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Depend on God's grace
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When I wrote this, early in the week, the forecast was, once again, winter weather.  
Atlanta and the surrounding areas were preparing for snow and ice in hopes that they would not have the same problems they encountered just two weeks ago. People were buying supplies, road crews were gathering, school children were being sent home, and many other preparations were being made.
As some of you know, my family lived 14 years in the upper Midwest — first in Indiana, and then just outside of Detroit, Mich. When it snowed in those places, you plowed or shoveled or blew the snow, and then you headed to work or school. We simply could not afford to call off work, school or church at the first sign of harsh winter weather. We would have missed too often.
Here in the Deep South, that is not the case. This kind of weather is rare here, and so we don’t have the equipment or the resources to deal with it properly. When the word gets out that it is coming, we spend time, energy and money to prepare.
And that is a good thing. No one wants to see the kind of gridlock that occurred in the Atlanta area at the end of last month. That was not a good thing.
The truth is that much of life is spent preparing. In school, we prepared for tests and papers. We prepared for wedding days and the birth of children. Now, we prepare for new projects at work.  Again, much of life is all about preparation — and that is a good thing, too.
But I wonder: In our preparation for all of these important events, do we sometimes forget to prepare for that which matters most?  Are we prepared to meet with our maker?  
The Bible says, “It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment.” There are many who are skeptical that this will happen, or at least they live as if they are skeptical. Others know the time is coming, but they are convinced that there good works will be enough for this meeting.  
The fact is that the Bible tells us that we cannot prepare for this ultimate meeting simply by being good. No, there is the need for confession of sin, repentance from that sin and the request for God’s grace. His grace is our only hope. But there is good news here, too. God said to his servant, Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you.” And that is true for each of us. God’s grace is enough. It is all we need. It will get us through.
I encourage you to seek God’s grace. Don’t depend on your own strength. That will never be enough. But God’s grace will equip you for everything you will face. Depend on it.

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