IT IS ALL BY THE GRACE OF GOD.

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY JANUARY 27, 2023.

SUBJECT : IT IS ALL BY THE GRACE OF GOD.

Memory verse: "But by the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." (First Corinthians 15 vs 10.)

READ: Ephesians 1 vs 3 - 10:

1:3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ,

1:4: just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,

1:5: having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

1:6: to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

1:7: In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

1:8: which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,

1:9: having made known to us the mystery of His Will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,

1:10: that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 

INTIMATION:

The dictionary definition of grace is; beauty, kindness, good-will, mercy, reprieve, and pardon. God's grace objectively means, that which bestows or occasions pleasure, delight, or causes favorable regard on a person; that is beauty, kindness, good-will, mercy, reprieve, and pardon on a person. For instance, referencing Jesus the Bible says,  “And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.” (Luke 2 vs 40.) 

Then, subjectively on the part of God the bestower, it denotes the friendly disposition from which the kindly act proceeds; graciousness, loving-kindness, goodwill generally. For instance, the Bible states about Joseph, “And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.” (Acts 7 vs 9 - 10.) 

Regarding the divine nature of God’s grace or favor, the Scripture stresses on its freeness and universality, its spontaneous character, as in the case of God’s redemptive mercy, and the pleasure or joy He designs for the recipient—a sense of favor and feeling of gratitude for the sum of earthly blessings. These blessings of God are freely, and undeservedly given to sinful humanity. 

God poured out the riches of His grace. Grace was sufficient to save us from sin and deliver us out of the condemnation that was brought on ourselves through sin. It was in the wisdom and understanding of God that His plan of grace was revealed to men. It was God’s initiative, not man’s work, that brought about the revelation of the plan of God’s grace through the cross.

God’s grace therefore, can be defined as the free, and unmerited power of God available to sinful humanity to meet our needs without any costs to us. it is received by believing rather than through any human efforts. 

The simple and uncomplicated nature of God's grace, and being a free gift, make many people to miss it. There is nothing more powerful than grace. In fact, everything in the Bible—salvation, the infilling of the Holy Spirit, fellowship with God and victory in our daily lives—is based upon the grace of God. Without grace, we are nothing, we have nothing, and can do nothing. If it were not for the grace of God, we would all be miserable and hopeless. And there is grace for everything we do of feel.

In our memory verse, the apostle Paul tells us that everything we are and do and have is by the grace of God. You and I are one hundred percent helpless without the grace of God. That is why we must not trust our own abilities, and initiatives because apart from Him, (cut off from vital union with Him), we can do nothing (John 15 vs 5). The writer of Hebrews tells us that, by the grace of God, our works were prepared for us by God and finished from the foundation of the world, and It is in the consciousness, and believe in God's grace that we will "enter that rest" already fashioned for us by Him (Hebrews 4 vs 3).

In the passage we read today, the apostle Paul reminds us that God’s grace He “had blessed us with every spiritual blessings in the heavenly places” which means that in Christ we have all the benefits of knowing God—being chosen for salvation, being adopted as His children, forgiveness, insight, the gifts of the Spirit, power to do God’s will, the hope of living forever with Christ. Because we have an intimate relationship with Christ, we can enjoy these blessings now. The “heavenly places” means that these blessings are eternal, not temporal. All by the grace of God.

Haven known the blessedness of God’s grace, we should start each day by praying to God and saying, "Lord, Here I am, ready for whatever You have for me to do. I empty myself, as much as I know how, to allow Your grace to flow in my life, to cause me to be able to do whatever it is that You desire for me. I cast myself totally upon You. I can be only what You allow me to be, I can have only what You will for me to have, I can do only what You empower me to do, and each victory is to Your glory, not mine."

Prayer: Abba Father, without You I am nothing. In You I live, and move, and have my being. Give me the unction to function according to Your will, not by my strength but by Your grace upon my life, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!