I try to empty my “spam” email folder every couple of days so that I can look for real emails that may
have been put in that category. I’m amazed at all the stuff that, according to various emails, I have won.
One day I won a Craftsman generator, two Ninja blenders, a $500 gift card, two cell phones, a Dyson
vacuum cleaner, a cookware set, and $1000 in cash. Not too shabby, huh?
Of course, all the emails were fake; hoping my desire for free stuff would allow them to cheat me out of
something. I wondered how people could actually fall for scams like those. I came to the conclusion
that, indeed, the desire for free stuff can be tempting. We like free stuff, don’t we? The thing is, at our
core, we know that nothing is truly free. Well…almost nothing.
Some of us attended a “Senior Adult Singin’” in Leeds a couple of weeks ago (we had a great time and I
wish more could have gone) and there was a lot of congregational singing of older hymns. One that we
sang drew a wonderful response from those present. It was “Amazing Grace”. That’s a great song, isn’t
it? I have seen it referred to as the “Christian Anthem”… and why not? Grace is the unmerited favor
from God and it is the main thing that separates Christianity from the other religions. And the main
aspect of grace is that it is free; absolutely free. Otherwise it wouldn’t be grace.
You cannot earn grace nor can you buy grace. Yet it is the only thing that makes it possible for an
unrighteous person to have a relationship with a righteous God. So many religions are founded on the
thought and belief that a person must somehow earn God’s love and work for His fellowship. Not so!
His grace…and only His grace…makes that possible. “‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear and grace
my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed”.
God’s grace is absolutely free. God is waiting with open arms for the repentant sinner to accept it. It
opens the door for forgiveness and makes possible a relationship with the God of the universe. There is
a verse in that song that we rarely sing but it says “The Lord has promised good to me, His word my
hope secures; He will my shield and portion be, as long as life endures”. Works and/or deeds do not
make that possible. Grace makes that possible. Thank you, God, for that free amazing grace!
Say good things about you Savior and about His church here on the Bluff.
have been put in that category. I’m amazed at all the stuff that, according to various emails, I have won.
One day I won a Craftsman generator, two Ninja blenders, a $500 gift card, two cell phones, a Dyson
vacuum cleaner, a cookware set, and $1000 in cash. Not too shabby, huh?
Of course, all the emails were fake; hoping my desire for free stuff would allow them to cheat me out of
something. I wondered how people could actually fall for scams like those. I came to the conclusion
that, indeed, the desire for free stuff can be tempting. We like free stuff, don’t we? The thing is, at our
core, we know that nothing is truly free. Well…almost nothing.
Some of us attended a “Senior Adult Singin’” in Leeds a couple of weeks ago (we had a great time and I
wish more could have gone) and there was a lot of congregational singing of older hymns. One that we
sang drew a wonderful response from those present. It was “Amazing Grace”. That’s a great song, isn’t
it? I have seen it referred to as the “Christian Anthem”… and why not? Grace is the unmerited favor
from God and it is the main thing that separates Christianity from the other religions. And the main
aspect of grace is that it is free; absolutely free. Otherwise it wouldn’t be grace.
You cannot earn grace nor can you buy grace. Yet it is the only thing that makes it possible for an
unrighteous person to have a relationship with a righteous God. So many religions are founded on the
thought and belief that a person must somehow earn God’s love and work for His fellowship. Not so!
His grace…and only His grace…makes that possible. “‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear and grace
my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed”.
God’s grace is absolutely free. God is waiting with open arms for the repentant sinner to accept it. It
opens the door for forgiveness and makes possible a relationship with the God of the universe. There is
a verse in that song that we rarely sing but it says “The Lord has promised good to me, His word my
hope secures; He will my shield and portion be, as long as life endures”. Works and/or deeds do not
make that possible. Grace makes that possible. Thank you, God, for that free amazing grace!
Say good things about you Savior and about His church here on the Bluff.