Greetings, we have made it to day thirty-one. When I first heard that “Still small voice” say focus on grace for the next forty-five days until Resurrection Sunday, my first response was okay. My next thought was forty-five days focused on such a small word, can this be done? The word seems small at first glance, but the topic is huge. It flows like an enormous river from cover to cover throughout the Bible. I am beginning to view this word grace like a diamond. I am finding it expensive, rare, priceless, multifaceted and quite exquisitely beautiful. I am finding that true grace, like a diamond is formed in us when we are under pressure, subjected to high temperatures, and finally are shaped and faceted by the precision and work of the Master.
Psalm 139 tells us that God knit us together in our mother’s womb. It continues by saying that He made all of the delicate and inner workings of our body. In all of our complexity, He masterfully designed each of us. He was witness to the uniting and dividing of each cell as our lives came together in that secluded place. This same Psalm tells us He knew us before we were born and that each and every day of our life was recorded before we breathed a single one. Precious are Your thoughts toward me it says; more than the grains of sand! (Psalms 139:13-18) I find that incredible!! The Creator of the Universe and everything in it knows me that personally…He knew everything I would ever do, think or say before I lived the first day. He saw my humanity, knew that I would mess-up, make mistakes; sometimes big ones. Still in His love, mercy, grace and sovereignty; He gave me life. God did this for everyone of us from the greatest to the least. He did this for you! God has a plan and purpose for every human and yet He loved us enough allow us to have free-will to choose. How He longs for us to choose Him.
Ephesians 1:2-8 says: ” May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give yougrace and peace. All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. He has showered His kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.” (New Living Translation)
When we chose a life with Jesus, God has already made provision by His grace for us. This passage tells us that we already have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. We are no longer just God’s creation, we have become His children and heirs. As if that were not enough, it tells us that it gave Him great pleasure to do this!
It is very interesting to me that over the years, I have heard many teachers, preachers, and pastors talk about ancient adoption. One thing they all pointed out has been that in ancient times when a child was adopted it was permanent. It was not something that could be undone, taken back or reversed. A parent could ‘disown’ their blood related child but could never do that with a child they choose to adopt. I have done a little research on it also that seems to confirm its validity. What an amazing gift is ours when we choose to follow God’s plan. We are not only forgiven, redeemed, and placed in right standing. We become sons and daughters. We are heirs. We are showered with kindness, wisdom and understanding. Yet many times we are not even aware of who we have become in Christ. It is almost like we gain this huge inheritance yet we are completely unaware of what is now ours and continue to settle for living in all our old ways rather that believing that we are who He says we are. I am certainly not suggesting that we should think more highly of ourselves because of this grace He has given us, rather I am suggesting that we understand how our Father sees us, the value He places on us and with that proper perspective we can live more victorious and fruitful lives serving Him and others.
Living in His Grace 