Forgiven to be Livin' for Grace

Grace doesn't just pardon me, it changes me.

"Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God's energy, an energy deep within you, God Himself willing and working at what will give Him the most pleasure." Phil. 2:12-13 MSG

Do you like Spring?

Allergies aside, and second only to Fall, I love Spring!

Our family recently spent a day at Callaway Gardens, GA over Spring Break. Everything it seemed was in full bloom! 

April's colors were bursting everywhere like fireworks, their sweet aromas besting the pungent smells of gunpowder and sulphur by a million degrees of pleasant.

This annual explosion of life excites me!  Dormancy and death give way to an unseen power. The old falls away like the shell of a rocket speeding towards orbit. 

Life will have its moment once again!

Nowhere is this metamorphosis more notable than in the Garden's Butterfly House. 

On display for all to see, paper maché-like shells hang by a thread, dry and still. Different shapes and sizes, these cocoons start splitting open as beautifully delicate, detailed creatures emerge.  What a fascinating process!

What once was, has transformed into something new. 

While I can tell you the moment I first heard God's voice, I cannot identify exactly when I first believed that Jesus was who the Bible said he was. But I did and I still am! It was and is a process of leaving old thoughts, patterns and habits behind in exchange for new ones.

Grace can be like that, starting small and unseen yet growing, pushing deeper, upwards all at the same time until emerging a tender shoot before maturing into a bountiful, fruit-bearing organism in time.

We might call this spiritual transformation process, discipleship.

Ah, discipleship. An oftentimes forgotten or clumsy word with too many different or even unrealistic meanings for us to take it seriously let alone know how to apply it.

But what if everything we do, say, think and feel were actually a part of this Grace process? What if Grace is to be transforming every part of our lives, every moment, every day fulfilling Grace's purpose in and through us?

What do you think? How is Grace transforming you?