Grace is what God has done for us, to us and in us to bless and favor us, without any contribution from us. And here is the AMAZING thing – the bible says everything we receive from God we receive by grace! We are saved by grace, we are healed by grace, we prosper by grace, and we are blessed by grace! It is All of God and NONE of us
! Every time I think of this, my heart just wants to shout! Who am I that God would love me so? What have I done to deserve such a love? Nothing. As God says in Deuteronomy 7:7 – “He loves me because…He loves me!” So this morning, let me share with you 3 ways this truths have completely transformed the way I live:
1. I now have the right reason to live right: without God’s grace, without knowing and appreciating all that God has done for me, in me and to me, without any contribution from me – I was bound to seek to please God out of fear or pride. Either I was trying to do right because I was afraid of punishment or because I felt that my actions would earn me some rewards. But now, because of grace – knowing God has done ALL for me ALREADY – I can finally now seek to live right for one reason only – love.
Since NOTHING I do or not do changes how He views me, I serve in His house ONLY because I love Him. I pray and read my bible ONLY because I love. I try to live right ONLY because I love. Grace transforms us by exposing the true motivation of our hearts – whether we are serving him out of selfish love for our own selves or out of a genuine love for God and others.
2. I now have the enablement to live right:
not only do I now have the right reason to live right, God’s grace also enables me to live right. Whatever good I’d love to do, God has done it FIRST to me, for me and in me! So now all I do is rely on him to live out what I have already experienced! I can give, because I have already received! Take loving others – I was never able to love others until I experienced God’s loved for me. I could never be kind to undeserving people, until I experienced undeserved kindness. I could never give, until I saw how much God had given me and had given up for me. Today I pray that grace transforms you as you see what God has done already, so that you can give out of what you have received.
3. I now have the tenacity to keep living right: because I now know that it is not the way I live that determines how God relates with me – I don’t give up, even when I fall. I trip up many times in my attempt to live right – but each time, I pick up myself and keep on going. My self-esteem and acceptance is no longer wrapped up in what I do or not do – but in Him who loves me and accepts me in Jesus. No wonder the bible says “the righteous (the man accepted by God because of what God has done) may fall seven times, but he will rise up again
” (Proverbs 24:16). Do you feel like giving up because you feel like a failure? Then let your be filled heart today with the grace to keep going – because He’ll never reject you, no matter what!
We contribute NOTHING to what God does for us because we have NOTHING to contribute! This is why there will never be a day you are so bad that you are beyond God’s grace! And there will never be a day you are so good that you are not in need of God’s grace! NO MATTER how bad you are – today God’s grace is available to transform you. May you receive that grace by faith today, In Jesus Name, Amen.