What is Grace Really?

According to the Western Christian theology, grace is “the love and mercy given to us by God because God desires us to have it, not necessarily because of anything we have done to earn it.”

According to Christian teaching grace is unmerited mercy (favor). Grace and mercy go hand in hand here. Grace is a gift we don’t deserve, while mercy is not getting the punishment we deserve.

Let’s look at a few scriptures that will help develop the concept of grace within ourselves. In doing so we will learn how to receive the grace and mercy of God. In exchange we will be able to show that same grace and mercy to others.

2 Corinthians 12:9, But he said to me, “My grace is sufficent for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” So what is this saying? No matter what you face in life, no matter the challenges you may have to go through, you are promised God’s unmerited favor, even if you got yourself in the situation. Why? Love and Mercy. When you feel like you can’t go on, that’s when God says to you, “My grace, my unmerited favor is present. It’s enough for you to be able to pull through this, regardless of how you got yourself in the situation.” His power, his strength is made perfect in your weakness. Greater is he who is in you, then he who is in the world. You can do all things through Christ who gives you strength.

Romans 6:14, “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” So what does this mean? No matter your failures or your mistakes they have no dominion, no power or control over you. The enemy is the one that tries to hold you under the oppression of our failures not God. You are under grace. Your mistakes and failures and short comings do not define who you are, grace does.

James 4:6, But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” If you ever find yourself in a place that you feel that someone else doesn’t deserve the same grace that was given to you, because their sin may look bigger, be cautious. God gives grace to the humble, those that come before him in reverence and receive the free gift of grace, despite what others may think. Grace is when your willing to say you where wrong and you position yourself to be opened to the Word of God.

Hebrews 4:16, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” When you have found yourself in a place to where you know you messed up, don’t allow yourself to be deceived. Receive what Jesus did for us. With confidence go before God and receive mercy. Let his grace help pull you up. No matter what you’ve done his mercy, love, forgivness and grace is there. You just have to receive it. If you don’t have the confidence to go before God and receive what belongs to you, and you feel condemned by the enemy, then how can you really show grace and mercy to others? You cant. What you end up showing is condemnation by things you say, things you post, things you listen to. See the enemy is sneaky, he roams around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Don’t allow him to come in and cause havoc when your to draw near to God and receive what belongs to you, so that you can show the same grace and mercy that was given to you.

John 1:16, “And from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.” Stop and think for a moment. How many times have you messed up and your still here? Why do you think that is? because Gods wrath was already poured out on Jesus. In exchange when you mess up there is grace every time. Regardless of what that mistake is. The Bible says you are created in Gods image, his likness. With that being said, I personally have to learn to show the same grace every time I’m done wrong. Personally I have struggled with this more times than one. But because of Jesus, I can come boldly before the throne of grace and receive his grace and mercy. When I do that, I can then show the same grace and mercy to others regardless of how many times the wrong me. Not saying its easy but it is doable if I make myself subject to him.

2 Timothy 2:1, “You then, my child be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Find your strength in God to where you can receive the free gift of grace and mercy that is given to you. Don’t allow yourself to be deceived any more by the enemy. Don’t allow yourself to feel condemned and judged anymore. You are forgiven, you are given grace and mercy period. When others bring up your mistakes just let them know you are walking in your free gift of grace and mercy.

Be free!!! You are fearfully and wonderfully made in his image! You are confident and strong in the Lord! You are full of life, joy, grace and mercy!You are his masterpiece!You are enough! You are strong and courageous! You are vigilant and steadfast! You are loved!

Joy Is Present

Weeping may endure for a night; but joy comes in the morning.

When this takes place is when you choose to lay down sickness, doubt, fear, condemnation, guilt, unforgiveness in exchange for receiving healing, hope, faith, grace, mercy and forgiveness. When you make an exchange,then you have opened yourself up for the joy of the Lord to be your strength, your sustainer, because you know it’s done. Jesus paid the price, and took on everything you felt, so you can have grace, mercy, forgiveness, strength, faith, hope, healing… You name it, it’s yours.

We where never created to sit around in self pity and feel condemned. We where created to receive what Jesus did for us on the cross. When we deny what he did by not receiving it, and we instead listen to the voice of the enemy, then we are denying the power of Jesus and saying that what Jesus did wasn’t enough. Let that sink in for a minute.

When you find yourself starting to have a pity party remember what Jesus did and pick yourself up and dust yourself off because the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Are You Fireproof?

Fireproof what does it really mean? Resistant to fire, resistant to distruction, totally or almost totally unburnable, to make fireproof. If we where to break each definition of the word fireproof down what do they mean more in depth?

When something is resistant to fire it means that it refuses to accept or comply with something. The attemp to prevent something by action or argument. The ability not to be affected by something, especially adversely (in a way that prevents success or development; harmful or unfavorable). With this defination how can we apply this to not only ourselves but our relationship/marriage/family? The Bible tells us in Psalm 66:12, “You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.” It also says in, “James 4:7, “Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.” So we see that no matter the resistance that tries to come against us it doesn’t have to affect us, we just have to resist it. Which means to refuse to accept or comply with whats going on around us. We have to make a choice to not allow it to affect us. The only way to do that sometimes is to walk away from the situation, pray it through and come back with a resolution. See the enemy wants nothing more that to destroy our lives, our relatonships, marriages and family. Satan is all about brokeness. The only way to stop him from being effective is to learn to receive the love of God. Once we receive the love of God we can easily show the love of God and therfore resist satan when he comes against us.

Fireproof is also resist to distruction. So what is distruction and what does it look like in our lives and relationships? Distruction causes alot of damage to something that cannot be repaired. So many times when situations arise in our lives or family, our mariage, and even relationships its easier to just walk away and give up, because we assume the relationship is past being repaired or that God will come through. When the truth is it all goes back to receiving the love of God. So many times we allow a foothold of the enemy to creep in and deceive us and it closes us off to receiving the love of God. When that happens we get in our flesh and we hurt the ones we love the most. Our words carry so much power to where at times I don’t think we realize the damage we have caused. The damage however is not passed the point of repair if we know how to love. Scripture says in John 10:10, “The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy but I have come to give life and life in abundance.” Satan wants nothing more then to steal our joy which can lead to depression and emotional distress. He wants to kill our dreams and destroy our relationhips, marraiges and our family. Why? To deceive us to think that “love” means nothing. See love is patient, kind, it’s not jealous, or boastful. Love isn’t proud or rude. Love doesn’t demand it’s own way. Love isn’t irritable and keeps no record of wrong and so forth. We resist the distruction by love.

For our lives, our relationships, marriages and families to be fireproof we have to realize that we are totally unburnable when God is in the middle. Meaning we are uncapable of being burned or unsuitable for burning. Situations at times by seem heated but it doesn’t have to affect us. There is always a way of escape from the enemies tactics. Alot of times it’s not allowing pride to get in or demanding our on way. It’s simply learning to forgive, being patient, and choosing to love at all cost.

So my question is are you fireproof? If not dig into the Word of God and find out how much he loves you. When you know how loved you are, and you began to love you, then you can easily express that love to others. When you can express love then no matter whats going on around you you can and will become fireproof. Untouched by the circumstances around you.

Facing Your Giant

Your actions will always follow what you believe. If you believe you can’t do something before you even do it, then you will fail. If you believe you can do it before you do it, then you can do it. If you accept defeat, then you will reap defeat. If you accept sucess you will reap success.’

Revelations 3:8, “I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me.” Even when you feel like your at your end. Were things look like it’s all coming against you, God is still moving. When you feel weak his grace is sufficent, and he is getting ready to open a door that no man can close.

There is change taking place. Are you preparing for it? Faith without works is dead. You have to prepare your field for whats to come. Trust God and believe for the impossible. Get yourself in position to recieve.

We were not put on this earth to please ourselves. We are here to honor God with every area of our lives. Our relationships are to honor God. What we do behind closed doors when we think no one is watching. What we watch on tv, what we listen to, what we look at when serfing the internet. What are we living for? Self gratification or God? When we make the decesion to really give God all we have then we can leave the rest up to him. Knowing he is working and moving on our behalf.

A lot of times when we feel like our lives are spinning out of control and our attitude stinks, then we should do a heart check. We can’t just stop when life gets hard. We have to push (Pray Until Something Happens). We are promised breakthrough; but we have to honor God with our lives on a daily basis. “Greater is he who is in us, then he who is in the world.”

God has never given up on us. We have failed him at times in our actions and came short; but he never left us. He has always been there cheering us on. Reminding us of who we are. Wraping his love upon us. When we determine within ourselves to honor God, I mean really honor him with all our heart( mind, will and emotions) he does exceedingly, abundantly, above all we ask or think. Even when things looks dim and didn’t go the way we think they should have gone; we are still to praise him. Praise our way through. It has to be a determination that we make within ourselves.

When we honor God and we praise him through the difficult times, he opens doors that no man can close. A question to ask ourselves is this. “Will I still love him when things don’t go my way?” So many times we are quick to say yes. But do we really? What does the Bible say about love? Do we show those attributes when we don’t get wha we want? That shows the motive of our heart. when we honor God in difficult times nothing is impossible.

Think about David and Goliath. David was the youngest of his brothers; yet he was bold as a lion. Trusting in the power of the Most High God. He had the confidence that he could defeat Goliath. He didn’t use the weapons everyone else would use. He used his faith, a sling and a rock. He was confident in his God. Because of his faith in God he defeated Goliath. The key to Davids success was he believed he could before he ever faced Goliath. He had the confidence and he didn’t let what Goliath looked like to persuade him any different. You can’t lose heart when circumstances look big. You can’t stop fighting the good fight of faith.

Faith is the confident assurance that we have to have in God and his word. Nothing is impossble to them that believe; even when the odds are against us. God can and will always come through for those that honor him and believe in him.

He chooses to work in our lives; because he wants to.

Mathew 19:26, Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”‘

There is Always A Way Out

Have you ever just set and thought about the story of Daniel in the lions den? He was hedged in on everyside. He had every opportunity to get into his feelings, but instead he didn’t let the lios around him persuade him. He new God would protect him.

I can just picture it. At first the lions were probably circling around him and roaring waiting for an opportunit to attack. Instead what happened? God sent an angel to shut the mouths of the lions on Daniel’s behave.

See Satan roars and roams around just like these lions did seeking whom he may devour. The enemy can cause the circumstances around you look and sound loud. To were you feel pressed on everyside and not see a way out. The key to victory when this happens is putting your focus in the right placee.

See in the passages of scripture the King couldn’t find any fault in David, neither could the leaders. So they told the King to make a decreee that no one is to bow to any other god or human being. If they did they would be thrown into the den of lions. Even though Daniel new the decree he didn’t let it persuade him to go against who he was to worship and bow down to, regardless of what it may cost him. Because of this he faced a difficult situation. The King said to Daniel, “May your God whom you serve continually, rescue you.” Did you notice what the King said? May your God continue to rescue you. He new about Daniel’s God but he couldn’t go against his own decree. The next morning the King went down to the den and called on Daniel asking, “Daniel, servant of the living God has your God whom you serve continually been able to rescue you from the lions?” Daniel answered, “May the King live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of lions.” You have your on angel/angels that are assigned to you. That can help bring you out of difficult situations. All you have to do is beleive and know without a doubt that God can and will deleiver you regardless of the circumstance.

The Bible states in Isaiah, “No weapon formed against you shall propser, and every tongue that rise against you in judgement you prove to be in the wrong.” If God can send an angel to shut the mouth of lions then he can take care of any circumstance that you face. The key to it all is trusting and believing. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your steps.” The Bible even says, “All things are possibe to those that believe.” Nothing is to hard for God to rescue you out of. Quiet the voices around you by renewing your mind daily on God’s Word. Victory is yours but you have to fight the good fight of faith. Let your words work for you and not against you.

Psalm 139

For today’s devotion I feel lead to do a prayer that I have formed from Psalm 139 and I want to encourage you to pray it.

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O Lord, you have searched me, you know everything about me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you understand my thoughts even before I do. I ask you to help me to constantly renew my mind on your word. You understand my path at times even more than I do, and my lying down. You are acquainted with all my ways, good and bad. Help me to do what is pleasing in your sight and walk justly before you. For there is not a word on my tongue that you don’t already know what it is before I speak it. Help me to have the discipline to control what I say so that my words can be seasoned with grace to those I am speaking to, especially my family. You are my protector. You have hedged me in and behind, I am never alone. Your hand is upon me. I cant escape from your presence. No matter where I go you are there. Your hand leads and guides me regardless of the path I have gone down. Your right hand holds on to me. No matter the darkness that I may face your light always leads me and shows me where to go and what to do every time. You have formed my inward parts and covered me in my mothers womb. Help me to love myself, the exact way you made me. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made in your image. Marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows very well. I choose to love me, because you love me. The way you created my body wasn’t hidden from you when I was made in secret. Your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed. Therefore, I choose to love me. In your book all my days where written, even when there was none. Help me to stay on the path you have for me. Your thoughts toward me, even when I mess up are great! Thank you for loving me even during the times I didn’t love my self or when I made a mess of things. If I could count your thoughts toward me they would be more than the numbers of the sand. Every time I awake I am still with you. You never leave me or forsake me. Search me God, examine me and know my heart. Try me and know my anxieties. I cast all my cares and anxieties over on you, because you care for me. See if there is any thing in me that isn’t pleasing to you and lead me in the way everlasting. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

This prayer is such an intimate prayer and it shows us how loved by God we really are. When we learn to truly receive the love of God then in return we can love ourselves even when we mess up at times. We are a work in progress. Even in our moments we are still considered Gods masterpiece. When God sees you he doesn’t see your flaws. He sees the blood of Jesus that has covered those flaws.

Be encouraged today in knowing that you are never alone. You are loved and Gods thoughts toward you are good.