It Really Is AMAZING

GRACE is never a word I heard or experienced much growing up. Not in my family or in my church. Though I am grateful for both of them, neither used the word “grace” too often, if at all. Both were about the “rules,” the black and white of right and wrong. Not too much gray area, not too much grace.Some of you might have heard these definitions: Mercy ~ not receiving what you do deserve; Grace ~ receiving what you do not deserve.  Both mercy and grace come from God, but often times, mercy and grace are lacking in our human relationships.The Bible has a lot to say about GRACE. The apostle Paul, in Romans 5:20 says: “Where sin increased, grace increased all the more.”

The greater the sin, the greater the grace. Sadly, however, we live in a culture today that uses God’s GRACE to excuse sin. Paul speaks to that as well: “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!” (Romans 6: 1-2)

Grace does not give us permission to sin. It’s just the opposite. We do not have the desire to sin knowing that our sin will break God’s heart. His grace allows us to recognize all that has been given to us. Undeservedly, and because of His grace poured out to us, we don’t want to sin…we don’t want to break the heart of the very one who has lavishly poured out His love, forgiveness, mercy, and grace into our hearts and lives.When you have been a recipient of the Amazing Grace of God, your heart wants nothing to do with a sin that will separate you from One who has given His very life for you. Grace is not an excuse to sin, or permission to sin. Grace is God’s great love poured out over you IN SPITE of your sins.  Once we have received the grace of God, we should be all the more willing to give that same grace to the people in our lives around us.  We are quickly approaching the holiday season. A time for family, friends, traditions, home, and reconnecting with those most dear to us. What if we would give grace to others as abundantly as it’s been given to us? What if, despite our differences, we exemplified God’s AMAZING GRACE to our family and friends? To those with whom we agree with, and even with those whom we vehemently disagree? To those who live as we do and to those who do not? To those who love God we way we do, and to those who don’t share the same love of God?What if we poured out God’s Amazing Grace to people in our lives…IN SPITE of their sins? What if we did not measure our love and grace to people based on their beliefs, their church affiliation, or their amount of sin? What if our love and grace to people had nothing do with people’s actions but with God’s love (and our love) for the hearts of people?What if our hearts broke, as God’s heart breaks for lost people and how much they need a Savior? What if by giving people OUR grace, they feel it as God’s grace and instead of seeing us, they see Him?His grace really is AMAZING!!! And God never intended for us to just receive it… instead, He has entrusted His Amazing Grace to us so that we can give it away to others… whether they deserve it or not.

If God’s grace was dependent on who deserved it, neither you nor I would have been the recipients of it.

I want to challenge you today, and throughout this holiday season, to be a vessel of God’s Amazing Grace… to those people who deserve it, and to those who do not. To those who will appreciate it, and to those who will not. To those who will recognize God’s grace through you, and to those who have no idea what you have given them. To those desperately in need of a Savior ~ may they experience God’s Amazing Grace through YOU!