God gives us grace in our time of need. We need to have a true revival of the meaning of Grace in all of our lives. God's grace is absolutely, exhileratingly, wonderful. What is grace?
God's power given to us to do God's will.
A gift from the Universe's greatest giver.
Something we do not have that we desperately need.
Divine ability that becomes humanly available.
Supernatural enablement to accomplish what is best for our lives.
Grace is for now!
When we live "out yonder" we miss right here--right now!
If we live all week just waiting to get back to a Sunday morning service we miss walking and experiencing the presence of God right now. All of our failures occur in the "right now" moments of our lives. How sad when we live "out yonder" in our minds while the rest of our being struggles in the "right now." Our flesh does its work "right now" and that is where grace is needed.
Grace is available on Monday morning to enable us to start another work week.
It is available on a Tuesday night to keep us from yelling at our kids.
It is there on Wednesday to help us refrain from participating in the latest gossip.
On Thursday it will show up to give us vision to see past a cutting remark made toward us to understand the hurt in the offender's life that needs healing.
When Friday comes, grace comes to empower us to capture and lock away lustful thoughts that tempt us to sin.
Grace also is given on Saturday morning to visit our neighbor who just lost his job to encourage and help.
It will even pop up on Sunday morning in the car on the way to church if it is needed.
Why would we settle for a 1/7th version of grace when we can live in 7/7ths of grace. The Holy Spirit transmits God's grace to us. He dispenses this power of goodness to us whenever and wherever we need it.
The "out yonder" mentality causes us to yearn for something to come. We think, when it gets here it will gloriously wonderful. All of our needs will be met. We will all be changed and our community will be transformed. I agree that all of this is great, except the part that uses tomorrow as an excuse to refuse grace for today. Whenever or wherever there is true revival, it is because God starts pouring out buckets of grace through His Holy Spirit. Revivals in the past have proven that sometimes this awesome power can cause strange reactions in people. But let's be very quick to understand, that when the awesome power of grace comes, the main thing that should be in evidence is that we love God and love people more.People start loving more at home, work, and play--not just doing more at church. Grace is a whole lot more about being that leads to doing. It is not doing that leads to being. Grace changes the heart and that changes the actions of the man. A pig can be taught to do tricks, but it is just a pig doing tricks. Now change a pig into a horse and that perk people's interests. You get the point!
I deeply regret my refusal to step into God's daily grace during this past season of my life. I found myself preparing for the "next" worship service and not worshiping in between worship services. The "tomorrow" kind of grace does not work. Grace is for the moment. Need by need. Temptation by temptation. Step by step. "Out yonder" living that doesn't lean into daily grace quickly deteriorates into living to be seen of men. We pretend all is well. We put on our "church" faces. We smile and praise God with our lips, but our hearts grow cold from the weariness of playing the game. Deep inside there is a gnawing sensation that something is wrong, but we suffocate it to get ready for the next event. We even become convinced that since being at "church" seems to be easier than living real life, that it would be good to be at church more. So we keep adding more and more opportunities to escape our daily world in order to "worship." But when we do this without grace, it becomes religious ritual that does not impart life.
Facade replaces reality.
Pride blinds vision.
Appearance eclipses authenticity.
Hiddenness steals humility.
Depression comes and delight leaves.
Deception is embraced while truth is denied.
Missing the grace of now that is given by God can be very costly!
I have come to realize that the grace in time of need comes when we confess our need. Grace is given to the humble. Pride will blind us to our need of it. We listen to others appraisal of how strong and wonderful we are. We become proud within ourselves thinking we can handle it. We can contain our wrong desires. We will not allow them to get too far out of hand. All the while, they entangle us and we find ourselves ensnared. We become blind to truth and our pride blocks the entrance of grace. The grace to break us free in not there because of our pride. But praise the Lord, the moment we confess our need of it with a repentant heart, grace comes rushing to the scene. God gives grace to the humble.
Why can we have grace anyway? Answer--Jesus. The grace of God is available to us on the basis of what Jesus has done for us at the cross. The cross paved the way for grace to come to us. We get God's gift of grace on Jesus' merits. We must live with the awareness that all that we enjoy as Christians is due Jesus. Only because of him, can we enjoy the amazing grace of God. As we press into Jesus, we press toward the one full of grace and truth.
The "out yonder" mentality that we need to have is the one that eagerly awaits the return of Jesus for his people. Why? Because when he comes, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. When the great One full of grace and truth comes, we will be forever changed to live in the eternal now! Until then, by faith, we receive his grace to help us in our time of need. And the time of need is always in the "now."
Do you find yourself denying today by looking out yonder somewhere? Get God's grace now! Humble yourself now. Pray right now. Confess your need now. Today is the day of grace!
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I want to thank all of you for your wonderful comments. It is so encouraging to know that you read and enjoy what I write. This blog has certainly been an outlet for me to express the rumblings in my heart. You are all loved and appreciated greatly.
Blessings,
Eddie
Posted by: Eddie Lawrence | September 25, 2008 at 08:54 AM