Grace...because He's not finished with me yet

God has been teaching me a lot about His grace recently. Yes, I've heard about the cross and grace all of my life. The knowledge of grace is in my head, but lies about perfection and expectations keep it fromy truly reaching my heart. I want to learn how to live a life of someone who truly understands God's grace and love, and the freedom that comes with this.

Our pastor is preaching on Philippians during this season of Advent. Yesterday, the first Sunday of Advent, he spoke on Philippians 1:6 - "...He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." The Truth that resounded in my heart was the Lord saying to me, "See Kari? I'm not finished with you yet. I don't expect you to be perfect now. But I am at work in you, and someday, when you are with Me, you will be perfect. Because I am faithful."

Thank You, Lord, for your goodness to me! His goodness and encouragement to me especially hit me yesterday because I knew I was supposed to be in that church service. I had woken up feeling exhausted, completely lacking energy, and not feeling well at all. I considered staying home, but something inside of me told me I needed to be at church. So I dragged myself out of bed and got ready for church. Mike's house is on my way to church, so on Sundays, I walk to his house and then we walk to church together. Yesterday morning, when I rang his doorbell, he looked at me (I obviously wasn't looking my best - he could tell I didn't feel well) and said, "Why didn't you stay home?" I replied, "Because I need to go to church and get some God and grace." And then, at the end of the service, I turned to him and said, "See? I told you I needed to be here today." :)

Along these same lines of the Truth of God's grace and love, there have been two YouTube videos in recent months that have hit the target of the deep places of my heart. I hope that they encourage you as they did me. Here they are: God chiseling and Lifehouse's "Storm" .