A gift of GRACE...

Sometimes we carry things from our past that weigh us down…that keep us boxed in…that keep us from living fully in certain areas.  And the Lord would say to each of us…bring it to me, I'm the only One who can free you of that burden you carry.  That burden you drag with you where ever you go, into every relationship, every situation…you hold it so tightly that it has become more a part of you than it ever was.  And your enemy satan, cheers you on as you continue your journey with this weighty burden, he encourages you to continue carrying it, he wants you to because he knows if you ever let it go, you'd be so free and he wants you in bondage.  He wants your hands…your heart filled with things that keep you stuck, that keep you from living fully for God.  

But what if you brought it to the foot of the cross, left it in the one place where it could be freely taken from you and you would be given your freedom instead…why wouldn't a person go there…why would one continue to carry this burden when they could have freedom…no bondage…no ties…no condemnation…freely given GRACE…

At the beginning of August when my husband and I spent a few days at his sister's cottage a storm blew through one night.  The next day I walked down to the beach to watch the powerful waves wash into shore, pounding on that beach.  So powerful, yet beautiful to watch.  

As I was walking back to the cottage I noticed a baby mourning dove on the lawn…it was dead…blown out of it's nest in the night, not surviving it's fall…this saddened me.  Up above I could hear the mother cooing in that mournful sound…

Later my husband and I went for a walk, as we headed down the steps my husband noticed another baby mourning dove sitting huddled by some rocks I had placed on the steps the day before.  This little mourning dove huddled and afraid, what could I do, there was really not much I could do.  We left the baby there and went for our walk, me trying to decide what to do with that little bird when I got back…wishing I had never seen it because than I wouldn't have to feel so bad for it.  Don't you find that there are some things in life you'd rather not see, rather not know about because if you know about them then you have to do something…

About twenty minutes later we came back from our walk, I looked for the little bird and it was gone…maybe it's mother had come down and walked it somewhere safe and hidden since it couldn't fly.  This was my hope for the little guy.

That afternoon we packed a lunch and went for a drive, it was a beautiful afternoon.  It was nice to check out the area, the farms and all those wind turbines…most people aren't too fond of them but I thought they looked kind of beautiful standing so tall with the blades slowly turning in the wind against the blue sky.

When we came home later in the afternoon I went out on the back deck to read some more of the book I was trying to finish.  I heard a mourning dove cooing and I looked in the garden and there was the mother and it's baby, I was happy to see them, knowing that the baby was still alive and with it's mom.

I must have startled them and the mom flew up into the big maple tree calling to it's baby.  I sat and watched as the mother continued to call and the baby made it's way to the trunk of the tree.  There was no way that baby was making it up the tree, it just circled around the trunk as it's mom continued to coo.  Later the mom swooped down and they must have disappeared into the bushes beside the cottage.  

As I watched this mama bird with her baby what came to mind was God's love for me…God's love for each of His children.  He who left the glories of heaven to enter into a sinful and broken world, to walk among the human race, to feel pain, to know torment.  Seeing that baby bird walk at the base of that huge maple, not being able to fly, not being able to climb and seeing it's mama fly down was such a picture of God coming down to rescue me…to rescue you.  My sin kept me where I was…separated from Him.  So He made a way, He came to me…to you.  He knew we could never reach Him, that the separation was too great and so He sent His Son to rescue us.

So has He been calling to you?  Have you heard of how much He loves you?  Do you know that He sees you in a sea of billions.  

Do you understand the price He paid?  He left the glories of heaven, He had everything and He left it all to be among us…a broken and sinful human race.  

And so I walk around with this burden that I carry, this weight, this bag of past sin that I think is too big for Him to take from me.  This disappointment in myself because I should have known better…I shouldn't have gone down that road…that road of destruction.  Yet He came down to me, to take this burden from me so why…why do I hang onto it so tightly…why can't I release it.  Would I not want freedom if it was offered to me and all I had to do was lay this burden down, let Him take it and walk on in GRACE…a gift freely given, not deserved but given anyway.  And so today I choose to walk forward, to lay down this burden at the foot of the cross and walk away a free woman saved by GRACE…How about you…lay that burden down accept that beautiful gift of GRACE and walk on in freedom...

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."  Ephesians 2: 8, 9