Back to Basics

I've been doing a lot of driving recently due to fall break.  With a lot of driving comes a lot of music and when the iPod is on shuffle, songs are bound to come on that I didn't even know I owned.  One song in particular struck me today.

Oh happy day, happy day, You washed my sin away.  Oh happy day, happy day, I'll never be the same.  Forever I am changed.

Wow.  Just wow.

Oh happy day, happy day, You washed my sin away.

The first part of that refrain reminds me of the song "Amazing Grace."  How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.

My Bible is all marked up from the books I was reading through the first month or two after I got saved.  I was trying to make sense of everything; salvation, grace, the Gospel, sanctification--these were all Christian terms with unknown meanings to me.  At this point in my life, I trusted Jesus and had made the decision to follow Him, but I had to start understanding the lingo and processing what it all meant to apply it to my life.  Ephesians 2:1-5 is blocked off in my Bible and labeled vertically down the side "grace."  I remember marking this when I was on a quest to figure out what was actually meant by the word grace and I remember still being kind of confused at the time of me marking it.  But I had hoped to come back to it later and figure it out some more.

I don't ever remember coming back to this passage to figure it out--I think the Holy Spirit just kind of opened my eyes to understand it one night ("sleeping on it" actually worked...).  But I can't help and see this huge highlighted paragraph every time I turn to Ephesians.  I remember thinking last year, "Wow I was so young in my faith... how did I not understand the concept of grace?!"  But this year my Bible flipped open and my friend standing over my shoulder could see it and (though I didn't want to admit this at the time) I was a bit embarrassed that she read it.  I was embarrassed for someone to see that at one point I didn't understand a concept as simple as grace.  As someone (hopefully) going into ministry, I find myself frequently wanting to impress people with my understanding of Scripture and hiding the fact that I don't know as many Biblical stories as my friends that grew up in Christian homes.  I even shy away from asking questions, which is absurd because none of us... even those that are pastors... have it all figured out.  (But that is another entry for another day on my sinful nature and how I don't like not knowing the answers...)  My friend said out loud and sort of to herself, "Grace.  Grace.  Ahh I love it.  Grace."

That interaction with her made me flip open to that passage once again.  Grace.  Yes, that's it.  Grace.  And those few verses do an excellent job at summing it up.  We were dead and living for ourselves and while we were still sinners Christ died for us.  Only by this grace are we saved.

It is by being reminded of the "simple" concepts like grace and mercy that we are continually brought to our knees before our God.  Yes it's awesome to research the meanings of words in Greek and Hebrew and look at parallels between the Old and New Testament.  But we have to always be reminded at how great God's love is for us and how no matter what we do we constantly fall short.  This is how we can be reminded of our need for a Savior.  This is what will keep us from developing a "Pharisee mindset."  We have to continually bring it back to basics.


How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.  The moment we realize how much we need a Savior and how Jesus wiped the debts clean of those who follow Him... that is the moment that we go right back to kneeling at the cross.

Oh happy day, happy day, You washed my sin away.  Oh happy day, happy day, I'll never be the same.  Forever I am changed.

The second part of the refrain reminded me of the David Crowder song "Glory of it All."  Oh everything will change, things will never be the same.  We will never be the same, we will never be the same, we will never be the same.

The moment you let Jesus into your heart everything changes.  The pastor mentioned in church today how God will often use the "farthest ones" so that the world can look at their new heart and say, "yeah.. that HAS to be God because this person would not be like that on his/her own."


Me.

Robin once said to me that she was in shock when I got saved.  The most Christian woman I know and one of the main people that prayed long-term for my salvation was in shock when I got saved.  That's how far I was.  As Christians we're not usually that shocked when someone gets saved, especially if we've been praying for that person for awhile.  She said to me, "I now think... well if Alyssa Dembrowski could get saved anyone can."

.......

But I ain't fix myself, ain't turned myself around.  I gave it up and told the Lord that He could have it now.


THIS ISN'T MY DOING.  If there is ANYTHING you get from my testimony understand that Jesus is REAL and He is in the process of REDEEMING LIVES, even of those of us that are furthest from Him.  I didn't just do "bad stuff."  I didn't just have a "hardened heart."  I was psychologically messed up.  From the age of 6 until I got saved at 19.  I mean messed up.  And all of a sudden I wasn't.


This is the power of Christ in me.

I STILL jump for joy when I read Scripture and hear sermons and listen to songs about Jesus dying and conquering death for me.  My heart STILL gets really light feeling and happy and I just want to run around the room in circles yelling "YESSSS thank You, Jesus!!!"  It it only through Him that I may live.  Things will never be the same.

When Jesus really changes your heart, you will never be the same.  When you really understand grace and the power of His love, you will never be the same.  When you really decide to live for Christ, you will never be the same.  When you really get saved, you will never be the same.

Oh happy day, happy day, I'll never be the same.  Forever I am changed.