God’s Grace Abounds.
by Tom
Caballes
"For
from his fullness we have all received
grace upon grace."
John 1:16 12:9 ESV
Have you ever thought how your
life would have been if God did not touch your
life and called you from darkness and into His
marvellous light? I have. I was a very
self-centred, selfish, proud, greedy, and
ambitious person. I was willing to do anything
to get what I want. I could have been a drug
addict or even a dealer. I could easily have
been a thief or a con artist. I would have
probably been divorced or separated, and
possibly have children from other women. I
could have been in prison. My life could have
been a huge complicated mess - I just know my
capacity to do evil too well. But God’s grace
touched my life and changed my hell-bound
direction to draw near to Him. How about you –
what could your life have been like without
God? We are what we are due to God’s lavish
grace - His grace abounds in all of us. Thanks
be to God for His lavish love and grace to you
and me! They are totally and freely given –
unearned, unworthy of, and undeserving of
God’s love and grace.
So How Do We
Appreciate the Grace that God
Provides to All of
Us?
- Live
a life filled with gratitude to God. Each
day as you awake, thank God for another day.
Thank God for the big and small things –
your food, health, family, relationships,
etc. - you have due to His goodness. Each
night before you sleep, thank God for the
blessings of the day. Thank God for the
challenges you face every day, too. Out of
those challenges we grow in our faith and
draw closer to God. Count it all joy, my
brothers, when you meet trials of various
kinds, for you know that the testing of
your faith produces steadfastness. And let
steadfastness have its full effect, that
you may be perfect and complete, lacking
in nothing. (James 1:2-4 ESV)
- Live
life in humility – your gifts and talents,
your riches, your abilities, and so on
– everything you are and you have comes from
God. You cannot be proud for the things God
has gifted you with – you did not earn your
gifts. You are what you are is part of the
grace of God. You could have been another
person easily, yet you are who you are and
you have what you have. Sincerely thank God
and be humble for what you are and
have.
- We
are all sinners in the process of being
redeemed. We are not yet perfect. Although
we will struggle against sin for the rest of
our lives, we are being transformed from
glory to glory by and in God’s grace – see 2
Corinthians 3:18. Be patient with yourself
as you struggle to grow in holiness and be
thankful for the gift of repentance and
forgiveness. Focus on God, and not on
your failings. Avail of that grace that is
available to you in repenting and in growing
in Christ-likeness.
- Be
an agent of God’s grace to all people you
meet. As much as you have received God’s
grace, be also a giver or dispenser of God’s
grace. Show in the way you treat others that
God lives in you. Be patient and forgiving
with others as God is patient and forgiving
with them. God wants to use you to be a
messenger – an ambassador - to those who do
not know Him. See 2 Corinthians 5:20.
- Desire
to live a grace-filled life. Bear the fruit
of the Holy Spirit in your life so that
others can see God in you. Grow in being
loving, gentle, patient, kind, peaceful, and
so on. Grow to be more Christ-like
daily.
- Desire
to share God’s grace with others. Share your
story of God’s grace to the people around
you who do not know God. Desire to pass on
God’s life that is flowing in you through
His grace.
- At
the end of our lives, we can look back and
see how God has been lavish with His grace.
But that is not all – His grace also paves
the way for us to have eternal life with
God. What a wonderful destiny we have in
Christ
Other Scripture passages:
- And
God is able to make all grace abound to
you, so that having all sufficiency in all
things at all times, you may abound in
every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8 ESV)
- For
sin will have no dominion over you, since
you are not under law but under grace.
(Romans 6:14 ESV)
- Other
Bible verses: Ephesians 2:1-10;
James 4:6; 1 Corinthians 15:10; and
Hebrews 4:16.
For
personal reflection or
group sharing
- How
thankful are you for the grace given to you
by God?
- What
were the moments in your life where you saw
God being gracious to you?
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Tom
Caballes is the
National Senior
Administrator and a
National Coordinator
of the Lamb
of God, a
community of the
Sword of the Spirit
with 7 branches
located throughout
New Zealand. Tom
also leads Kairos
New
Zealand, an
outreach program for
high school,
university, and
post-university aged
people.
Tom and
his wife Mhel and
their two
daughters live in
Wellington, New
Zealand.
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