GRACE WORKS...the joy and struggle of growing each day in Jesus

For by grace you have been saved through faith. 

And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 

not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works, 

which God prepared beforehand,
that we should walk in them.

-Ephesians 2:8-10

It is hard to live by grace. 

Grace robs us of our own glory and our desire to take credit for things only God can do. It steals from us the longing for control of our own destinies and lives and therefore strips us of casting unbiblical, unwarranted, hasty judgments against others. Grace fosters humility, creates unquestioned dependency, and grants us assurance and hope.

Grace causes us to have unfettered worship in the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthens us each day in our service and endeavors for Him. It produces love for the brethren - ALL the brethren - not just those in our own theological/doctrinal camp. Grace produces patience, gentleness, forbearance, forgiveness and makes manifest in our lives the fruit of the Spirit and the law of Christ.

It causes us to love God and hate sin; to love our enemies, our neighbors, our church, our co-workers, our families, and the One Triune God. It is our daily teacher in the school of holiness and ultimately will see its instruction complete when we are home with Jesus in glorification.

IOW, grace... works. 

It is not passive - it is active. It is not a silent bystander, but the unmistakable voice of the Savior. It is not a one time remembrance in salvation, but our daily companion in sanctification. This is not cheap grace - it is costly, paid with the currency of heaven that only flows from our Lord's veins. Grace marks the intimacy and life with our spouses; it is the fuel of our prayers; and the source of all ministry. It as the Apostle Paul states, "we stand in grace."

The Disposition of Grace

"A Christian should not be sour, crabbed, and irritable in his temper for nothing almost tends so much to injure the cause of religion as a temper always chafed; a brow morose and stern; an eye that is severe and unkind, and a disposition to find fault with everything. And yet it is to be regretted that there are many persons, who make no pretensions to piety, who far surpass many professors of religion in the virtue here commended. A sour and crabbed temper in a professor of religion will undo all the good that he attempts to do." -Albert Barnes, NT Commentary, Phil. 4:8

A prayer for grace:

"Lord, teach us to live by grace, to love by grace, to confront by grace, to endure trials by grace, to not repay evil with evil by grace, to risk the rough waters someone else is going through to see them made whole by grace, to challenge by grace, to restore by grace, to walk by grace, to talk by grace, to worship by grace, to serve others by grace, to blog by grace, and govern all ministry by grace. And may all this be done according to Your Word, to Your glory, and in the power of Your Spirit. For Jesus' sake... Amen."