There are two gifts that God gave us that are directly tied to each other, but at the same time separate of each other. The first gift was the life, death and resurrection of Jesus to make a way for us to be forgiven of our sins. The 2nd gift was grace. God could have very easily sent Jesus to die for our sins and said this will only work for you one time. If you mess up after that it's too late, but He didn't. He gave us the gift of grace, which is the unmerited favor of God. Unmerited meaning not deserved. It is very important for us to realize both of these things in order to understand God's heart and how amazing grace really is. God's grace is God's undeserved favor. There is nothing we can do to deserve it, there is nothing we can do to earn it and there is nothing we can do to lose it. It is His gift to us and it is gift like no other.
One of the problems we have as humans when it comes to grace is the fact that it is hard for us to wrap our head around the concept that we don't have to do something for it. We work for almost everything we have and sometimes we have the attitude that if someone wants something from us then they are going to have to earn it too. If they want our love, our respect, our trust...anything...then they better give us something in return. Not everyone thinks like this, but everyone has at least thought like this at one time in their life. So when we try to grasp that God is saying to us..."I have grace waiting for you....you don't have to do anything to earn it... just receive it", that is very hard for us. Plus, because we "can't" earn it sometimes we let pride get in the way and we don't even feel like we should receive it. We can't humble ourselves enough to just go to God and say...."I know I don't deserve Your grace right now, but Lord I need it now more than ever". That is the heart God is looking for.....for the person that knows it cannot be worked for and it cannot be earn....but you cannot live without it.
Romans 11:6 says "And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work." This verse is telling us that both works and grace have their place with God, but they are not a part of each other. If you have had the mentality that you have to work to earn God's grace than please realize today that this just is not true. That is the idea the enemy wants you to have because he knows you will never be able to work that hard....and you will never feel like you have fully earned God's grace. God has work for all of us to do, but it is to advance His kingdom, not earn your way into it.
God's grace has been misunderstood and misused for far to long and it is time for us to understand it, grasp it, demonstrate it to the rest of the world and actually shows others it is something you just can't live without. At the same time, God's grace is not a dry erase board that you can fill up with sin today because you know He will erase it all when you say your next prayer, just so you can go and fill it back up with more sin tomorrow. God's grace, and fully understanding the immense love behind it, should change your heart. It should make sin look different to you....less attractive. When you know someone loves you so much that they are willing to forgive you for the things you do that hurts them, then honestly that should cause you to want to hurt them less and less because of the love you have back for them. Grace is there because God knows we are going to mess up, it is not there so we can mess up. If you know today that you have either misused God's grace, or been trying all your life to work for it, then let today be the day you ask God to fully reveal His grace to you and change your heart, mind and attitude toward it.
God, Thank You for Your amazing grace. Thank You for Your amazing love. Help us understand how to receive both the way You intended for them to be received. And help us, as Your people, to give grace and love to others the way You give it to us. Direct and Correct us in the areas where we have misused or tried to earn your grace. In Jesus name, Amen
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