YOUR SOURCE OF GRACE
“…“My grace is all you need. …”“… MY GRACE is sufficient for thee…” (2 Corinthians 12:9 Corinthians 12:9 KJV & NLT).
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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. “…“My grace is all you need. …”“… MY GRACE is sufficient for thee…” (2 Corinthians 12:9 Corinthians 12:9 KJV & NLT).
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 HIS people in all his responses. Grace is God’s love in action. Every time he responds to his people with unmerited favor he is demonstrating his amazing LOVING, grace. “…“My grace is all you need. …” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT).
Grace is about God NOT treating his “covenant unity” people according to their sins and offenses against him. God, the Holy Spirit FAITHFULLY demonstrates HIS GRACE toward his people. “…The GIFT by grace……” (Romans 5:15 KJV). “…He … remains faithful (in his demonstration of grace) …” (2 Timothy 2:13 NLT). “…I am the Lord, I change NOT…” (Malachi 3:6 KJV).
“...even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ...” (Romans 5:10-16 NLT).
GRACE is God, the Holy Spirit’s LOVE in ACTION. “…God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, 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 to be the propitiation (substitute, intervention) for our sins...” (1 John 4:10 KJV). “…Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God …” (1 Peter 3:18 KJV).
Grace, God, the Holy Spirit’s love in action, is the unmerited and undeserving treatment toward those who don’t deserve it, who didn’t earn it, and weren’t worthy of it. “…Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 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 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, no matter how decent, will NEVER be an adequate source of grace. GRACE is an immutable attribute of God that is GOVERNED by HOLY LOVE. It is always a FIRST response from God, but not always from humans. During my recovery, many 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 apologized, they won’t always redeem you back into a relationship with them.
There is nothing you can do to redeem yourself back either without their grace, especially when someone feels you have wronged them and you can’t fix it.
In those moments you realized, 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 their apostasy (I will heal their unfaithfulness toward me), I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from them.…” (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…” (Proverbs 10:12, 1 Peter 4:8 ASV). His “…Mercy triumphs over judgement.” (James 2:13 NASB). “…I WILL HEAL their apostasy, I will love them freely…” (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 or do anything to fix it.
What is even worst is they are not willing to redeem you either. They shut you out, or reject you, un-invite you, cut you off, or treat you according to the way they perceive you deserve it. It was during this experience that I appreciated God, the Holy Spirit’s GRACE more than ever!
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?”
“...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).
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 without GRACE. Be EVER thankful for God’s LOVING GRACE!!!!
I truly thought, for certain, they would treat me with GRACE too 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).
We make mistakes with those we love and care for, whether intentionally or unintentionally and no matter what, we simply can’t FIX it. You learn through these experiences, hard as they are to process through, human beings ARE NOT your SOURCE of GRACE.
On the one hand it makes you realize God’s GRACE all the more. When I go to him confessing my many wrongs and offenses against him, 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). I had another chance with God and he won’t remember my mishaps 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 LOVING GRACE you will choose to love 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 (demonstrated by 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 God’s people need sufficient GRACE.
Unfortunately, you can’t always gleam grace, in the moment, 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. God’s people are instructed to love “…one to another …” (John 13:35 KJV).
The redeeming GRACE is God, the Holy Spirit’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 many sins, forgets them, and remembers them NO MORE. 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 or allow their grace to redeem you; God will and can!! If God can forgive and redeem you; you can forgive and redeem yourself and others too. “...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).
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 wonderful grace...” (Romans 5:10-16 NLT). “…The GIFT by grace……” (Romans 5:15 KJV). “... [God’s] …Holy Spirit …is the SOURCE [of it ALL]…” (1 Corinthians 12:4-11 NLT).
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