Powered By Grace

By Jadene B.    

Grace – we throw that term around a lot. It’s not uncommon to hear regularly how people impute certain occurrences in their lives to the grace of God and it is the most sensible explanation; but how many of us really understand what the grace of God is – and why it is has been extended to sinful mankind.

Grace means “unmerited favor, blessing, or kindness.” We can all extend grace to others; but when the word grace is used in connection with God, it takes on a more powerful meaning. Grace is God choosing to bless us rather than curse us as our sin deserves. It is His benevolence to the undeserving, which we all are.

The only way any of us can enter into a relationship with God is because of His grace toward us. Grace began in the Garden of Eden when God killed an animal to cover the sin of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:21). He could have killed the first humans right there for their disobedience to Him. But rather than destroy them, He chose to make a way for them to be right with Him.

Grace is the love of God shown to the unlovely; the peace of God given to the restless; the unmerited favor of God.Grace is God reaching downward to people who are inconstant rebellion against Him. Grace is unconditional love towards a person who does not deserve it.

Grace is most needed and best understood in the midst of sin, suffering, and brokenness. We live in a world of earning, deserving, and merit – where everyone is trying to earn and gain recognition from others, most of the time we seek recognition from people who don’t even matter.Some of us may even be trying to earn favour from Godand work our way into right standing with Him, but that dear friends is unattainable when it comes to our Creator. You cannot earn His favour nor be His favourite for God shows no favouritism (Romans 2:11). Nothing you ever do will be good enough for God, regardless of how good of a person you think you are; the Scripture makes it clear that “our righteous works are as filthy rags” in the eyes of God (Isaiah 64:6).

This is why everyone desperately needs His grace – it’s not about us. It is fundamentally about God: His un-coerced initiative and pervasive, extravagant demonstrations of care and favor. In grace, God gives nothing less than Himself. Grace then, is not a third thing or substance mediating between God and sinners, but is Jesus Christ in redeeming action.

Grace is important because God offered us grace by sending Jesus. Sin separates us from God. We can never bridge the gulf between us and God that was created by our sin. Romans 6:23 tells us, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.” When we sin, we deserve an eternal death — being separated from God forever. If God gave us what we deserve, we would never be able to bridge the gap between God and us. However, grace means that God sent Jesus to die in our place and rise again so that the gulf between us and God could be closed forever.

In essence, if Jesus wasn’t executed there would be no celebration. This is why we owe our very existence to Him.Grace is a constant theme in the Bible, and it culminates in the New Testament with the coming of Jesus (John 1:17).

God shows both mercy and grace, but they are not the same. Mercy withholds a punishment we deserve; grace gives a blessing we don't deserve. We don’t deserve His grace but we need His grace. We need it first of all for salvation. Without the grace of God, we cannot have eternal life. However, we also need the grace of God for our daily walk with God. We are weak and prone to stray. Jesus told us that we can do nothing without Him (John 15:5). But God provides daily strength through His grace working in us. We should seek this grace for living for Him. Then, we should believe that He will provide what He has promised and walk with assurance that His grace is working in us.

The Virtue of Gratitude

By Jadene B.  

Hearing footsteps in the corridor he knew might be those of the guards taking him away to his execution. His only bed was the hard, cold stone floor of the muggy, cramped prison cell. Not an hour passed when he was free from the constant irritation of the chains and the pain of the iron manacles cutting into his wrists and legs.

Separated from friends & fellowship, unjustly accused, brutally treated—if ever a person had a right to complain, it was this man, languishing and almost forgotten in a harsh Roman prison cell. But instead of complaints, his lips rang with words of praise and thanksgiving!
The man was the Apostle Paul—a man who had learned the meaning of true thanksgiving, even in the midst of great adversity. While he had been imprisoned in Rome, Paul wrote, “Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything" (Ephesians 5:19).
Think of it: Always giving thanks for everything—no matter the circumstances! Thanksgiving for the Apostle Paul was not a once-a-year celebration, but a daily reality that changed his life and made him a joyful person in every situation. Gratitude for Apostle Paul was not just a gesture, it was a lifestyle and in turn he went on to write 14 of the 27 books included in the New Testament, all inspired by the Spirit of God. Apostle Paul wrote that we should not let our minds dwell on negative thoughts. Instead, we should dwell on those things that are pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). 
Nothing turns us into bitter, selfish, dissatisfied people more quickly than an ungrateful heart. And nothing will do more to restore contentment and the joy of our salvation than a true spirit of thankfulness. 
Today, ingratitude and thanklessness are far too common. Children forget to thank their parents for all that they do. Common courtesy is scorned. We take for granted the ways that others help us. Above all, we fail to thank God for His blessings.
One of the Bible’s indictments against rebellious humanity is that “although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him” (Romans 1:21). An ungrateful heart is a heart that is cold toward God and indifferent to His mercy and love. It is a heart that has forgotten how dependent we are on God for everything. 
Why should we be thankful? Because God has blessed us, and we should be thankful for each blessing.
Thanking God glorifies and magnifies Him and also benefits us. The Lord doesn’t need our thanks, but we need to give it so we can become what He wants us to be: unselfish, encouraged, and confident. 
To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives’ events – the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections - that requires hard spiritual work. Still, we are only truly grateful people when we can say thank you to all that has brought us to the present moment. As long as we keep dividing our lives between events and people we would like to remember and those we would rather forget, we cannot claim the fullness of our beings as a gift of God to be grateful for.

Let’s not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God; for the trials we face regardless of how bad they are prove our undying faith for Him – “In this [we] greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Christ” (1 Peter 1:6-7)

Tested faith brings experience. You could not have believed your own weakness if you had not been compelled to pass through the rivers; and you would never have known God’s strength if you had not been supported in the flood. Faith increases in quality, assurance, and intensity the more it is exercised with tribulation. Faith is precious, and its trial is precious too therefore give thanks.Thank God for grace in all circumstances. We should be thankful everyday, not just when we attend a church service or observe a special day of thanks. This is because there is always something to be grateful forremembering that someone out there is praying for the kind of life you have.