Show Me Your Grace!

When you think of the word ‘grace’, do you think of something tangible or intangible? Do you think of grace simply as a cover-up for your sin, or do you think of God’s grace as His power to enable you to do every good work that God has called you to do?

Today’s scripture seems to suggest that God’s grace is much more than a cover-up for our sin, but that by it, you’ll be supplied with every bit of power you need to produce good work for His Kingdom. If that’s the case, then grace should be clearly visible in the life of every believer.

I find it so interesting that when Paul was speaking about the Macedonian churches at the beginning of 2 Corinthians chapter 8, he said that he knew God had given them grace because of their generous financial giving. Financial giving is not something we usually hear associated with the free gift of grace! Still, scripture makes it very clear that it was a tangible sign of God’s grace upon them.

In Titus 2 we read that grace ‘teaches us to say ‘no’ to ungodliness and worldly passions’. Again, something we rarely hear associated with the word grace!
I remember when God spoke to me and said “David, you don’t understand grace. If you understood grace, you’d be asking for it before you sin, not after”. He showed me that His grace is there to empower me to withstand temptation and live a godly and upright life in this present age - not only when I get to heaven!

From this day forward I’d like to encourage you not to limit God’s grace to simply covering you when you sin (which it does so wonderfully), but to allow His grace to complete its life-transforming work in you, changing you from the inside out and making you more and more like Jesus.

Prayer: Father, I thank You that there’s so much more that Your grace can accomplish in my life. I’m sorry when I’ve reduced Your grace down to a licence for immorality, and I haven’t recognised that it’s the power to make me holy, and to make me like Jesus. Your word says that You give grace to the humble, so I choose to humble myself before You now. I know that apart from You I can do nothing. Without Your grace I could never live the Christian life. Would You pour out Your grace upon me, so it might be clearly visible to me and to the people around me, for the display of Your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.