It's Not My Right, and He Gave It To Me Freely

There has been much talk about rights and freedom and protesting about things some feel are owed to them. With that all flooding my eyes and ears, these scriptures stuck out to me as I was reading my Bible.

 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. - 1 Peter 1:3-5 

This passage speaks of a living hope that we are born into, not because of anything we have done, or because it is owed to us, or because it is our right.

It is because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

He sacrificed himself, and suffered greatly for the sin in our hearts. He took upon himself what we deserve. Yes, we deserve what He went through. But He paid for it, willingly. We have no right to salvation. But He freely gives it to us.

It goes on to say that we are also born into an inheritance in heaven. This is not an inheritance of earthly riches or privileges we seek as people of the world. But an inheritance of salvation that will never fade away.

It is eternal, and priceless, and we are not worthy of it.

I am greatly humbled when I think of the things Jesus has done for me. He gave me something I could never earn. I don't have a right to salvation, but through Christ, I have been saved. For that I am grateful.

So I am going to focus on the things that I have that I don't deserve. I am going to rejoice in what has been given to me. I will use my voice to praise God for His goodness, and His mercy, and His love. In 1 Thessalonians it says,

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

When I'm drinking my coffee in the morning and reading God's Word I am in awe of Him. 

I can't help but be overwhelmed by how even though He knows of my darkest moments, in His greatness He reached down and offered me life. He gave me "new birth into a living hope" and I don't deserve it.

His gift of salvation is mine. I haven't earned it, it was not owed to me, it's not my right, and he gave it to me freely.

And for that, I owe Him my all.

Angela Christine

Better With Jesus and Coffee

Welcome to the Better With Jesus and Coffee blog. I'm a full time coffee loving christian wife and mom  who has a deep love for Jesus and believes everything looks better after filling my cup with caffeine and the Word of God. I am married to my first love and we are raising four kids together, three of which are on the Autism Spectrum. My hope is to encourage and challenge others with a mixture of God's wisdom and my own perspective on life.

I'm not a loud person. I don't like to be in the spotlight, or the trend setter. I'm mostly introverted and only really come out of my shell with people I am close to. But I like to listen, I like to observe, and I love seeking out truth. So when I have something to say, you can trust that I have spent much time with the thoughts I'm expressing and have planned out my words carefully.

I've been told that I write well, and that what I have to say encourages, inspires, and challenges others. When I speak something passionately, you can bet that I am speaking it because of some struggle or circumstance I am going through or have gone through in the past. And often times I'm preaching to myself more than anyone else.

I grew up in a Christian family. We attended church regularly, I went to a Christian school through eighth grade, and my parents taught me how to trust God and love Jesus. They led my family with an example I wish everyone had. Without the upbringing I had, I don't know if I would be the same. They weren't perfect of course, but growing up watching them love Jesus and love people left an impact on my brothers and I, and to this day every one of us is doing the same. One of my biggest reasons for creating this blog is to share with others the things I've learned about God, and the things I continue to learn through scripture and a relationship with Jesus. I believe my life has purpose, and part of that purpose is to reach others with the love I have found in Christ.

My husband and I were 15 and 14 when we first started "dating". I write that in quotes because technically I was not permitted to date yet, so we told people we were just friends, but we all knew what we really were. We got married eight years later and now have three boys, one girl, a dog and thirteen years under our belt. As I mentioned, our boys are on the Autism Spectrum. They have many struggles and strengths just like anyone else. But they're journey is different than the typical one, so ours has been too. My daughter is our youngest, yes, she probably does get spoiled. But with those big brown eyes, you can't tell me you wouldn't do the same.

The last thing about me I will talk about here, is my love of coffee. When I was growing up my dad would have a cup of coffee before work in the morning. I always loved how it smelled, but I tried it once as a kid, and thought it was awful. Fast forward to my college years. I had a friend that loved to go on adventures to the local Borders book store and sit with books and a cup of coffee. Well, I would go with her and she always wanted me to drink coffee with her. One day I gave in and discovered I actually liked the stuff. Although I didn't become fully committed until I was a mom trying to survive on very little sleep and never ending days, that was the beginning of my relationship with coffee. Currently many of my friends automatically think of me when a coffee meme shows up on Facebook and I am known to always have my coffee travel mug in hand at least until late morning. I joke about getting a holster for it, maybe someday I'll find one.