The simplicity of salvation

I have been trying to have a morning devotional every morning (and at 4:30am sometimes that is hard), but I have been doing pretty good about it. Today I got half way through before I had to go before I was late for work. I am working through the book by Beth Moore: Paul-90 days on his journey of faith. I just finished day 24 and let me tell you, it's really good and convicting. I wanted to share two of the points that came out from today cuz it hit a nerve, in a good way! The scripture reading was Acts 15:1-21. Here Paul and Barnabas travel to Jerusalem seeking the answer to the question of having to be circumcised to be saved...aka Moses Law. Beth gave three mistakes that  had been made, two of which struck a nerve.

The first mistake was, they drew a universal standard from their personal experiences. While this is true for some, the bottom line was there is only one way to be saved, by grace through faith in Christ. The second is, they tried to make it harder than it is. Here Beth asked some hard questions that made me stop. "Do we make it difficult for people around us to turn to God? Do we have a list of rules and requirements that turns people away?" She continues to say, "part of the beauty of salvation is its simplicity. Any man, woman, or child can come to Christ with absolutely nothing to offer Him but simple faith--just as they are." The last is, they expected of others what they could not deliver themselves. Here is where the really tough questions came. "Do we have almost impossible expectations of other people? Do we expect things of our mates we wouldn't want to have to deliver ourselves? Do we expect near perfection in our children and tireless commitment from our coworkers? Are we yoke brothers just looking for an unsuspecting neck?" OUCH! This is where I was nailed, and thankfully Jesus was nailed to the cross to forgive me! How many times do I leave the dishes or the laundry saying, "I'm not going to do that, TJ needs to chip in, he can put his own clothes away." Or getting frustrated at work thinking I'm the only one doing things and someone needs to do something too, is it really my place to worry about them? I need to concentrate on myself making sure that I am glorifying God in all things that I do, and not judging someone else because of what they are doing/saying...ouch again. I love how she states this at the end, "Let's return to the simplicity of salvation. Not adding to. Not taking away. When we paint the picture of our salvation for others to see, we may use different colors, textures, and shapes on the edges of the parchment. But in te center can only be a cross. Anything else cheapens grace and cheats the believer."

God has definitely given Beth Moore a talent and wisdom. I am constantly being challenged through this study, which I love. If you are looking for something for quiet time, I recommend any of her 90 day studies...they are reasonably quick, but heartfelt and make you think. Let me know your thoughts!