October 31, 2008

“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors.” James 1:2-3 The Message

How are you living in the open…?

Your new life is a gift. Grace is a gift … never quitting on you … never giving up on you … never running out on you. It is a Jesus gift … His life … His love … His indwelling. You will face obstacles … pressures … and  faith denying challenges in your life: maybe today. You also have been given a gift: the gift of the Holy Spirit living in you. God wants an intimate conversation with you today … an asking .. an accepting .. and a trusting conversation conceived in His unconditional accepting love for you. You once lived a colorless life … surface colors … fading colors. A new life in Christ is  Life in Jesus … Jesus in you is life in the open … true colors. Life lived imprisoned on the inside or outside is a life of “fading colors … surface colors … un-color. But God has told you that He is the One you long for today and tomorrow. It doesn’t matter if you are being tossed about on the outside. It doesn’t matter if you are drained on the inside. You can ask the Father for the gift of His life. Jesus is the only one who really knows about a life followed by envy and forced to live in the open. He allowed His body to be punched .. prodded … and exposed so you could walk out into the open in His life and His life through yours. It only takes a moment … ask!

“And don’t you think the Father who conceived you in love will give the Holy Spirit when you ask him.” Luke 11:13 The Message

Ken Chester: Grace Gripped is sent M-F to Followers of Jesus and friends of Priority One (P1F.org)