Acts: The Revolution of FaithExemplo

Grace

“No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.” Acts 15:11

The other day, I was hanging out by the swimming pool, and I noticed a yellow jacket bee had fallen into the water and was struggling mightily for his life to get out. I knew there was absolutely no chance he was going to be able to pull this off. He was doomed to die unless someone greater than the circumstances intervened.

And that was the role that I could play if I chose. There was a chance that the bee would sting me in the process, and I hate bee stings. And the bee had done nothing to deserve my help. But in this moment, I felt compassion for the bee. I reached down and scooped the bee out in the palm of my hand and gently placed him on the ground. And after a few seconds, the bee flew away.

This is the power of grace. The message of grace is still overcoming the lives of people all over the world.

In India, the majority of residents are Hindu and live under a caste system. Basically, you are born into a certain caste or class of being based on the previous life you lived. Now this birth is actually a reincarnation. Whatever caste you were born into, you cannot change. If you tried to change it, it will guarantee you that you will come back in the next life in a lower caste.

Now there are five caste levels, and the lowest caste is called the Dalits, and they were considered untouchables. If you were born as a Dalit, you could not aspire to a higher level. You were stuck for the rest of your life in the hopes that if you were a good and content Dalit, you might move up to a better caste in the next life.

So you can imagine what happened in India when the gospel of Jesus reached their ears and they learned that there is no caste system in Jesus, and that Jesus loves you. And if you receive his gift of grace, you will instantly move to the highest caste—a child of the living God. And millions in India have received the grace of Christ through faith.

Now in Islamic countries, there are reports of Muslims who are having dreams where they are seeing Jesus. First, Jesus appears to them. Then, Jesus tells them to find and speak to a person at a certain place and at a certain time. When the Muslim follows Jesus' instructions, he or she finds the person at exactly the right time and the right place, and the person explains who Jesus truly is and presents the gospel. The Muslim believes that Jesus is the Messiah and the Savior and places his or her faith in him, renouncing Islam.

By the way, that is similar to what happened to Paul. You may recall that Paul met up with Jesus and he instructed Paul to go to a certain place at a certain time and meet up with a certain guy named Ananias. And when Paul did that, Ananias told him the story of grace, and Paul received it. What God did back then, he is still doing today.

So let me ask you, have you received the gift of grace Jesus offers? We are back to the bee struggling in the pool. You and I are the bee in the story. The truth is, his works have no chance of saving him. He wasn't a dead man walking, but a dead bee swimming. And the same is true for us. The only way out is for someone greater than our circumstances to lift us out. That someone greater is God. In the case of the bee, I got to play God. I like that. For God to do this for you, he must love you and have compassion for you. Well, God does love you, and he wants to save you, so why don't you let him?

Prayer

Lord, I am amazed that you would offer me, a sinner, the gift of grace and salvation. Thank you. Help me bold as I share your free give of grace with others.