All of God’s gracious actions toward us are designed to lead us toward Him. He means for us to respond to His gifts not by seeking more gifts, but by seeking Jesus … to know, trust, serve, obey, honor, enjoy, worship and love Him as we follow Him. Grace enables and encourages us to take steps with Jesus. When we do, we grow in our relationship with Him as we go with Him wherever He leads to do whatever He says. God woos us with His kindness along the way because He wants us to be together every step in this life until we are with Him forever in the life to come. Grace points the way to be with Jesus.
There Are No Grace Graduates
There are no grace graduates. None of us get to the point where we no longer need God’s provision. We aren’t who we used to be, but our transformation isn’t complete. We’ve been fruitful, but our good work isn’t finished. We’ve come a long way, but our journey home isn’t over. We don’t move on from grace; we move on because of grace! So, let us confidently call on God for help to joyfully live out His plans, live for what matters most, live with our circumstances and live in this world, not as independent people, but as His grace-dependent people. Until the very end… We will not stop needing. God will not stop supplying.
He Gives Grace, We Give Glory
We require it. We request it. We receive it. We rely on it. But let’s be clear about it… Grace isn’t given because we are great, but because God is. The grace of God testifies to the glory of God. When it is received and rightly understood, it results in worship for the One who gives it. It should prompt in us as receivers a celebration of Him and commendation of Him as a generous, powerful, wise, good, rich, holy and loving God. Those who think they merit what they receive have little praise for God; those who know all they have is a gift have much praise for God. Today, as He gives grace to us, let us give glory to Him.
We Are Who We Are Because Of Grace
We were made in God’s image to bring glory to Him, but we all sin and fall short of God’s glory which distorts His image in us. Jesus came to display the perfect image of God and glorify Him in ways we did not, and then die in our place to atone for our sin. Then He begins restoring the image of God in us so we can bring Him glory. This is what grace does for us: It takes people who don’t look and act much like God and transforms us into people who do. Undeserving sinners are remade into joy-filled, purpose-driven, difference-making, love-giving image-bearers of our glorious God. We are who we are because of grace.
Who God Says You Are
To receive God’s grace is to be so radically changed that nothing will ever be the same. 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.
One Way God Shows His Grace
God helps us help one another by giving spiritual gifts of His grace to every person in His family. We don’t earn these spiritual abilities; they are gifts. They aren’t all the same; they come in various forms. We don’t let them gather dust; we use them. They aren’t to be used selfishly; they are to be used to bless others. We don’t use them to bless others so we are praised; we do so that Jesus may receive the glory. So, let us do our part today with the resources we have been entrusted to steward for the good of those around us. One way God shows grace to us is through others; one way God shows grace to others is through us.
Experience It And Extend It
Because the need for grace is great, and the supply of grace is even greater, we who have experienced it ourselves should extend it. We want others to come to trust and treasure God like we do, and there is no better way to accomplish this than 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 that God pours out on us though acts of kindness. 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.
We Just Have To Look
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 and not grumble over what you do not have. Praising will replace pouting. Worshipping will replace whining. Celebrating will replace complaining. So… 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. Praise God! We don’t have to look very hard to appreciate all that we are given; we just have to look.
God Wants Us To Be Happy
God wants us to be happy. When He tells us in the Bible to do, say, correct, believe, feel, think or share something, it is not to take away our happiness; it is to take away the things that are in the way of our full and lasting happiness in Him. We must trust that God is after our happiness, that He knows best how to bring about our happiness, and that what He tells us in the Bible is designed to lead us into happiness. It is His grace at work when He tells us what to do, gives us power to do it, and delights us in Himself as we do it. God’s way is not always easy, popular or instantly gratifying, but it always leads to real joy.
Experiencing More Of His Grace
There are certain rhythms of grace that will help us better experience the forgiveness, freedom and favor of God. These habits, disciplines and practices help us remember and rely on God’s generosity toward us in Christ. While there are many of them, there are four basic steps 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 in Christ: we live in step with Him as we live out His plans for us. The best way to dive into the fountainhead of grace is to walk daily with the Giver of grace.
We Will Sin Less
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. 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 go from loving sin to hating it and from choosing sin to fighting 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.
Run To The Throne Of Grace
There is a daily 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. 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. He is bigger than your biggest need! Take heart… You are never helpless against temptation as long as there is a throne of grace for you to run to for help.
Grace Isn’t Opposed To Effort
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. 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.
Relying On And Resting In His Grace
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 both pardon for sin and power not to sin. So… We rely on His grace as we strive for holiness, and we rest in His grace when we need forgiveness.
He Rules For Our Good As We Submit To His Rule
God’s grace will call us to submit to God’s authority. From the moment we put our faith in Jesus, we will begin a lifelong journey where we yield more and more control to Him as we trust Him more fully in more areas of our lives. For genuine believers, there will be an immediate, increasing, imperfect reception of the new life of joyful obedience and rejection of the old life of sinful disobedience. We will stand by His grace when we get it right and fall into His grace when we get it wrong. Whatever happens today, let us strive to gladly obey Jesus knowing this… He rules for our good as we submit to His rule over our lives.
Grace Always Fits Two Things
God’s grace is always in harmony with God’s will. That means 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. God is wisely superintending the entire cosmos while intimately attending to you and me. Let us praise Him for Who He is and for what He does! We don’t have to understand how God is working it all out for good; we just need to trust that He is.
Grace Is Always Right On Time
It never arrives too early. It never arrives too late. Grace is always right on time. God’s unmerited favor for undeserving people 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.
His Help
While grace is available to us all the time, we do not experience its every benefit all the time. We often miss 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: Jesus is our great Barrier-Remover! Therefore, let us… Acknowledge our need for His help, ask for His help, anticipate His help, accept His help, act by His help, and adore Him for His help. When we do, we can be sure of this: Jesus will not push us away; He will make us a way.
Confidently Asking God For Help
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 gracious help. But, because of Jesus, we can have it as a gift on the basis of His work, not ours. You can confidently ask God for His help today because… It’s not what you do for Him that is worthy of His help; it’s what Jesus has done for you.
Before We Ask, Because We Ask
Sometimes God gives to us before we ask and sometimes because we ask. While God does countless gracious things for 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 because He loves us. So, ask Him. Pray often, celebrating the grace already given to you and requesting the grace that is yet to come.
