But God

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."

Ephesians 2:4-6

These are perhaps the most powerful two words that are ever used in the testimony of Christians.  "But God".  This is a powerful way to shift the old way we walked through life before being saved by God's grace, and then transition our story into the newness we walk in now being a son or daughter of the Most High God.  Paul writes that before being saved we were, "dead in the trespasses and sins.. following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience" (Eph. 2:2).  This is how we once all lived our lives.  We lived the way the world does, and if we are not careful and recognize that we have been saved and set apart to follow Jesus solely because of His grace and mercy, we can begin to fall back into old ways of thinking and sinful habits.  Jesus came to save us because of His great love for us.  He showed us this love by showing us great mercy and grace.  Mercy is not giving us the punishment and judgement that we actually deserve from our sin, and grace is giving us an abundant life of peace, joy, and love that we don't deserve.  The mercy takes away our shame and guilt of our past sinful lives, and the grace allows us to walk in the newness of life that God has for us.  God gives us the power to walk in this even amidst the trials and difficulties we face after being saved.  Because we recognize His great love for us, He empowers us to walk differently than the world does or our culture would in the face of adversity.  Our "but God" story starts with faith.  We must have faith that our Lord and Savior is much bigger than the circumstances we face in our lives.  As we tell our testimony we begin with how we once walked in darkness and sin, we tell of the consequences this had on our lives and our relationships.  Then, God comes in and saves us, solely because He loves us.  And then the shift in our story is "but God"!  It is then that we go on to tell of all the goodness, peace, mercy, grace, that the Lord has shown us in our lives.  It is then that we express the great gratitude for what He has done.  It is then that we can be empowered to get through the difficulties in life because we have experienced His great love!  It is then we can begin to truly be set free to live for the Lord!  What is your "but God" story?  When was it that God got you through and you look back and know that it was only because of His great love for you?  As we pray about these things and consider the gratitude we have for what God has done, it is then that we can have faith in our circumstance for what He will DO today!  Thank the Lord for your "but God" story today.  Use it to empower others and to have faith that He will get you through your circumstance!  Love you all!  Praying for you and yours!  Have a blessed day, it's your choice!