“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

I am deeply aware of how flawed I am.

I am also deeply aware of how much my God loves me. He doesn’t cast me off when I’m not up to par. He doesn’t turn me away when I’m lazy or fail to be a good homemaker. He doesn’t send me back to the “orphanage” when I do something bad. He doesn’t heap condemnation on me when year after year I still don’t have “it” together.  He is my Father and I am His daughter, and He never gives up on me.

And He will never give on you.

Push into Him and the Hope that He offers. He sits on a throne of grace.

He will never leave you or forsake you if you are His child, and you can never lose His love.

I am a mess, and my heart is so ugly sometimes, but God makes me beautiful because of Jesus’ sake. He loves me and redeems my heart. I will not listen to the lies of condemnation that come from the enemy, because in Him, I have been forgiven and set free. I will daily submit my fallen flesh and walk humbly with the God who molds me, loves me, and never gives up on me.

You are never beyond His love and grace.

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:23-24

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

___

Photo Credit: Into the Light

I know I’m ugly.

It is no stretch to say that I have a sick heart. No matter how many times people want to say I have a “good heart” or that I am a “good person” I know the truth. I know what goes on in my head and all the ugly that is laid bare in my heart before God. My spirit reveals the ugly, and there is no denying it.

I’m speaking for myself.

But for the very reasons I stated above, I have no problem understanding when Jesus says, “…no one is good except God alone.” I have no problem with believing that, “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick…”

Because I know myself.

And I know I’m ugly, but I’m okay with it, because I’m also beautiful.

That is one of the magnificent things about the grace that came from the cross…it makes us beautiful. I am beautiful because of my God. He doesn’t hold my ugly against me. In fact, He uses it to remind me to lean on Him and His love for me. He’s got my back. I am His.

I know I’m beautiful.

___

Photo Credit: heart strings

Click here to receive new articles by Sarah Mae to your email inbox. Click here to get them via RSS.

The Mirror is a Liar, by Serena Woods

Excerpt:

“There are certain debts that you cannot pay without the ability to go back in time and choose different actions. Any attempt to earn back your reputation and good name is only to serve a shrouded sense of personal pride. I’m specifically talking about people who run the risk of tying themselves down to rigorous religion, becoming more concerned with rules and regulations as a means to outwardly prove that the insides have changed….Not a single person on this planet would be found innocent if we were examined in a court room without Jesus as our advocate…The verdict is always the same: guilty. The sentence is always going to be: served.”

Read the whole article here.

___

Photo Credit: ‘mirror’

It hurts when we feel wronged.

When we want to scream “FOUL!” and cry and say, “but…” and “how could they?” and “I am so hurt.” You want to fight. It stinks. And it feels unfair. But just like I am a mess and if you peeked into my heart you’d see all kinds of ugliness and lies and wounds, others are kind of a mess as well. It’s why we need grace; it’s why we need to extend grace.

Oh it is HARD!

But a heart is a funny thing and it beats out hurt disguised as something else: anger, shame, toughness.

So again,

grace.

Lord please help me to get out of myself long enough to remember the heart sickness we all have – sin. Help me see my own sin…help me assume the best about others. Help me to remember your wild, amazing grace and all the ugly that it covers because of your blood.

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.  So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” Matthew 5:21-24

___

Photo Credit: Angry Baby, by solidblue

“How come we’re so surprised when we see it {incompetence} in others and so devastated when it has occurred in ourselves?…Come on, ease off.  If our perfect Lord is gracious enough to take our worst, our ugliest, our most boring, our least successful, our leaning tower of failures and forgive them, burying them in the depths of the sea, then it’s high time we give each other a break….After all, imperfection is one of the few things we still have in common.  It links us close together in the same family!  So then, whenever one of us blows it and we can’t hide, how about a little support from those who haven’t been caught yet?  Oops, correction.  How about a lot of support?”

Chuck Swindoll, Come Before Winter

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighborand hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:40-48, NIV

Love makes me perfect.

The love that died on the tree to free my spirit, and

the love that shows me how to love.

Love God, love others (the Law).

He did the work, I wear it. In the words of Shane Barnard, “It was an unfair deal on the part of Christ; He got my sin and I got eternal life.”

I wear His perfection under my sin-flesh, and when that flesh falls off one day, and my spirit flies free, the completion will be complete. Wild. Mysterious. Grace.

Nothing on my own could be perfect. No doing or being or striving or rule-keeping could get me anywhere near perfect. He knows this; He knows my heart.

So yes anyway to perfect! Perfect, complete, like my Father. Be perfect…I claim it.

I claim love.

Love makes me perfect.

…

Photo Credit: “Born Again” by Dean Kermit Allison

(Video here)

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8

I talk about grace, but I don’t give it well.

Not in a moment.

Not when emotions are high and spirit pushed back low.

I fail at grace, which is so ironic, right? When we fail, there is grace from the grace-giver. But people are messy and stained; I am messy and stained.

My roots swell with pride.

Talking about grace is easy, living it requires nothing short of it.

*This giveaway is now closed.*

I am helpless.

I fail.

I melt into the dark.

I search for light.

I search for something lighter.

The burden feels too heavy;

that burden of guilt.

Then I hear that forgiveness is weightless, and I’m reminded that

grace wins.

___

{Scroll down and listen to #8 – Weightless}

Today’s winner will receive the Christa Wells CD “Frame the Clouds” along with my newest collaboration with Erin, the Grace Wins necklace (inspired by Serena Woods).

To enter, please leave a comment with what the words “grace wins” means to you. Feel free to submit extra entries by tweeting, facebooking, posting, etc.

“I’ve carried this a long time. In a well hidden bundle on my back. But I’ve realized forgiveness is weightless. So I’ll leave my burden on the tracks.”

___

I am having a holiday sale of both of my necklaces:

Grace Wins - $24 (normally $28)

Raising Generations – $28 (normally $32)

Orders for Christmas must be in by November 27th.

I love this woman.  I am grateful for her testimony and her faithfulness to share a message of hope.  I am also thankful for her friendship.

I HIGHLY recommend her her book.