Thankful Thursday--Only Grace

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” ~ Romans 5:1-2

When I think of the word "grace", I am reminded of how God loves me, sometimes in spite of myself.

I have written before about how I was such an angry and bitter person before Christ came into my life. Now, I want to tell you about a missionary rally that was held at my church last summer, a rally in which I was invited to participate.

We had what were called "flash card testimonies". On one side of the card were one or two words which described how you were before you knew Christ and on the other side were words describing the changes in you after you knew Christ.

I thought and prayed about what to put on my card, talked with others who knew me about this. After much deliberation, I had the words "Angry" and "Bitter" on my before side, and "Peaceful" and "Calm" on my after side.

How did I come to be this calm and peaceful person? Only through God's grace!!

So, here is my thankful list for today:

• I am thankful for God's grace in my life, His changing me from the person I was to the person I am today.
• I am thankful that God is not going to leave me this way--He is going to work in me and through me to continue to make changes in my life in my pursuit of holiness.
• I am thankful for my friend, Linda, for obeying what God had pressed upon her heart, planting the seeds, watering the soil, and standing by me in my "transition time" until I fully came to Christ.
• I am thankful that God uses me everyday and makes me aware of opportunities to share His love and grace with others.
• I am thankful that through God's grace to me that I have learned to extend grace to others.
  
• Most of all, I am thankful for Jesus, for giving up His life for me so that I can spend an eternity with Him.

"Only Grace" by Matthew West
From the album "History"

There is no guilt here
There is no shame
No pointing fingers
There is no blame
What happened yesterday...has disappeared
The dirt has washed away
And now it's clear

There's only grace
There's only love
There's only mercy and believe me it's enough
Your sins are gone
Without a trace
And there's nothing left now
There's only grace

You're starting over now
Under the sun
You're stepping forward now
A new life has begun
Your new life has begun

An' there's only grace
There's only love
There's only mercy and believe me...it's enough
Your sins are gone
Without a trace
And there's nothing left now
There's only grace...

And if you should fall again
Get back up, get back up
Reach out and take my hand
Get back up, get back up
Get back up again
Ohh...get...back...up...again...

There's only grace...
There's only love...
There's only mercy and believe me it's enough...it's enough
Your sins are gone
Without a trace
And there's nothing left now
There's only...there's only...grace...

There's only mercy and believe me it's enough...it's enough
Your sins are gone
Without a trace
And there's nothing left now
There's only...grace......
So get back up...get back up again...
Get back up again.