Grace

For all have sinned; fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Yet now God in His gracious kindness declares us not guilty.  He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins.  

Romans 3:23-24

Jesus Christ is my saving grace.  I’m a sinner and I have fallen short of God’s standard way too many times to count.  Praise God for His gift of grace, our 11th gift of Christmas!  I have been forgiven for no other reason than His grace which blankets my life.  Yes, God’s grace is His unmerited favor on us all.  We haven’t done anything to deserve His gracious favor, He just loves us that much!  God’s grace covers my multitude of sins and it covers yours, as well.  His grace allows me to mess up over and over again.  

For a long time I was unable to open God’s gift of grace.  I knew I had it when it came to my salvation.  I knew that my belief in Christ was enough to assure me a room in heaven but I never lived under His grace when it came to sin in my life.  For years I lived under the law.  I had sin from my past that was "unforgivable" which prevented me from having a real relationship with Christ.  I was not confident in Whose I was, and I didn't understand His gift of grace.  I was always worried about the choices I made and whether or not God would approve which made me distance myself from Him and, well, that never works out.  I was stuck between grace and the law, unfortunately the law was winning.  I allowed myself to hold that gift of grace for over 30 years.  Grace gathered dust while it sat there waiting for me to rip that beautiful bow and paper off.  How hard it had to be for God to look upon me and my self inflicted suffering when all the while I had freedom right in my presence.  Shame and misunderstanding had a stronghold on me until one day when God spoke to me and His grace was no longer something I could deny. 

Sin is no longer your master, for you are no longer subject to the law, which enslaves you to sin.  Instead you are free by God’s grace. 

Romans 6:14 

One day, after prayer with my GFF's, I read His word and it just clicked.  After so many years I finally understood grace.  It wasn’t something I deserved but it was still mine.  My God gave me Jesus Christ, and my belief in Him gave me new life.  God loved me unconditionally and because of His grace I had a future with Him.   

I tore into that gift and found the most freeing feeling I had ever possessed in my life.  Joy overflowed from me, I was finally free from the law that held me back.  Living under His grace, I was free to mess up.  No longer did I have to live my life trying to make up for my sins nor worry about the sins I would commit in the future.          

God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were.  But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful kindness became more abundant. 

Romans 5:20  

God’s grace is sufficient for all of our sins.  It covers everything.  He doesn’t just give us grace for each individual sin as it occurs but we are blanketed with grace.  There is nothing we can do that will cause us to lose His grace.  God’s grace abounds our sin, it drowns it.  Because if His grace He can look upon us.  We can be brought into His Glory and our sins are not hidden, but removed!  Our future is covered in His grace, as well!  His grace allows us to be human........to make mistakes. Through His grace we can mess up and He will be right there to forgive us when we ask.  We don't have to worry over our sin and wonder if our forgiveness has run out.

My dear, if you are living under shame, if you are living by the law and are always trying to earn forgiveness, stop holding onto His gift!    Stop oohing and ahhing over that beautiful wrapping and tear into that Gift!  Accept it with joy and be free!  This Christmas season, while you are opening gifts of all shapes and sizes, I hope that you will think of this beautiful gift as one of the most important ones you could open.  I pray for you all, that you will accept His grace and claim it in your whole life.  Grace is not just for salvation but for freedom from the law that binds you to sin.  So dust that gift off and rip into that paper!

Oh and one more very important thing........don’t be selfish with God’s grace.  Once you feel the joy it brings, you can’t possibly keep it to yourself.  Offer grace to your neighbor, your old friend, your spouse, your parent, your sibling or the annoying child who won’t stop asking to peak at the presents under the tree :)  His grace is your grace!  Pass it on!

(First Published on December 23, 2013)