Standing in Grace

WOW...maybe I've set a PR(personal record) for longest non-blogging stint. I apologize because I know everyone reading this anxiously...almost breathlessly awaits this blog. Okay...I'm totally kidding. I do apologize that I've had nothing to say as of late. It's not that God isn't talking or doing anything. It's almost that so much is going on in my head and in my heart that I'm not sure what I should put out there. Well here has what has been going on in my heart lately...I hope you like it, more importantly I hope you think about it and allow God to do what he will on the inside of you because of it...

Ephesians 2:8 says this: It's is by grace you have been saved, through faith. And that not of yourselves. It is a gift from God. What amazingly great news! Thank the Lord we don't earn our way to eternal salvation! It is by GRACE through FAITH we are saved. This has been the model since Abraham the "Father of our Faith". The Bible says Abraham believed God and it was accredited to him as righteousness. Most Christians know that...we don't always live like we know it, but we know this truth none the less. I encourage you to walk strong in the assurance that your salvation is not earned it was is and always will be a gift from a Heavenly Father that loves you and wants the best for you.

I'd like to take a moment to point out an underlying principal in this verse that the Lord showed me recently. I'm sure it's nothing new...I'm sure there has been many a sermon on this very topic. But it was new to me and I found it exciting! We know that we receive salvation and it comes by grace through faith. This very statement shows us that when we release faith, God releases grace.

What is grace? Many define grace as the unearned unmerited favor of God. The Strong's concordance dictionary defines grace as God fanning the flame of our hearts that compels us to live for Him (my paraphrase). I personally truly look at Jesus to define grace for me...because John 1:14 says Jesus came full of grace and truth. Grace and the theology of grace isn't something we have the right to argue about in Christianity. Some people don't like to hear folks talk about grace because they think people will take that truth and contort it into a license to sin. You know what I've found that some people do that. But regardless of what any hard hearted person may do, grace is the foundation of true theology because Jesus is full of grace. The gospel is not the true gospel without grace. I see grace not as a license to sin, but empowerment to raise above sin, sickness, demonic torment, and any issue of life. Jesus came into the world revealing to us the truth of God's kingdom, and to empower us to live eternally and abundantly. Grace is empowerment.


John 10:10 tells us the Jesus came into the world to give us abundant life. Abundant literally means: More than adequate, well and richly supplied. It means we are over supplied with everything we need. Why? Not only so we can have a good life but so that we can be a channel through which grace, resources, and the love and abundance of God flows to the rest of the world.

The thing about the abundant life is that it applies to all areas of our life; family, finances, relationships, work, school, whatever it is that you do in your life. However in and of myself I'm not capable and you are not capable of really living this way. I can't succeed in every area of my life doing it on my own. We've all heard about or seen the guy who is super successful in business because he put everything he has into it, but his relationships his marriage ect are horrible because of it right? It's just a small example of the fact that when we in our own power attempt to succeed in every area of life we ultimately fail. When we try to make it happen for ourselves it can't work. Which is where faith and grace come in. Deuteronomy chapter 28 is an awesome chapter proclaiming the blessings of God. I don't have time or space to quote it here but read it yourself! The Blessing of the Lord affects every area of our life causing abundant life, a whole and complete life which lacks nothing. But how do we qualify? How do we inherit that abundant life of God? Deuteronomy 28:1 - If you OBEY the voice of the Lord......

Obedience...is the key that unlocks the blessing. What do I mean? You are saying...God said don't steal and I don't steal, God said don't commit adultery and I don't commit adultery, somebody told me when I was in youth group don't listen to rock music so I don't listen to rock music...whatever the case may be. Following the 10 commandments is great we should do that...the 10 commandments and other such things in scripture that are standard to the average person are the easy things to be obedient about though...every person knows that it's wrong to commit adultery (Even Tiger)...most of humanity abides by this, everyone knows it's wrong to steal...society has these standards. But to live in the abundant life of God as we mature and develop in our faith we need to go deeper.

It's easy to do what everyone else is doing...that doesn't take any faith. But it does take faith to sow financial seed into God's kingdom in a down economy. It does take faith to love those who persecute you...it does take faith to "Not worry about your life"...it takes faith to believe that God has a plan and a purpose for your life that is exceedingly and abundantly more than you can ask or think of.

If faith releases grace, then by really releasing faith we access empowerment. I stated before that I can't live a life full of blessing in every area on my own...I'll burn out trying...I'll defeat the entire purpose. But if I can release faith by operating according to the order of God's word in every area of my life then GRACE will empower me do do what I could never do on my own. We say as Christians so often that I'm "standing in faith" for my healing, finances, an unsaved family member, or whatever the issue is in our lives we need the power of God to show up in. I understand the point, but I'd like to challenge that thinking with God's word. Romans 5:1-2 says "We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have access by FAITH into GRACE in which we STAND". We are trying to stand in faith, which really means we are trying to work ourselves into a position where our faith produces results. But we never get there by trying hard enough. Faith is really a confident assurance in God. Faith results in actions that line up with a confident assurance in God. Ultimately faith is obedience to God's word...that's where we miss it. Many Christians don't know God's word well enough to live it. That's why it is important to be a student of the word of God...so that you can be obedient to it. Because if you are simply obedient to God's word you don't have to try to stand in faith. You don't have to try to work yourself into a position where your faith actually works...you simply release faith by being obedient to God's word...and stand in GRACE stand in empowerment, and Jesus takes care of the rest!

Be a student of the word of God today, get to know Jesus more...live out what you learn. As contradictory to standard thinking as it may seem do what God says to do. It really works...and watch as empowerment, abundance, and the grace of God become reality in your life!!

Chad