AMAZING GRACE

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.

I wonder how many of you hear this song and wonder how God could even love you let alone provide His wonderful Grace to you. It amazes me that God could or would love a wretch like me. But let me tell you, I know that He does love me. Not only that, I know He loves each and everyone of you also. And what a wonderful love it is. He doesn�t care about what you are, what you�ve done, what works you have done or will do. He only cares about you, the deep inside person that is you. Each of us has failed to meet God�s standards in one way or another. We just don�t have the ability to live as God instructed us to, but He loves each one of us in spite of these things, and with a Love that can not be matched. That Love is what Amazing Grace is all about.

I once was lost, but now I�m found, was blind, but now I see.

Think about it for a minute. Each of you knows many folks who are Christians. As you think about them, you know that they have something that you don�t. It�s not a physical thing that they have purchased, it�s not a job, or a country club. It�s not anything that you can put your finger on. You can�t see it, smell it, or touch it, yet it is very much there, and you know without question that whatever it is you would like to have it. Yes, just as I was lost once, you are now. As you look, you see that these friends have a happiness about them, along with a sense of peace seemingly regardless of the surrounding circumstances. They have an ability to understand things, have patience, a positive solid outlook on life that you don�t see in others no matter what their "success status" is. And even though you can see these things, you still can�t figure out why or how they came to be that way. Well my friend the only way to find out is to ask. Whether you ask yourself while your reading this, ask a friend who has "it", send an email, seek a pastor�s advise, or open the Bible, the only way is to first ask. Those, and only those, who seek God�s truth will find it. God tells us that for those who seek His truth, those that look will see, and those that listen will hear. But first you have to ask.

Grace taught my heart to fear, and Grace my fears relieved.
You know, I�ve never feared God in the sense that we here many tell us we should. I did have a very deep fear however. As I looked and listened, I found that God had such a deep love for me that He had done something that showed it, and I was terribly afraid that I would never be able to live up to that Love. Here was God�s love shown to me through Jesus Christ. He sent His son to live a life on earth, free of sin (something you and I are unable to do), then humiliated, and unfairly judged as guilty though He did nothing wrong. Then He allowed them to hang Jesus on a cross to die, in order that someday I would have the one chance to have my sins rectified, paid for, forgiven. God knew that I couldn�t live up to or obey His laws, and He loved me so much that He said ok, here is one thing that I know you can do. That one thing is as simple as believing, through faith, that Jesus Christ died for my personal sins, and rose to live again at His Father�s side until He comes again. God did not have to do any of this for us. He didn�t have to send Jesus, and certainly could have stopped the terrible things that were happening at any moment. But God Loves us, and because of this wonderful love for us, He wanted each of us to have that one opportunity to succeed. He wants us to be able to overcome all of the failures that we are unable to avoid because of our worldly selves. Through His one act, we are able to perform one act, and by belief, come to God through Jesus Christ and receive His Grace and Love, and be a part of Him and He a part of us forever. Yes, I had fear. My fear was that He loved me this much, and somehow I wouldn�t find out how to return it. I did find out, and today my fears , through Grace, are relieved.

Through this one event, I through my belief by faith, am able to obey God�s will and am able to return God's love for me. In return, I have His forgiveness, His Grace, His tremendous blessings, His complete presence, and His promise that I will live an everlasting life. I have already experienced my death on the cross with Jesus and have been reborn again. The old me is no longer. Just as Jesus died and came to life again, so have I, and I�ll never, ever have to fear or worry about death again.

How precious did that Grace appear the hour that I first believed.
I love this part of the song. It means so much to me. I get goose bumps every time I remember that first moment that I professed my belief in Jesus as my Savior. I was in a wonderful little church with "those friends that had something", and had been attending with my family on a regular basis for quite some time. Every Sunday, I would know that I believed, but like many of you, had those thoughts of "I have plenty of time, I can wait another week or two", or "what will others think of me if I become a Christian", or "how will I have any fun being a Christian" or any of the seemingly hundreds of other reasons that we all have come up with. Well, this particular Sunday, I overcame all of that. I knew I believed, and realized that it was just plain stupid not to let the world know. I took that first step towards the front, and I tell you the truth, I do not remember taking another step from there to the front. As I kneeled in prayer, I remember in my mind, looking up to God, opening my arms, and my heart, and receiving His wonderful Blessed gift of Grace and forgiveness. I finally knew what it was that my friends had, because I had it. It�s a tremendous feeling that the Grace of God brings into you as He fills you with all of His blessings. That was almost 30 years ago. During that time, I�ve let God, my family, and myself down many many times, but never once did I have even a flicker of doubt in my faith and belief that Jesus did in fact die for my sins. Through it all, God never left me. He was always there, day and night for me to pray to, to lean on, to protect me, and to lift me up when I was down. My faith grew daily, and I finally realized I had been trying to do everything my way and not His. Finally, at a very low point in my life, controlled by illness, and disgusted at my lack of accomplishment, I asked God lead me in what He wants me to do, because my way sure wasn't working. Well, God started to work at once. I still have the illness, (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), but through God, it does not control me, I control it. Instead of having to sleep 20 hours a day, I get up at 4:30, work a full time job, work at home, and keep going until 10 PM at night. Memory, confusion, and other factors are still problems, but I manage several intranet company sites, this site, have programmed in CGI/Perl, HTML, learned graphics programs, and much much more.

Today, I look forward every opportunity to serve God in any and every way that He will lead me. My life is filled with His grace, His blessings, His guidance, and His Love. I know a richness in life, a fullfillment, and a contentment that I never dreamed possible before.
Today, I can look back to that moment, and through the wisdom and knowledge that only life�s experience can give us, and understand just how precious it really was. I also can see very clearly that God does without any hesitation or limitations whatsoever, keep every promise that He makes.

Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I�m found, was blind, but now I see.

Yes God loves this wretch, and because I asked, He led me to His truth so that I could see, and never be lost again.

What about you? Have you asked yet? Have you looked, or listened to allow God the opportunity to show you His truth? Don�t you think it�s about time to find out what it�s all about? God will hear you and let you know. Wouldn�t it be terrible if you wait, and something were to happen so that the way you find the truth is standing before God, and Jesus having to say He doesn�t know you because you didn�t take the time to ask?

God loves you very much, and wants to be a part of your life and have you a part of His. Don�t wait my friend. Ask a friend, a pastor, write me an email, or open your Bible and start reading, but ask, right now.

I pray that God blesses and guides you in your search for His truth, and His wonderful Love.

John 3:16 - For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

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