John 1:14,16,17 ‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth………For of His fullness we have all received and grace upon grace……. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized (came to be) through Jesus
2 Corinthians 9:8 ‘And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.’
Romans 5:17 ‘Those who receive the abundance of grace……will rule and reign in life through the one Christ Jesus
I’ve always thought of grace as a spiritual concept that conveyed an idea rather than a tangible reality. Simply, I perceived grace as getting something we as believers didn’t deserve and mercy as not getting something we as believers deserve in light of the finished work of the cross. In other words, grace was all the blessings we have as Christians to enjoy, while knowing that we did nothing to warrant it.
However, for a while now, I’ve been on this journey discovering the riches of His grace. I’ve learned that grace has a face and His name is Jesus. Grace is the ability and activity of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life. Like faith, grace is substance. It’s something we possess and receive as a free gift by faith. As scripture states, it’s our sufficiency in everything, the abundance for every deed, and the power of Christ in our weakness.
Through this learning curve, my prayer life has changed. A constant prayer of mine is “I receive the grace to do this” in everything I face. I know by believing this I am receiving His ability and His activity by faith to face whatever circumstance I may find myself. My prayer for you all is that the grace of our Lord Jesus would become a reality in your daily experience. Take it out for a spin.
Love y’all,
Fr. Craig