Sunday morning has once again rolled around and I want to remind you of how the early Christians spent their days. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42 – NIV)

As you plan your day, I pray that you have made space for these four elements. Nothing, nothing could be more important than being in Jesus’ presence today. Just sayin’.

Today’s repeat blog post is about the word grace. I pray that you will find something in this piece to inspire a grace-filled life.

Grace

I have a house filled with joy. Yes, when our granddaughter Joy is in the house, it is definitely filled with joy. But what I’m speaking of are the plaques, the pictures, the trinkets all around my home that have the word “joy” on them.

With a new granddaughter arriving at any moment, I thought it would be nice to begin incorporating her name into my décor. Her middle name is Grace, so I figured it would be easy to find. Boy was I wrong!

I visited two local Christian book stores and Hobby Lobby so far. I believe there were about a dozen items that had the word “grace” on them. And most of them were in relation to the song, “Amazing Grace.” Really?

To say the least, I was amazed (no pun intended) that grace didn’t flow off the walls and shelves of these stores. Because if Christianity is about anything, it’s about grace.

So my next solution was to make something. So I searched Pinterest for ideas using the key word “grace.” Nothing…again. I guess my creative spirit is really going to have to kick into gear.

But this really got me thinking about grace. Why wasn’t it as popular as joy, faith, or hope? Why aren’t our homes filled with reminders of this wonderful gift?

So today, let’s look at grace through God’s eyes. Let’s see what He has to say about it and how it impacts our lives. And through this process, I pray that I’ll be able to create some worthy images of grace to use in my home.

We find several references in the New Testament to people who were filled with God’s grace. Of course, there was Jesus. Luke 2:40 tells us of God’s grace being upon him. The apostles had a good dose of grace as they worked for the Lord in Acts 4:33. And Acts 6:8 (NIV) tells us of Stephen who was “full of God’s grace.”

But what is grace? How does grace change us? What does grace look like in our lives?

Grace is God’s unmerited favor upon us. When we least deserve it, He offers it freely. You’ve probably seen this acronym before.

God’s

Riches

At

Christ’s

Expense

That’s grace. It’s God’s free gift to mankind. Ephesians 1:7 (NIV) says it this way. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”

But I found that grace can show up in other areas of our life besides our salvation.

We can use grace for spiritual growth. 2 Peter 3:18 (NIV) tells us to “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.” So how do we do this?

In Romans 12:6-8 (NIV), Paul makes the statement, “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith…” Our gifts are given to us to meet the needs of those around us according to grace.

2 Corinthians 8:7 (NIV) says, “But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.” We are called to give graciously. Grace-filled giving…giving as Jesus gave (2 Corinthians 8:9).

In 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul reminds us that God’s grace is all we need. It is sufficient. It is enough. That through God’s grace we are made strong.

Paul encouraged Timothy to “be strong in the grace that is Jesus Christ.” (2 Timothy 2:1 – NIV). And Hebrews 13:9 speaks of our hearts being strengthened by grace.

Colossians 4:6 reminds us that our conversations should be filled with grace.

We gain eternal encouragement and good hope through grace (2 Thessalonians 2:16).

Grace is available to us during our time of need according to Hebrews 4:16.

It is no wonder that many of the letter writers in the New Testament open and close their letters with the mention of grace. It is a powerful gift for the Christian and one that we need to be reminded of.

I suspect when we look at the many facets of grace, we can indeed see the glorious riches God lavished upon us. Perhaps it is bigger than we once thought. Perhaps more that we need to learn about grace.

What I do know is that as we study God’s Word, He will enlighten our hearts and our minds to new and exciting concepts. Grace is just one element. Just think of all He has in store for us to learn.

I have to say that I did find one item to use in my home that held the word grace. It is a small ball and it says, “Grace. ‘Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.’ Romans 3:24”

This will sit quite nicely next to a similar ball I have with “Joy” inscribed on it. And if that is the only thing I have with my precious granddaughters name on it, at least it is something that tells the story of grace. God’s grace. Grace that is greater than all my sin.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Donna