Ephesians 2:8-10

"For it is by grace... gift of God... not by works... no one may boast."

I have had the luxury of being "graced" by the presence of arrogance. I have been around and know many people with egos larger than they can handle. Let's face it, I have an ego and with it I carry pride. Sometimes when I do something right or better than somebody, I dive head first into my pool of pride. I may not verbally brag but in my head my ego is doing a little victory dance. This happens more in my earthly accomplishments than in my faith walk. Nevertheless I slip and fall into a prideful state of mind in all areas at times, including spiritually. We all do. I have a habit of trying to prove myself to everybody. I grew up with four brothers so everything naturally becomes a competition. I also have a habit of falling into a "works-based" mentality in my faith at times. And my ego and pride swell to unmanageable proportions.

Works are not the way to heaven. They are not the way to happiness, eternal life, and a relationship with Christ. Works alone will not save us. Often, we need to take a step back and reevaluate our spiritual life and reexamine our faith and where it is focused. Is it focused on our works, on making others happy, thinking that puts us in a higher position for Heaven? Or do we dwell in the truth that it is because of God's loving grace and mercy that he gave us the gateway to heaven when, instead he should have chained and dead-bolted the gates? Think about it. What opened the gates? Our only way to the Father is through Christ alone. Jesus opened the gates of Heaven by enduring pain for us on the cross. We cannot do what has already been done. We surely cannot clear the path of eternal life by ourselves. Our faith in His grace is where it is at. Our faith in the fact that he loves us and wants relationship with us. We are, after all, God's workmanship, his masterpiece. The grace given by God molds our faith into the masterpiece that God wants it to be.

Everything is done and we are alive because of God's grace. We cannot work our way into favor with God. We cannot work our way to heaven. We cannot make ourselves right with God. Humbling is it not? We only have to believe and follow. We are the lost little sheep who need our shepherd. He is calling us. We only have to believe and follow!!! The work was done through the blood on the cross. The cross is what unlocked the gates, the blood washed clean the path, and Christ opened our road into eternal life!!
------------------------------------
"God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."

~*Ephesians 2:8-10 (NLT)*~