grace

You see, at the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics; in physical laws every action is met by an equal or an opposite one. It's clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe. I'm absolutely sure of it. And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that "as you reap, so you will sow" stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I've done a lot of stupid stuff. But I'd be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge. I'd be in deep s---. It doesn't excuse my mistakes, but I'm holding out for Grace. I'm holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don't have to depend on my own religiosity

Grace is the seed of glory, the dawning of glory in the heart, and therefore grace is the earnest of the future inheritance.

How we fall into grace. You can't work or earn your way into it. You just fall. It lies below, it lies beyond. It comes to you, unbidden.

Virtue and genuine graces in themselves speak what no words can utter.

There is in true grace an infinite circle: a man by thirsting receives, and receiving thirsts for more.

When asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same: If you look at the science about what is happening on earth and aren__ pessimistic, you don__ understand data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren__ optimistic, you haven__ got a pulse. What I see everywhere in the world are ordinary people willing to confront despair, power, and incalculable odds in order to restore some semblance of grace, justice, and beauty to this world.

You're not going to die," I told her, lifting my head to look at her. "I'm not done writing songs about you yet.

The LAW points you to self-efforts. GRACE points you to the finished work of Jesus Christ.

You are so weak. Give up to grace.The ocean takes care of each wave till it gets to shore.You need more help than you know.

Sam came around the back of the car and stopped dead when he saw me. "Oh my God, what is that?"I used my thumb and middle finger to flick the multicoloured pom-pom on top of my head. "In my language, we call it a hat. It keeps my ears warm.""Oh my God," Sam said again, and closed the distance between us. He cupped my face in his hands and studied me. "It's horribly cute." He kissed me, looked at the hat, and then he kissed me again.

The gospel of grace nullifies our adulation of televangelists, charismatic superstars, and local church heroes. It obliterates the two-class citizenship theory operative in many American churches. For grace proclaims the awesome truth that all is gift. All that is good is ours, not by right, but by the sheer bounty of a gracious God.

Speaking the words he had been taught, directing them no longer upward but to the earth on which he knelt, he prayed: 'For what we are about to receive make us truly thankful.' ... he... felt his heart suddenly flow over with thankfulness... like a gush of warm water... All that remains is to live here quietly for the rest of my life, eating food that my own labour has made the earth to yield. All that remains is to be a tender of the soil.

When you GIVE under __ompulsion_ or __rudgingly_ you are giving under the LAW of giving and NOT the GRACE given for giving. God loves a cheerful (thankful) giver, which is giving under GRACE. 2 Cor 9:7

The ingenerating of a principle of grace in the soul seems in Scripture to be compared to the conceiving of Christ in the womb... And the conception of Christ in the womb of the blessed virgin by the power of the Holy Ghost, seems to be a designed resemblance of the conception of Christ in the soul of a believer by the power of the same Holy Ghost.

I mean, we don__ have to worry about it until winter, anyway,_ she said. __ was just wondering if you felt cured.__ didn__ know what to tell her. I didn__ feel cured. I felt like what Cole said __lmost cured. A war survivor with a phantom limb. I still felt that wolf that I__ been: living in my cells, sleeping uneasily, waiting to be coaxed out by weather or a rush of adrenaline or a needle in my veins. I didn__ know if that was real or suggested. I didn__ know if one day I would feel secure in my skin, taking my human body for granted.__ou look cured,_ Grace said. Just her face was visible at the end of the shower curtain, looking in at me. She grinned and I yelled. Grace reached in just far enough to shut off the tap.____ afraid,_ she said, whipping the shower curtain open all the way and presenting me with my towel, __his is the sort of thing you__l have to put up with in your old age._ I stood there, dripping, feeling utterly ridiculous, Grace standing opposite, smiling with her challenge. There was nothing for it but to get over the awkwardness. Instead of taking the towel, I took her chin with my wet fingers and kissed her. Water from my hair ran down my cheeks and onto our lips. I was getting her shirt all wet, but she didn__ seem to mind. A lifetime of this seemed rather appealing. I said gallantly, __hat better be a promise.

Some changes occur suddenly like a brilliant flash of lightning striking across a dark sky. These changes are stunning, exciting but can be quickly forgotten. Other changes happen slowly, gradually, like a flower blooming in early spring, each day unfurling its petals another fraction of an inch towards the warm, nurturing sun. These changes are as inevitable as nature running its course; they__e meant to be.

The law provides expert diagnosis of our sin problem, which is absolutely essential. But the law does not provide the cure to our sin problem. Only Jesus can save us from our sin problem.

By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.