2 Corinthians 1:12

“For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.”

Our testimony only exists by the grace of God, we are only saved by the grace of God, the grace of God is so evident in our lives, but I’ve never really taken time to understand what that really means. His grace is undeserved, we have literally done nothing and will never be able to do anything to earn it. That’s the point of His grace that is FREELY given to us. Every time I think of His grace and how much we don’t deserve it, but get it anyway astounds me. We aren’t driven by the seemingly wise words of the world, but are driven by the words of God and Him who gives freely and carries us so we can finish the work He starts in us. He gives us His grace so that we can glorify Him and boast in what He does in our lives, because we can’t do anything but God can do anything through us when we faithfully follow Him. We will mess up because our flesh without God is weak, but with God we are made strong and can endure through the fire even though we feel like we might melt beneath the heat. He brings us to the point where we can’t take it, but with His grace and mercy we are completely dependent on Him to carry us to the finish line. The world doesn’t understand why we flow against the stream and why we don’t listen to what it tells us. We know, as Christ followers, that life is hard no matter what, but with God carrying us, we can endure anything. People can look on our lives in a time where everything is going wrong and, if we are walking hand in hand with God enduring the heat, see Christ in our lives getting us through. There are so many situations where I can’t do it at all, I’m not strong enough, but God can which makes me completely dependent on Him in all things. I want to do this everyday, lay down everything I know, hands open, understanding that I’m not strong enough and let God take control. God is teaching me and showing me that I would rather be in the fire with Him, than outside of it without Him. My life is meaningless without Christ, He gives me a call and a purpose and an identity in Him that I want to follow with all of my heart. The crazy thing is that I’ve done everything to not deserve it, He has no reason to not just leave me hanging, but He gives grace and mercy to those who desire Him and block out what the world is telling us. It doesn’t matter if I mess up more than once, He is still there with open arms waiting for me to run to Him. My application is to ask three people what God is doing in their lives and what the biggest thing He has revealed to them is.