September 3, 2010
“And so here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ. My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along. Through followers of Jesus like yourselves gathered in churches, this extraordinary plan of God is becoming known and talked about even among the angels.” Ephesians 3:8-10 The Message
Jesus: The Inexhaustible One (Part 2 of The JesusLife)
When Jesus looks at your life .. He sees how deep His love can reach and heal your inside life .. He sees how wide His forgiveness can reach through your outside life .. He sees how far His wholeness can reach into your broken places .. and He sees how generous your life will become through the Cross. The only real explanation of a Christ-Follower’s life is Christ. Without Him .. your life is a puzzle of parts that never fit comfortably within your skin. The “inexhaustible” riches of Christ are scattered all over this planet through lives just like yours today. Your task is to simply live it out in the open .. sometimes very visibly and sometimes seen by no one but the Inexhaustible One who generously (without reservation) gave His life .. so that you could be set free from all the addictive patterns and people who would deny you a Life whole and free in Christ. All of the inexhaustible riches and generosities of Christ are yours today .. to give generously to others .. to share freely .. to love fully .. to laugh .. to listen .. to just be “normal” in this abnormal world. When others ask you .. and they will .. maybe you can explain it … maybe you can’t. But you can take a deep breath and exhale the currency of God’s grace .. the real and rich freedom of being alive in Christ. It doesn’t mean you have your life all together. (In fact: you may be a mess inside and out .. you may feel like you can’t take another step .. you may have no idea what the day holds) But you can join an old Christ-Follower who discovered that His everyday life began and ended in the risen life of Jesus. You can know this: You won’t exhaust Christ’s redeeming and restoring love that is yours today. It only takes a moment …
“For my part, I am going to boast of nothing but the Cross of our Master, Jesus Christ. Because of that Cross, I have been crucified in relation to the world, set free from the stifling atmosphere of pleasing others and fitting into the little patterns that they dictate.” Galatians 6:14 The Message
Ken Chester: Grace-Gripped is sent M-F to the “Foolish Fellowship of Cross Boasters” and friends of Priority One (ken@priorityone.org)
