If you think you can simply be a “good person” to get into heaven when you die, then you have grossly underestimated what God requires for entrance. Something we need to understand is this: our standards may be low enough that we can meet them, but God’s are high enough that we never will.  As sinners, the best we can do does not measure up.  The good news is this:  We don’t have to because Jesus already did on behalf of all who put their trust in Him.  Jesus lived for us.  Jesus died for us.  Someday we will be accepted into heaven by grace through faith in this: He exchanged His perfect life for our imperfect ones.

To receive God’s grace is to be so radically changed that nothing will ever be the same again.  Not your past, because your sin no longer convicts you.  Not your present, because your sin no longer controls you.  Not your future, because your sin no longer condemns you.  When you trust in Jesus, God graciously remakes everything about who you were, who you are and who you will become.  You are given a new identity in Christ, a growing similarity to Christ and a joy-filled destiny with Christ.  Grace.  Changes.  Everything.  You are not defined by who the world says you are; you are defined by who God says you are.

There’s only one reason we persevere through the trials, troubles and tragedies of life in this broken world:  grace.  We are given the strength, encouragement and provision we need to keep going when the going gets tough. God is always graciously working in us, working behind the scenes for us, and working all things out for the good of us.  Call on Him.  Count on Him.  Collapse on Him.  When He does not give you grace to escape problems, He will give you grace to endure them. You will make it. This is our hope in Jesus…  When the time is right, God will bring our hurting to an end and give us happiness without end.

Contentment increases when your awareness of grace does.   The more you recognize what God has done, is doing and will do for you as a free and undeserved gift, the more you will be grateful for what you have instead of grumble over what you do not have. To nurture this contentment, we should regularly look back at God’s faithfulness to us in Christ and look forward to God’s promises to us in Christ.  Today, let us rejoice over past grace and request future grace, knowing that God has always and will always give to us what is best for us.   We don’t have to look very hard to appreciate all that we are given; we just have to look.

There are certain rhythms of grace that will help us better experience grace.  These habits, disciplines and practices help us remember, rejoice in, respond to, and rely on God’s favor to us in Christ.  While there are many of them, there are four basic rhythms that give birth to the rest of them:  Pray.  Read the Bible.  Respond to what God tells you.  Help others do the same. This is how we better experience all that God means for us to have, as a means for us to better enjoy God Himself.  The best way to dive into and delight in the fountainhead of grace is to walk daily with the Giver of grace.

While grace is available to us all the time, we do not experience its every benefit all the time. We often miss out on blessings that could be ours.  Why?  Because of sin-created barriers.  We don’t think we need God’s help, don’t remember to ask for God’s help, don’t believe God will send help, and/or refuse the help that He sends.  But here is good news: He welcomes us to come back to Him.  Therefore, let us… Acknowledge our need for His help, ask for His help, anticipate His help, accept His help, and act by His help.  When we do, we can be sure of this:  Jesus, our great Barrier-Remover will not push us away; He will make us a way.

What is going on in your life today?  If something good is happening, it’s by grace.  If something bad is being handled, it’s by grace.  That sunset, steak and surprise text from your friend.  That’s by grace.  The trial you’re getting through and the trouble you got through.  Yep, grace.  Your ability, opportunity and community … grace, grace, grace.  The tears wiped away and the smiles of the day.  Grace on top of grace.   Beating hearts, peaceful sleep, acts of service, growing pains, friends that care, strength to continue, paid bills, lessons learned, fresh water, hugs. You can’t look in any direction without seeing the evidence of God’s grace.

The practicality of grace can get lost in the technicality of its meaning.  We know grace is God’s “unmerited favor” toward us, but that’s very generalized.  What does it specifically look like in everyday life?  It looks like: forgiveness during failures, peace during storms, hope during trials, comfort during heartaches, joy during suffering, guidance during uncertainty, rest during busyness, strength during temptation, blessing during good times, and so much more.  But even that is not as pin-point accurate as grace really is, for it shows up in countless minutiae within those categories.  Grace is all around us.

It’s not just about your past.  It’s not just about your future.  It’s also about your present.  Our sinful separation from God is behind us, and our face-to-face fellowship with Him is ahead of us; in between the two is the nowness of everyday life. And grace is there. The way that God works in our lives is very practical for the right here, right now moments of our lives.  You will not face a single situation today, good or bad, self-induced or involuntary, hard or easy, quick or lasting, anticipated or unexpected, that God has not provided for.  Take heart! Grace is there for the asking for both your well-being on the inside and what is happening on the outside.

By grace, God serves up an endless buffet of soul-nourishing, soul-delighting blessings for those who trust in Jesus. This includes:  forgiveness, friendship, freedom, wisdom, power, peace, purpose, joy, hope, security, rest, justice, thankfulness, assurance, deliverance, guidance, significance, endurance, comfort, companionship, care, courage, transformation, satisfaction, love and life. And this is not a complete list!  The countless implications and applications of the benefits that are ours by grace are staggering and extend from now until eternity.  We need not settle for morsels when we can indulge in a feast. Because we have Jesus, we can have it all.

One of the evidences that you have received God’s pardon for your sin is that you are relying on God’s power to fight against your sin.  Forgiveness and freedom are two inseparable aspects of grace.  You don’t get one without the other.  Our rate and depth of spiritual growth will vary by person and season, but one thing every genuine Christian has in common is this:  sin no longer holds the same appeal or power as it once did.  We once loved it, but we grow to hate it.  We once gave in to it, but we grow to fight against it.  Though we will not be sinless, we will sin less because of this… Our relationship with sin changes because of our relationship with Jesus.

God’s grace is always in harmony with God’s will.  That means that although He will do for us what is good for us, it will often be in ways that are different than what we expected, desired or requested.  Grace always fit two things:  what we need, and what God wants.  It will serve both our particulars and His purposes, ensuring that our needs are cared for and His plans are carried out.  Know this:  God is wisely superintending the entire cosmos while intimately attending to you and me. We don’t have to understand how God is working it all out for good; we just need to trust that He is.

Sometimes God gives to us before we ask and sometimes because we ask.  While God does countless gracious things for us, in us and through us without us requesting them or even realizing them, there are some things He does only as a response to us humbly asking Him.  To be sure, we don’t pray to get what we want to build our own kingdoms; we pray to get what we need to live for His. Still, God loves to be seen as generous, loves for us to appeal to His generosity, and loves to give generously to us as He deems best because He loves us.  So… Pray often, celebrating the grace already given to you and requesting the grace that is yet to come.

There are two errors we often make when we consider asking Jesus for help. We either feel confident that we can ask Him for help because we’ve been “good,” or we feel hesitant to ask Him for help because we’ve been “bad.”  Both of those ideas twist God’s kingdom into a meritocracy in which we submit our requests (or not) based on our deeds.  The truth is, we don’t deserve God’s help. But because of what Jesus did on the cross, we can have it as a gift on the basis of His grace, not our goodness.  Trust in Him and confidently ask for His help today knowing this… It’s not what you do for Him that is worthy of His help; it’s what Jesus has done for you.

It never arrives too early.  It never arrives too late.  Grace is always right on time.  God’s unmerited favor for undeserving people like you and me is both customized to fit what we need and calculated to arrive when we need it.  Neither the size of the trial nor the strength of the temptation will ever be a match for the well-timed help that God sends in the many moments that are too much for us to handle alone.  When you feel like giving in to temptation or giving up in a trial, that’s when you can know for certain that grace is there.  In your time of need, God will ensure that you have what you need. Our timing is rarely perfect; His always is.

Every day there is a tug-of-war for control of your thoughts, feelings, motives, attitudes, words and actions, pulling you in the opposing directions of what sin entices you into and what God invites you into.   Because of grace, the war is not yours alone to fight! Look to Jesus for help and look for His help to arrive in your time of temptation as a way to leave it, the power to say “no” to it, a divine removal of it, the arrival of someone to help you through it, and / or a promise of something worth waiting for that is better than it.  Take heart! You are never helpless against temptation as long as there is a throne of grace for you to run to for help.

When we receive God’s grace, every sin we have committed, are committing and will commit are all forgiven. Fully.  Freely.  Forever.  That doesn’t mean we can knowingly and willfully continue sinning with no remorse or repentance.  True grace is not “All is forgiven, now you can freely wallow in sin.”  True grace is, “All is forgiven, now you can firmly withstand sin.” Jesus did not pick us up just so we would run back to the same thing that knocked us down. He supplies grace that is both pardon for sin and power not to sin. Therefore… We rely on His grace as we strive for holiness, and we rest in His grace when we need forgiveness.

Because the need for grace is great, and the supply of grace is even greater, we who have experienced it ourselves should extend it to others.  We do this by a “show and tell” demonstration of what God has done for us in Christ.  We show others the same kind of undeserved forgiveness and favor by letting go of the natural desire to get even with offenders and letting God produce His supernatural desire in us to be a blessing to those in our lives.  We tell others about the availability of the grace of God that has changed us and can change them as well.  Our everyday testimony for God’s grace is treating others like He treats us.

Grace has two sides, a giving side and a receiving side.  God gives.  We receive.  How do we receive God’s grace?  By faith.  Faith is the only appropriate response to the grace of God for it is the only response that appropriates the grace of God.  We must believe in order to receive.  The gracious pardon, power and provision that God freely offers us must be received by faith in order for us to personally experience it.  We are included in it when we trust that because of His grace given to us in Christ, our sins are forgiven, and our future is secured.  We live by faith in Him and look to Him in faith for everything we need, confident that His grace will deliver it.

Grace is not cruise control.  Ours is not a set it and forget it relationship in which God does all the work, and we do none of it.  He does all of the things that only He can do and enables us to do all of the things that He purposes for us to do.  How do we respond to grace?  We. Work. Hard.  We work hard to be who God called us to be and do what God has called us to do in Christ, relying on His power and provision every step of the way.  Learn this:  Grace isn’t opposed to effort; it’s opposed to trying to earn what we’ve been freely given.    We don’t work hard to receive God’s grace; we work hard because we have already received it.