Grace Changes Everything

All those who heard him were astonished and asked, "Isn't he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?" Acts 9:21

Hi Friends,

Have you read Acts 9? Talk about a transformation. Talk about grace changing everything. The chapter begins with Saul (Paul) threatening the early Christians. He wanted to imprison them for their belief in Jesus. He took this persecution seriously, not because he was a bad man, but because he thought he was right. Let me say that again. He persecuted the Christians because he thought he was right. He thought he was fighting for God. Makes you think, doesn't it? But, that's a whole other subject. Let's get back to his conversion. :)

Saul headed to Damascus for the purpose of imprisoning Christians. And Jesus stopped him on the way. Jesus asked him why he was persecuting Him. Jesus told him to go to Damascus and wait to be told what to do. And Saul did just that. Ananias, prompted by God, went to Saul and his discipleship to Jesus began. In meeting Jesus, Saul was completely changed. The grace he was given changed his purpose, his thoughts, his actions. Instead of fighting against Christians, he began fighting for them and spread the gospel in amazing ways.

Jesus does the same thing for us. We may not meet Him in the spectacular way Saul/Paul did, but when we come to Him and accept Him as our Savior, we receive the same grace Saul/Paul did. And it changes us in the same way it changed him. In 1 Corinthians 15:10, Paul said, "But by the grace of God I am what I am..." He knew that he was changed by God's grace. And it was that grace that helped him through the difficulties of life. I pray the same for you.

Page details:
I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: Grace Upon Grace and True Beauty. Both these sets were part of the July release. They are both so versatile! I applied distress oxide for the background color, then stamped the roses and the words. I finished the page by detailing the letters with white accents using a white paint pen.

Let God's grace change you, my friends! Have a blessed week. Andrea