A letter from Pastor Paul Travis:
The LORD is my light and my salvation.
Psalm 27:1
The Gospel means good news: “Christ died for our sins…was buried and rose again the third day .” (I Cor. 15: 3-4). It expresses God’s love, but is wrapped up in His grace. …
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found was blind but now I sec.
‘Twas grace that wrote my name in life’s eternal book.
‘Twas grace that gave me to the Lamb who all my sorrows took.
Grace was enormously expensive for God. Yet there’s nothing we can offer to pay for it. Any concept of grace that makes us feel more comfortable about sinning is not Biblical grace. God’s grace never encourages us to live in sin; on the contrary, it empowers us to say No to sin and Yes to Truth.
The question is not what arc we to do and not do, but is God pleased and magnified. It is not about us; it is all about Him.
It has been a tremendous privilege to sec what God has done by His grace. We will never fully understand the grace of God. “May the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, perfect, establish, strengthen and settle you” (I Pet. 5:10).
Many have a deep longing for a more intimate and personal relationship to the God of grace. God has always expressed His grace through the ages; but now grace reigns. He is more ready to express His grace than His judgment.
“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (II Cor. 9:8). “To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved (Christ) ” (Eph. 1:6). We need to praise the Lord abundantly for His wonderful grace.
Grace is God’s favor to those that deserve loss, but put their trust in Him. However, where there is pride, there is no room for grace.
Charles Swindoll says: “There is a compelling call to accept the grace that has been freely given, to enthusiastically embrace and carefully protect the freedom it provides, and to experience the joyful and abundant life that God desires for us.”
Martin Lloyd Jones shares: “What I am interested in is not what I was but what I am, and I am what I am by the grace of God.” Christ became poor so that wc might become eternally rich. This is the high cost of grace.
Here are some gems from Charles Stanley: “You can work a lifetime to be good and perfect and not be any better off than when you first started…Jesus sympathizes with us and identifies with our weaknesses, our fears and our anxieties…He never said, be perfect to receive my salvation. Salvation comes to us one way–by the grace of God. While He does discipline us, God never rejects us for performance…Stand strong in His grace. Receive His help. Relax in His acceptance. Bask in His compassion. The God of grace is with us.”
God’s grace is amazing because it is free. He bore the cost of our sins; therefore, it is not cheap grace. God’s grace is amazing because it is limitless. His grace can never be exhausted. Regardless of the vilest or number of our sins, God’s grace is always sufficient.
Grace is not about God lowering His standards; it’s about surrendering to Christ and allowing Him to meet those standards through us.
It is hard for us to realize that all that we are, all that we have and all that we will ever be is because of God’s grace.
God’s standards of holiness are not lowered under grace; they arc raised (Matt. 5:20-22; Gal. 5:4).
Grace does not make believers less holy; it enables them to be more holy.
Grace never causes believers to despise and avoid truth; it causes them to adore and practice truth. Grace does not lower the bar; it enables us to jump over the bar.
You guessed it! Our hearts arc really thrilled because of God’s love for us and His GRACE toward us. …Please continue to pray for this ministry.
Love in Christ,
Paul and Joyce
Paul & Joyce Travis serving withFreedom in Christ Ministries
Revitalizing Pastors 