THE GRACE OF GOD
Do you ever ask yourself the question “Where would I be today but for the grace of God”? We know in simple terms the grace of God is the unmerited favour and mercy of God, BUT IT IS SO MUCH MORE. John Piper the excellent U.S. Baptist Pastor/Teacher defines grace this way.
GRACE IS NOT JUST LENIENCY WHEN WE SIN, GRACE IS THE ENABLING POWER OF GOD NOT TO SIN, GRACE IS POWER NOT JUST PARDON.
Jesus’s death on the Cross, not only dealt with God’s wrath because of man’s disobedience, but took all our sins we have or will ever commit and carried them away. Christ’s death not only dealt with the PENALTY of sin, but also broke the POWER of sin, and one day will take us from the very PRESENCE of sin. What an awesome Saviour we have.
Let us not be ignorant of all that God’s grace is meant to be for us, Let us not ever abuse it and take it for granted, but appropriate (take for ourselves) all that we need every day, so we can be the person God has called us to be, and so we can fulfil the purposes of God like King David did in his generation (Acts 13:36.
I actually plan to do a series of blogs from 1 & 2 Peter, but at this time I am reminded of the very last verse in Peter’s second letter.
BUT GROW IN GRACE AND THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. TO HIM BE GLORY BOTH NOW AND FOREVER AMEN. 2 Peter 3:18.
Peter reminds us we must GROW in grace, what does this mean? We must grow in our understanding of what the grace of God is, and more than that, we must appropriate what is rightly ours through the work of Jesus on the Cross, so we can live in victory and purity and power, and in every life situation be conscious of the grace of God in our lives.
Peter goes on and says we must GROW IN KNOWLEDGE OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST. This is simply not head knowledge of knowing about Jesus, but developing an intimate relationship with Jesus more and more through spending quality time with Him daily and reading and meditating on the Word of God, I am sure having a Mentor/s would also be a great blessing to assist you in your walk with God.
Peter reminds us in conclusion that more and more we will recognise the changes that are taking place in our lives are all because of Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit within us and we will give all the glory to God.
We find it easy to measure spiritual growth in others, but somehow we find it harder to measure growth in ourselves. Here are some questions for you.
1. Is my love for the Lord growing?
2. Is my hunger and love for the Word of God growing?
3. Am I experiencing a greater level of spiritual victory in my life ?
4. Do I sincerely love God’s people and the Body of Christ more?
5. Do I have a love for the lost and want to obey the great Commission?
Let us ask ourselves for example say in the last 12 months, can I honestly say yes to each of these questions? I think a year is a good measuring period, if there are areas that we cannot say yes too, what do I need to do? I need to repent, which means to CHANGE.
We need:
1. A change of attitude, no longer selfish and carnal, but “What would Jesus do?
2. A change of affection, the things we once loved we should now hate, and the things we once hated we should now love.
3. A change of direction, no longer going OUR way, but wanting t5o go God’s way
4. A change of mind, We need to think and meditate on the things Paul mentions in Phil.4:8
If we don’t feel we can do it on our own, this is where a Mentor can be such a blessing.
Experience seems to suggest that Believers can grow disproportionately say in one area more than an another at times, so do not feel condemned but with the Lord’s help determine to see greater growth in a certain area that seems to be lagging behind.
Lord help us not to be satisfied with where we are now, but by your grace I will grow and it will be measurable. Amen
