God’s amazing astonishing, incredible grace

I want you to do something before I begin. Go back in your mind to your life before you met Jesus. Think about who you were, what you were doing, where your heart was. That's your testimony – and it matters more than you probably realize.

Here's why I bring it up: A lot of us hear the word grace and think, “Yeah, I know about grace. That's how I got saved. Moving on.” But grace isn't just the door we walked through to get into the family of God. It's the air we breathe every single day. It’s easy to forget that.

God meets us where we are
In Acts chapter 9, we meet Saul of Tarsus – and this guy was not a little bit wrong about Jesus: He was 100% wrong. His mission in life was to exterminate Christians. And yet, Jesus met him in this very moment of his life.

In the midst of one of Saul’s missions of destruction, a blinding light appeared. And then a voice: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”

Notice that Jesus didn't wait for Saul to clean himself up. He didn't wait for Saul to feel bad enough, pray enough, or figure it out. He met him in the middle of his worst moment. That's not an accident – that's grace.

Your testimony is important – yes, yours!
Maybe you didn't have a road-to-Damascus moment. Maybe you came to Jesus at seven years old and the wildest thing you did was ride your bike somewhere you weren't supposed to. That's okay. Your testimony is just as significant, because you were still lost and dead in your sins, just the same as everybody else. There are no “levels” to lostness. We’re either lost or found. The amount of grace it took to reach you and I is the same amount it took to reach Saul.

So don't be ashamed of your story. Don't downplay it because it doesn't sound dramatic. God's grace in your life is worth talking about, no matter how the story goes.

Here's something practical: Write down your testimony. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. Just answer:

• What was your life like before Jesus?
• How did you meet Jesus?
• How has Jesus changed your life?
• How is He still doing so?

After you write it down, keep it somewhere you can find it and review it from time to time. Because when we forget what God rescued us from, we can take His grace for granted.

Grace doesn't stop at salvation
When Ananias walked into that house where Saul was sitting blind and broken, he didn't say, “So you're the guy who was killing Christians, huh?” He walked in and called him “brother.” He essentially said “Welcome to the family.” There was no condemnation, only grace. That's what the church is supposed to look like.

After three days of silence and prayer, Saul got up, was baptized, and went public. He didn't just experience grace privately and move on. He stepped out as if to say, “I'm changed, and I want everyone to know it.”

Grace changes how we live, not just where we end up.

A place for grace
So how can each of us respond to God’s grace?

If you've never met Jesus, he is not waiting for you to get good enough. Stop waiting to clean your life up first. Come as you are, right now. When we show up, God initiates the cleanup, but not before.

If you know Jesus but you've been wandering, you don't have to earn your way back. Grace is already extended. Come home. He hasn't moved.

If you're walking closely with God, don't let grace become background noise. Stay grateful. Stay humble. Remember where you came from.

And for all of us: How are we living in the grace of God right now?

Saul became Paul – one of the greatest voices for the gospel the world has ever seen – not because he got himself together, but because grace found him first. Grace chased him down a dusty road and flipped his whole world upside down.

That same grace is chasing us today.

God’s grace is truly amazing.