Greetings in Christ,
Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within! Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that is greater than all our sin!
What is grace? Can we feel it, experience it, and share it. Yes, but we first must understand what it really is. Charis is the Greek word for grace. The Greek definition of Charis goes like this—a manner of act; the divine influence on the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude.
We should count ourselves very fortunate to live in this time and not back in the Old Testament times. The people of the Old Testament did not really know what grace was in their lives. Under the law, grace did not have any effect in what they did. Everything they did was a way to earn merit for their behavior. They had to perform according to set of rules and observe certain festivals to point them to a righteous life. The only grace they could experience was God granting them a good life due to the fact they lived according to the law. It was a constant struggle to remain in God’s grace under the law.
When Christ died on the cross grace became the norm for God to share His plan of salvation. It was the complete opposite of what God had been doing prior to Christ’s life on earth. People had to earn God’s grace, but now God was extending His grace.
Paul writes in Ephesians, “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” It is through Christ God extended His grace to each and every one of us. John records these words, “For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.” God’s grace is extended to us through Christ, and it is given to us in many ways.
We feel God’s grace through the gifts of talents we are given. We all are equipped to do certain things in life. We cannot do all things well, which means we must work together to accomplish the goals God has established through Christ in order for the church to work. Paul writes in Ephesians, “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” The ultimate goal is to build each other up so the body of Christ is glorified. It is through our talents we can work together to build up the body of Christ by combining the different talents we all possess so it unifies us as one body in Christ. We can feel God’s grace extended to us through those talents as we work towards the goal of seeing the body of Christ glorified.
It is just not through our talents we are felling God’s grace, but we experience grace in our lives.
We experience God’s grace as it goes before us in all we do. It is God’s grace keeping us safe as we walk with Him. We no longer need to gain merit as we walk with God, but we must not allow ourselves to take it for granted. God’s grace is given to us as a protection as long as we walk in righteousness. It is through Christ forgiving us from our sins we are granted protection from death in the abyss. We must remember we are imperfect, and we will stumble if we try to walk without Christ in our life, thus the removal of the law. It was hard for people to live according to the law, just as it is for us to live by the law.
It is not the things we do as we walk with God, but it is in the actions of our heart making all the difference with God. Our actions must reflect gratitude for what God has given us. The divine influence given to us must be reflected in our lives. We must act in love with each other knowing not all of us are equipped with the same talents. We must not look at the negative, but focus on the positive of others and build up in people. God certainly looks at the good in us, and He builds on this in every one of us.
We experience God’s grace through our actions. If we live our live full of the love God has given us, we will build on the positive. It is searching out the positive in others and building up from those points we will build unity in Christ.
We not only feel God’s grace we experience it, but we must share it with others.
When we build on the positive in other people we begin to share God’s grace with others. The hard part of getting to know other people is we see their flaws. We begin to see the imperfections in their lives. We have to remember God looks beyond our imperfections to see the positive in us. If God did not do this, He would not have sent Jesus to die on the cross. We cannot be better than the master, so we must also look to the positive in others. It is through grace we see the good in others so we can build unity in the body of Christ. All too often we allow the bad to dominate our thinking and we get off track. We must always remember God accepts us with all our imperfections, and we must over look imperfections in others.
When people feel you genuinely love them, they will respond to you. They will begin to see God’s grace in your life, and they will want to live out the grace which is given to them. They will begin to experience their talents and allow God to work through those talents to unify the body of Christ.
Webster’s Dictionary gives the best explanation of grace. It is the spirit of God operating in humans. Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within! Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that is greater than all our sin! Thank God for His grace so we can feel it, experience it, and share it.
“He has made known to His people the power of His works, in giving them the heritage of the nations.” Psalms 111:6
“From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised.” Psalms 113:3
“The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord raises up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.” Psalms 146:8
Lord let us live out the grace You have given through Jesus Christ. May we glorify you in all we do. Amen.
Blessings,
Mark Johnson
Psalm 111,112,113,146,147; Deuteronomy 11:1-12; Ephesians 4:1-16; John 1:1-18