Grace is such a Christian word isn’t it? It’s one of those words which we use a lot at church, but not much ‘in the real world’. You don’t hear it thrown around in the school yard, or the office, or on the news very often. It seems like it’s an old-fashioned term that was once used to describe elegance and stateliness but has since been removed from the common lingo. Even in the church when we pop it into our conversations I wonder if we do it out of habit rather than remembering the true significance of it.
Grace is central to our very existence.
The definition of grace is “favor, goodwill and lovingkindness – especially as granted by a superior to an inferior”. In the New Testament it takes on an even greater significance when it comes to represent redemption. God’s favour bestowed upon us sinners who don’t actually deserve it. Titus 2:11 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men”.
Grace might not be a word that I use very much, but it’s the reason I can stand here today. Dead in my sin, lost and searching for significance I turned to many other people and powers first. But even in the midst of the deception I was in I was able to recognize God reaching out His hand to me and offering salvation. Weeping under the weight of guilt and condemnation he washed me clean and I became a new creation in His sight.
His grace is unconditional, and it’s offered to all. God is blind to race, religion, sexual orientation, political persuasion, financial status or any other area that we knowingly or unknowingly discriminate in. In Acts 15 where I’m working in my journaling Bible today it says, “And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them (the author is talking about the Gentiles) by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.” In that day and age the thought that God would reveal Himself to Gentiles was just unheard of. This was a boundary-breaking act of a God who sees all men (and women!) as equal.
This verse gave me a renewed sense of the meaning of grace. None of us was ever worthy of receiving grace, but that’s the whole point! God gave it without restriction, and if I have accepted it for myself, then how much more do I need to extend it to the people around me? I prayed once again to be able to see others the way God sees them, to take off any blinders of judgement and discrimination and to see a heart that longs to know the power of the Holy Spirit.
Journaling my thoughts and prayers was made easy with the Bella Blvd Illustrated Faith washi tape which created a bold title for my page, as well as adding to the journaling itself. I stuck to a black and pink colour scheme and kept it fairly simple as I obviously had a lot to say on the subject and I needed the space! That’s what I love about this process, every day is different for me. Sometimes it’s about jotting down the revelation I’ve been given and expressing my heart, sometimes it’s about recording my prayers, and yes, sometimes it’s just about using pretty products and being creative just for creativeness sake. But if the end result is time spent in the Word then I consider that a good investment.
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Grace is one of my favorite words. The phrase “through the grace of God” speaks volumes to me about how I should be towards others. Your entry is beautiful.