Sunday, March 30, 2008

Lifestyles Ideas Management - Stunned by Grace by Max Lucado

I’ve never been surprised by God’s judgment but I am still stunned by his grace. God’s judgment had never been a problem for me. In fact, it always seemed right. Lightning bolts on Sodom? Fire on Gomorrah? Good job, God. Egyptians swallowed in the Red Sea? They had it coming. Forty years of wandering to loosen the stiff necks of the Israelites? Would have done it myself Ananias and Sapphira? You bet.

Discipline is easy for me to swallow. Logical to assimilate. Manageable and appropriate. But God’s grace? Anything but Examples How much time do you have?

David the psalmist becomes David the voyeur, but by God’s grace becomes David the psalmist again.
Peter denied Christ before he preached Christ.
Zacchaeus, the crook. The cleanest part of his life was the money he’d laundered. But Jesus still had the time for him.
The thief on the cross; hell-bent and hung out to die one minute, heaven bound and smiling the next.
Story after story, prayer after prayer. Surprise after surprise.
Seems that God is looking more for ways to get us home than for ways to keep us out. I challenge you to find one soul who come to God seeking grace and did not find it. Search the pages. Read the stories. Envision the encounters. Find one person who came seeking a second chance and left with a stern lecture. I dare you. Search.
You won’t find it.