Weekly Grace

The things we focus on have a huge impact on what happens in our daily lives. After getting born again, the most important thing is to renew our minds to the Gospel of Grace. This involves monitoring what we regularly look at, listen to, and think about, which influences how we think and what we do. Focusing on the wrong thing makes us feel guilty and sin-conscious; focusing on the right thing gives us peace and a clear conscience.

The Law of Moses was all about self-effort; failure to keep all the commandments resulted in guilt and sin-consciousness. It was too perfect for imperfect man to keep; its purpose was to point out man’s sin. No man could be justified in God’s sight by the deeds of the law, because by the law is the knowledge of sin. God never meant for man to keep the law; it was given to show us our need for a Savior.

The law caused people to sin more; the strength of sin was the law. Thankfully, Jesus came and changed everything. The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Whereas the law constantly reminds people of their shortcomings, grace reminds people of God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness.

A relationship with Christ gives us peace of mind. He’s the end of the law for everyone who believes in Him. We can stop focusing on sin and fearing it because it no longer has dominion over us. We’re not under the law, but under grace.

Constantly being aware of God’s favor toward us transforms us. Grace makes us want to live godly, righteous lives in this present world and sin less, not more. This is bound to move us in the right direction on our spiritual journey.

Prayer:

Lord, You knew when You gave the law that no one could keep it, so You sent Your Son to replace it with grace. The key to living right is to focus on Christ and what He did, not on ourselves and what we do. Thank You for this. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

Galatians 3:19

Romans 3:20

1 Corinthians 15:56

John 1:17

Romans 10:4

Romans 6:14

Titus 2:12

The motivations behind what we do are extremely important. They can either help us along in our Christian walk or hold us back and trip us up. The act of confessing is one example. As believers, there will always be times when we need to confess, but we never need to confess in order to receive God’s forgiveness for our sins.

It’s vital to rightly divide God’s Word on this so that we’ll understand why believers confess. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. However, this was written to unbelievers; God calls believers “my little children” and says that if they sin, they have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

There was once a need to confess to receive forgiveness of sins before Jesus’ death and resurrection, but thankfully, His finished works changed everything. If we’ve been born again, we’re now already forgiven. We can be kind and forgive one another, even as God for Christ’s sake forgave us. If we quarrel against someone, even as Christ forgave us, we also forgive them.

To confess is to declare or acknowledge something. As Christians, there are plenty of things we can, and should, declare that line up with the Word. We’ve been delivered; let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from the enemy’s hand. Communicating our faith becomes effectual by acknowledging every good thing in us in Christ Jesus.

There’s nothing wrong with confessing to God—if we confess correctly. Instead of confessing in guilt to ask Him to forgive us, we can ‘fess up, acknowledge the mistakes we made, and thank Him for forgiving us before we were even born. We have redemption through Christ’s blood and forgiveness for our sins, according to the riches of His grace. This knowledge allows us to enjoy our relationship with Him.

Prayer:

God, everyone who has confessed Jesus Christ as their own personal Lord and Savior has already received the forgiveness that has been made available to them. This releases us from having to confess our sins, first, to be forgiven. We’re grateful for this. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

1 John 1:9

1 John 2:1

Ephesians 4:32

Colossians 3:13

Psalm 107:2

Philemon 1:6

Ephesians 1:7

Born-again believers live in an environment completely ignorant of the things of God. The world has no concept of being righteous and upstanding before Him. Religion gives us a long list of things to do to be accepted by others, but this is simply relying on our own works instead of on God. The focus is on what we do, not on who we are, but everything changes when we listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to us.

The Spirit of Grace ministering to us reminds us that we’re already righteous. He reveals to us our family ties to God. Our faith in His grace frees us from useless self-efforts to please others. All who believe and accept Jesus have received the right to be children of God.

Our Father loves us so much that He calls us His children, which is what we are. However, those who belong to the world don’t recognize this because they don’t know Him. As His dear children we must remain in fellowship with Christ, our older brother, so that when He returns, we’ll be full of courage and not shrink back from Him in shame. Christ is righteous; therefore, all who do what’s right are God’s children.

Belief in our identity in Jesus makes us righteous without the need to work hard to earn it. All who believe in Him are made right with God. Religion preaches the law, which requires us to do something to earn our righteousness; this mindset is the number one enemy to God’s favor.

To him who works, the reward isn’t reckoned of grace, but of debt. By contrast, to him who doesn’t work but simply believes on the one who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. When Jesus ended the law as a means of governing how we live, He replaced it with the Hoy Ghost. Letting Him minister to us is vastly better.

Prayer:

Lord, we could never do enough on our own to make ourselves righteous in Your eyes. However, our belief in Jesus and in His finished works not only makes us righteous by faith, but also makes us Your children. Thank You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

John 1:12, NLT

1 John 3:1, 2, NLT

1 John 2:28, 29, NLT

Romans 10:4, NLT

Romans 4:4, 5

One characteristic of a true believer is generosity. However, the decision whether or not to give is entirely up to us; we can either joyfully embrace it or fearfully shy away from it. The world knows about taking but not giving, and therefore doesn’t understand how giving generously empowers the giver. Giving isn’t about money, but about trust.

During His ministry, Jesus had plenty to say about money. When He saw the widow put two mites into the treasury, which was all the money she had, He remarked on her generosity. Compared to the wealthy people who cast in greater amounts of money from their excess, the woman’s giving was an act of trust in God.

The grace that God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia empowered them to freely give although they were poor in material wealth. The joy they felt at hearing the Word preached gave them the power to give beyond their physical means. They were generous, despite their afflictions and deep poverty.

Grace-based giving is purposeful and deliberate; it plans ahead, and isn’t just an afterthought. Paul taught proportional giving. He advised the churches to set aside money in advance, as God had prospered each person. God prospers us to give so that we never have to be afraid of giving what we don’t have.

Paul urged the believers to sow bountifully. He also warned them not to consume all their financial resources, but to save some to give to others. God will multiply the financial seed that we sow into others’ lives and increase the fruits of our righteousness. What we give—not what we spend on ourselves—will be multiplied.

God set the example for us when He gave us His own Son. We can never out-give Him. When we trust Him with our finances, we can expect grace from the one who enables us to give.

Prayer:

God, You blessed each of us generously so that we, in turn, can bless others. You empower us with financial seed so that we can sow some of that seed into others’ lives. Thank You for the abundance You give us. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

Mark 12:41-44

2 Corinthians 8:1-3

1 Corinthians 16:2

2 Corinthians 9:6, 10

John 3:16

We all want to experience good things, but few of us know how to get them to show up in our lives. The world teaches its own way of getting what we want, which includes various strategies while leaving God’s grace out of the equation. Everything we need in life—such as peace, joy, healing, deliverance, and prosperity—was made available to us thousands of years ago when Jesus went to the cross. These are manifested when we have faith in what He did to allow us to receive them.

Seeing the physical results of what God promised us requires a proper balance of both grace, which is God’s part, and faith, which is our part. Grace isn’t just a concept or an idea; grace is a person, and His name is Jesus. God did His part when He sent us His Son, who is full of grace and truth. We do our part when we believe in Him.

There’s one extreme that thinks that grace has predestined every detail in life and everything that happens, good or bad, is therefore God’s will. The other extreme is thinking that our faith will get God to move on our behalf. The truth is that our faith won’t get God to move; He has already moved. He has given us everything pertaining to life and godliness and blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places; it’s significant that this is in the past tense.

Religion tells us we must do something before we can get blessed, but skips over the finished works of Jesus Christ. The three words He said just before His death on the cross, “It is finished,” impact us tremendously. Whatever it is we’re praying for has already been done.

Receiving from God starts with our trust in Him. There’s no need to beg Him to do what He already did. We can experience His best for us right now.

Prayer:

Lord, Your Son died to give us access to all the good things in life that You want us to have. We don’t have to beg You for them, because they’re already available to us to receive by faith. Thank You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

John 1:14

2 Peter 1:3

Ephesians 1:3

John 19:30

We all have emotions, but few people understand their true potential. Feelings can either make life enjoyable and exciting, or miserable and painful. However, we don’t have to let them pull and yank us around like puppets on a string. Understanding what God says in this area allows us to consciously choose the emotions that will take us where we want to go.

We master our emotions with joy and peace; we find these godly emotions when we study God’s Word long enough for it to have an effect on us. None of our lives are completely trouble-free; when trouble does surface, holding on to the joy we get only from God enables us to move through the hard times. We mustn’t let grief or sorrows weaken us; the joy of the Lord is our strength.

Our joy increases when we remember all the times God rescued and delivered us from trouble. We can use this emotion as a weapon to strengthen our faith. Being full of the kind of joy that only comes from Jesus keeps our emotions from spiraling out of control when the world hits us in the face. Jesus gave us His Word so that His joy might remain in us, and that our joy may be made full.

Peace is another spiritual weapon we have at our disposal. Peace is defined as security in the midst of turmoil; like joy, we get our peace from the Word. A relationship with Jesus, the Lord of peace, gives us peace always.

Being in God’s presence brings us the peace we need to live in turbulent times. Letting the peace of God rule in our hearts gives us joy that won’t quit, no matter what happens in our lives. When we feel negative emotions trying to assert themselves, aligning our feelings with God’s Word gives us the upper hand.

Prayer:

Lord, the world is full of negative emotions, but we don’t have to be affected by them. Your Word gives us the peace and joy we need to make life beautiful. We’re thankful for this. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

Nehemiah 8:10

John 15:11

2 Thessalonians 3:16

Colossians 3:15