View From The Pew- Newness Of Life

“He told them this parable: “No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old.”’ Luke 5:36.
Through the Salvation that comes from the Blood of Christ, we are New. Since we are New, we should also walk in this newness.
This parable is about an old versus new wine skin, but Pastor Tracy takes it one step further and discusses how one who is new has the ‘Wine skin of Grace’. We, as followers of Christ, should live under the wine skin of grace instead of the wine skin of law. Through this, many things change in our lives:
It creates a healthy restraint brought out of love.
It opens heaven so that we can openly receive from Heaven.
Forgiveness becomes easy! This is a BIG one for me, I used to be the type of person that would hold grudges against anybody and everybody over the smallest things. Once I actually learned to forgive, even the big things get easier and easier to forgive because of the grace that I have been given through Christ.
Correction is received. This is another big one, and I know I am not the only one that struggles with this a lot. We seem to take offense so easily over Godly correction. Grace eventually allows us to recognize when there is good correction and to take it and want to apply it to our lives to perform better as disciples in Christ.
Direction is natural. Our path isn’t always a straight one, and sometimes that is what God wants. Grace makes it easier for us to follow God’s direction, even when at first it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Personally, this one spoke out the most to me. In February, I went on a mission trip to Chaing Mai, Thailand. God provided most of the funds (Praise God!), and once I got there, I knew that there will be a major part of my life spend in Thailand with my ministry. I wouldn’t have known that if I wouldn’t have listened to God and would have stayed where I was at.
Don’t abuse Grace, instead let it fully into your life and wait for God to work miracles through you!
Reference to sermon given on 8/23/17 by Pastor Tracy Johnson at Harvest Church in Pocatello, ID.
