“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Whether you share my faith or not, please look carefully at this quote from Paul’s letter to the Christ-followers in Ephesus. No matter what anyone tells you that you must DO, redemption (salvation) comes through faith by way of grace. It is not from anything we can do because it is a gift. Please dwell on that for a moment.
No matter how good we are we cannot earn a gift. If we could, then it is not a gift. I cannot merit redemption. It is our hearts that the Father desires. I must place all of my trust in the grace that God gives me to journey toward him by following his Son. It is my faith that sets me on the path.
Once there more grace is extended to help me see where my love for the Father is incomplete or flawed. As I accept the grace given and respond to it, I am also better able to love my fellow humans. Paul goes on to say, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
The good we wish to do gains its value after the Father has reclaimed us through the gift of his Son. He created us to do good things but they only find their value after we accept his grace through faith. It is through grace and love that we benefit those around us. When we express the Fathers love through obeying his commands to love others, that is when we are extending grace.
I was explaining administration to someone last week. The word means to minister through others. The Father administers his grace through us when we show others his love. Our benchmark is love but the love flows through us to others by the Father’s grace. As I journey home, I realize that I must remain what I have always been.
You see, Dear Reader, as much as I know about following Christ, I am not very good at it. I fail to follow. I get my own ideas about how to follow and they are wrong. It is only when I love through grace and mercy that I am able to reflect the Father’s love. I am simply a door warden hoping to share some stories and help others find the door. I only wish for you to follow me on my media pages. What I really desire is for you to follow Christ. Here is a writing by someone that inspires me. It is long but worth the read. Please remember, Dear Reader, that I love you whether you accept what I am saying or not. I do, however, pray that you can find the grace to see the Father’s love for you.
I Stand by the Door - An Apologia for my Life - Samuel Moore Shoemaker
I stand by the
door.
I neither go too
far in, nor stay too far out.
The door is the
most important door in the world -
It is the door
through which men walk when they find God.
There is no use my
going way inside and staying there,
When so many are
still outside and they, as much as I,
Crave to know where
the door is.
And all that so
many ever find
Is only the wall
where the door ought to be.
They creep along
the wall like blind men,
With outstretched,
groping hands,
Feeling for a door,
knowing there must be a door,
Yet they never find
it.
So, I stand by the
door.
The most tremendous
thing in the world
Is for men to find
that door - the door to God.
The most important
thing that any man can do
Is to take hold of
one of those blind, groping hands
And put it on the
latch - the latch that only clicks
And opens to the
man's own touch.
Men die outside the
door, as starving beggars die
On cold nights in
cruel cities in the dead of winter.
Die for want of
what is within their grasp.
They live on the
other side of it - live because they have not found it.
Nothing else
matters compared to helping them find it,
And open it, and
walk in, and find Him.
So, I stand by the
door.
Go in great saints;
go all the way in -
Go way down into
the cavernous cellars,
And way up into the
spacious attics.
It is a vast, roomy
house, this house where God is.
Go into the deepest
of hidden casements,
Of withdrawal, of
silence, of sainthood.
Some must inhabit
those inner rooms
And know the depths
and heights of God,
And call outside to
the rest of us how wonderful it is.
Sometimes I take a
deeper look in.
Sometimes venture
in a little farther,
But my place seems
closer to the opening.
So, I stand by the
door.
There is another
reason why I stand there.
Some people get
partway in and become afraid
Lest God and the
zeal of His house devour them;
For God is so very
great and asks all of us.
And these people
feel a cosmic claustrophobia
And want to get
out. 'Let me out!' they cry.
And the people way
inside only terrify them more.
Somebody must be by
the door to tell them that they are spoiled.
For the old life,
they have seen too much:
One taste of God
and nothing but God will do anymore.
Somebody must be
watching for the frightened
Who seek to sneak
out just where they came in,
To tell them how
much better it is inside.
The people too far
in do not see how near these are
To leaving -
preoccupied with the wonder of it all.
Somebody must watch
for those who have entered the door
But would like to
run away. So, for them too,
I stand by the
door.
I admire the people
who go way in.
But I wish they
would not forget how it was
Before they got in.
Then they would be able to help
The people who have
not yet even found the door.
Or the people who
want to run away again from God.
You can go in too
deeply and stay in too long
And forget the
people outside the door.
As for me, I shall
take my old accustomed place,
Near enough to God
to hear Him and know He is there,
But not so far from
men as not to hear them,
And remember they
are there too.
Where? Outside the
door -
Thousands of them.
Millions of them.
But - more
important for me -
One of them, two of
them, ten of them.
Whose hands I am
intended to put on the latch.
So, I shall stand by
the door and wait
For those who seek
it.
'I had rather be a
door-keeper
So, I stand by the
door.
Wishing you joy in
the journey,
Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus
said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of
Christ’s rule of the universe is like a homeowner. He liberally hands out new
and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good.
Contacts for Aramis
Thorn:
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If we could buy redemption by being good, it would not be
worth the price that was actually paid for it.
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