Friday, January 16, 2015

Lesson 9 Faith and Grace

     We have limited God's grace and goodness in our lives because we lack hearing this goodness preached and not putting faith in what we did hear like in Romans 10:17.  Even after we hear about God's goodness, it almost always preached about in the light of our doing something to deserve it.  And, it seem like we can never do enough to deserve it.  That's what grace is.
     All of God's mercy, grace, favor, power, deliverance, His goodness and His promise, are all by grace.  God's great love for His family is the basis of all His goodness.  He so loved the world that He gave.  Gave what?  Everything the heart of a loving Father and an Almighty God had to give, which was everything heaven had to pour out on this earth.  When God poured out His Spirit on mankind, He actually poured out Himself on everyone who will accept Him.
     Remember, everything that is on and in this planet (including the planet itself) came from the Spirit of God.  Now we have the promise of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ our Lord.  This is the blessing promised to Abraham in Galatians 3.  This isn't simply the ability to speak in tongues, but is in reality, the whole of the Creator Himself to create a new creation.  2Corinthians 5:17-21 (Amplified) says we are a "new creation" by the same Spirit of God as in the first creation.  This "new creation" has the entire blessing that was on Adam and more.  It is the Joint Heir of Jesus Himself. 
     We still, somehow believe that we're taking advantage of God if we believe for something too big or we expect too much.  It view God like He's some rich old man Who we are trying to extract favors from by fraud. Remember, this covenant was God's idea.  He knew who and what we were.  God didn't ask us what we could do, He only depended on what He could do.  God knew we could never live up to what we would expect of ourselves and fulfilled the covenant by His goodness for us.
     Dare to trust God's goodness for the fullness of His grace.  It's sort of working with a net and you can't fail.  If you miss it, then try again.  Don't do what the Israelites did in the wilderness and let the "word of giants" prevent you from entering into God's promise of rest.  Only twelve spies actually even saw the giants while scouting the Promised Land.  The simple retelling about the giants kept them from the Promised Land even though the spies brought back bountiful produce from there.
    There are times when we do the same after hearing a testimony and allow the word of the testimony override the proof of the promise.  The retelling of Jesus being raised from the dead should be all the proof any believer needs.  We were raised with Him and seated at God's right hand with Him in power, goodness, blessing, protection and unity.  This is God's new covenant and we've received the dominion of His covenant and have been reunited as His family, through Jesus.
     If grace and truth came through Jesus and Jesus lives in us, then is there any part of this grace and truth held back from those who seek it out?  Jesus wasn't a down payment on a layaway.  He was the whole price of redemption.  Everything that was lost is now restored, with the exception of the glorified body that will come at the end of the Church age.  Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.
     We need the Joshuas and Calebs who will see the giants and say, "We are well able to take the Land, and the giants are meat for us."  Some say that this is too extreme when they hear that.  God hears the sound like Elijah did and hears an abundance of rain in a cloud the size of a man's hand.  It sounds like faith in His goodness and promise through Jesus.
     If you dare to believe and fail, then you still have the opportunity to try again.  God never limits His grace to strengthen and lift us up.  The results of my laying hands on others, aren't always perfect, but I do get results.  My faith improves through every victory and the victories improve through every deed of my faith in His grace.
     When I see somehow who is sick, I know this isn't what God meant when He said, "Everything was good."  Therefore, I can have faith that my God will return everything that is out of order.  My faith must grow in His grace or it won't grow at all.  I must study and seek the full knowledge of His grace according to 2Timothy 1:2 where it will multiply what my faith will receive.
     Failures in my Christian walk can be expected, much like when I learned to walk.  But, I stayed at it until I can now walk without falling on my backside.  Walking looked impossible when I was five years old, but I've grown in my faith and walk with my Father.
      

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