Gracie

Founders Note: Today on the blog we have one of our newest monthly contributors Vanessa from a Journey to God. She is sharing her heart on this months theme Grace. We hope you are encouraged by her words as much as we were.

One of my favorite people is this world is my niece, Kayley. She’s 10 and she’s really cool. She loves her friends, loves to play sports, and she was baptized last year telling everyone she loves Jesus too. I don’t call her by her first name; instead I call her Gracie, because her middle name is Grace. Gracie is a gift to me and I treasure her greatly.

I’ve been pursuing God more faithfully over the past year or so. When I first began meeting with Jesus, He started teaching me about what separates me from His protective presence. I’m a visual learner, and no one knows this more than my creator. During a quiet time with him he gave me a picture.

I was standing on a tall mountain cliff out in front of me was a chasm and on the other side was Jesus. The chasm was filled with a dark substance and I knew immediately it was my sin. I felt the weight of my sin; I realized that it was keeping me from being with Jesus. I had tears of regret and my heart broke over the years wasted and the burden I bore.

The chasm slowly emptied, and in its place was a fresh spring, and I realized it was His living water. Water that I knew would cleanse this life of mine. All I had to do was accept Jesus’ gift and trust that when my feet hit that water, I would walk across to the other side, and I did.

When I think about grace, I think about that chasm. That place that used to be dark and lonely is now redeemed and flows freely with the water that gave my life back, a life with God. His grace is deep and it is wide my friends. It never runs out, and is always there for you. The world will have you believe that grace will go away and that you will use it up, that is simply untrue.

One of my favorite verses is found in Isaiah 58:11:

The Eternal One will never leave you;

He will lead you in the way that you should go.

When you feel dried up and worthless,

God will nourish you and give you strength.

And you will grow like a garden lovingly tended;

you will be like a spring whose water never runs out.

When my niece decided to be baptized, she inspired her entire family to follow suit. On that wonderful day, my sister, her husband, and Gracie made a public statement of faith that their chasm had been filled with God’s living water.

Do you feel your sin is too much for you to bear? Well, it is. But you don’t have to carry that burden with you. You are not left on the other side of the chasm, with a view of sludge and mire. Instead, Jesus is waiting, his hand reached out, waiting for you to except His amazing grace.