Renewed Perspective

Yesterday our church youth group hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for our entire church family and the local mission folks.  The people at the mission are those, often far from home, family and friends, who are there to overcome addiction to either drugs, alcohol or both.

It's always amazing to see how God works.  I know the youth group hosted this event as an outreach to bless the people at the mission.  But, in turn, God used it to bless our entire church family as well.  I was especially blessed to get to sit and visit with the three gals at my table, in addition to hearing three residents share their testimonies and later many others share their heart of gratitude.

These people "get it".  They get just how blessed they are...to be safe, to be saved, to be free from the power of sin and hell, to just be alive.  Unlike many people who sit in a pew their whole life, they know that it's not by their good works that they are saved.  They know they're not good enough.  They know just how much they've been forgiven.  They know how bad it could be and how special it is to walk in His presence.

Through them, my own perspective was renewed.  I was reminded of just how gracious our LORD is!  That there is nothing that can separate me from His love, but also, there is nothing I can do to earn it.  I have been redeemed and set free only by His abundant grace and mercy.

Each of us have a story.  Although mine looks different from theirs, and yours, we're not all that different.  We all have something in common.  We're all broken. We're all sinners.  We are all in need of a Savior!  And our purpose in this life is to glorify God.

I think all of us need a reminder sometimes.

Let's stop for a while today to thank God today for His amazing grace!