Grace
His Grace Is Enough
The word “Grace” is, to me, one of the most beautiful words in the English language. When you think about what the word means, unexpected and unmerited favor, it gives me great encouragement to know that God created the potential of this beautiful quality in all of us so that we can share it with others.
Grace started with Him. When Jesus paid the penalty for yours and my sin, His grace covered all of it.
Do we still sin? Yes, but if we truly repent, God forgives and continues to refine and perfect us. Remember the “potter and the clay” analogy? It’s a perfect description of how God works in all of our lives. God’s grace is a refining fire in the midst of trials.
Everyone has the opportunity to receive His grace. It makes me sad when I hear that there are people who still believe they have to earn their way into Heaven.
They can’t. It’s impossible. We must believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to eternal salvation and that is the path we must take.
A Thorny Path
It’s a path that’s sometimes filled with thorns. Bad things will happen to us – we can expect it at some point in our lives. We may even question God about the injustice of it all.
Take heart, dear one.
God has promised He would always be with us, and if it’s in His divine plan, He will bring healing if it accomplishes His purpose. There is always a purpose.
Cancer, Alzheimer’s, heart disease – there are so many words like these that strike fear and discouragement when they become a part of our lives or of someone we love.
How do we survive a diagnosis such as these?
With Faith. It has to be with Faith.
Please add “a lot of prayer from friends and family” to that because God listens to every one. He hears your every heart beat and He hears your every word. Trust in Him and His plan for your life. We know that God is already working your suffering for good, maybe tomorrow or maybe way into the future. We must trust Him, even when the healing doesn’t come in this life.
A friend of mine, Martha F. from Texas, has experienced God’s grace within her own family. We are all sinners in the eyes of God. Here’s a verse to illustrate that from the book of Romans:
Romans 3:23 —
* 23 All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
All is Not Lost However
Taken by itself, one might think that all is lost, that there’s no way we can measure up. But all is not lost. Jesus provided a way for us to spend our lives eternally in His presence and where there will be nothing but joy.
Martha adds:
This verse sums up the human race to me and the grace that is available to all who receive Jesus as their Savior. It is a reminder to me that no one, no not one, of us are pure and blameless, but we have hope in Jesus as He took the punishment for our sins. Everyone has sinned, but everyone also has the opportunity to receive Christ. Because we all are sinners, Jesus died for all, not just an elect few. We all have the opportunity, as we are all sinners, to receive eternal salvation.
Nothing Compares To God’s Grace
We will have an eternal future with Him that will be better than anything we have ever experienced – that means all the beautiful sunsets, fun times spent with our loved ones, personal experiences with grace, exciting vacations, alone time spent with God – when it’s our time to leave this world, we will spend our time with Him in His holy presence and nothing can even compare with that.
His grace will always be enough. Here’s a song I love by Sara Groves. I hope you enjoy. God bless you all this week.
*Bible reference – English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.