The average person speaks about 16,000 words per day. That's 112,000 words in a week, and nearly 6 million words a year. Do all those words match the criteria of Colossians 4:6 (TPT)?”Let every word you speak be drenched with grace and tempered with truth and clarity. For then you will be prepared to give a respectful answer to anyone who asks about your faith.”
Grace was the most extravagant gift ever given by the Heavenly. It was free, but quite costly. Your greatest problem in life exists inside you, not outside you. If you convince yourself that your problem is in your relationships, your location, or your situation, you'll quit seeking grace and you'll try to find an easy way out. But if you humbly admit that you need help, you'll discover the grace that God provides.
God’s grace is the most powerful force in the universe as well as the most beautiful word in the world. It reaches you where you are and takes you where God wants you to be. It has the power to do something that nothing else can do: transform you at the core of who you are as a human. Below are some of the many different variations of grace that are important to know:
1.
ACCEPTANCE: God welcomes us into
relationship with Him. He invites us into His family. He adopts us as His
children, and we now have this Father-child relationship with Him where we can
come to Him. We can bring our needs to Him, and He responds as a loving Father.
Sin once separated us from God by grace we now have acceptance.
2.
COMPLETION: There will be a day when you and I will be fully
restored to who we were meant to be. There will be no more sin. There will be
no more struggles. Everything will be restored, and we will worship in the
presence of God’s amazing grace.
3.
ENABLEMENT: Grace reaches us where
we are, and takes us where God wants us to be. You see, God's not simply
content to give us salvation and then leave us alone until Heaven. He wants us
to become more like His Son and work for the furtherance of His Kingdom right
here, right now. Remaining sin leaves us weak. God's grace intervenes to give
us power. It gives us the ability to do what we're called to do, but also what
we could never do on our own.
The
acronym G.R.A.C.E. means God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense.
4.
FORGIVENESS: We all do wrong (the Bible calls that sin) and that leaves us
guilty. Guilty people need to be punished unless they're forgiven. Jesus Christ
went to the cross to carry our sin and to bear our punishment so we could
experience complete forgiveness. In Jesus Christ, we're forgiven for everything
we’ve ever done in the past, the present, and the future.
5.
FREEDOM: God’s grace also delivers. Sin turns us into
addicts. We're slaves of sin, but God’s grace breaks that bondage. Grace gives
us the power to say “No!” and turn in a much better direction.
6.
PRESENCE: The grace of God's
presence means that our Father is not distant. God is present with us wherever
we are, whomever we're with, and whatever we're doing. The Bible tells us that
God, in His grace, has made us the place where He dwells. It wasn’t enough for
God to forgive us. He literally got inside us by His Holy Spirit, and so He is
with us all the time.
“Sometimes we may ask God for success, and He gives us physical and
mental stamina. We might plead for prosperity, and we receive enlarged
perspective and increased patience, or we petition for growth and are blessed
with the gift of grace. He may bestow upon us conviction and confidence as we
strive to achieve worthy goals.” (David A. Bednar)[i]
[i] Sources used:
·
“5 Things the Bible Teaches About Grace” by Jack
Wellman
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