THANKS FOR VISITING! GOD BLESS YOU!
I was walking down life's highway a long time ago. One day I saw a sign that read, "HEAVEN'S GROCERY STORE". As I got a little closer the door came open wide, and when I came to myself I was standing inside. I saw a host of ANGELS. They were standing everywhere. One handed me a basket and said, "My Child shop with care".
Everything a Christian needed was in that grocery store. And all you couldn't carry, you could come back the next day for more. First, I got some PATIENCE: LOVE was in the same row. Further down was UNDERSTANDING: you need that everywhere you go. I got a box or two of WISDOM, a bag or two of FAITH. I just couldn't miss the HOLY GHOST, for it was all over the place. I stopped to get some STRENGTH and COURAGE to help me run this race. By then my basket was getting full, but I remembered I needed some GRACE. I didn't forget SALVATION, for SALVATION was free, so I tried to get enough of that to save both you and me. Then I started up to the counter to pay my grocery bill, for I thought I had everything to do the MASTER'S will.
As I went up the aisle, I saw PRAYER: and I just had to put that in, for I knew when I stepped outside, I would run into sin. PEACE AND JOY were plentiful; they were last on the shelf. SONG and PRAISE were hanging near, so I just helped myself. Then I said to the angel, "Now, how much do I owe?" He smiled and said, "Just take them everywhere you go." Again I smiled and said, "How much do I really owe?" He smiled again and said, "MY CHILD, JESUS PAID YOUR BILL A LONG, LONG TIME AGO." "AND WHATEVER YOU ASK FOR IN PRAYER, HAVING FAITH AND [REALLY] BELIEVING, YOU WILL RECEIVE." (Matthew 21.22)
A man dies and goes to heaven. Of course, St. Peter meets him at the pearly gates. St. Peter says, "Here's how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you've done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in."
"Okay," the man says, "I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart."
"That's wonderful," says St. Peter, "that's worth three points!"
"Three points?" he says. "Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service."
"Terrific!" says St. Peter, "that's certainly worth a point."
"One point? Golly. How about this: I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans."
"Fantastic, that's good for two more points," he says.
"TWO POINTS!!" the man cries, "At this rate the only way I get into heaven is by the grace of God thru the blood of Jesus in Calvary!"
"That's right! Now you have got it!" said St. Peter.
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8For it is by FREE GRACE (God's unmerited
favor) THAT YOU ARE SAVED (delivered from judgment and
made partakers of Christ's salvation) THROUGH [YOUR]
FAITH. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your
own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it
is the gift of God; 9NOT BECAUSE OF WORKS [not
the fulfillment of the Law's demands], lest any man
should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can
possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take
glory to himself.] - Ephesians 2.8-9
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THANKS FOR VISITING! GOD BLESS YOU!
