Grace for the Soul
Why “Grace for the Soul?”
Isn’t grace what Jesus did on the cross? He bore all our sins & died a painful death so that we could be in a relationship with God. Is that where Grace ends?
Praise God that’s not where it ends. It's where it begins, but His gift of grace just continues to grow & bless us in ways we aren’t always aware of or maybe don’t understand.
“But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. It is by GRACE you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus” Ephesians 2:4-7
Grace is possibly the most important word in the human vocabulary!! It’s the basis of LIFE. Without grace, there is no life after death.
Because of God’s grace, we can live in freedom! Free from the bonds of performance! Free from guilt, duty & obligation!! Liberated from legalism and motivated to honor God by our love for Him! Knowing that we can’t earn our love or make God love us any more than He already does!! He died for our sins yesterday, today & tomorrow!! We are covered by His amazing grace!!
But it doesn’t stop at the cross because he has blessed us with “empowering grace.” His gift of the Holy Spirit lives & dwells within us. It’s His desire to equip us with what we need to journey through life. This empowering grace is what allows us to accomplish tasks that are far “too big” for us to handle on our own! This grace empowers you to serve when you are unqualified in a ministry you’ve been asked to serve in. It might mean “loving” that unlovable neighbor. It might be extending grace to your spouse when they are being unreasonable, It might mean parenting that difficult child or suffering from pain, loss or terminal illness.
This empowering grace not only enables us to handle difficult things & difficult people, but it’s God’s intention that we accept that empowering grace when it comes to ourselves! We all have a “mean judge” in our head that likes to condemn us and make us feel like we are “not enough,” and that we are failures & disappointments. The judge wants to keep us trapped & paralyzed so that we aren’t able to embrace who God says that we are. And part of the reason we suffer is that we aren’t able or willing to accept God’s empowering grace. We wouldn’t talk to our worst enemy the way we talk to ourselves! We are harder on ourselves than anyone else is.
Could it be that if we started to embrace God’s grace in our life on a daily basis, it would change our lives? God’s grace often comes in the form of a community! Brothers and sisters in Christ who are there to support & encourage us. People who are committed to being a part of our lives and a part of our healing! When we don’t let people into our pain & our losses, we miss out on God’s grace to us.
A few years ago I had a pretty major surgery. The women in my life wanted to provide meals for me as I was recovering. I remember telling them; I would be fine!! I LOVE making meals for other women, but the idea of someone having to make them for me just really makes me feel uncomfortable. I don’t want to "inconvenience someone” by having them labor over making a meal for me.
Then I had someone very dear to me simply say… “when you don’t allow others to serve you; you are saying NO to God’s grace.” That’s right, here on earth God’s hands & feet are HIS people!! He chooses to bless us with His grace through others! That had such an impact on me that I was able to take the “grace” that had come disguised in the form of a hot meal.
Even to accept a meal from a friend is an act of God’s grace. When we deny someone the opportunity to bless us (with a meal or child care etc…) We are refusing to accept God’s grace. Yes, it’s true that sometimes grace looks like a “hot meal.”
When was the last time you extended yourself some grace? Is someone in your life in need of some grace? His death was the first act, I invite you to receive completeness in Christ by receiving His Enabling Grace.
