Amazing Grace

My high for the week: I got the book I ordered in the mail. 101 Hymn Stories: Inspiring, factual backgrounds and experiences that prompted the writing of 101 favorite hymns. I'm not sure where my growing obsession with hymns comes from. Many people my age grew up with them in their small-town churches, and even in many cities. It seems like just recently many popular churches have turned to praise songs. I have nothing against praise songs. In fact, I use them as a learning tool along with older traditional hymns.

About two weeks ago I went to my regular church in Topeka. By regular I mean the church I've found and felt I've begun to become apart of thanks to a few good friends. The band played a praise song by Matt Redman called "Nothing but the Blood," and they also played a contemporary version of the old hymn "Nothing but the Blood." The night before church I was talking to a friend about how amazing God's grace is and how we grow through it and grow through our mistakes because of His grace. It's amazing! Everyone who goes to church learns about it in Sunday school, but do we really understand how deep God's grace really is? It took a night of many epiphanies to realize what God was talking about. It is so hard to comprehend what Jesus did for us by dying on the cross. When the band played "Nothing but the Blood" in church it just broke me. I spent the next week studying about God's grace, and I found so many amazing things.


"Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same things when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

'Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.'"

Romans 4:4-8 (NIV)

Nothing we do will save us. It is only by God's works that we are saved. We can do good deeds, but without the grace of God we would never grow and we would not be saved. Because of God's grace we grow towards Him, we grow personally, and we grow stronger and deeper relationships with our friends and family. I've discovered some of these relationships recently and it's been an amazing ride!

Low for the week: I was trying to talk to a friend about my experiences with God's grace, which is part of the reason I wanted to start a blog. It wasn't taken in very well. I felt like I might have done more harm than good. I was given this lesson for a reason though. I need to share it with people no matter how they react.

Discoveries: Green tea and 101 Hymn Stories by Kenneth W. Osbeck. They go well together. Green tea is just very calming and I like to drink it to get focused. I've also discovered that is makes the drinker very regular!