People like to say they know God, when the truth for most is they know about God!  I accepted Christ as my Savior at a very young age.  It was simple for me as a kid.  I knew I was a sinner and that I could not save myself and the only way for me to experience what I had been taught at Church from God’s Word was in a relationship with God that comes through Jesus Christ!  I did not understand incarnation, transformation and transfiguration, but I did understand my need and what God had done to meet my need, so I opened up my heart and invited Jesus into my life to be my Savior and Lord.

As I got older, I wanted to grow closer to God, some how I just knew it was possible and I wanted it.  We had a youth minister at our church, who took a chance on some of us who were not yet teenagers.  He taught us using Barry St. Clairs’ Discipleship Bible Study and it change my life!  As I studied this material, I started to have a personal time with God, which I have continued from then until now.  It was during this personal time with God, that I learned how to listen and hear from the Holy Spirit.  It was during this time that I began to read the Scriptures and things would jump off the page and grab the attention of my heart!  It was during this time that I really started to get to know God!

I know God!  He is a friend of mine!  I do not go around bragging, because I don’t want people to think I am on some kind of ego trip, but maybe I really should not be so concerned with what others think.  I know God and He knows me.  We talk.  He tells me things and reveals to me His will.  It really is pretty amazing!

The most amazing thing is that you can know Him too!  There is nothing special about me that grants me access.  In fact, there are a lot more people in this world that are more worthy to know God.  The reason that I know Him is because He invited me into relationship and pretend was not good enough for me, so I jumped all in!

God knows you and you can know Him!  Step out in faith – you will be glad you did!

There is an interesting story in the Bible about a man in Jerusalem, who had been crippled for 38 years.  He spent everyday of his life lying on a mat, waiting by the pool of Bethesda, wishing for a miracle!

Many times, we are just like this man.  We lay back, day after day, month after month and year after year waiting and wishing for a miracle!  We hope that someone or something will come along and make everything better!

The Scripture in John 5 tells us that Jesus saw the man and this is what Jesus said:  ⁶“Do you want to get well?”   ⁷ “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”   ⁸ Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”⁹ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

Notice that when Jesus asked him if he wanted to get well, he did not answer the question, but instead started to make excuses!  We do the very same thing!  Jesus did not even respond the this sad story of excuses, instead He told the man:  “Get up!, Pick up you mat and walk!”  In other words, stop making excuses!

If you really are serious about getting well?  If you really are serious about getting your life together?  If you really want to experience something better?  If you really want to get out of the mess of self misery, then get up and get out of the situation!

The amazing thing is:  This man was cured at once!  I believe that many of us have a miracle, we just need to get up and claim it!  It’s time to stop laying on a mat of personal pity, where all we seem to do is feel sorry for ourselves!  It’s time to get up out of our misery and walk into our amazing grace life of miracles!  Stop making excuses and start experiencing miracles!

Almost everyday, I have someone ask me about Grace Place!  I get all kinds of questions.   People want to know:  What is it?  How does it work?  Who can come?  Is it really free?  Where does all of the stuff come from?  When does all of the work get done?  Will you take my stuff?  Can I participate?

I’ve written several blog posts and thought it was about time for an update, now that we are approaching the  one year mark of participating in this amazing ministry opportunity!  (We started in December 2010)  The most simple way that I know to put it is:  Grace Place is a place where the church can share the grace of God in a very real, tangible and meaningful way with others.

The concept is fairly simple:  People take new or gently used items that they are no longer using and donate them to Grace Place, who puts them out in a mini mall/store format for people to come and purchase.  The only catch is that people cannot purchase with money, they can only purchase with grace!  You cannot buy anything for money here!

We give out $50.00 Grace Place Gift Cards and people can use these to come to the Grace Place mini/mall store to shop for clothes, household items, toys, furniture, decorations and etc. as long as supplies last!  (Only one card per person please!)  (And if you don’t have a card, come see us and we will hook you up with one!)

People can come and shop once a month and every month they get to take advantage of $50 worth of Grace.  Let me emphasize once again:  You cannot buy anything from the Grace Place store for money.  “Some people call it free, but we call it GRACE!”  The receiving of stuff from the store that you have not earned or deserved is a tremendous picture of what God does for each of us by giving us His Son Jesus – Who we could never earn or deserve!

This ministry can be experienced at The Grace Place Community Campus located at 407 Ridgewood Drive.  Our current hours of operation for Shoppers is Monday and Wednesdays from 10 AM – Noon, Tuesday Evenings from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM. and the 2nd Saturday of every month from 10 AM – Noon.

We also have a “GRACE DINNER” on the 4th Friday of every month at 6:30 PM.  This is a restaurant style meal prepared and served as if you were walking into a local eating establishment, just one catch – it does not cost you anything, you do not get a bill and you cannot leave a tip – its paid for by GRACE!

If you have items that you would like to donate, you can drop them off during any of our shopping times and we will be glad to assist you.  We also have a drop off building located in the front parking lot, where you may drop off donations 24/7!

We can always use help running the store, sorting, preparing and presenting merchandise. If you are interested in volunteering at Grace Place, then please give us a call – we would love to meet you and serve together.  (Questions  864-320-1071)

If you would like more information or would like to set up a tour, then please feel free give us a call or email rightdirections@aol.com  It would be a pleasure and blessing to show you what God is doing in our lives and the lives of the new friends that we are making every week!  You can also find us on Facebook at Grace Place Facebook Page!

Thanks so much for your interest in Grace Place, for your prayers, donations and for helping to make the dream a reality!  G3!