"From the overflow of his fullness, we received grace heaped upon more grace! Moses gave us the Law, but Jesus, the Anointed One, unveils truth wrapped in tender mercy." John 1:16-17
“Grace” is a powerful word, showing up a whopping 156 times throughout the New Testament. It is so important, the Apostle Paul starts EVERY ONE of his letters to the saints with the words, “Grace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!”
It has often been said that grace is “a gift of unmerited favor,” which is true, but this misses SO much about WHY God lavishes us with the gift in the first place. The word grace (“charis”) literally means, “A gift from God that fills you with joy and results in your great benefit.” Stop and let each part of that definition sink in today:
Grace is a Gift of God!
Right now, God stands with His arms open to give you a gift. Breathe in and picture God as a Father coming to you as a kid on Christmas morning. He is beaming as He extends a gift from behind His back, waiting in anticipation for you to open it and begin to put it to use. While you're imagining, consider the inconceivable truth that God will stand before you tomorrow as Father with a brand new and deeper aspect of His grace than you experience today. And the day after that. And the day after that. Forever. And here's the thing about a gift: you cannot possibly ever earn or deserve it. You can only RECEIVE it.
Grace Fills You with Delight!
God doesn’t want the idea of grace to make you feel guilty, as if somehow you should have risen above the need for it. If you could see Him right now, you’d be overwhelmed by His beaming anticipation of you clothing yourself in His DELIGHT. He delights in you. In fact, before you got out of bed this morning, He’d already thought more thoughts about you than the individual grains of sand on every seashore that ever existed...and He says each of those thoughts are “precious" (See Psalm 139). Grace is meant to fill you with joy, and God won't stop giving it until you are radiating with absolute delight!
Grace Results in your Benefit!
Said another way, God gives you a unique gift of His grace today, because YOU...and the people you are going to encounter are going to NEED it. That’s the crazy thing about grace: the moment you truly receive it, God’s joy runs so expansive and so deep, you cannot possibly hold it. It has to flow through you. Those who are BEARERS of grace are the best SHARERS of it.
And today, you REQUIRE it. That means you aren’t expected to get it all right. You aren’t the hero of the Story. HE is. And He’s already liberally written deposits of His GRACE all over our story at very the moments we will need it: Grace for the tough rooms. Grace for the impossible assignments. Grace for the difficult people. It’s YOURS for the taking.
In 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul was praying to God for a personal victory, when the Holy Spirit spoke these words:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Your hope isn’t in your performance. His grace is SUFFICIENT. It’s enough for whatever you are going to face today. It’s also the ONLY thing that will be sufficient for the depth of needs you will experience in the faces you encounter today. Breathe deep and take just a minute to let His grace flow TO and THROUGH you!
What is an area of your life you feel you NEED God’s grace right now? Open your hands and see yourself receiving it from Him!
What would happen if you came into agreement with just ONE of the precious thoughts God is thinking about you today? Stop for a moment and ask Him, “What do you say about me?” And then listen. Write it down.
(As a follow up, ask the Holy Spirit to tell you His thoughts about someone else you will encounter today. It could be in your family, at your job, with one of your neighbors, or toward a complete stranger. When He does, be faithful to deliver what the Father says.)
Whatever comes today, He is pouring out grace upon grace to you. And this GRACE will always be more than enough for you today. Cease from wrestling with it and REST in the grace He delights to give you today until delight springs out of every fiber of your being!