Hi Folks!
As I mentioned in the last letter, grace was given to the believer free of
charge because we could in no way earn our salvation. For by grace you have
been saved... It was grace from God that saved both you and I from our sins
as we put our hope and trust in Jesus. Although there was nothing we could
have done to earn eternal life, we still had to humble ourselves and believe
the Gospel... for by grace you have been saved through faith.
The Bible says what do you have that you did not receive? see 1Cor 4:7.
Paraphrased this could be said, "we have nothing in our life except what
God
has granted us because of His awesome grace and kindness". Think about
it,
our very next breath has been given to us by the graciousness of the Lord.
If God were to withdraw His Spirit, all life would cease. Praise the Lord
for His awesome grace!
Let me try and describe a little of what grace means...
* It is God giving me the help I
need even when I may not deserve it.
This is unmerited favor!
* It is that special
"ability" I seem to have which enables me to do
certain things easily, although easy for me, may be difficult for another
who hasn't been gifted with the same grace (or ability)
* It is God's willingness to get
involved in my life
* It is His empowerment in my life
which enables me to obey what His
Word demands
* It is His empowering in my life so
that I can live a holy life
* Webster's dictionary says it is
"the divine influence upon the
heart, and its reflections in the life"
As Romans 5:17 reveals, it took a whole lot of grace for you and I to be
cleansed from our past sins and become new creatures in Christ. But as James
4:6 declares, but He gives more grace... why? Because His grace is needed to
do "all" we do for Him after we are born again. He cares about you
and I and
desires to be close. But for God to come close we must first be humble,
for...
God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble James 4:6
Grace is given to the humble. If you want His grace you will have to humble
yourself.
...be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, but gives grace
to
the humble." Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,
that
He may exalt you in due time 1Peter 5:5b-6
I don't know about you but I don't want the Lord resisting me. I need all
the help I can get! One of my most frequent prayers over the years has been
"Lord help me!" And thank God He has been so kind and has helped me
through
many a dilemma and through many of life's problems. God has been very good
to me and my family and for that I am thankful. But do you know what? I have
had to humble myself each and every time before the Lord would step in and
help. He has promised to help the humble, but He resists the proud.
Pride is humility's counterpart and the Bible has much to say about God's
hatred of this terrible trait. It was first found in God's enemy Lucifer and
it remains with us until this day because of the fall of our original
parents. When Adam yielded to the Devil's temptation to sin, he took on part
of his very nature which was pride. Selfishness and pride are part of our
flesh nature so it is something we will have to deal with until we either
leave the earth or are clothed with our new body. Walking in humility for
the Christian is not automatic, this is why we are exhorted in Scripture to
humble ourselves. Hopefully in the weeks to come I will be able to share
some thoughts on what humility is, and what it is not, so we can better
yield to it and walk worthy of receiving more of God's grace.
Remember God gives His grace to the humble. This grace is not given so that
we can sin and get away with it as some have wrongfully believed, but it is
given for the purpose of enabling us to carry out God's plan in the earth
and to be empowered to live the successful Christian life. In closing let's
take a look at what the most humble person of all time, Jesus Christ, said
about himself.
Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy
burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you,
because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your
souls Matthew 11:28-29 (NLT)
Jesus said that he was humble. If He is humble then we need to seek to be
humble just like him.
David
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be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble
1Peter 5:5b