Not by works, but by Grace

I have had the most amazing month. God has been speaking into my life to give me new direction. I'd love to spend a few minutes sharing my experience with you.

It was a Sunday in April. I hadn't been feeling well, so my big Sister came over to check on me. We began talking about God and really got excited about the conversation when she stopped and said, "I feel like God wants me to tell you something". I was all ears! She said, "He is going to take you down a new path in your life, and it is the very thing that He has created you to do." She went on to say, "you will be going down a new road and the doors will be wide open, so walk through them, and you will probably find yourself saying, 'what was that all about'". I was excited but had no idea where this was going.

Within a week or so, God had spoken to my heart to start a blog. I was obedient and had a lot of fun in the process. Then another friend encouraged me to get in touch with a precious christian writer(She also home schools her children). This writer spoke into my life in an amazing way, she said that I should think about writing a devotional with my friend, or at least consider some kind of publication of my writings. This was one of those, "what was that all about" moments because in my entire life, I had never thought about writing! Then I had people continually tell me I was really gifted at writing - let me assure you this is all God!!

I then asked my new writer friend what my next step should be and she said I needed to go to a Christian Writers Conference. I knew my friend was already going to the She Speaks conference in June. (This is a conference put on by the Proverbs31 Ministry.) I went to the website to find that it was a popular conference that had been booked up for a while. Nonetheless, I put my name on the waiting list and prayed about it. I really felt God giving me a peace. Well, Saturday, I received an e-mail saying they had an opening if I wanted to go. It also stated that I needed to respond quickly as the waiting list was long. I couldn't believe it! I knew my name was near the bottom of the waiting list, so how did I get in, GOD! I knew that God had intervened and I was supposed to go to the conference. Thankfully my husband is a wonderful Man of God and is fully behind my new direction!

This is a very exciting time for me. I have been married for 15 years and I am homeschooling my 6 children ages 2-12. How can I have time to write, or blog, or go to a writers conference? Only by the Grace of God. I have told some people what God was doing in my life and their first response is usually, you deserve it, or you must have worked hard to get here. I am here to tell you that none of that rings true.

Gal 2:16 But we know that God accepts only those who have faith in Jesus Christ. No one can please God by simply obeying the Law. So we put our faith in Christ Jesus, and God accepted us because of our faith.

Rom 11:6 But if it is by grace, it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.

These verses tell us that the only way to please God is to have faith. Now if you've been reading my posts before you've probably read my post titled "Who's Faith is it Anyway?". In this post I talk about how God gave me my own faith to stand on. I do believe that this was the reason He could now bring me into this new ministry for Him. You need faith to serve God. You need faith to please God.

I encourage you to look at your own faith, study the Scriptures to make sure you are holding on to His faith (not someone else's). And then stand back and see what God will do in your life! I believe He will use each one of you mightily.

Luke 10:2 And he said unto them, The harvest indeed is plenteous, but the laborers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth laborers into his harvest.

Have you ever wondered why there are so few laborers? I know so many people who are doing good works for God, so why aren't they considered laborers? I have to wonder if it's because they are lacking true faith and instead are basing their service on works. What do you think?