Read This Book!

Lately I've been a bit discouraged in my spiritual life, falling into the (untrue) thinking that I have not performed well enough for the Lord and He must be getting irritated at me, especially for my sins of omission. Of course He is not, He deals with me based on the finished work of Christ but I tend to slide into this thinking wrongly without realizing it, and it makes for some kind of misery!
So on Sunday, after listening to a wonderful sermon by my pastor on grace (which is really every Sunday) I realized how deeply my false thinking was affecting my relationship with the Lord. I scanned our book table at church and read the back of Transforming Grace by Jerry Bridges:

Funny how the exceeding riches of God's grace seem to run out the moment we're saved. From then on, we tend to base our relationship with Him on our performance rather than on His grace. Of course, God continues to deal with us on the basis of His grace, whether or not we understand it. It's just that when we don't, we forgo the abundant freedoms that come from not having to measure up.

Exactly what I needed. Funny how we so easily "forget" the gospel of grace. I try to remind myself of it daily but it's nice to have someone else 'preach' it for you. This book has done just that! I highly recommend it. Sometimes I think my problem is that God's grace, kindness and mercy is so amazing that it's hard to believe that it is really true! Anyway, snag a copy of this good book! I'm positive it is one I will read and re-read for years to come. Click on the picture of the book for a link!