For if ye turn again unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.
2 Chronicles 30:9

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all you need, you will abound in every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:8

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus
Romans 3:23-24

And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
John 1:16-17

But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms His covenant, which He swore to your forefathers, as it is today.
Deuteronomy 8:18

We should never rob ourselves of Gods abundant grace, but at the same time, we should never take advantage of Gods abundant grace. It is a very special gift from Him. A gift that is not to be taken lightly.
Because we are all born sinners, we do not deserve His compassion or grace. Because He is a merciful God, we are allowed the gift of it.

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Philippians 4:13

It is because of His grace that we can do all things through Him. Even as believers, it is hard to begin to comprehend His amazing, abundant grace. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ- hard to believe, I know- but it is because of His grace that we are forgiven. God does not treat us as our sins deserve or "repay" us according to our iniquities. But those who are not born again are condemned and cannot enjoy the precious gift of His grace.

He is a gracious Father. Supplying us with all we need. Nothing will stand in His way. He knows what is in our hearts, and will give us what we need. What HE thinks we need. He knows our needs, and like any one of us who are parents, will give His children what He knows is best for them. Sometimes it is a new home for the one who is struggling in this busy, fast paced world. The one that tries so hard to stay afloat, only to keep getting knocked back down by the evil in this world. God knows what is in the heart of such a person. He may use the experience to strengthen their faith, or to get them closer to Him. He does know what is in their heart, knowing they have faith that He will take care of them, being humble, still appreciating what they have as well as what they do not have. He will sprinkle His abundant graciousness on them. Not only does it make things a little easier for them, but it also reaffirms the fact that He WILL take care of them-if they only let Him.

We do need to remember to always give glory to Him. Our home is not our home. We are just stewards of it. Our home is Gods home. We are just here to take care of it while we are on earth. Everything we have He has provided for us, therefore it belongs to Him. We give Him ALL the glory for everything we have.

My youngest daughter is beginning to appreciate God's graciousness. She has wanted to play the piano for some time now. She has quite a knack for being able to play by sound. She cannot read notes very well. We did have her taking piano lessons before we moved, but could not find a teacher out here. Her goal was to be our church pianist. We have a hymnal at home because my husband plays the guitar at church and sings, well my daughter picked up the hymnal one night, and taught herself how to read the notes to -I have decided to follow Jesus- in THREE hours!

She went to church the next night and played it for the congregation. Our Pastor came up to us after the sermon, and said they would like to pay for her piano lessons if she would be interested in being the church pianist!!! I had tears in my eyes and she was pretty dumbfounded. When we got home we talked about it, and she was telling me how she is beginning to notice "special" little things in her life. She is also noticing how God will answer her prayers. She is noticing how events and different things just kind of fall into place. She is noticing the "wonder" of Gods grace. She is 13, and just loves the Lord more and more each day! It just warms my heart so much to watch her grow in Him, and to know that she appreciates His amazing grace.

A means of imparting spiritual power and heavenly gifts to mankind is just one type of grace. Grace is also the method of our salvation.

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness
2 Corinthians 12:9

This sufficient grace is what I want to talk about - and what it means to us as children of God.

The grace of Jesus Christ is sufficient for our salvation. Paul writes in his Epistle to the Ephesians Church "For it is by grace you have been saved". We define grace as being the unmerited favor of God.

We are born into sin with the sin nature of our original father Adam inbred in us. That does not MAKE us sinners. No, Adams sin nature does not MAKE us a sinner, but we can be assured that it will CAUSE us to BECOME sinners (like a puppy who has a nature to bark...soon as he is big enough, he will).

The minute we WILLFULLY commit that first sin we automatically come under the CURSE of God which alienates us from ANY SORT of fellowship with Him. Our souls are then condemned to an eternity spent in the torment of hell.

Yet due to the grace of God, He shows this UNMERITED FAVOR toward us and PROVIDES a means by which we can be delivered from this curse of sin and its eventual punishment.

• This unmerited favor means that I have done NOTHING to earn it
• In fact, there is NOTHING I can ever HOPE to do which will "earn" me the favor of God.
• It is a FREE thing...A GIFT...thus it is UNMERITED FAVOR...the GRACE of God.

Grace toward man caused God to give His only Son to die as a ransom to atone for our sins. Nothing but LOVE for man and DESIRE to REDEEM him could have caused Him to make such a sacrifice.

In John 3:16 we can read the familiar verse (and my favorite in the whole Bible) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. He gives Grace as a free gift...Not as a result of anything we have done...But because He LOVES us and wants to restore as to the FULLNESS of His love. By His grace God sends the Holy Spirit to CONVICT us of our sinful condition and make us aware of our need to be saved from it.

By the same grace, the Holy Spirit impresses us the truth of the Gospel -

• That Jesus Christ is Lord
• That He defeated death by rising from the grave
• By placing our faith in Him and inviting Him in as Lord of our lives we CAN be saved for all eternity
• Jesus abundant grace is sufficient to sustain us through everyday problems and cares of life.

It means that no matter what the situation-in spite of how tough the problem might be-no matter how bleak the outlook- JESUS is IN CHARGE of the situation!

It also means that He will not let us be subjected to more than we can endure. He will provide us with strength to bear up under the load. He will also deliver us in times of temptation to triumph over the devil and sin.

It means that He will ultimately work out that problem in accordance with His perfect will and to His glory.

For by grace you are saved through faith-not by works lest any man should boast...it is the GIFT of God.

Jesus grace is sufficient to keep us saved for eternity. When we get saved it is for a life-long contract that God makes with us. He will NOT renege on that contract under ANY circumstances- no matter how badly or how much we may sin and hurt Him. Being God, it is not in His nature to break His contract and thus He cannot and He will not do it! In addition, we can not break the contract either, (if you are truly a born-again child of God you could not get unsaved, even if you wanted to).

Grace not only saves us, but keeps us saved as well!

I believe that it stands to reason that if no positive work I might ever do makes me worthy of salvation, then no negative work that I might do can cause me to lose it. That does NOT mean I can do anything I want-WRONG! It means that as a child of God, if I mess up and do something sinful (i.e. judge someone, envy someone, hold a grudge against someone, things like this) God will still love me- I am still His child, but that is when I need to hit my knees and pray and repent asking for His forgiveness. By His abundant grace, I will be forgiven. I believe this is true, because salvation is not accomplished by ANY sort of works, but by GRACE and GRACE alone.

Just being a good person will NOT get you salvation. You can be the nicest, giving, caring person in the world, but if you do not ask Jesus into your heart through faith and receive salvation by Gods amazing, abundant grace, then my friend, you will not become His child. You will not get to enjoy His glorious kingdom in heaven.

• He WANTS to have a loving relationship with you.
• He WANTS to wipe away your tears when you are hurting.
• He WANTS to share in the joys of your life.
• He WANTS you to know and depend on Him for all your needs.
• He WANTS to nurture you, as any loving parent wants to nurture their child.
• He WANTS to greet you in heaven.
• HE WANTS TO LOVE YOU!

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17 2 Corinthians 5:17

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
John 3:17

For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Hebrews 8:12

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:8-9

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Isaiah 55:7

I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
Isaiah 43:25

For if ye turn again unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.
2 Chronicles 30:9

A prayer for you:

Thank you Father for the amazing reality of your grace! Thank You for showing us Yourself in Your Word. Remind us daily to take advantage of this revelation! May we see Your light, even in life's broken pieces. We trust You! Thank You for all the ways You bless us everyday. May we always have a thankful heart! Teach us Father, when we are tempted, to run immediately to You, so that each temptation becomes the point where we immediately draw near to You-a knot that ties us even closer to Your presence. Thank You Jesus, for making us whole! Thank You for washing all of our shame away. Remove any self-righteousness lurking in our hearts. Remind us that all of our righteousness come from You. We praise You for making us eternally safe. Thank You. Remind us that repentance doesn't just mean feeling sorry for what we have done, it means changing the way we live. Thank You for Your protection. Thank You that we can talk with you- that You are our intimate friend. Prayer is such an important part of our relationship with You. I ask that You make prayer a part of our lives that just grows on a daily basis, so that each and everything we do will be a prayer that ties us closer to You. Thank You for giving us yet another beautiful day! Thank You also for all of the blessings You have again chosen to bestow upon us, as well as those You chose not to. We praise You in Jesus holy name!

Amen and AMEN!

Used by Permission

Patty Vernon joined the Hearts for Christ Ministries Team in the winter of 2002. We are blessed to have her! You can see this article and others that she has written by clicking on her website at: http://my.homewithgod.com/hallelujah/grace.html