Grace in Ungracious Places
by Preston Gillham
While some of my struggles will not be your struggles, God's determination to share his heart with us in spite of the ungraciousness of life is the common denominator we share. (p. 11)
GRACE - God's Riches At Christ's Expense. (p. 15)
Grace is the passionate determination of God to share his heart with me. (p. 16)
Faith: confidence in God and his ability. Grace: God's determination to share his heart with us. (p. 25)
Faith says, "I believe." Trust says, "I believe in spite of the circumstances." Faith requires a willful decision and set jaw. Trust requires the same and adds a steadfast determination to walk forward regardless of the circumstances. Simply put, trust begins where faith ends and willfully enforces it in the face of the daily grinding and ungracious opposition of un-grace. Faith is a declaration. Trust is a determination. Faith is a statement of belief in God that is intended to bring focus to life. Trust is a statment of confidence in God in spite of being disillusioned with life - and perhaps even with God. Faith is a starting point, a port of departure. Trust is the course by which I sail through the heavy weather of life's storms. (p. 35)
God began to answer my prayers, not as I anticipated, but as he intended. (p. 38)
"You will never learn to trust God until your faith in God has been challenged." (p. 39)
There is no un-grace, no debacle of ungraciousness profound enough to shorten the reach of grace. There is no distance so great or darkness so deep that Father's light is dimmed. Nothing can separate us from the love of God (Rom. 8:38-39), not even the ungraciousness of failure. God doesn't erase failure. He doesn't fill the silence with angels singing. He doesn't extract us from the tribulation of the world. But he does declare unabashedly and without reservation that we are his. If he went to hell to get us in the first place, he will not allow failure to steal us away, sin to separate us from him, or embarrassment to loosen his grip on us. (p. 53)
Father accepts me, and loves me, and thinks the world of me because of who I am, not because of what I do or fail to do. (p. 54)
We must not blur the division between the Old and New Testaments. The pages you and I idly flip between the Old and New Testaments cost Jesus Christ his life. (p. 63)
Whatever God decides to do is anchored in grace. The fact is that God's ways are higher than yours or mine. Restated: There are many of God's actions that we are incapable of understanding. When we cannot find Father's had, we must trust his heart of grace. (p. 75)
How long has it been since you reminded yourself that there is nothing you can do that will make God accept you less? And how long since you've reflected on the fact that there is nothing you can do that will cause God to accept you more? How long since you've buckled down, focused on the truth, and determined to accept yourself as God does? God's acceptance isn't conditional or performance based. He declared us accepted in Christ (Rom. 15:7) and makes no provision for changing his mind. My acceptance is untarnished because it is based upon my identity in Christ. (p. 81)
Worry is fearing that God is not sufficient. (p. 86)
Fear assumes the absense of God. Fear is the belief that God either isn't there for you or that you are capable apart from God based upon your inventory of personal resources. (p. 97)
You can live in fear or you can live in perfect love. (p. 98)
Life, fundamentally and quite simply, is not about what I do, what I gain, who I know, or how I die. Life is about knowing Christ, walking with God, and allowing the Holy Spirit to guide me in fulfilling my role in the great tale of God come down to rescue a fallen, debauched people from the greatest evil the universe has ever known, while proposing a marriage of hearts, with the promise that we shall live happily ever after. (p. 137)
The fact is, sin is sin. Certainly different sins have different consequences, but sin has no value. Comparing your sins with another's to feel better about your failures is ungracious thinking, misses the point of grace, and demonstrates a lack of spiritual confidence. (p. 169)
Grace: Demonstrate it. Share it. Live it. Let yourself be caught up in it. Be astonished by it. Marvel at it. Take it into your soul and treasure it. Give it safe harbor in your heart. Fix your eyes on it. Set your mind upon it. Take hold of it and adopt it. Love it. Respond to it. Cherish it. March to its beat. Dance to its tune. Rally to its cry. Join in its shout. Advance upon its signal. Lock arms with it. Depend upon it. Find your security in it. Place your confidence in it. Let its extravagance exude from the pores of your smile, the gleam in your eye, and the warmth of your touch. (p. 173)
Grace is about God loving you as you are, not as you are supposed to be. (back cover)