God's Grace

 "Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.  See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many."  --Hebrews 12:14-15

Earlier this month when I read the above scripture the words "see to it that no one falls short of the grace of God" stood out to me.  Probably because I've been listening to The Grace Message with Andrew Farley.  God is using this ministry to teach people the true and full meaning of His grace.  Too often we hear sermons about how God forgives us of all our sins when we accept His free gift of salvation, but the next week we are told we need to constantly ask for forgiveness every time we do not measure up to the "Christian ideal."  Farley, however, reminds us that when we are born again we become new creatures and are given a new purified heart.  Yes, we need to grow in our understanding and the living out of our faith, but God has forgiven us for all our sins, past, present, and future, and does not even remember them.  

But we do.  And this not only gives our accuser an inroad into our minds where he tries to destroy our peace of mind but also our usefulness in God's Kingdom.

God does not want us to fall short of receiving the Grace He wants to continue to give us.  Grace is not just for salvation.  We need it to live out our faith.  It is abundant and powerful because it frees us from guilt and supplies all our needs.  To not accept His grace would be like being on a sinking boat in the middle of the sea and telling the rescue team, "No thank you.  I'd rather swim ashore."

But the Hebrews passage held even more for me.  I wondered why the last half of verse 15 was coupled with the message to not fall short of the grace of God....."and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many."  "Bitter root" would be a good description of resentment.  Paul says in verse 14, "Pursue peace with everyone."  The only way to prevent resentment is to do the opposite:  pursue peace with everyone.  And the best way to pursue peace is to be grateful for everything, even when the circumstances are causing you all sorts of trouble.  We can be grateful because God uses all things for our good.  By being grateful for all things, you will learn to trust Him even more to handle your troubles because He can bring good out of it.  You will become more aware of His presence and therefore seek His guidance sooner.  In other words, you will stop falling short of His grace!  You could say that once saved our only "job" is to see to it that we don't fall short of receiving and experiencing all of God's Goodness.

Father, I am always encouraged by your Word when I listen carefully to what You are showing me.  May I grow more and more in Your grace!

Link to scripture:   Psalm 34:8

Take action:  Grace & Godliness

                       

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Another post on Grace