"Celebrating Grace" ~A Guest Post

As the Christmas season is upon us, there are so many things to think about, to do, remember and most of all to be thankful for.   As we celebrate the birth of Jesus; what comes to mind as the thing you are most thankful for?  Is it the time you will be spending with relatives, the homemade meal your loved ones prepared for you, the presents wrapped under the tree?  For me it is God’s grace.  We are so undeserving of His love and mercy but He desires for us to have it.  You can never do anything to earn the grace He pours out on us.  In only a way God can do, he sent us His son through a virgin woman to live on earth for a short time to teach us lessons of love and unselfishness.  Grace is not a dormant quality or one-time event.  As Christians, we stand in grace.  The Christian life is driven and empowered by grace and we should continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.  God’s grace provided salvation although we deserve destruction.   What a great God we have to give us what we need instead of what we deserve! 

Ephesians 4:7 “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” (NKJV)

Grace is not an inherent quality in us, like we talk of gifts or talents being given to us by God, it is the communication of divine goodness by the working of the Holy Spirit in us.  Take time to reflect on God’s grace.  It is not through our good works or deeds that God bestows His grace on us, but through seeking him and wanting to know him more personally every day.  We cannot experience God’s grace by being self-sufficient and self-reliant.  This is a prideful way of thinking and God resists the proud.  However, he also humbles the heart of the proud.  Those that think they can handle the situations and circumstances life brings on their own will be broken by God so that He may properly bless them with life with His grace.  An essential thing to living in the Grace of God is faith.  Faith partners with humility and both are necessary to the abounding life of grace that God promises. 

Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

The grace of God is about bearing fruit of good works.  That is tied into producing and growing a life of obedience.   Having a fruitful life is directly linked to living by the grace of God.  Whoever God has created you to be, and whatever God has purposed for you to do, He has already supplied you with the full measure of grace you will need to successfully prevail in His purpose for your life! 

Romans 3:24 “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (NKJV)

Today's guest writer is Brooke Church...

Brooke is a single mom to two wonderful kids and a member of First Baptist Church of Woodstock for the last 20 years.  

She enjoys living life to the fullest and encouraging others along the way especially through blogging.  You can connect with her through Facebook or on her blog http://www.daysbecomememories.blogspot.com/