Victim of Grace

To put into words an accurate description of this book that needs to be understandable...

 

First word that comes to mind? Graceful.

This book shares stories of grace from Robin Jones Gunn life as well as stories of grace from the bible that she has related to different stories of her own life. 

There is so much that can be learned in this book. Granted its full of stories but those stories are lessons waiting to be learned and applied.

There are a few chapters that stood out for me completely, even after I finished reading. 

One such chapter is chapter 6, Banner Word. This chapter stood out to me because I love to read, I enjoy writing and sharing. Something I share with Robin Jones Gunn. And after reading this chapter I have prayed for my own Banner Word. One that I can study and can learn from.

 Another chapter is chapter 4, A Blessing Inside the Obedience. This chapter stood out because I tend to have a problem being obedient at all times, especially when I can't see past the moment. And it has cost me/us dearly. There have also been times when I have seen the benefit that could come from being obedient and it has blessed me/us. 

There has been so much I learned from chapter 4. One thing that stood out for me was consistency and obedience sets us up for our blessing. The blessing may be months or years down the road but the blessing will come because we have served with obedience and consistency. Many times it is not always about do we want to do it but if we will be obedient and do it anyways.

One thing I am sure of is that my heart has went through a much needed washing. And I have a stronger resolve to see God's grace in everything and to be obedient in everything. My obedience and consistency is necessary not optional. 

You can find more on Robin Jones Gunn here.

{FYI: I received this book from the publisher, Zondervan, in exchange for an HONEST review. These are my heartfelt words.}

Judgment

As a person where do you stand?

Are you one who spectates and comments or are you one who realizes that what you see may not be all there is? Lately I have been observing quite a few things with people and one thing that seems to be prevalent is people having a religious spirit. What I mean by a religious spirit, is those people who feel that there are certain dos and don'ts of being a Christian and if any one does what they deem to be a don't, then that person is not a true Christian. 

Now of course there are some things that are not up for discussion among the actions of a Christian such as choice of lifestyle. For example, God, Himself, says homosexuality is an abomination and that has not changed. But then there are the things that fall in the "grey area" such as people who have gotten tattoos; different people believe different things. Yet at the end of the day what matters is that person's heart. If they have heart to please the Lord, then that's all that matters.

I address this because people think that Christians are going to be perfect, live perfect, and make perfect decisions. As if we don't stumble and have issues like everyone else.

Honestly we have issues like the next person and sometimes those issues are harder to handle because of the fact that we have given our lives to Christ. The attacks are stronger, the tests get harder, but they are all for God's glory. We are all supposed to spread the Gospel. Some people spread it differently than others. Some people do missions in other countries, some minister to the prostitutes and strippers. Others use music. The point is that each person has a God appointed route to share the Gospel even if its just at work or at school.

Everyone's walk is NOT the same. Your walk is NOT look like my walk, your process will not look like nor feel like my process. So how can I hold you to the same standards or try to judge you because you don't do things the way I think you should? I can NOT. I am NOT the Lord so I do NOT have a place to judge. I can come to you and try to help you if I see you stumble but no I cannot judge you, no one can. 

So my purpose in writing this is to encourage the next person, the new believer. So that they can see that all of God's children are not judgmental that we welcome them into this faith and are willing to help them along the way. There may be a time of correction but understand that this is to be done with LOVE and come from a place of LOVE. 

The next time you see someone struggling, do something to HELP them. Don't open your mouth unless its for uplifting and encouraging. 

Gossiping does nothing to help and is never done in LOVE. And the bible itself speaks on it  (See Ephesians 4:29, 1Timothy 5:13, Luke 6:31).

Whew....a little update

Hi Everyone! Sorry its been a little while since I last posted. I've been pretty busy. 

First with college, I am finishing my Bachelor's in Accounting online at Ashford University. The classes have gotten quite difficult and time consuming. On top of that my husband is in his second year at Ashford and I'm helping him with his classes as well.

Second, I recently got a job working outside the home at Krispy Kreme. It's of course not the best job and is down right tiring but it helps out our finances for the time being. 

{Honestly? I wish I could have found a decent paying job working from home but hey a job is a job.} 

So as far as reading and reviews are going. I have quite a few books coming soon. They include Prototype, Honest to God and Victim of Grace.

I hope to get at least 1 or 2 regular posts out sometime within the next month. 

I'm in learning season, so I'm not really heavily sharing. But please do tell me if there's anything you've learned this spring or anything you've learned from this blog. :-)