The Epitome of Grace
“This is her fight. If she’s going to be free, she has to fight this thing,” he says as he pushes a plate forward and rests his arms on the table.
“As far as the grace question goes. This may not be a popular opinion but I like to think of grace as the water inside of a watering can. Grace is not a cheap thing and it’s certainly not a human thing. It’s a very divine thing. You see, there will be times when you can pour out kindness on someone and they will waste everything you have just given to them. But the true moment of grace always brings forth fruit of one kind or another. It’s not just about the person who is giving the grace, it’s about the one receiving it as well. The whole point of grace is to unite two parts that have been separated. Grace is a tool, a very powerful tool when used properly. There are moments in people’s lives where the weeds are surrounding them and in some instances, if you were to pour out grace on them, they would just feed the weeds and become even more entrapped. But there are other moments in their lives where a drop of grace will give them the strength to grow even just one more inch and will break them a little more free from the bondage of those weeds. Grace brings who they really are to the surface, and separates them from the lies that were defining them and keeping them held down. It’s not about a person being perfect, it’s not even about someone getting all cleaned up before they can have it. It was made to bring light into the dark places. Grace is like a road sign pointing in the direction of home for everyone who has blown it. Bridget needs to come home, and the best thing you can do is wait for the right moments to pour grace over her.”
Excerpt from N Book 1 of The Compass Series
There is so much talk of Grace these days. Most of what I hear revolves around this idea that God is okay with where we are at, and that His grace covers over our sins and our continuous failure. My concern with this mindset is that it sets us up for failure and it portrays God’s holiness as being able to flex to our needs or abilities. Instead of God being Holy and the bar being set, we have continued to lower the bar so that no one will be left out. In other words, we’ve created an idea of God that suits our lifestyles and personal perspectives.
I would like to paint a picture of Grace that I believe is where we need to be in order to journey with Jesus.
Picture yourself in a mud puddle. This mud puddle represents an area of your life that you’ve struggled to find freedom in. You are sitting there and feeling bad about this, and wishing you could get out.
Now the previous idea of grace that I addressed would look like Jesus coming down into the mud puddle and sitting beside you and telling you that it’s okay. That you are unconditionally loved and that you can just stay right there. This doesn’t really sound too far off. I mean, yes, there’s unconditional love and Jesus came down to earth to be with us in our realities here. One could argue that this is a valid approach...
...until you think about a really good father. One who would do anything and everything in order to see his child grow and overcome. It’s in the nature of a father to allow pain and discomfort for a time in order to see his child become something they couldn’t become without walking through that pain and discomfort.
I would like to suggest that grace looks more like a hand reached out to you, while you are sitting in the mud puddle. It doesn’t tell you that you are okay. It tells you that you are better than this, and it’s time to get up and get out of it. The hand reaching down is the very thing that God is doing for each one of us in our areas of struggle. He’s looking at us and saying, “Please, take my hand, and come out of there. You don’t belong there. There’s a better way, and I’ve created you for so much more than to stay in some mud puddle and wallow in self-doubt and shame.”
Please join me in purifying this powerful word that holds so much opportunity in it. May we never stay the same, but always be conforming more and more to His likeness. Grace is the opportunity for this.
Take a moment and think about any areas of struggle in your own life that you’ve given up on, or feel like there will never be a change. Then ask Jesus to show you where His hand of grace is extended, ask Him for the strategy, and be bold as you obey His leading. The bride was made to wear gold, not chains.
On March 16th and 17th, you can get N Book 1 of The Compass Series for free. Here's how. Charisma is running a promo, where if you go onto their Charisma News site (click here), a popup will appear shortly after, which will give you a free download. Please take advantage of this offer and please forward this to your friends and family. I really want people to connect with this series of books. It has been powerful in many people's lives and I would like to see that same effect in many other's lives. Thank you again for reading and joining me on the journey of following Jesus.