Receiving God's Grace

Hello Faithful Readers,

  What a gracious God we have who loves us dearly. God longs for us to recognize His grace poured out in our lives. God’s grace is a gift; not something we can earn or deserve. There is nothing we can do to deserve God’s grace and favor. 

  Naaman was a Commander in the Aramean Army, an enemy of Israel. He came to Elisha to be healed of his leprosy by the God of Israel. After he did what Elisha commanded him to do he was healed. He didn't deserve to be healed. His greatness in the Aramean Army had nothing to do with God choosing to heal him. He could not possibly earn this healing. He was from the enemy army!! However, God's grace was given to this man in healing. Not because of his personal position in life as a conqueror, but because when he humbled himself to obey the man of God, God's glory and power became known. It was the God of Israel that healed this military commander. The God of the people that he had conquered. His own gods could not do this. But this God of a defeated people did! He recognized this and turned away from the gods of his own people and swore to serve the God of Israel. What a dramatic change! This part of the story shows how God’s grace is for all, not just for His chosen people.

  God’s grace is a gift given to all mankind, whether they deserve it or not. God gives because he loves all people. The question is, will every person receive His gift of grace? The greatest gift God gave us was His Son Jesus Christ. Have you humbly received this great gift? If you have, do you continue to receive it on a daily basis? If you do, you will be blessed because you are walking daily in His presence.

  Each morning when I wake up I remember that Jesus is with me and He is the first person I talk to. Will you accept God’s daily grace and welcome Jesus into your daily life? There is much to learn and receive from God if we will accept Him into our lives - daily, hour by hour, and minute by minute. He is the greatest God there is. There is none like Him. And He deeply loves us, no matter who we are or where we are from. He is the God who made all of us and wants to walk intimately with us. He wants to be the God who dramatically changes your life, just like He did Naaman's. Do you let Him change yours? Or do you hold on to your own way of life? Naaman was great in the world's eyes. But he let God change Him dramatically when He encountered the Only God. He knew the others were false gods and left them all behind. What do you leave behind in order to whole heartedly follow after God?

“I became a servant of this Gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the work of His power.” Ephesians 3:7

“I always thank God for you because of His grace given you in Christ Jesus.” 1Corinthians 1:4

“Now I commit you to God and to the Word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among those who are sanctified.” Acts 20:32

Let’s rejoice in God’s beautiful gift of grace because without it, we would be nothing. Let’s give Him the praise that He is worthy of. Let’s thank Him for the grace He has given to each of us every day. If we live in this grace, we will definitely grow in our relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ.

We will be reading 2Kings 1-15 for one more week.

Blessings,

Tricia