

• Royal Inheritance

I remember some time after I had given every single part of who I am to Christ, being in my car, sobbing so much, and with the tears streaming down my eyes, singing ‘Amazing Grace’…you see, this song which had once simply been just that…a song…I actually comprehended and experienced!

God’s grace IS amazing…

This is my experience of God’s lavish, extreme grace, through Jesus Christ, which is why I want it for all…

Below is a clip of a Christian Artist, sharing the Gospel message…WELL WORTH A LOOK!

 

Death

Death has recently taken a friend of mine…

Yes, a friend of mine…

When the news first came I suppose I was in denial, because I had felt so sure that this friend who was yet to give their life to Christ would recover while in hospital, and come out of there a new woman…I was sure that this experience would be the clinching incident for her to turn to Christ…

It wasn’t until the next day that the reality of losing a friend hit home…this friend…an old neighbour, had even been so loyal as to visit me in my previous two homes since moving away from her street…and I knew she was planning to come and visit me once again in yet another ‘new’ house J

It started me thinking…you see we weren’t the closest of friends but we still were good friends…the type of friends who care about each other no matter how much time passes and who when catching up, just take up where they left off…no strings attached…just honest friends…and you don’t always get that do you?

Busy-ness…you know the stuff that can stop you from catching up as much…well my friend wasn’t well and I am a single mother to three boys…but now I’m left thinking should I have made more of an effort?

We can’t take time back…

I tried to show this friend the Gospel rather than ‘preach a conversion’…

Praise God this friend who had previously said she’d never step inside a church because she was afraid it’d fall down came twice last Christmas 2012!  Once for a ladies catch-up and secondly to our Christmas concert…she was also an active member of a ladies Christian group called heart sisters who meet annually…she was taking steps towards Christ and she loved His people…most of her women friends were us local Christian women…Should we have done more?

I know Jesus has overcome death…His resurrection is a promise of that!

Eternal life is offered to us all, beginning here and now.  My heart’s desire is for more people to experience this reality…

I know that God is GOOD and HE eagerly waits for us to repent and turn to Him…as Christians we cannot grow weary and keep this good news hidden for it is the power to SAVE!

Should I have done more?

Melanie.
 

Sin..

How sick does SIN make you feel?

Right now I feel physically sick as I’ve just discovered a young Christian friend’s ‘secret’ via Facebook…

Sick? Yeah, sick to the stomach and my head is now aching…I feel grieved that this young person whom Christ died to set free is still obviously trapped…

Now don’t get me wrong…I know that I’m not perfect and that I do still sin, yes I stumble and make mistakes…forgiveness is available…but what makes me SO sad is that I don’t even think this person thinks what they’re doing is wrong, because the person I know loves God!

FOR THOSE WHO THINK THAT DELIBERATE SIN IS OK…think again…

What makes this all the more sad is that this occurrence that happened today is all too common and it makes me think…WHAT ARE YOU CHRISTIANS THINKING?

Blatant disregard for God’s ways by people who love Him...?  IS this RIGHT?

Come on!  Shouldn’t we be striving for more…even if we do stumble…repent (which means to turn away from) and strive in His power and strength to overcome!

Here’s some ideas…

Praying V’s Pornography

Giving V’s Gossip

Friendship V’s Fornication

Love V’s Lust

Justice V’s Justification

Happiness V’s Hate

Truth V’s Tactics

There ALWAYS is another alternative…I will repeat…THERE ALWAYS IS ANOTHER ALTERNATIVE!!!

Yes I prayed and messaged this friend…honestly it is tough confronting evil in LOVE, but we must…

Melanie!

 

Try Before You Buy...

How many of you know and use this expression? 

Well where I live, it can mean two things…

For example, taking test drives of new cars to help you make a better informed decision.

Or

Co-habituation and sexual relations with a partner before marriage…(yes it does actually get used this way here where I  live is Aus!)

I was having a recent conversation with someone and this ‘expression’ or point of contention was raised as a valid reason for not abstaining from sexual relations or co-habituation before marriage…

Ok…so once again I feel that I should warn any of you reading, that you may be challenged by this blog…however one of the reasons I blog, is to encouraging thinking…yes that does mean that you don’t leave your brain behind when you read :) so fair warning I say, if you choose to read on ;)

The first point I’d like to consider is the barbaric undertone of this phrase…

I mean please women and men ARE NOT PROPERTY that are purchased or bought via Holy Matrimony! 

Oh yes, but it’s just an expression I can hear you say…yes I am well aware of this…but words have power and life and what we say matters…just ponder on that for a mini…

Now another reason for ‘trying’ out a human being, before committing to a lifelong relationship, can be the huge rate of divorce...well ok if you’re someone who thinks this is rational, have you researched the statistics on couples who engage in pre-marital sex and co-habituation in comparison to those who don’t and divorce statistics?  Because if you haven’t I’d encourage you to do some searching…as you’d be surprised at what you find!  But then again, should this surprise us?  Is the world and all it shoves in our face really so wise?  How many ‘try before you buy’ people do you know who’ve had a happily ever after scenario? Hmmm, not many I’d suspect…

I admit I’m not an expert and I can only comment as an Ordinary Aussie Woman…but where I live where this attitude and belief is prevalent, as is separation and divorce…and I too in the past went along with what my peers expected, and participated in the ‘normal’ adult relations, with not good results…

I thought that by going down this path that I could find LOVE…

But what the world doesn’t tell you is that God is LOVE and by not accepting His way and putting our fleshly desires first, we’re actually leaving the source of real love out of the relationship…

I would like to challenge you by suggesting that you can actually find out all you need to know about someone else, by spending quality time together and developing a firm foundation with friendship and respect, that will evolve into true love prior to marriage and sex…consummating a loving relationship with making love inside of marriage works because it’s God’s design J

An intimate relationship begun from fear and fleshly desires is not a good foundation…

Respect yourself and other human beings…none of us are property…use your brain and question the ‘norms’…seek God’s way!

Perhaps you need to recite…SEEK BEFORE YOU DIVE, rather than try before you buy…

Melanie :)