The Great Goodness of Grace

Written and Posted April 6th 2008 – Sunday

The Great Goodness of Grace

The Greek Definition:
5485.    cavri” charis, khar´-ece; from 5463; graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstr. or concr.; lit., fig., or spiritual; espec. the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; incl. gratitude):— acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, grace (-ious), joy, liberality, pleasure, thank (-s, worthy).
5463.    caivrw chairoµ, khah´-ee-ro; a primary verb; to be “cheer”ful, i.e. calmly happy or well-off; impers. espec. as salutation (on meeting or parting), be well:— farewell, be glad, God speed, greeting, hall, joy (- fully), rejoice.

The Salvation:
But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.
Romans 5:15
6And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.
Romans 11:6
“But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.”
Acts 15:11
4But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
Ephesians 2: 4,5
“I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”
Galatians 2:21

It is only through God’s loving grace toward us that we are draw to Christ, accept Him as our Savior, and have a relationship with Him. The very ability to yes, to  Christ came to us by way of the Father’s Grace.  Grace is a beautiful, wonderful, eternal gift.

The Person:
Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,
Romans 5:20
And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
1 Timothy 1: 14
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
1 Corinthians 15:10
being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
Romans 3:24
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
Ephesians 1:7
and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,
Colossians 3:10
And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Corinthians 12:9
For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
Romans 6:14

Grace is the stepping stones we walk on while on the path to where we need to go!  We at conversion are not the ideal of what God would have us be in our earthly bodies. However, eternally we become His ideal.  While we are learning to allow that ideal to manifest in our daily lives and in our being God’s Grace will help us, cover us, encourage us, correct us, guide us, and direct us.  We will never be at a loss or alone again.  God wants us to be ever growing and changing as we shall never be perfected here on earth. He does not however want us to be condemning ourselves and sabotaging our efforts with every mistake we make or sin that we commit.  He love us and it is through our gratitude for that love that we will see the greatest growth! 
Here is something to ponder when we consider growth and change. A picture of the great Christian Writer [ Author of book simply titled “Devotions”] and Priest John Donne, taken at age 18, was inscribed with the following: “How much shall I be changed before I am changed?” ———-If you would like to enjoy some of Donne’s devotionals they can now be found in public domain online at: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/donne/devotions.html   now re-titled Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions. 

The Calling:
As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
1 Peter 4:10
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace,
Galatians 1:15
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:8

It is also by God’s Wonderful Grace and Inexhaustible Knowledge that are gifts, abilities, and callings are placed within us.  With that in mind there is no reason for jealousy, envy, feelings of unworthiness, fear, or discontentment in our service to and on His behalf.  Why attempt to do something we are not called or suited to do?  When we allow ourselves to walk and minister in the arena God called us to we find freedom, peace, and productivity.  Forget what another person is doing and do what you should be doing?  Thoughts of not being good enough have no place in the grace of God.  You are good enough to do whatever He has called you to do!  I was watching a television segment on 60 minutes, which aired on Easter Sunday, where they were gathering seeds from all over the world to save in hopes of one day re-growing crops that have gone extinct.  It made me think of how much Jesus talked about seeds, their value and importance in life; whether literal seeds or spiritual seeds.  The gentleman doing the harvesting of these seeds said something that was perhaps not only true but has great spiritual significance.  I will leave you with what he said to ponder for yourself.  “Some of the rarest and most valuable seeds come from some of the most unstable places.”

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