unmerited favor

I am not in a works based relationship. I am in a loved based relationship. I am loved. Therefore I receive. Blah! That totally blows my mind! And I absolutely love it. Every second of it.

Being in South Africa has been one of the most fun times of my life. I mean, it's one of the most consistantly beautful place's I've been to, and everything about it is easy and just goes with the flow. Walking into townships, sharing my faith, having so much fun. I've almost felt shame or guilt for how easy it is and how beautiful it is here. But as I went for a drive with my friend this morning, I get hit with this revelation: I'm not in a works based relationship. What this means: I don't have to work for the good things of God to happen. I am loved, and out of his overflow of love, I am free, and saved, and can enjoy.

My MacBook dictionary defines grace like this: "the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings" Holy snikies!!!! (also defined unmerited-not deserved or merited). Oh. My. Gosh. I am free to receive the undeserved favor of God. It's mine. I don't have to work for it. And his blessings? They're mine. Mine.

The cross took care of all the works to get somewhere/earn the favor of God. Jesus took care of it, so I'm free to enjoy his blessings. So later as we're driving around, we pass by this closed gated community overlooking the ocean, and we can tell that there is such a beautiful place back there. What do we do? We go up and ask to get in. This was of course, after having a day of checking out a shipwreck, driving along the coast, finding a secluded beach, and checking out a lighthouse. I had a thought of "I've had enough good things, I shouldn't push it".

What happened? We got in.

my ramblings

God. "Yes, Nikki?" Why am I writing this? "Because I asked you to" Simple enough. "Truth"

"Trust. Tell 'em about trust" Trust is something new for me. Ok, not really, but my relationship with you and trust it just goes deeper. "I'm taking you to new levels of intimacy" Yea. And I'm flippin out about 'em. "Notice how unconcerned I am" That's pretty nice. "People need to know that they can hear my voice and trust it" And my writing is going to help change that? "Most definitely. It's really simple. I talk, you listen. You talk, I listen. It changes things" Like what kind of things? "Like happy things"

This is me, not trekking with you. "I delight in you, so I change things for you so you'll be happy" Seems pretty one-sided. "It isn't. It goes back to the basics of trust. You trust me, I change things for you. It's really simple, really easy. Really simple, really easy. Really simple, really easy. Always"

"What have I told you before?" That if it's complicated, it's not from you. "How 'bout that!" It's like you set me up for success. "Indeed. I do"