Grace of God

Grace of God~

I have been in a real funk lately.  I have felt so disconnected from the Lord and didn’t completely understand why I felt so alone.  God has been working in my life lately and I have reluctantly allowed Him bits and pieces of me but didn’t really want to give Him my all.  Well last night he really got a hold of me.  It wasn’t a slight nudge, or a quiet whisper, it was a hang on tight I am bringing you to your knees.  And He literally brought me to my knees.  I was in the youth worship service and the first song I only half-heartedly sang.  Then Rick pointed out that we were more excited to play the game than to worship our Lord.  I have to say “Guilty”.  My heart wasn’t in the worship.  I was honestly there partly for show.  So we prayed and I felt my heart soften and open up to the words I was singing.  The second song was The Great I Am… for those of you who don’t know this song please go listen to it!  While this song moved me it wasn’t the one that brought me to my knees.  The third song was Grace Flows Down. 

 

 Amazing Grace how sweet the sound,

Amazing love now flowing down,

From hands and feet that were nailed to the tree,

And grace flows down and covers me, 

 

Amazing Grace how sweet the sound,

Amazing love now flowing down,

From hands and feet that were nailed to the tree,

And grace flows down and covers me,

 

 It covers me,

 It covers me,

It covers me,

And covers me.

 

Last night I could not help but fall to my knees and know that Gods amazing grace is covering me!  Well it didn’t stop there!  It always amazes me the way God talks to me.  I picked up my bible to do my quiet time (which I must admit very sadly that this is my first time since September) and started studying Acts 11:19-30.  We are walking through Acts in our Bible study class on Sunday morning and so I thought what better place to start than what we will be studying this Sunday.   Acts 11: 23 (ESV) When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose. There it is again Grace.  I really started digging into what the Grace of God is.  I have always believed that Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your doing; it is the gift of God meant that grace was a free gift from God and that was the end of it.  But in my study this morning I realize it means so much more.  Yes the Grace of God is a gift from God, which God bestows upon those who have true faith in Him!  But the Grace of God doesn’t stop there.  The grace of God was sent with a purpose.  It seems so silly to not have realized this sooner.  Of course it has a purpose.  But I never realized it.  Maybe it’s in the way it was always worded or in the way that I heard it, but I always thought the grace of God was simply that the Grace of God. 

Well in my study I found myself in Titus.  It amazes me that when you follow the footnotes where it takes you. 

Titus 2:11-14 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

There it is.  The grace of God appeared, bringing salvation for all people (no this does not mean universal salvation, this means it is available for all who accept it), and it is there to train us.  The Grace of God did not stop on the cross.  And it gives a whole new meaning to the words Grace falls down and covers me.  The way that I will live a life glorifying God and walking in His light so others may see, is by accepting the training of the Grace of God, by realizing that it has to cover me completely in His strength and power.  I have to believe that one of the ways that this training comes is from the Holy Spirit.  Acts 11:16-17 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’  The Holy Spirit was sent here to be our helper.  We are to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not just listen to Him now and then but to be submerged under His power. 

In the past few months I have not allowed the grace of God to work in my life, the Holy Spirit was shushed by the business I allowed in my life.  It is a very humbling experience when you realize that the silence and loneliness is a result of your own walking.  The longer I focused on the business of the world the farther I was from God.  I was knocked to my knees last night realizing that His grace covers me (not by my own doing but by the faith I have in Christ), and today He revealed to me that I do not get to just sit in the midst of this Grace but I must allow it to work in my life.  Good works do not result in faith but faith results in good works.  It is time for my faith to result in action as I wait for the Lords return.

This may not be something you are struggling with, and honestly I hope it’s not.  I pray that your walk with the Lord is strong and you are not struggling as I am.  But for those of us who are, this is a gentle reminder that God’s grace is there for us, and in our true faith we can accept it.  But it is not a gift to accept and put on the shelf.  It is a gift given to us to train us, in His perfect way.  It will not always be easy, it will hurt some, but it is done so that we may bear fruit.