Day 97
Alive
to Grace
And
the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as
of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth…For from his fullness
we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses;
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
John 1:14, 16-17
~~~
If the grace purchased for us by Jesus Christ were inadequate to cover
any portion of our past, present, or future sin, we would be without hope, but Calvary
really did cover it all. We don’t
have to fix anything, earn anything, or prove anything in order to abide in His
grace right now and for every minute for the rest of our lives, which are eternal
because of Him.
We can release the fear-push to obey, the dynamic that tells us “If I
don’t get my act together and start doing things right something terrible is
going to happen.” We can give up the crooked idea that we must earn our own
salvation, and instead simply immerse ourselves in His grace. The backwash of
such grace—the wonderful freedom of truly living in it—is incredible love and
gratitude for Him who purchased this freedom at such great cost. This is the
grace place, the source from whence
true obedience can flow.
Discipline and obedience seem restrictive, but in truth, they deepen our
capacity to experience joy. When we embrace discipline and revel in obedience,
we prepare a deeper well for joy to fill. However, because we have accepted
Jesus Christ as Savior and live in His grace, joy will overtake us whether we prepare or not. We may rest in His
promise that sorrow and sighing shall flee away.[i]
The Lord is constantly with us in an abiding presence that runs in a
separate channel from any good works we perform. We can never obey so perfectly
that our path to Him is cleared by obedience. It will always be grace that
clears the way by the blood of Christ, and we must not try to approach Him in
any other way. It isn’t when we fail to obey that we become discontent and
frustrated, it is when we try to gain access to God by any path other than
grace that our hearts fail and our spirits become depressed.
Always take the grace path, and all will be well.
Pray: Father, I confess I have
bowed to the oppression of thinking that I have to earn my own way. I
understand this is a travesty in light of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and I
ask Your forgiveness. Please help me to lay my self-condemnation on Your altar
of grace, and exchange it for gratitude and love for You. Teach me to love You
more, but to obey via the path of Your love and not my own, Your sacrifice and
not my own, Your strength and not my own. In Jesus’ Name, amen.
~~~
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is
not your own doing; it is the gift of God…
Ephesians 2:8
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