Free For All ~ God's Amazing Grace

Free For All is the name of a new book I have written set to be released this December! The subtitle is 4 Things God’s Amazing Grace Can Do For You. In this book, we will explore four different ways we can experience God’s grace. God’s grace is truly free for all.

The following is an excerpt from Free For All set to be released this December on Amazon. We find this SCUBA story in the chapter of the book where we explore God’s prevenient grace and the fact that it goes before us and surrounds us. For those who have eyes to see, his grace is active in our lives and in his creation even before we believe in it or acknowledge that it is there.

Several years ago, I went scuba diving with my sons. Although it was not the first time we’d dived together, and it certainly would not be the last, this particular trip was special because it was the trip in which Joshua, my younger son, earned his certification as a scuba diver. His older brother, Harden, and I were already certified, and we accompanied Josh on his open-water dive, which is part of the certification process. We were in the Bahamas at a place called Shark Junction. We dove to about fifty-five feet, where we were surrounded by hundreds of sharks—all kinds, but mostly Caribbean reef sharks. Now, Josh was about ten at the time, and the boy has never known fear. During that dive, I stayed right behind him. Although I managed to stay just out of his sight so that he didn’t think I was hovering, I was there every second, watching him closely, making sure he was always within reach. When one particularly large shark swam by him, he reached out to touch it, and I pulled back on his tank to keep him away from it. I think that’s a perfect picture of prevenient grace; the Lord’s hand is always on us, even when we don’t realize He is there.

We are surrounded by this prevenient grace of God. Romans 1:20 speaks of it, in fact:

For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. (NLT)

Do you understand what the Apostle Paul is saying? All of creation is shouting the story of grace and trying to help us see that there is a divine designer…

…I simply couldn’t understand how anyone can think there is no intelligent designer. God is pouring out His prevenient grace on us every moment we take a breath of air and every time we see the beauty of His creation. As I write this chapter, I am looking out the window at the beautiful aqua blue waters of the Bahamas and anticipating going snorkeling this afternoon. Every time I snorkel or scuba dive, I am blown away by the incredible beauty and uniqueness of God’s creatures and the vast diversity of life in the sea, especially on the reefs. I can’t comprehend how anyone could dive a reef and not believe in an omniscient Creator. For that matter, one might be hiking in the Appalachian Mountains or hunting in Montana or simply walking on the pristine beaches of the Gulf of Mexico or the rocky shores of the West Coast or doing eighteen on a favorite golf course. To me, it takes more faith not to believe in an intelligent designer, a Creator. Creation is far too vast, too complex, too diverse, and too beautiful to be the random product of chance.

God’s grace is truly free for all who believe and chose to see and receive it!