GRACE

G. 

God 

Grace wasn’t an idea created in the hearts of people but rather it was created by God for people out of his love. 

I think for me I’ve had a total misunderstanding of grace simply because I didn’t understand it’s origin. 

God made grace so that people could have a easier time getting to know him. 

The Bible says his throne is a place where we find grace and mercy; it's meant to be approached with that in mind. 

I grew up with the idea, and maybe you did too,  that dad's office or the principal's office or pick any authority figures office were places to fear approaching because I ended up there as a result of poor behavior and that person was the final authority to judge me. 

Right or wrong I feared God in that way too. I’ve recently discovered I was looking at someone else’s picture when I thought I was looking at God. 

He is the creator of grace not a get out of jail free card but a no more condemnation promise. 

God made a way for me to come that didn’t involve me earning anything or paying anything to get his love. 

Wow what a concept. 

I consider myself a follower of Jesus so if that is true then I have got to start having more grace and let people know that approaching me as a dad, a husband,a friend, a co-worker, and fellow commuter on the road of life means they aren’t getting a fistful of judgment but a handful of grace. 

R. 

Reaching

Grace doesn’t sit on its butt and neither does God. That’s why Jesus came. 

I loved watching westerns as a kid one line that clearly stuck with me was the long arm of the law. The idea that you could not put pace the law. The Sheriff or Marshall the hero of the movie would always get his man. Grace is supposed to be like that outpaceable you simply can’t outrun grace. 

God is always reaching out with grace it’s we,who are labeled Christians, that have messed the whole thing up we treat people who are in need of grace like Dr. Seuss’s Grinch. We wouldn’t touch them with a 39 and a 1/2 foot pole. 

When grace is really present it is like taffy it can be stretched and pulled and twisted around corners and through mazes of peoples wonky and broken lives and still hold it integrity. 

If you ever meet someone who really has a ton of grace regardless of their religious label they have had a God encounter and have been influenced by a real touch because as I said before grace isn’t a human idea it’s right from the mind of God. 

I find myself all too often not showing grace when I need to and that’s me failing to truly follow Jesus because he was the ultimate expression of grace in action. 

This year, 2021, I choose to be more like the one I claim to follow by choosing to actually follow him in reaching out with grace whenever I can. 

I hope more will follow not me but the grace maker. 

A. 

Accepting

Grace accepts everyone but it does not bend to our whims. 

I think there is a side of grace that people fear it’s the idea that grace will be used to cover over our choices against Gods best for us also called sin. 

There are two kinds of people in the world those who have experienced grace first hand from God and those who haven’t. 

For those who have we need to make grace as available as water from a fountain and accept all who come that are in need of it all people no matter what they believe or practice are accepted by Gods grace. 

For those who haven’t had a direct experience your first encounter, like mine, is going to be by someone who has and it’s not anyone who is walking around a job to say what you need to change because no one gets cleaned up to take a bath and no one gets ignored when grace is in the house. 

Jesus never qualified those who deserved grace he called out those who said they earned it by works and said that didn’t earn them squat and those who felt they deserved it least he deepened it to the point that they were swimming in it by the time they left him. 

If grace was a swimming pool there would be no shallow end so I’m done trying to make one and I’m done trying to ease in. 

The grace is deep here so I’m diving in. 

C. 

Coming

Grace is a servant. Not in class but in application. 

The idea of coming involves little action on my part. Someone or something is moving toward me. That’s grace. 

Grace at it finest is shown when we go out and serve people with no expectation of repayment. 

The grace Jesus shared with us was done with a servants heart knowing we couldn’t repay him

Grace doesn’t wait for people to change before making its move toward them. All to often I find myself waiting for someone to change so that I can have grace and that is so counter to how God does it. 

While we were still in rebellion to Gods plan Jesus came to save us. That is grace on the move and that one hits me deep and needs to stick with me better when,to be blunt, people tick me off. 

Grace is hard simply for this reason it’s hard to be the one to initiate and to keep coming but it’s the heart of grace and it’s the heart of God to move closer first and to stay longer. 

Is there a relationship where it would be easier to wait but you feel the need to make move toward them? 

That’s the whisper of grace you, will you listen?

E. 

Everyone

Everyone means you too. The summery of grace is it’s available for everyone. 

I read a book by Bob Goff called Everybody Always last year and it’s still shifting my mind to understand how everyone is included in Gods grace plan. It’s kinda hard to imagine having grace for everybody always but that’s what grace is about and we can’t change that because it’s Gods original idea. 

Too often Christians have been known for who and what they are against as opposed to who and what they are for. 

I want to apologize for being that way in the past and being religious (Christian) rather then a follower of Jesus. 

Jesus never apologized for standing up for truth and Gods way but he never stood over people and shamed them with the reality of who they were and what they did. He embodied GRACE God Reaching out Accepting you Coming close to Everyone. 

My favorite story that Jesus ever told is about the banquet. All the noble people were invited to come and share in the feast the king was having but one after another they declined. With an upcoming feast and no guests the king sent his staff out to find anyone who wanted to come to gather at the hall in time to celebrate. 

Everyone has a place in the house of grace. 

Next time you encounter someone in any need great or small and you help them without any expectation of payback. That’s grace and that how we need to be living.