Finding Rest in God's Grace

I’ve been reading Elyse Fitzpatrick’s book, Good News for the Weary Women. It’s about escaping the bondage of perfectionism and the striving to please. She explains that as Christians, we don’t have to earn God’s favor because we already have it, through Jesus. I wasn’t feeling like the book was especially relevant to me, because I felt that I do understand a few things about God’s grace and forgiveness. I write about those things here on the blog, often. I know he loves us, no matter what. And yet, I identified with the “weary woman” part- the rules, the lists, etc. I figured my motivation was different, though, and that since I wasn’t doing those things to measure my worth with God, this book wasn’t for me. Then I read these words,

grace, trustDawn KlingeSeptember 14, 2015gospel, grace, trust

What Does It Mean for the Kingdom of Heaven to Draw Near?

What does it even mean for the kingdom of heaven to draw near? Growing up in Christian circles, I’ve heard that phrase often, but I never paused to consider what it might mean, until recently.

faith, graceDawn KlingeSeptember 2, 2015Jesus, gospel, grace

Grace is for all of us

“Grace is for the desperate, the needy, the broken, those who cannot make it on their own. Grace is for all of us.”- Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew

I’m reading a book called, The Jesus I Never Knew, by Philip Yancey, and in it, he tells the stories of two famous Russian novelists, Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky. Yancey explains how these two men helped him better understand what Jesus was saying when he preached the Sermon on the Mount. I highly recommend Yancey’s book, and encourage anyone to read it for themselves, but I will give you a brief synopsis, because I’m excited to share what I’m learning about Grace and who God is. This is good stuff!

faith, graceDawn KlingeAugust 25, 2015trust, gospel, grace

A Review of Jen Hatmaker's book, For the Love

Jen Hatmaker’s new book, For the Love: Fighting for Grace in a World of Impossible Standards, releases today! I’m so excited to finally tell you more about this new book. I got to read an advance copy months ago, but I’ve kept (mostly) quiet, knowing that wouldn’t be very nice to tell you all about a book that wasn’t available yet. This is a book that you definitely will want to read.

grace, reviewsDawn KlingeAugust 18, 2015grace, review

God Has Found a Place for Us in His Story

The point is not to find a place for God in our story but to receive the good news that God has found a place for us in His- Michael Horton.

It’s a shift in thinking that makes all the difference. Who is the story about? The gospel, which encompasses the stories of creation, the fall, redemption, and renewal, is God’s story, and we are invited into it. As Christians, we must approach our life, the world, God, and others through this lens. When we turn it around, trying to find a place for God in our story, we’re missing the point. When we make God’s story about us, we have religion.

faith, graceDawn KlingeAugust 5, 2015gospel

How to love- when the feeling isn't there

“But love, in the Christian sense, does not mean an emotion. It is a state not of the feelings but of the will; the state of the will which we have naturally about ourselves, and must learn to have about other people.” – C.S. Lewis

The quote above is from C.S. Lewis’s book, Mere Christianity. (affiliate link) The command from Jesus to love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:31) is clear, leaving no room for argument. It’s a basic tenant of Christianity. Even people outside the faith know about this rule…and yes, they’re watching, to see how we do (or do not) follow through on it. It sounds simple, but what does it really mean to love your neighbor as yourself?

faith, graceDawn KlingeJuly 19, 2015love, God's love, perfect love

The Miracle of Jesus's Incarnation and What it Means for Us

“The incarnation brings unceasing hope and an end to our exile, wandering, and despair. There is great comfort for our souls in the truth that he is just like us. Here’s why: the incarnation tells us that even though we sin, we are not alone; even though we’re weak and finite, he knows what weakness and mortality are because he was weak and mortal just like us; and even though we continually fail, he has committed himself to be part of a race of failures- and he has done so forever.”

-Elyse Fitzpatrick, Found in Him

(This post contains an affiliate link from Amazon, for full disclosure, click here.)

Incarnation means God became a man. Jesus is both fully God, and fully human. It’s a concept full of mystery. What does it mean for us?

faith, graceDawn KlingeJuly 6, 2015gospel, Jesus, grace

Why Does Jesus’s Presence With Us Matter?

“No matter how popular we might be, none of us has ever experienced deep unity or authentic union with another. Since the day that our forefather and mother were exiled in the garden of Eden, we’ve been lost, trying to get back in, trying to find oneness with each other and the Lord." Elyse Fitzpatrick, Found In Him

All of us know what it's like to feel alone, sometimes, even, when we're in a crowd of people we can feel that way. We long for true unity and union. This is why Jesus’s presence with us matters. We were made in the image of God. We were made to live in unity with God and others, but without the love and work of Jesus Christ, his grace, we are lost.

faith, graceDawn KlingeJune 24, 2015gospel, God's love, God's purpose, grace

How to Overcome Evil with Good

It’s much easier to see the speck in someone else’s eye, than it is to see the log in my own. (Matt.7: 3) I want people to act justly towards me. I feel the sting of greed taking a painful hit on my family, and I react in anger towards the selfishness I see so clearly. I’m a mama bear, dangerous, and ready to attack.

trust, graceDawn KlingeJune 17, 2015trust, gospel, kindness, justice, grace