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Verified by Grace

Every time I think of you—and I think of you often!—I thank God for your lives of free and open access to God, given by Jesus. There’s no end to what has happened in you—it’s beyond speech, beyond knowledge. The evidence of Christ has been clearly verified in your lives. (I Corinthians 1:4-5)

Free and open access - wouldn't it be nice to have that type of access to everything we need in life? We could just walk into the bank and the manager would be right there to welcome us in, taking care of each of our needs. We could call the city buildings and there would be no phone trees to navigate through, or automated systems to push our buttons! I am so grateful for the free and open access I have to God - through the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus! No 'phone trees' or 'buttons to push' - no sense that anyone else matters more than me. How about you? Do you sense this free and open access you have with him? If you have said a grateful 'yes' to Jesus - you have it!

I would like us to focus on the next part of this passage - the 'no end to what has happened to you' part. Think on that one for just a bit and you will likely begin to succumb to the sense of God's grace extended not once, but time and time again until your life began to finally be set right in him. Grace has a way of overwhelming us when we begin to ponder the magnitude of it within our lives. Grace extended to not only forgive our past sins, but to deal with the lingering desires. Grace opened up to us so we could experience the settling peace of his presence within us. Grace that ushers us along, step by step, until we come out of what has had us bound and into what now lets us live free.

Beyond speech - beyond knowledge - this pretty much describes the work of Christ in our lives through grace. Our past is grace. Our present is grace. Our future is grace. Let that sink in a bit - there is no end to this work within us. There is no end to what has and is happening within our lives as Christ's love envelops us and his Spirit creates newness where only death existed. This is why Christianity is not a 'stagnant' or 'one-time' experience. It is a living and breathing existence with and in him. Evidence of his grace-filled work is there - we may not see it at first, but it is! Free in him. Alive in him. Verified by his grace. Let that be your thought today - "I am verified by grace". Just thinkin....
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