![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/A.jpg\")
<\/a>We live over a thousand miles apart, but we have figured out how to play our beloved game. It\u2019s called Lexulous. Lexulous is an online word game similar to Scrabble and since we started in February of 2009, we\u2019ve played 133 games together.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In the 133 games played, I have won 61 times, lost 68 times, and there have been 4 ties. Obviously, you can tell who the better player is.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I had high hopes of winning a game that ended recently. I thought for sure I was going to be victorious. But as Tammy made her last move, she won. At the beginning of our new game, she informed me that she had won\u2026by 2 points. How disappointed I was.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I mentioned this loss to my daughter Candace and she said, and I quote, \u201cthat\u2019s a tie\u2026pretty much.\u201d Unfortunately, the inventors of Lexulous didn\u2019t see it that way. The stats reflect that I did indeed lose and that Tammy won that game.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I fell short in that game of Lexulous. I fall short in many areas of my life. But the only one that matters is in my relationship with Jesus.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Romans 3:23-24 (NIV) tells us, \u201cFor all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Yes, I fall sort of God\u2019s glory. We all do. However, in His great love for mankind (Ephesians 2:4-5) and in His great desire that no one be lost (1 Timothy 2:3-4), God made a way for me and you to experience redemption. Through the gift of His Son, it is as if we have never sinned. That we have never missed the mark or have fallen short. \u201cThat\u2019s a tie\u2026pretty much.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Far from it! Jesus\u2019 sacrifice far outweighs anything I could ever do. He\u2019s the winner, hands down. But Jesus makes me feel like the winner. I receive the benefits of His sacrifice and grace. He gets me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But, that is exactly what God wants. Me. Just as I am. Not perfect, but a usable woman in His Kingdom.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So what are the benefits of accepting God\u2019s grace? While there are many, let\u2019s just look at a few.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peace and Hope<\/strong><\/p>\n In Romans 5:1-2 (NIV), Paul encouraged the Roman believers with these words.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cTherefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peace may be a difficult thing to come by in your life, but through God\u2019s grace, there is peace with God. When our lives line up with God\u2019s message, there will be peace. And because of that peace, we certainly can rejoice in the hope we have found through Him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Everything We Need<\/strong><\/p>\n We find these encouraging words in 2 Corinthians 9:8 (NIV). \u201cAnd God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n God\u2019s grace is sufficient. It will lift us up as we need it. His grace will supply all that we need at all times. Because of His all-sufficiency, we have the ability to go far and beyond through the good works we do. He gives what we need to do so.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Forgiveness of Sins<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIn him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God\u2019 grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.\u201d<\/em> (Ephesians 1:7-8 – NIV)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I don\u2019t know about you, but I am thankful for this benefit daily. When my attitude needs an adjustment or my temper gets out of control, God\u2019s grace offers forgiveness of sin.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I\u2019m also thankful that He doesn\u2019t skimp on this benefit. He lavishes His grace upon me. Yes, I am rich in God\u2019s grace.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Preparation for Good Works<\/strong><\/p>\n God\u2019s grace has saved each of us and there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. However, it is out of love for God that we are to do good works. And not just any good work. The good work God prepared for us to do.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cFor it is by grace you have been saved, through faith\u2014and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God\u2014not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God\u2019s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.\u201d<\/em> (Ephesians 2:8-10 – NIV)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If God has prepared it, He has prepared us to do it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I don\u2019t know that I could ever cover all of God\u2019s grace benefits effectively in this short blog post. There are many. But what I can do is open the door for others to see some of His grace benefits.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Have you accepted God\u2019s grace? If not, what is keeping you from doing so? It is God\u2019s deep desire that no one should perish. That means you. He loves you and wants to lavish His glorious riches (grace) upon you. Why not step into His grace to receive all of its benefits?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For those who have already accepted God\u2019s grace, I pray that you have a better understanding of His grace benefits. There is so much more to learn on this topic. Maybe this is an opportunity for you to dig a little deeper for your own spiritual growth. I pray that you will.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I\u2019m waiting for Tammy to make her next move in our game of Lexulous. And if I know her, she\u2019s going to play a word that will continue to boost her score. But, I continue to play this game with her because of the common interest we have through this game. It\u2019s our way of connecting with one another, even though many miles separate us.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tammy, it\u2019s your move!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Grace and peace be yours in abundance,<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Donna<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My sister Tammy and I love to play games. Our favorite however, is Scrabble and when we are together, there must be at least one game of Scrabble during our visit. We live over a thousand miles apart, but we have figured out how to play our beloved game. It\u2019s called Lexulous. Lexulous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes","_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,296,16,15,3770,17,14],"tags":[4914,1961,307,650,4440,4917,4918,4912,4915,4919,4913,4916,4910,4909,4911,4908],"class_list":["post-5086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-accepting-god","category-experiencing-god","category-following-god","category-knowing-god","category-listen","category-obeying-god","category-seeking-god","tag-1-timothy-23-4","tag-2-corinthians-98","tag-ephesians-17-8","tag-ephesians-24-5","tag-ephesians-28-10","tag-everything-we-need","tag-forgivenss-of-sin","tag-lexulous","tag-peace-and-hope","tag-preparation-for-good-works","tag-romans-323-24","tag-romans-51-2","tag-scrabble","tag-sister","tag-winning-and-losing","tag-word-games-sabbatical-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5086"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5087,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5086\/revisions\/5087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}