It's Only By His Grace

As I was in the kitchen this morning washing dishes and doing a lil cleaning before I take off for the gym, I take notice of the stories being reported on the news.  Wow...from a 19 year old girl who ran over a pedestrian and kept going trying to elude the police, flipped her car and now is in the hospital.  She is believed to have been drinking.  A man shot by a deputy while he was stabbing a woman that he had forced inside of his car.  The lady who crashed into a gas station with her child in the car.  She wasn't even suppose to have the child.... to a man who ran over a 15 mth old baby and kept going, dragging the baby down the street.  Shootings, fights, drugs, robberies.........just one thing after the next.

My normal response to crazy stuff I hear on the news is, "I can't believe that" or "What's wrong with people today"? or "These people must be crazy".  Before a thought could fully form this morning I was checked by the Holy Spirit who reminded me that it's only by His grace and mercy that I'm not on the news or haven't been on the news for anything negative.  My mind immediately went back to all of the bad choices that could have landed me on the news, in jail or in the cemetery, but God's grace.........wow....tears forming in my eyes now as I think of the goodnesss of Jesus and all that He's done for me, my soul cries out Hallelujah, thank God for saving ME!

We can never get so besides ourselves and look down on others or think we're so much better than the next person.  Just because you didn't drink, don't mean cussing was ok.  Just because you didn't sleep with somebody's spouse, don't mean fornicating was ok.  Just because you didn't kill or steal, doesn't mean lying was ok........we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.  We've all made bad choices and did or said something that was outside of God's will.  One thing is sure, God always have us on His mind.  What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?  (Psalm 8:4) While we were yet sinners Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) If it had not been for the Lord on our side.... (Psalm 124) 

And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. 2 Cor. 12:9

I don't care what you did yesterday, His grace is sufficient.  No matter how weak you are in certain areas of your life, His strength is made perfect in your weakness.  I remember being in 20's, trying to live right, trying to live by God's word, but I had strongholds. I was bound by sin, bound by what people thought about me and bound by my perception of myself.  When I wanted to do right sin was present.  I would go to church and experience the power of God, the power of His Word and the power of His delivering anointing.  I would yell, scream, cry and roll all over the floor, asking God to deliver me.  I wanted to be set-free from people, set-free from me and set-free from sin.  My heart was right, I wanted to be DELIVERED and SET-FREE, but something happened from the time I got up off the floor and the next week.  I would find myself fighting those same demons, couldn't get past the thoughts of being by myself, no friends and feeling insignificant without purpose.  What I came to realize is that I was being delivered, but I was allowing the Holy Spirit to SET me FREE! But one day, God got a hold of me!  This time when I got off of the floor I was a new person.  I wasn't Londa, I was Yolanda.  A transformation had taken place and I knew that the chains were broken and I was FREE.  I didn't care what people said anymore.  I didn't try to hang on to friends anymore, who really didn't care about me anyway.  I wasn't trying to please anyone or be somebody that I wasn't.  I was finally ok with who I was and decided that God had more for my life than what I was experiencing.  It was time to LIVE.

I said all of that to say, God's grace is sufficient for you!  You can be free if you really want to be free.  Yeah, you'll have to make some tough decisions and disconnect yourself from certain people, but the question is: Do you want God's purpose or do you want people?  When you pursue purpose it will bring the right people in your life, but when you pursue people, you will never see your purpose manifested.  Check your circle.  If the people in your circle aren't adding to your life, bringing hope, encouragement and empowerment, then you're in the wrong circle.  To get what you never had, you must do what you've never done.  Even if this means being alone, not lonely, but alone.  This decision may require just you & God and you must be OK with that. 

I challenge you today to really give thought to where you would be if God had pulled back His hand of GRACE and His hand of MERCY.  Just that thought alone should empower you to get up everyday with PURPOSE on your mind.  When I want to stop, shut-down and lock myself in my room, PURPOSE says, Get-up!  Purpose tells me that I don't have the right to sit down, give-up or give-in.  Purpose tells me that my life is not my own.  Purpose tells me that God has invested too much in me to allow the enemy to steal my gifts! Purpose tells me that there are people all over this Nation that I've been assigned to and my life is not my own.

So, I'm here to tell you today, God has invested too much in you for you to think defeated or live defeated.  If it's only by His grace that you're here now, it's only by His grace that you'll see tomorrow.  Therefore, don't wallow in self-pity, get-up.  God is saying, Rise-up and LIVE!

Have a Powerful day of Reflection as you prepare yourself to move Forward!
Remeber, life doesn't offer Do-overs, but there is a RE-START button, PUSH IT!


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