"When Grace Is all You Have"

I can hear the definition of grace playing out in my mind.

"Grace-unmerited favor"

It is basically God's goodness toward us, even though we don't deserve it.

Most have a basic understanding of the definition.

But what really fascinates me is our reaction to this Holy dispensation.

The apostle Paul addressed this concern (in Romans chapter 6)

"What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?

By no means!"

Sometimes we come to God with a laundry list of sins-that are alive and well-and we have no intention of getting personal with God, to let Him in long enough to change us. We just want to make sure we are covered.

And we wait for us His Grace..

Sometimes we come to Him with a sin that has played a lead role  in our lives for so long that we find ourselves giving it star treatment and we expect God to to the same.

We readily excuse our behavior, 

with well rehearsed and ready made excuses.

Again, we wait patiently for him to lavish His grace on us.

It is certainly not wrong to come to Him..we must!!
But, I believe it is our attitude towards grace..the beckons us to come humbly..and with every intention to come closer to Him and His likeness.

It was a problem area for the Romans and it is a problem today.

The problem is not God's abundant grace...

His grace IS overflowing!!! 

His grace IS free!!!

His grace IS available to you and to me.

The problem
is our attitude to sin

and our attitude toward Grace.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his classic work,

"The Cost Of Discipleship." 

coined the term "Cheap Grace" to describe 

"grace sold on the market like cheapjack's wares."

It is my prayer
That we will continue to grow deeply into our walk with Christ.

That we will come into...
a right relationship with Him,

a right relationship with sin
and ultimately into a right relationship with grace.

Romans 6 continues....

"We are those....who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

It is past time...to die to the old sin.

We are 'not' to give it life 

by 'choosing to live in it'!
All the while and waiting for grace to abound !!!

If we choose to live like this...

then we too, are guilty of cheapening it.

Application:

What is your reaction to grace this day??

Are you willing to let the very Christ who saved you by grace, come into relationship with you and allow Him to remain there long enough to truly change you??

Remember...
His grace will set you free from the sin that has torn your life apart and that has enslaved you!!

You can be free indeed..

Romans 6 continues..

"Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."