from SSJE.org

While the name “Grace” used to be somewhat of a joke, I now know of another kind of grace: God’s grace. That which is granted to me, not because I’m worthy, but because God is good and kind.  God’s grace is, in many ways, similar to His mercy and His love since they also are due to God’s goodness. But grace focuses on our unworthiness.

God’s grace. Where would I be without it? Everything that I have is because of God’s grace. The best thing about His grace is that we don’t have to earn it. It’s God’s gift, given to us freely.

Ephesians 2:8 says “…by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. “

Our God is the “God of all grace”. 2 Timothy 1:9 says: who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of His own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,” From this same verse in 2nd Timothy, we learn that grace is sovereignly and freely give by God not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace. We don’t ask for grace from Him but rather He gives it to us as it suits His purpose because He is gracious.  Exodus 33:19 says He will be gracious to whom He will be gracious.

Luckily for us, God’s grace is abundant and it won’t ever run out. The amount of His grace is always greater than the depth of our sin. In Romans 5:20, Paul tells us that grace is multiplied where sin increased. Because of this, we can be confident that there is always enough for us.

The better we understand God’s grace to us, the more thankful we will be and the less pride we can have in our accomplishments. We are being spared what we completely deserve and are freely receiving something that we are entirely unworthy of just because God is a gracious God and his purpose is to save us. We are receiving the greatest gift of all and anything we do that is good is not a product of our own goodness but of God’s grace within us. There is no room for bragging from those who have seen God’s grace.

Because we are thankful and because we love the Lord who has given us His grace so freely, we need to imitate Him. We need to graciously forgive the wrongs done to us because He has graciously forgiven us and we need to do good and give to others even when we know we will never receive anything in return, not even thanks, for our generosity. Luke 6:35 says “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” You know as well as I do how really hard that can be.

Grace. When I was a kid, I thought Grace wouldn’t be such a bad name to have since being called Lauri when I am 80 seemed dumb. Grace is a good old lady name.

There are several places in the Bible where God gives someone a new name. This usually denotes some sort of change in that person. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham which means “father of multitude”. God changed Jacob’s name to Israel and Simon’s name to Peter. You see, though, that at times Jesus continued to call Peter Simon and Israel Jacob to remind them of their past and that they need to depend on God’s strength.

I still trip up the stairs and run into walls so Mom’s theory is shot to heck. But because I too am a new person, I wouldn’t mind being called Grace all the time. It would remind me of MY past and to remember to always depend on God’s strength and goodness in all areas of my life.

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