“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.”
Ephesians 2:8
Grace is one of those words we use often, yet sometimes we forget just how extraordinary it really is.
People occasionally ask me a difficult question. They wonder how God can continue to fulfill His promises to Israel when so many Jewish people have not yet recognized Yeshua as the Messiah. They ask how God can continue gathering His people back to their homeland despite their unbelief.
The answer is actually the same answer that changed my own life.
Grace.
God has never dealt with humanity according to what we deserve. If He had, none of us would have any hope. The Bible tells us, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son.” His love was not offered because we earned it. It was given because grace flows from His character.
Many years ago, the Lord taught me a lesson about grace that I have never forgotten.
As I was walking through the streets of Nazareth, a man asked me for money. I reached into my pocket and handed him ten shekels. Instead of thanking me, he shook his head and demanded more. His response immediately stirred frustration in my heart. I reached out to take the money back, thinking, “If this is your attitude, perhaps you deserve nothing at all.”
As I continued walking, I sensed the Holy Spirit speaking to my heart. “Saleem, didn’t you ask Me to teach you what grace means?”
Then came the instruction I least wanted to hear. “Go back and give him fifty shekels.”
Everything inside me resisted. He had been rude. He wasn’t grateful. Surely he deserved nothing more. Yet the Lord gently reminded me of something that changed my perspective forever.
That is grace.
Grace gives what cannot be earned. It shows kindness where kindness has not been deserved. It reflects the very heart of God.
Isn’t that exactly what He has done for each one of us?
None of us could ever repay the price Yeshua paid on the cross. Redemption is free because no human being could ever purchase it. We stand before God today, not because of our own goodness, but because of His amazing grace.
That same grace also helps us understand God’s faithfulness toward Israel. His promises were never based on Israel’s perfection any more than our salvation is based on ours. God’s covenant faithfulness flows from His own unchanging character.
As an Arab believer, I often marvel at the grace God has shown in my own life. He didn’t simply save me. He transformed my heart.
Where there was once misunderstanding and distance, He planted love for the Jewish people and a desire to serve both Jewish and Arab families together in His name. That is not something I produced on my own. It is another beautiful work of God’s grace.
Today, we are preparing to open the Lighthouse Humanitarian Center in Nof HaGalil. Every step of this project is an expression of that same grace. Through practical compassion, we pray that Jewish and Arab families alike will experience not only practical help but also the love of Yeshua.
Would you pray with us as this vision continues to move forward? And if the Lord places it on your heart, would you consider helping us complete this new center? Together, we can become instruments of the same grace that has transformed our own lives.
Because in the end, grace is never meant to stop with us. It is meant to flow through us.
With gratitude from Nazareth,
Pastor Saleem