God designed humanity to be most alive when we
live in full allegiance to Him. It’s God’s amazing grace that fuels this process, like
high-octane gasoline fuels a high performance auto. God’s grace transforms us, sustaining us in the
ups and downs of our journey, in times of ease and also during fiery trials and gnarly
temptations.
Our entire life is a gift
of His grace. At salvation, God plants us into His amazing grace, His rich soil
for flourishing growth (Romans 5:2). Ephesians 1:3-13 is unparalleled in its description of provision from the Father, Son and Spirit, initiating to freely give all we need for our life and godliness.
Three times Paul drives this home with: “To
the praise of His glorious grace.”
We can also fall short of
God’s grace by not fully embracing it, experiencing roots of bitterness instead
of His lavish grace (Heb. 12:15). And God designed our lives with certain
portals that are wide open to receive God’s outpoured grace. So I encourage us
all to cooperate by developing habits that fully align with our design (I call
them “transforming responses”). Here
are a few “means of grace.”
- Study God’s Word, learning to saturate our lives with Scripture.
- Meditate on Truth, taking time to reflect so it penetrates deeply.
- Practice Relationship-Based Prayer, joining God as we adore Him and ask for His desires and our needs in life.
- Fasting, saying “no” to something in our lives in order to focus intensely for a time on what God has laid on our hearts.
- Solitude and Silence, blocking out the hurry and scurry of life to rest quietly in God’s awesome presence, scattering “One-Minute Sabbaths” throughout our days and weeks.
- Serving Others, since God is a Giver at heart. He uses our measure of generosity as His measure to pour back into our lives (Luke 6:38). Serving itself is its own reward.
Of course, even as we focus on God’s amazing grace, it’s equally important to be full of both grace and truth (John 1:14). Joy and freedom are the keynotes so develop good habits as a response to the grace-laced life of Jesus, rooting ever more deeply into the soil of amazing grace.
This is Reflection #42 in my book, Foundation Stones. I also have a web-site with tools, books and "more than Bible studies" that have helped me to live out of this spiritual DNA, www.JimFredericks.com
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