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I've attempted to start writing this a few times this month. There's only one day left in the month and I don't want to save it till then, so I'm just going to go to work and brain dump the lessons I've learned this month as God has shown me how much grace I need and how much grace He has.
I decided pretty early in the month that what I planned to give up would be “blaming others." I think I've done ok with this, but I do have a tendency to blame the devil, which I'm usually quite happy to do; however I have also realized how important it is to take responsibility for my own actions since the devil rarely works alone… I actually had a very unusual thought, maybe a bit controversial, but because of how I understand “end times prophecy," (and I can definitely be wrong) it seems to me that when the devil gets let back out at the end of the 1,000 year reign, perhaps he too is a recipient of what we could call “grace." However, we learn through the prophetic vision of John that the devil despises God's grace. Likewise, when we continue to reject God's ways, we despise His grace as well, and the consequences, though at times delayed, are dire indeed!
Much has been written about the grace of God, and God's Riches At Christ's Expense is probably the most clear and concise way of articulating this undeserved favor we receive from Him. What I think has happened with the idea of grace is a watering down of why it is necessary. The world I live in is very wrapped up in deserving or being entitled to things. We finished our Bible study on forgiveness this morning, and I explained that sometimes we don't think people deserve to be forgiven if their apology isn't good enough. I reminded our small group that Jesus clearly said how we should forgive and what would happen if we dont! Paul reiterated we need to forgive as we have been forgiven Another time when Jesus sent out the apostles to do God's work, He gave them a principle that surely also applied to forgiveness – freely we have received, we ought to freely give… Even though people say “I'm sorry, but…" or “I'm sorry you were offended…" and even though we all agree that these aren't really apologies, we need to realize, God offered forgiveness to us before we apologized to Him — Christ died for us while we were still sinners…
Forgiveness is just one of many parts of life that require God's grace, and there are so many more reasons to boldly approach God's throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace in our time of need! But this blog post is already long enough!!!
I'll just add one more thought: I was given a book by Kay Arthur which I considered trying to read this month, but I'm already in way too many books… I learned from Kay Arthur when I was a kid being taught the Precept Ministries way to study the Bible by my mother. This book is called “Lord, I need grace to make it today“ and I think it's one of those books you get a lot from just because of the title… Maybe during Grace Month next year I'll read it…
For now, I must turn to “Service Month" which is 2 days away, but the lessons I've learned in “Grace Month" have been priceless! I hope you took away a lesson or two as well… Thanks for taking the time to join me! I know there's other names and themes for the months that people have given them, but I read somewhere not to be conformed to this world… While being aware of alcohol abuse or sexual assault is very important, I believe God's grace alone is sufficient, and I want to give my utmost to make people aware of that fact!
Grace & Peace,
Adam
Linked verses: 2 Corinthians 12:9, Ephesians 2:7, Revelation 20, Matthew 18:22, Mark 11:26, Ephesians 4:32, Matthew 10:8, Romans 5:8, Hebrews 4:16, Romans 12:2
A dissenting view to my 1000 year reign understanding can be found: here.