It’s Friday morning and the sky in Portland is grey and cloudy. But it’s beautiful. Layers and layers of clouds dropping heavy drops of cleansing water on the city to wash the streets and quench the trees and saturate us who walk from corner to corner. Today I’m reminded of what it’s like to be covered. To be clean. To be quenched and saturated and washed.
It’s overwhelming to stare at the expansive sky and see nothing but grey, wet clouds blanketing the city for miles in each direction. Where does it begin? When does it end? Does it ever stop?
Last week I decided to start vlogging again when I received an email from a reader in Florida who asked if I could address when grace becomes stupidity. You know, like when we can figure out where it begins, when it ends, and does it ever stop.
I immediately started researching our approach to grace in America and sadly realized I have no understanding of true grace. Yes, true grace. The kind that stretches across like a blanket from one corner of a city to another. The counter-cultural grace that cleanses and quenches and saturates us in an unending love and enveloping forgiveness.
THAT is the grace I wanted to talk about. Not the grace in a book or one isolated scripture I learned in vacation bible school.
I want honest grace.
I want real grace.
I want true grace.
I want to see grace, not just hear about it.
That’s when I remembered the amazing crew of POTSC. People of the Second Chance fully live out the idea of grace what it means to have a second chance. My vlog pails in comparison to this story because describing rain without being enveloped in it is like sitting at my desk in California and trying to tell you what Portland rain feels like. Be enveloped by the cleansing, quenching, saturating picture of true grace.
This is Emmanuel’s story. This is his true story.
God's over flowing grace and love leaves me speechless.
Wow, absolutely amazing. Is that organization a Christian one?
Grace…what is it? I believe for each one of us, we experience grace differently. Where no WHEN does Grace begin and where no WHEN does it end? I’ve asked myself that same question every day of my life. For me, Grace means that God wants me, as His own. He wants to use this useless lump of dried out clay and pour His waters on me and revive me and create in me, out of me, what He wants. I’m still under construction, but one day I’ll be perfected and complete. Grace, without grace, I’d be just dust.
Oh my god, this is unbelievable, it takes a lot to forgive someone, who did this. I don't know if I could…hope he can make his peace…
amazing…not only would it be hard to forgive someone who did it me…but what if you were on the otherside…not sure i could forgive myself…God is so amazing…
No words…this'll make you want to stop sinning. Amen…God your grace is not even understandable.
I agree that we are often guilty of adhering to the philosophy of "cheap grace" (the idea that I can do what I want because God will forgive me anyway). And this video is a very powerful reminder of true grace experienced from a genuine place of repentance.
But I also think it's extremely important to remember that our personal sin (whether it's murder or hate, adultery or lust, etc.) is just as terrible. In God's eyes, sin is sin. It is ony when we come face to face with the absolute terribleness of our own sin (and how much it grieves the Holy Spirit, and therefore how absolutely undeserving we are of His gift of grace through Christ) when we can experience the freedom of true grace, which is just as radically transforming, cleansing, and unending.
It didnt seem right that they could just switch the actors and not say anything about it..When I talk about grace I have to talk about Jesus. But it wouldnt be true..True grace the real kind that is free the real kind that comes without strings or expectation only Jesus can extend. So to talk for a month about grace and to leave out Jesus would be cheap.
It really got me when he said, "I cannot pay my debt," and realizing that my debt is as great as his. And I, too, am forgiven.
Real grace.
Sigh.
This is good, Bianca.
Bit of a Bible College cliche really, but I always hear people say:
Mercy-not getting what we deserve
Grace-getting what we don't deserve
Thinking of how sickeningly sinful and screwed up I am, it seems utterly ridiculous that the Creator of the Universe, the Almighty God, would want anything to do with me. But His grace-manifested through Christ-looks past me altogether and sees Jesus in me, representing me to the Father. Because of that, I can be used for His glory, I can be worth more than finest gold and all the treasures in the world. I can be exactly what I don't deserve to be.
Read Isaiah 62:1-4
"Hephzibah"-the Hebrew for "My delight is in her"
The Almighty God delights in you Bianca.
and lets face it, this video brings a whole new meaning to "amazing grace"
amazing video that definitely brought tears to my eyes. Amazing how great God's grace and forgiveness are for us but we are not as quick to offer it to others š Makes me sad. I so thoroughly enjoy reading your posts on Facebook and Twitter. Thank you for sharing God's truth and what it means to you! <3
Wow.
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