“…“My grace is all you need. …”“… MY GRACE is sufficient for thee…” (2 Corinthians 12:9 Corinthians
12:9 KJV & NLT).
*
Grace
is really NOT a natural response for most human beings. Grace implies that you
WILL NOT treat a person according to their wrongs towards you. When someone
does you wrong it is a greater temptation to do them wrong too through revenge,
defense, violence, mistreatment, or a nasty, harsh physical or verbal response.
“…The Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a
king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had
borrowed money from him. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him
millions of dollars. He couldn’t pay, so his master
ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he
owned—to pay the debt.
“But
the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with
me, and I will pay it all.’
Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him
and forgave his debt. “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a
few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.
“His fellow servant fell down
before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will
pay it,’ he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn’t wait.
He had the man
arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full. “When some of the other
servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him
everything that had happened.
Then
the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous
debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant,
just as I had mercy on you?’
Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until
he had paid his entire debt.
“That’s
what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers
and sisters from your heart…” (Matthew
18:23-35 NLT).
“…As ye
would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise…”
(Luke 6:31 KJV). “…Here is a simple rule
of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you;
then grab the initiative and do it for them!
If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill
sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal?
Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out
of it, do you think that’s charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that…”
(Luke 6:31-34 MSG).
When is the last time your first response
was one of Grace? When is the last time you treated someone unjustly because
you felt they deserved it? Just because you don’t treat someone according to
their wrongs towards you doesn’t mean you are letting them walk over you; it
means you’re simply responding in a way that can bring reconciliation or
healing. “…I
will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him…”
(Hosea 14:4 KJV).
When people criticize you, upset you,
mistreat you, or hurt you; it is hard to behave graciously. However, be quick
to listen, slow to speak, and respond with kindness; it will always turn away
anger. “…My dear brothers and sisters,
take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry…”
(James 1:19 NIV). “…A gentle
answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger…”
(Proverbs 15:1 NIV). A smile, a kind response, or a calm peaceful spirit will
change the entire direction of the situation. “…The older counselors replied, "If you are good to these people and
do your best to please them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your loyal subjects…" (2 Chronicles
10:7 NLT).
God is continually gracious toward you in
all his responses. Grace is God’s love in action. Every time he responds to you
with unmerited favor he is demonstrating his amazing grace. “…“My grace is all you need. …” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT).
Grace is about God NOT treating you
according to your sins and offenses against him. We can see God’s Grace as
God’s love in action in the following verses: “…God so
loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son (AN ACT OF GRACE), that whosoever believeth in him, should
not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 KJV). “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent His Son (AN ACT OF GRACE) to be
the propitiation (substitute, intervention) for our sins.”
(1 John 4:10 KJV). “…Christ
also hath once suffered for sins (AN ACT OF GRACE), the just for the unjust (AN ACT OF GRACE), that he might bring us to
God (AN ACT OF GRACE) …” (1 Peter 3:18 KJV).
Grace, God’s love in action, is the
unmerited and undeserving treatment of those who didn’t
earn it, and wasn’t worthy of it. “…Christ
came at just the right time and died for us sinners (AN ACT OF GRACE). Now, most people would
not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be
willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his
great love for us by sending Christ to die for us (AN ACT OF GRACE) while we were still
sinners…” (Romans
5:6-8 NLT). “…“My grace is all you need. …” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT).
“… My grace is sufficient
for thee: …” (2 Corinthians 12:9 KJV).
Human
beings will NEVER be your adequate source of grace. Grace is truly a HOLY
attribute. It is always a FIRST response from God, but not from humans. During
my recovery, a couple of key people felt somehow I had wronged them, whether it was
founded or unfounded. They treated me accordingly.
What
I discovered is that when someone feels you’ve wronged them or offended them,
even though you may sincerely apologize, they won’t always redeem you back into
a relationship with them. There is nothing you can do to redeem yourself either,
especially when someone feels you have wronged them to the point of no redemption.
ONLY
the person you’ve wronged or offended can redeem you back into a right
relationship with them. When Israel had wronged God he said, “…I WILL heal (AN ACT OF GRACE) their apostasy, I will love them freely (AN ACT OF GRACE), For My anger has turned away from them (AN ACT OF MERCY AND GRACE).…”
(Hosea 14:4 KJV). “…Where
sin increased, [My]...grace
abounded all the more…” (Romans 5:20 NASB). God’s “…grace is sufficient for you…” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NASB). His “…love
covereth a multitude of sins (AN ACT OF GRACE)…” (Proverbs 10:12, 1 Peter 4:8 ASV). His “…Mercy triumphs over judgement (AN ACT OF GRACE).” (James 2:13 NASB). “…I WILL
HEAL (AN ACT OF GRACE) their apostasy, I
will love them freely (AN ACT OF GRACE)…” (Hosea 14:4 KJV).
There
is no worst feeling in the world than thinking you’ve wronged or offended
someone, and you can’t redeem yourself. In addition, neither will they redeem
you. They shut you out, or reject you, uninvite you, cut you off, or treat you
according to the way they perceive you deserve it.
This
is what the ungrateful servant did: “…his master was filled with pity for him, and
he released him and forgave his debt. “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a
few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.
“His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be
patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until
the debt could be paid in full…” (Matthew
18:23-35 NLT).
“…A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you,
that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye
are my disciples, if ye have love one to another…” (John
13:34-35 KJV). “…Lord, how often should I
forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!”
(Matthew 18:21-22 NLT).
“…I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve
received it, it will be yours.
But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against,
so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too…”
(Mark 11:24-25 NLT).
I couldn’t redeem myself from my wrongs or
offenses yet I longed to be back into a right relationship with them. It didn’t
happen. Automatically it made me remember their many wrongs and offenses
against me. I begin to remember how God told me to show them grace and mercy. I
treated them with God’s grace through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. Eventually,
I asked one of them: “Where is my grace?”
For hours, days, weeks, and months I was
treated according to what they thought I deserved. They claimed they were over
it and had forgiven me, but treated me as if they were not. I was shut out, cut
off, not spoken to, treated like a stranger, uncared for by them, and blatantly
mistreated. I can’t even begin to tell you how hurtful it is to be treated as
if your actions are unredeemable. Thank God for his GRACE!!!!
I truly thought, for certain, they would treat
me with Grace as God had led me to treat them, but it didn’t happen. I felt
like the fellow servant who owed a “few
thousand dollars”: “…he went to a fellow servant who owed him
a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant
payment. “His fellow servant fell
down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I
will pay it,’ he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn’t wait.
He had the man
arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full…” (Matthew 18:23-35 NLT).
It is horrible to have wronged and offended someone you love and no matter how much you desire to, you can’t fix it or make
up for it. You learn through these experiences, hard as they are to process
through, human beings WILL NOT always respond with GRACE, especially if THEY decide you don't deserve, you haven't earn it, or you are not worthy of it.
On the one hand it makes you
realize and appreciate God’s Grace all the more. When I go to him confessing my wrongs and
offenses God absolutely and completely forgives me. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness…” (1 John 1:9 KJV).
AND he won’t remember my sins and offenses because HIS GRACIOUS love covers them over.
“…For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their
sins no more…" (Hebrews 8:12 NIV). His
“…love covereth a multitude of sins…” (Proverbs
10:12, 1 Peter 4:8 ASV).
When you truly and authentically
experience his LOVE and GRACE you will begin to love and demonstrate grace like that too. “We love, because he first loved us”
(1 John 4:19 ASV). "…For this reason
I say to you, her
sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little…"
(Luke 7:47 NASB).
“…Beloved, let us love one another: for
love is of God; and every one that loveth is born
of God, and knoweth God. He that
loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love…” (1
John 4:4-8 KJV).
God’s disciples are recognized by the way
they demonstrate love “…one to another …” (John 13:35 KJV). “…Ye shall know them by their fruits…” (Matthew
7:16 KJV). “…But the fruit of the Spirit is love (Grace/Mercy), joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance…”
(Galatians 5:22-23 KJV).
God’s grace-filled “…love is patient, [God’s grace-filled]…love
is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor
others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. …[God’s
grace-filled]…love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 NIV).
Truly God’s “…grace is sufficient for you…”
(2 Corinthians 12:9 NASB). We make mistakes. We say things we shouldn’t say. We
are not perfect, but finite and sometimes we ALL need a little GRACE.
Unfortunately, you can’t always gleam
grace from your fellow human beings and sometimes that is challenging to overcome
emotionally. It truly hurts the heart. I am sorry for those of you who are
experiencing this kind of pain.
The redeeming GRACE is God’s Grace. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness…” (1 John 1:9 KJV). HIS GRACE-filled love covers your
many sins and forgets them. His “…love
covereth a multitude of sins…” (Proverbs 10:12, 1 Peter 4:8
ASV). “…I will forgive …and will remember their sins no more…"
(Hebrews 8:12 NIV).
No matter who doesn’t forgive
you through redeeming grace, God will and can!! If God can forgive; you can also forgive yourself: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
(Philippians 4:13 KJV). “….Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the
LORD delivereth him out of them all…” (PSALMS 34:19 KJV).
“…I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely…”
(Hosea 14:4 KJV). “…I will restore… and I will heal thee of the wounds, saith
the Lord…” (Jeremiah 30:17 KJV). God
is a “…restorer of thy life…” (Ruth
4:15 KJV). ….The Lord
is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul….”
(PSALM 23:1-3 NLT). God’s “…grace
is sufficient for you…” (2
Corinthians 12:9 NASB).
If God’s grace is sufficient FOR YOU is
should be sufficient THROUGH YOU. “…In this world we are like Jesus…” (1 John 4:17 NIV). God makes it
clear about walking in GRACE. “…DO NOT repay evil
with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that
you may inherit a blessing…” (1 Peter 3:9 NIV). “…May the GRACE of the Lord
Jesus be with God’s holy people…”
(Revelations 22:21 NLT).
GOD'S AMAZING AND REDEEMING GRACE!
GOD'S AMAZING AND REDEEMING GRACE!
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