What Grace Feels Like | The Deep End

Hi, I'm Jamie. Welcome to The Deep End. What if I told you the best gift, one of the best gifts you could ever receive, you can't earn it, and it's grace. Grace is getting what we don't deserve. It's something God gives us, like loving us even when we fail. It's forgiveness when we've done that thing that we think we can't come back from. And it's a fresh start when we think all is lost. My favorite example of grace in the Bible actually comes after the story of Noah and the ark. So just a refresher. Humanity, humankind on earth, are absolutely horrible. They do such wrong things against God that God says, you know what, I'm going to wipe the slate clean and start over with this guy, Noah. So Noah builds the ark, he gathers the animals, and when the time comes for the flood, he and his family go and sigh. And they're in there for days, and then finally the waters, they go away, and Noah and his family come out. And in that moment, God has this ultimate act of mercy and grace. So if grace is getting something we don't deserve, mercy is when we don't get the thing that we've earned. We don't reap the consequences of our actions. So after the flood, God looks at Noah and says, I'm never going to do that again. He makes a promise to say he will never wipe out humankind and start over. And so that's the mercy, that our actions won't lead to God just seeking to punish all of humankind. But the grace comes in when God says he sets his bow in the sky. If you ever looked at a rainbow, it is just absolute beauty on display and something we absolutely don't deserve. But that's not the extent of God's grace.

Grace is the things that God has given all throughout our lives. So if grace is getting something that you don't deserve, mercy is not getting the thing that you've earned. When God made the decision to destroy all of humankind, they had done awful things to God to deserve it. And so that's why God did what he did. But after the flood, he says, I'm never going to do that again. It doesn't matter how terrible humanity is. And one might argue today in our culture, in our world, we probably have done some stuff to warrant God saying, okay, I'm going to wipe the slate clean and start over. But he doesn't do that. So that's the mercy side of his gift to Noah and humanity. The grace side is God in that moment decides to put a rainbow in the sky, his beauty on display and a reminder of his promise. We don't deserve it, but God gives it freely. And he also gives us all kinds of things that fall into the grace territory, like that love and forgiveness and a second chance. Now is receiving grace something easy to do? Probably not. It's the hardest thing to receive. And it's the hardest thing to give. Ephesians 2, 8 says, for it is by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves. It is the gift of God. That means we can't earn grace. We just have to receive it. But how do we do that? You might think of three things. First, admitting that you need it. Being honest and humble with God and saying, there are things that I just can't fix and

I need you to step in. The next thing we can do is we can ask for it. Telling God that we want his forgiveness is something that we can do. Telling someone else and asking for a forgiveness is something we can do and we can apologize. And we don't have to argue that we don't deserve it because after all, that's what grace is, receiving the thing that we don't deserve. And last, we can accept it. And I know that's easy to say, but when those moments of doubt and shame creep in, it's reminding ourselves that we have in fact received grace. It's telling ourselves that we are loved, we are forgiven, and God has a purpose yet for us to fulfill. I try to think of an example of grace that I've received. And I know for sure from the grace that God has given me and the people in my life, but it was really vulnerable and really hard to do. I could tell you about how recently one of my closest friends sat me down to tell me, hey, I've been pulling away from you because of these things. and she just outlined things I wasn't even aware that I was doing in ways that I was hurting her. And I knew it was a point of grace that we got to that moment where she could even share it with me. I could tell you more about that, but maybe we could each kind of go on this journey of what it looks like to receive grace. So, do me a favor. Think of someone that you've wronged. Think of someone you've hurt so badly. It could be a family member. It could be a friend. It could be God. It could even be yourself.

Now, imagine that person in front of you. Imagine the hurt on their face, the anger, the frustration, the disappointment, or even the sadness. Now, while you see their face, see it transformed into the warmest, kindest smile. That you feel right there, that's the feeling of grace. And we can take it a step further. Now, imagine them saying to you, you're loved. Doesn't matter what you do, you can't lose my love. You are forgiven. That thing that you did, that way you hurt me, it's a thing of the past. We don't have to bring it up again. And you have a purpose, a second chance to walk in the things that God has created for you. Now, when we went through that, I immediately thought of my mom. At 41 years old, my mom still catches the brunt of my attitude. The things that I say just so flippantly, without thought, or the careless things that I do. And I could imagine her saying to me, Jamie, I love you, and there's nothing you could do. And I've forgiven you, that thing that you did, it's in the past. And I pray every day you choose to walk in the purpose that God has for you. And hearing my mom say that,

as she's done on countless times, I can feel the argument, the doubt stirring up. Like, I don't deserve that. Like, how can you say that? It's not okay. And my mom does this thing that I think God does with each of us. She just looks at me and says, that's what a mom does. And I think that's how God doles out grace for us. And grace isn't just something we can receive, we can choose to give it to others. So grace means that your story isn't over. And each day you can choose to walk in the purpose that God has for you. You are not too far gone. You are not unlovable. You are not forgettable. You have grace. God gives it to you, and hopefully you will extend it today. Thanks for sitting with me today. I just want to remind you, grace is something that you can freely give, and it's something you can freely receive. And I hope you receive it today. Thanks for watching The Deep End. I'm Chuck Mingo, one of the pastors at Crossroads, and we would love to come alongside you. If you have a prayer request,

or you want to reach out to Crossroads, you can do that at prisonsatcrossroads.net. You can also find that information on our page on the Pando app. And we would love to come alongside of you if you're looking for re-entry support. You can email reentry at the47.org, and we would love to come alongside you in that way. Let me pray for you. God, thank you for the person who is watching right now. I thank you that you know them, you see them, and you are for them. And we are for them at Crossroads. And I pray, God, that they would sense that. I pray for joy. I pray for peace. And I pray that they would be able to walk in your power in a unique and fresh way. In Jesus' name, amen.