Only Grace

Last Wednesday I shared part of my testimony with the teenagers at Xtreme Faith. It was awful. Being in front of people is definitely out of my comfort zone......and it showed. I tried to give it to God, but I continued to grab hold of it until I was, literally, sick to my stomach. I bombed. No....I really bombed. If anyone actually took anything away from my little disaster, then believe me....it was only by the Holy Spirit. Which is how it should be.

However, I was asked if I wanted a song played at the end of my testimony and of course, since I love music, I said 'Yes'. The first song I thought of was Casting Crowns "Does Anybody Hear Her", but I decided I better pray about it. So after some prayer I felt God leading me to a song by Matthew West called "Only Grace". I had heard it on the radio and I would sing along with it, but I never really listened to the words. I decided that I better check them out. I couldn't believe what an amazing song it was. That was definitely God speaking. So I called Connie and requested this song. I have decided to post the lyrics for you....

There is no guilt here
There is no shame
No pointing fingers
There is no blame
What happened yesterday…has disappeared
The dirt has washed away
And now it's clear

There's only grace
There's only love
There's only mercy
and believe me it's enough
Your sins are gone
Without a trace
And there's nothing left now
There's only grace

You're starting over now
Under the sun
You're stepping forward now
A new life has begun
Your new life has begun

An’ there's only grace
There's only love
There's only mercy
and believe me…it's enough
Your sins are gone
Without a trace
And there's nothing left now
There's only grace…

And if you should fall again
Get back up, get back up
Reach out and take my hand
Get back up, get back up
Get back up again
Ohh…get…back…up…again…

There's only grace…
There's only love…
There's only mercy
and believe me it's enough…it’s enough
Your sins are gone
Without a trace
And there's nothing left now
There's only…
there’s only…grace…

There's only mercy
and believe me it's enough…it’s enough
Your sins are gone
Without a trace
And there's nothing left now
There’s only…grace……So get back up…get back up again…Get back up again.


As I got ready to leave the Sanctuary, my eldest daughter, Samantha, came up and gave me a hug. She was crying. Maybe I didn't really bomb. Maybe I spoke to just the right person. Only by His Grace.