the two most beautiful words

thursdays are our weekly meetings at evangélica university, and this week i got to talk about grace! it was really cool.. i shared on a passage i had read in 1 kings 19.. i will give you all a short summary:

elijah is this amazing prophet of God, but when his life is threatened his faith falters in the Lord and he runs for his life.. he flees into the wilderness, and when he is all alone he asks God to take his life.. why? because he was ashamed of his sin, and realized that he had committed the same sins of doubt that his forefathers committed.. but God, instead of ending his life, gave elijah food to eat.. twice.. and then took him on a forty day journey through the same wilderness his forefathers wandered through many years before.. and then brought him to the same mountain on which moses received the ten commandments.. and then revealed Himself to elijah through a mighty wind and an earthquake and a fire..

isnt that crazy? elijah was in the pit of despair, filled with shame because of his sin, deserving and desiring death.. yet God had other plans, and just lavished grace on elijah.. he met his physical needs, then strengthened him and prepared him through his journey, then revealed Himself to elijah, an honor that a small handful of men have ever known.. we see a very different man at the end of this passage than we do at the beginning, and the difference is Gods abundant grace.. someone very wise once said this, and i think i agree: 'the two most beautiful words in all the Bible are 'but God...'' those two words change everything.. we were dead in our sins, but God.. we deserve to be separated from Him forever, but God.. we will fail, but God.. over and over again, God steps in to our failures and rights the wrongs.. do we see that in our lives? do we give God the recognition and the glory due His name?

this is the question i tried to leave the students with.. how have you seen Gods grace in your life? and i connected it to my own life and my struggles with sin, and how i have seen Gods grace mark my life so clearly..

anyways, it was really sweet! i just wanted to share that with you, and i pray that you will look for Gods grace in your life! here are a couple pictures from our weekly meeting..


left to right we have elisa, xavier, julio, tatiana, lauren, bean, and brandon there in the back.. and chiky cookies..