In Christ

Grace Be to You... It's a nice phrase, and we hear it quite often in church, but what does "grace” actually mean? Most Christians have treated God's grace much too lightly! They may have skipped over this phrase thinking it's just some sort of a greeting or salutation at the end of a letter. Grace is so much more powerful than that!

Grace is described as "the free mercy of God, or the enjoyment of His favour.” It can also be defined as "unmerited or undeserved favour.” These definitions still leave us without the understanding of everything grace should be to us.

Grace is God's power and ability coming on us and working through us,

as a born again Christian, to do what He has called us to do!

God's grace is there for us when we run into a situation where we may feel we have no strength left and no ability in ourselves to get through it. Instead of just giving up we can tap into God's ability (grace) to come out on top!

When the Lord told the apostle Paul that "My grace is sufficient for you,” He wasn't telling Paul that he had to go on enduring the great hardship and suffering through it. No! What the Lord was actually saying was that, "My ability and power are available to you to fight this battle. Now use it!” Paul goes on to write about the power and strength of Christ, not how he was going to have to bear with this "thorn in the flesh” – which was an actual messenger of Satan sent to harass the apostle Paul. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

Please, please, let's get out of the "rut of religious tradition” that so many people have fallen into! We should always study to show ourselves approved, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15) It isn't just up to the preachers and teachers of the Word of God to study the Word. No, it's up to each one of us to do it, so we don't end up in error!

Have you noticed that the word "grace” isn't mentioned too often in the Old Testament? That is because grace was one of the gifts we received, when Jesus died for us. He expects us to operate in it and use it to obtain our victories!

Everything that Jesus was and is has been given freely to us.

Not just to store on our personal shelves, but to operate in it to overcome this world and continue His ministry on earth – building The Church! This is what salvation is about. Jesus gave us grace and truth. John 1:17 puts it this way: "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” Now it's up to us to receive it by faith and walk in it! Grace is mentioned more than 120 times in the New Testament. This should be a wake up call, to us that we should be studying and meditating on this important subject.

When your ability and strength end, rejoice!

This is when the power of His grace excels!

Grace is a powerful force given to us by our Heavenly Father to help us do the things He has called us to do. You could say it this way, "It is one of the tools to get the job done!” So let's study the Word and let Holy Spirit give us new revelation into His Grace that is available to us. Let it be much more to us than a greeting on a letter or a card!

Don't allow anyone to talk you out of your victory! Throw aside the religious tradition you've been taught and dare to believe what the Word of God says!

Submission by Rena Mae McDonald