Weekly Grace

There’s a vast difference between how God operates and how we, as humans, often think He should. Unlike us, He thinks and works on a much higher level than we’re capable of. God tells us plainly that His thoughts and ways are far higher than ours. While our mindset leans toward earning, deserving, and repaying, God’s ways are rooted in grace, which is completely unearned, undeserved, and unconditional favor.

We often think that good happens when we’re good, and bad happens when we’ve failed. We assume that we must earn God’s blessing and prove our worth. However, although all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, we’ve been justified freely by His grace. His favor has nothing to do with our behavior.

The woman caught in adultery was one example of this. According to man’s law, she deserved condemnation and death. Jesus, operating in God’s higher way, extended mercy and declared, “Neither do I condemn you.” Grace came first, then the call to go and sin no more.

Religious tradition teaches us to “clean up our act” before coming to God. Thankfully, He knows this is impossible without His help.  He doesn’t use fear of punishment to get us to behave right, but love. Perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment, which just isn’t God’s way.

God doesn’t threaten us, but works much more effectively to gain our cooperation. The kind of harsh measures the world uses only causes resentment and resistance. By comparison, He wins us over and gets us to change our minds with His mercy and compassion. The goodness of God leads us to repentance.

Doubting that Jesus took all our punishment causes us to live anxiously, trying to earn back God’s love through perfect performance. This is no longer necessary; our strength comes from His grace, not from rules that don’t help anyone trying to follow them. Our peace comes from knowing that Jesus has already done everything needed to make us right with God.

Prayer:

Lord, You’ve freed us from the pressure to perform. We’re already loved and accepted, and we can rest in that. Thank You for sending Your Son to model how You think and operate. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

Isaiah 55:8, 9

Romans 3:23, 24

John 8:10–11

1 John 4:18

Romans 2:4

Hebrews 13:9, NLT

God didn’t just give us grace to rescue us from our sins, but also to empower us to live successfully. His favor is all-inclusive, and operates on more than one level. It’s not just to enable us to go to heaven when our earthly lives are finished, but also to empower us to live successfully in this life. An awareness of how grace translates into our everyday routines helps us tap into it to discover God’s will for us on a daily basis.

God is more than enough, and He blesses us abundantly from His overflow. From His abundance we’ve received one gracious blessing after another. His grace carries real power. It’s all we need during the lowest points in our lives when we’re at our weakest; His power works best in weakness.

Most people live only to please themselves. This is self-centered; Paul advised the Corinthians that living a life pleasing to God should be our goal. Specifically, trusting in Him is what pleases Him. This requires refusing to be people-pleasers, but instead speaking not as pleasing to men, but pleasing to God, who tries our hearts.

The Holy Spirit lives in us to guide us through life and help us make the right choices. By His divine power, He gave us everything we need for living godly lives. It’s the Spirit who makes us want to live a lifestyle pleasing to the Father. God is working in us, giving us the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.

The best part about grace is that we don’t have to work for it. God extends this gift to us in the full knowledge that we’ll continue to sin and fall short of our goals while still on earth. Under the law we would have died for our mistakes; the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace much more abounded. Thankfully, we’re no longer under the law, but under grace—this is great news for us.

Prayer:

God, You gave us grace for everyday living. This is something that enhances our lives right now, without us having to wait until we get to heaven. We’re thankful for this. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

John 1:16, NLT

2 Corinthians 12:9, NLT

2 Corinthians 5:9, NKJV

1 Thessalonians 2:4

2 Peter 1:3, NLT

Philippians 2:13, NLT

Ephesians 2:8

Romans 5:20

Romans 6:14

We live in an environment surrounded by people more concerned with their own agendas and activities than seeing God and acknowledging His presence. This is a sign of being spiritually blind. Most people have learned to be self-reliant and self-sufficient, and asking for God’s help never occurs to them. This kind of mindset stems from the now-expired Law of Moses, which holds us back from receiving God’s best.

Hearing the Word of grace preached offends spiritually-blind people. This was what happened when the Pharisees were highly offended by what Jesus taught. Rather than get caught up in trying to convince people who simply didn’t believe, Jesus told His disciples to leave them alone. They were blind leaders of the blind; listening to today’s religious doctrines only further intensifies spiritual blindness.

Under the law, the requirement to follow hundreds of rules and work hard to obey all the commandments put people in bondage to self-effort. However, what was true under the law may not be true under grace; we’ve now been freed from all those rules. When Jesus was preaching to the people, He told the Jews who believed Him that if they continued in His Word, they would know the truth, and the truth would make them free. Faith in grace gives us rest from our labors.

Trusting in Christ lets Him open blind eyes. He brings out prisoners and those who sit in spiritual darkness. With help from the Holy Spirit, we can do the same things Jesus did; preach deliverance to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and set at liberty those who are bruised in spirit. The empowerment He gives us is something we can help others find.

The law, which requires self-effort, focuses on sin. Thankfully, sin doesn’t have dominion over us anymore because we’re no longer under the law, but under grace. Receiving this gift for ourselves opens our spiritual eyes and lets us see life from God’s perspective.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, Your Son opens our eyes to Your goodness, mercy, and grace. We don’t need perfect performance, just a willingness to believe. We’re grateful for the freedoms You brought us. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

Matthew 15:12-14

John 8:31, 32

Matthew 11:28-30

Isaiah 42:7

Luke 4:18

Romans 6:14

Have you ever wrestled with a problem that seemed so enormous you felt it would overwhelm you? At one time or another, we all have. We can feel as if we’re about to go under; at times like these, talking to God about it in prayer gives us amazing breakthroughs. We can come boldly to His throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.

Trusting in and relying on Jesus makes us righteous in God’s eyes. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. We can be thankful that the requirements for prayer have changed from the covenant of the law to the covenant of grace. We no longer have to beg and plead with God to help us; because of the finished works of Jesus, everything we need to master situations in life has already been finished.

Before the cross, David prayed that God would create a clean heart in him; he asked God not to banish him from His presence or take His Holy Spirit from him. After the cross, God promises us that He will never give us up or leave us without support. He’ll be with us always, even to the end of the world.

Christ made this possible by being the propitiation for our sins; he was the peace offering to God and the ransom paid to put us back in right-standing with the Father. What makes us righteous now isn’t what we do, but the state of our hearts. Therefore, when we pray, we can do so with gratitude. We’re told to devote ourselves to prayer with alert minds and thankful hearts.

Life will always have problems, but they no longer have to dominate us. God has made us the head and not the tail. Because of Christ, we can now win in life.

Prayer:

God, Your Son shed His blood so that we could be righteous and experience victory over the issues in life that defeat others. This transforms everything, including our prayer lives. Thank You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

Hebrews 4:16

James 5:16, NLT

John 19:30

Psalm 51:10, 11, NLT

Hebrews 13:5, AMPC

Matthew 28:20

1 John 2:2

Colossians 4:2, NLT

Deuteronomy 28:13

Life doesn’t always follow a script. From unexpected challenges to sudden changes, we’re often left wondering what to do next. For some, it’s thrilling; for others, it’s overwhelming. But for every believer, there’s a steady answer: the grace of God.

Grace has made available everything we’ll ever need for a successful life—including wisdom. This spiritual gift tells us what to do when we don’t know what to do. Depending on the Holy Spirit to guide us gives us much better results than if we had relied on our own efforts. Hearkening to counsel from Him is a sign of wisdom.

God, who can view time all at once from beginning to end, has a completely different perspective than we do with our limited point of view. Issues that frazzle our nerves and cause us anxiety are easily handled when we let godly wisdom and discernment guide our hearts. The heart of the prudent gets knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks it as well. Leaning on the Holy Ghost in difficult situations allows Him to point out solutions that we would never see by ourselves.

Wisdom from heaven brings us the ability to deal with everyday situations calmly, peacefully, and with consideration for others. Listening for God’s voice enables us to hear counsel and receive instruction from Him so that we can be wise. He gives us what we need to see all sides of an issue impartially, and teaches us why we should seek wise counsel from others. If we lack this wisdom, we need only ask Him; He’ll give it to us liberally without upbraiding or finding fault with us.

Wisdom from heaven is pure, peace-loving, considerate, merciful, and sincere. These are all godly traits, and the by-products of the things of God. Accepting these gifts from Him gives us the ability to make the right decision for everyone involved, even in the midst of confusion. Depending on this grace gift connects us to the mind of God.

Prayer:

Father, You gave us the gift of godly wisdom, which is what we need to help us make sound decisions in life. Thank You for this. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

Proverbs 12:15

Proverbs 18:15

Proverbs 19:20

James 1:5

James 3:17, NIV

1 Corinthians 2:16

If you’ve ever had a disagreement with someone that escalated to the point where you felt like your anger was about to boil over and get out of control, you were most likely in strife. As part of being human, we’ve all felt that way at one time or another. Strife is emotionally painful, and has the potential to destroy us. Learning how to recognize and deal with it keeps us safe.

Strife is a vigorous, bitter conflict, antagonism toward someone else, intense jealousy, or an angry quarrel with another person. It can destroy families, relationships, and even entire churches. It can break up marriages, businesses, and all that God’s grace is trying to do. Wherever envying and strife show up, confusion and every evil work follow.

Diffusing strife allows God’s blessings to operate in our lives. In the Old Testament, Abraham dealt with it wisely when it caused arguments between the herdsman for his cattle and Lot’s cattle. It may initially have appeared that Lot was getting the better land, but God blessed Abraham abundantly because of the integrity he displayed.

Strife prevents us from making progress in life because it blocks God’s intervention. Self-centeredness is one way it originates, but it’s impossible to be in strife when we walk in love. Putting Him in the center of the situation instead of ourselves shields us from this dangerous emotion. God is love; bringing Him into the situation means strife has to go.
Pride, which is a refusal to submit to God’s plans for us, is another source of strife. A proud heart stirs up strife, but the person who trusts in the Lord will prosper. God loves us, and angry striving against each other isn’t His will for us. Hatred stirs up strife, but loves covers all sins.

God wants to deliver us from emotional turmoil. In the same way He delivered David from Saul and from strife with his people, He’ll deliver us from its toxic effects. Trusting Him on this brings us peace.

Prayer:

Lord, Your will is for us to experience peace, not strife, in our lives. Walking in Your Word helps us to do that, and we’re grateful for this. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scriptures:

James 3:16
Genesis 13:7-17
1 John 4:8, 16
Proverbs 28:25, NKJV
Proverbs 10:12
2 Samuel 22:44, AMPC