Crouching Sin Hidden Dragon
Grace
You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.” (Genesis 4:7 NLT)
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. (Romans 3:23 NLT)
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 NLT)
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. (Ephesians 2:8, 9 NLT)
Grace- undeserved, unmerited favor of God
A mother in law who was getting ready to retire from her job wanted to take her entire family to Disneyland. Her son in law was adopted into her family by marriage & did absolutely nothing to earn or deserve to go. She worked hard for many years at this particular job yet she selflessly chose to share this gift that she sacrificed herself for & worked so hard for (for so long) with her family. Not because they earned it or worked for it or were entitled to it. But because she loved them. This is a living example of grace (:
"Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” - (Basiclly asking what are you doing here b/c I am demonic) - For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.) Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned. When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. - (They were probably afraid of their own demons being revealed) - So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. (Luke 8:26-39 ESV)
*Read entire Luke 8
*Also read Mark 4
A LESSON OF GRACE! They took a trip & when they get to the other side they are assaulted by a naked maniac. The disciples had to be in shock & probably hiding behind Jesus. Humanity did the best they could to manage the naked man & keep him from hurting himself (Mark 4) BUT that didn't FREE him. This man couldn't help himself. Humanities best attempts do not set you free but the bible says, whom the Son sets free is free in deed. Jesus enters the scene & then the man is sitting clothed in his right mind! This is a picture of us separated from Jesus. Worldly grace says I'll give you another chance. Godly grace says I'll give you a brand new life! Jesus says, your not worthy but I created you & your not worthless.
This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. (1 Timothy 1:15 NLT)
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— (Ephesians 2:4, 5 ESV)
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