Today is Friday, April 18th, 2008; Karen's Korner #1295

 
From Max Lucado's book "The GIFT for all people:  Thoughts on God's Great Grace:
 
Chapter titled "Grasping Grace":
 
"Lord, if it's you," Peter says "Tell me to come to you on the water" - Matthew 14:28.
 
Peter is not testing Jesus; he is pleading with Jesus.
 
Stepping onto a stormy sea is not a move of logic; it is a move of desperation. Peter grabs the edge of the boat. Throws out a leg........follows with the other. Several steps are taken. At the end of the ridge is the glowing face of a never-say-die friend.
 
We do the same, don't we? We come to Christ in an hour of deep need. We abandon the boat of good works. We realize, like Moses, that human strength won't save us. So we look to God in desperation. We realize, like Paul, that all the good works in the world are puny when laid before the Perfect One. We realize, like Peter, that spanning the gap between us and Jesus is a feat too great for our feet.
 
So we beg for help. Hear his voice. And step out in fear, hoping that our little faith will be enough.
 
Faith is not born at the negotiating table where we barter our gifts in exchange for God's goodness. Faith is not an award given to the most learned. It's not a prize given to the most disciplined. It's not a title bequeathed to the most religious.
 
Faith is a desperate dive out of the sinking boat of human effort and prayer that God will be there to pull us out of the water. The apostle Paul wrote about this kind of faith:
 
"For it is by grace you have been save, through faith---and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God----not by works, so that no one can boast" - Ephesians 2:8-9.
 
The supreme force in salvation is God's grace. Not our works. Not our talents. Not our feelings. Not our strength.
 
Grace is God's sudden, calming presence during the stormy seas of our lives. We hear his voice; we take the step. Why? Because we are great sinners and we need a great Savior.
 
We, like Peter, are aware of two facts:  We are going down and God is standing up. So we scramble out. We leave behind the Titanic of self-righteousness and stand on the solid path of God's grace.
 
And, surprisingly, we are able to walk on water. Death is disarmed. Failures are forgivable. Life has real purpose. And God is not only within sight, he is within reach.

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