Grace breaks measuring sticks
like Jesus tore the veil.
Grace breaks measuring sticks
God will never tell you “you’re not good enough.”
Because grace was never about being good enough. He loves the unworthy, and He loves regardless of the fact we are not good. He’s good.
It’s never been about being good enough. The only one who had to be worthy was Jesus, and He is the only one who is worthy.
The rest of us just accept grace, and that is the beauty of the gospel.
You don’t ever have to be “good enough”.
Because that was never the requirement. You don’t have to be good enough to be loved, “good enough” to be beautiful or chosen “good enough” to be belong “good enough” to be His.
You just have to accept you are loved as You are, and Jesus being worthy has let grace choose You to have all that He has, no requirement except believing that He actually did all that to have you.
You don’t have to be “good enough” to have value. You have all the value to Him, and you never have to be “good enough” to be valuable to Him.
Trust that. And be thankful that a love like that exists for us.
No other love accepts us with a grace like that that never breaks or changes. That’s the wonder of a love that never tells you to be more, because He is enough. You never have to measure up, because grace is not a standard- it’s a gift and we simply receive it, knowing what it cost the only One who could make a grace like that real.
Grace breaks measuring sticks like Jesus tore the veil.
breanna-lynn reblogged
The only One.
There is nothing more humbling than revisiting the past to reflect on all that Jesus has redeemed me from while at the same time being presently aware of His grace of me being in the process and secure in His love for me.
Today I was filling out an application for an organization I’d love to serve with and one of the questions was: “What have you struggled with in the past? What do you struggle with currently?”
I was brought to tears. All I could think was,
“Jesus died so I could be set free and forgiven of these things.”
There was no other way. Jesus is literally the only One who can make me holy. He is my righteousness; I am not anything I am today apart from Him; I am a product of grace.
He didn’t want me to stay depressed and lonely or hating myself. He didn’t want me to be starved for love but convinced I was unworthy. He wanted me to know His love. He didn’t want death to pull me away. He wanted me to come alive in Him.
Jesus wasn’t looking at the filthiness of my sin, but the treasure of my heart.
He wasn’t criticizing the cracks of my brokenness; He longed to touch my wounds where they hurt most.
The compassion of His heart toward me was greater than I can still grasp to this day. Every time I think about it, I’m humbled. Jesus loved me when my thoughts were far from Him; Jesus loved me when I was in sin; and most amazing of all, Jesus loved me just as much then as He does now. He doesn’t love me less or more dependent on how holy I am; He loves me because He is love. Nothing I can do can change that. And nothing can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38-39).
Jesus had such a love for me even while I chose to love my sin more than Him. And now I know His love is greater. Because of Christ, I am healed, restored, whole, loved. I died to sin and I am alive in Him; those things that used to ruin and rule me have no power because He has overcome my heart with His loving-kindness. None of those things have a place in my life anymore. Sin has no power over me. Christ set me free.
If you have sin in your life, if you are struggling with something, run to Christ. Turn from it and toward Him. He loves you. There is nothing you can bring it to Him that He can’t make new. Jesus didn’t die so we’d stay in bondage or trapped in constant guilt. Repentance is sweet. Surrender is freedom. For those who are in Christ, there is no condemnation (Romans 8:1). Jesus speaks a better word; you are not your past. And the only way you overcome it is in Him. “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).
There is so much joy in knowing I am loved and forgiven and free. The sin that used to keep me bound has no hold on me. I know no struggle I face is ever going to rule me or overcome me; Christ in me is greater. I’m not the same person I was; I’m redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
I am thankful for the grace God has given me. I am thankful for Christ and what He did for me so I could be set free and forgiven, so I could know truly know His heart and know His love. I praise God that I can see myself through His eyes. Thank You Jesus for loving me. Thank You for doing what only You could do.
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” – Galatians 2:20
Source: breanna-lynn
breanna-lynn reblogged
I produce failure, God produces faithfulness. I produce disgrace, God produces grace. I produce pain, God took on my pain. I cannot hope to do anything good on my own, only by the guidance of Christ can I ever achieve holiness; and still I do not have to do anything but reach for it, because God’s grace comes down to us, meets us where we are and takes us to a better place. I am so thankful for a God who we not only need, but who loves us in the process of our need.
T.B. LaBerge // Jesus, His Grace, and the Gospel. (via tblaberge)
breanna-lynn reblogged
People will judge you wrongly, disappoint you, hurt you, fail you, even leave you. Forgive anyways. Show grace. Grow in love.
Source: breanna-lynn
breanna-lynn reblogged
You know, just because we messed up does not mean that we have stopped being children of God. There are days when we fail because we were careless, shortsighted, and impulsive but these failures could never disqualify us from our Father’s presence and love. Our inconsistencies and low moments do not rid of His love. Our weaknesses do not disqualify from His grace.
Beloved, our mistakes, shortcomings, and discouragements are, actually, more reason for us to cling to and fix our eyes on Jesus Christ more. They are reasons to rely on Him more.
Pam Carbungco, Low moments (via breanna-lynn)
Source: godsradicaldaughter
breanna-lynn reblogged
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:16 (via breanna-lynn)
Source: breanna-lynn
breanna-lynn reblogged
breanna-lynn reblogged
I used to think that the ability to turn back time would be the greatest possible gift, so that I could undo all the things I wish I hadn’t done. But grace is an even better gift, because it allows me to do more than just erase; it allows me to become more than I was when I did those things. It’s forgiveness without forgetting, which is much sweeter than amnesia.
Shauna Niequist, Savor {Sweeter than Amnesia}
For deep change you need an encounter with radical grace.
Timothy Keller
I m p e r f e c t // Why is it hard to love people? Because we are all sinful. We’re selfish and prideful and we have mess. We do annoying and mean things. Yet, we have the opprotunity to choose love and grace regardless. Yes, when we love, our love for each other will always be imperfect- but it’s perfected by knowing perfect love. I am imperfect & yet I am loved perfectly. It’s the wonder of grace, and I’m growing in it. Listen: You don’t have to be better to be loved. You are loved at your worst; the ugliest it’s gotten, the lowest you’ve gone, the biggest bad choices…the Father was there loving you as His. Being a Christian is not about being perfect. It’s about admitting you aren’t, and looking to the Only one who is. It’s recognizing that you need a Savior- and seeing that Christ alone is the only one who can take our mess and make a masterpiece. We do not have to be perfect, because all we are is not by our effort or righteousness. We could never obtain it, no person can be sinless or perfect. I’m imperfect; and when God looks at me, He sees Christ’s perfection, because I am in Him and He is in me. That’s one of the beauties of the gospel. Christ makes us who we could never be apart from Him, but all we were created to be as His own. God is not looking for our perfection, He’s offering us His. We live from that grace, because everything we’ve received is because of it. Trust in the work He is doing in you. Grace perfecting love.
Thankful for the life I have been given and the love I know in Christ. I have more than I ever deserved.
breanna-lynn reblogged
Love is far from blind, in fact, it sees all the little mistakes we make and still chooses us. Because grace must be a part of love, and love a part of grace. For grace and love is transformative, and when we allow it to engage in our daily relationships we are allowing it to do something beautiful and good. But when we do not let it transform us, we are choosing not to love at all.
T.B. LaBerge // Go Now (via tblaberge)
breanna-lynn reblogged
We are becoming by grace what God is by nature
St. Athanasius
Source: ever-gazing
Those who understand the gospel cannot possibly look down on anyone, since they were saved by sheer grace, not by their perfect doctrine or strong moral character.
Timothy Keller
But He gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
James 4:6