Undeserving and Rightly So!

Good morning on this autumn day! A devotional message I read this morning asks what or how do you and I feel when accepting the love of God? I will answer that one; I feel undeserving and rightly so! As God has made me more aware through the years of His training of that sinfulness that lurks in the animal and diabolical parts of this Christian, I rightly feel undeserving of His great love as shown in Christ. Yet, God did not base His decision to love us on how we feel.

Long before we were born on this Earth, God sent His Son to save us. Jesus told parables about the kingdom of Heaven in that time. He often started with, "The kingdom of heaven is like..." Throughout the ministries of my youth, that was taken to mean: This is what you should be like and you are not! In other words, a stick to be beaten down with, and for quite some time I was indeed beaten well down. Yes, we should strive to be like Christ, but Jesus said to us what the kingdom of Heaven was doing to save us. You, pearl beyond price, Jesus gave all to purchase on the cross.

Jesus was that tiny mustard seed planted in the field of a big world. Read the kingdom of heaven parables in Matthew again. As you read each one, know that Jesus was telling of Himself and what He was doing in the world. Jesus planted the good seed and weeds were sown by another. Jesus gave all to purchase you and me. Jesus wanted to settle accounts with His servants, but they weren't ready for that final settlement. Therefore, Jesus paid the full price to redeem us all. We owed an amount that we could not pay, so Jesus forgave us. Jesus is the bridegroom and He is coming!

Of course I don't deserve His grace; if I deserved it, it wouldn't be grace!

In God's amazing grace,
Bucky