A Gift Scorned

© Harold H. Comings

2015

Published on http://haroldhcomings.com 

Why is it people who want nothing to do with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, embrace the hymn Amazing Grace? Where are the multiplied thousands who have made professions of faith in every scenario from huge evangelistic meetings to simple living rooms over the past sixty years? How might the familiar illustration of an offered pen as an example of the free gift of salvation play a role in answering those questions? 

There is a gift that must be received if the gift of grace is to be received. That gift was the heart-and-soul of the writer of Amazing Grace but was not presented in its lyrics. That gift is a largely unwanted gift - a scorned gift. It grates against the soul of the human heart; and that gift is the subject of this devotional booklet. 

CONTENTS

We Were Warned

The Gospel is Not a Product
Why We Want Grace to be a Package
Sola Misericordia
Mercy? No Way!

We Can Understand Our Need for Mercy If We Think About It
You May Not Want Heaven As Much As You Think You Do
It's Not About a Second Chance
The Habits of Sin Do Not Vanish on the Other Side of the Granite Door

It's Not About Stolen Cookies
Mercy Is About Identifiable Guilt
The Forgotten Path of the Mercy Seeker
It's a Good Thing the New Birth Is a Work of God's Spirit
The Discovery of Mercy

A Second Look At Peace On Earth
Grace Givers Among Mercy Scorners
Ugly Boxes
Treason in Reverse, an Unwanted Expectation and a Foolish Delusion

Cultivating Our Awareness of Our Need for Mercy
Mercy Shown Is Not Necessarily Mercy Received
Is Mercy For Good Actors With the Right Script?
The First of All Grace / The Source of All Graciousness