An Explosion of God’s Grace
(Photo credit: geralt / Pixabay)
During WW-2 our republic was being threatened by two foreign countries Germany and Japan. These two countries tried to dominate the world with their godless cruel government’s. So, in order to defeat these enemies of freedom, our scientists and engineers had to develop a mass amount of bombs to win this war at any cost.
In 1943 alone Berlin Germany was bombarded with over 50,000 tons of bombs to stop this Nazi mind set. Then after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor we responded with two nuclear bombs to bring Japan under submission. The first bomb (the Little Boy) was dropped on Hiroshima and instantly 80,000 people were incinerated and 240,000 more Japanese died due to radiation. The second bomb (the Fat Man) fell on Nagasaki and over 80,000 people instantly died and finally Japan surrendered. Unfortunately, many innocent civilians died in these bombings, but they did not need to perish if Japan only would have taken heed to President Truman’s terms of surrender. It had to take an explosion of bombs to eliminate our enemies of this great nation so you and I can live in FREEDOM, Amen!
Now on the spiritual side of things there also is an enemy called Satan who wants to rob, kill, and destroy everything you ever owned, including your soul. He has a dangerous weapon in his satanic arsenal called SIN and he has unleashed that weapon of sin. It has infected our society & that’s why there is greed, theft, drugs, crime, rape, abuse, perversion and drunkenness. So in order to combat the sins that we encounter, the Lord has given us an EXPLOSION of Grace to save us from devastation… Praise God!
That Grace was exposed to us at the cross of Jesus. Listen, when Jesus was sentenced to death by crucifixion for our sins, He showed us what grace and mercy was all about. He was beaten with rods, whipped nearly to death, spit upon by the soldiers, & crowned with thorns. He had to carry a cross to His place of execution & then He was nailed to the cross and pierced in His ribs and as he grasped for His last few breaths of air He said, “Father forgive them they know not what they do”. WOW what an explosion of grace, huh? Jesus then looked over to the one thief on the cross and told him that he would be with Him in paradise – once again, what an explosion of Gods Grace! It’s Amazing!!
Remember this folks about God: He would rather forgive than to condemn, show mercy than to punish, restore than to separate, and He would rather Love than to judge. Isn’t that awesome! The Bible says in Psalm 86:15: “But thou O Lord, art a God full of compassion and gracious long-suffering and plenteous in mercy and truth.” Thank you, Jesus!
Let me close this message with a story from WWII.
During the Nuremberg trials after the war, 22 Nazis were to be tried for crimes against humankind. U.S. army chaplain Henry Gerecke was ordered to share the love of Christ to each and every single one of them before they were justly executed by hanging or sentenced to life in prison. Some of the Nazis killed themselves. Others listened, but had no remorse, while others refused to even respond.
But here is why I entitled my message “An Explosion of God’s Grace”.
Nazi Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, second only to Hitler, was going to be hung for his crimes. As Chaplain Gerecke entered Keitel’s cell, he allowed the Chaplain to pray with him and share the saving grace of Jesus.
Chaplain Gerecke said that Keitel fell to his knees and shook, cried and bitterly wept tears of remorse and asked the Chaplain to sing only hymns of faith that pertained to the Blood and Mercy. Then he asked to receive communion with the Chaplain. On his way to his own execution, Kietel was humming a hymn that talked about forgiveness. Then moments before the scaffold was dropped out beneath him, he turned and told the Chaplain that he will never know how much his prayers meant to him. Kietel said this prayer, that his mother had taught him as a child, “Christs blood and judgment are my adornment and robe of honor, therein I will stand before God when I go to Heaven. Amen.”
WOW what an explosion of God’s Grace!
As I close this message, if you’ve never simply asked Jesus and Jesus only to forgive you by His grace, and you want to feel clean, refreshed, holy, and pure, say this prayer directly to Him. Believe me, just like He heard Kietels humble prayer, He can’t wait to hear from you and pour out an EXPLOSION of HIS GRACE .
Say,
“Dear Lord Jesus, I am in need of your Grace. I know that I have sinned and done sinful things that I am not proud of. So today I humble myself. I cry out to you to cleanse me with your blood, save me with your grace, and fill me with your Holy Spirit, Please help me live for You all the days of my life, I ask these things in Your name, Amen.”
God Bless you.
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With houses of worship currently closed or restricted across much of the nation, the editors of the Baltimore Post-Examiner are inviting an array of spiritual teachers to share insights from the ages along with words of comfort and encouragement. These timely messages are not exclusive to any particular faith walk and will be included in our ongoing Spirituality series.
Chaplain René Charles Kinard and his wife Rommi are the ministers of Freedom in Christ Ministries Association, located in Hanover Pa. Their unique outreach is an evangelistic living historical ministry which includes colonial, civil war, WW-2 and cowboy church services. Rene and Rommi also teach living history by dressing in period garb and portraying different characters, such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Charles Spurgeon, Fanny Crosby, Corrie Ten Boom, and characters on the Titanic. Their evangelical services include period facts, live music and period instruments.