Understanding God’s Grace
Natalia Crawford
Today’s Truth
For if by one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much
more those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness
will rein in life through the One, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17, NKJV).
Friend to Friend
I was born to be a rule-follower. It’s in my nature. I never acted
out in public as a child. It has always bothered me /when people talk
/while the teacher (or preacher) is talking. I have memories of telling
my classmates to stop running in the halls in elementary school /because
they weren’t supposed to. Yes, that’s me. The rule following,
teacher’s pet-kind-of-gal. Right now you are probably thinking () I’m
trying to make myself sound like a saint. But the truth is that [being
this way] made it very challenging for me to understand God’s grace /for a
very long time. As Children of God, we are called to live in freedom,
and I was allowing [rule following] to keep me in bondage.
That is until I went to high school. I was attending the youth group
/at my church and I kept hearing the word “grace.” “Grace this”…”grace
that”… and then I realized that I had no idea //what grace meant. I
understood the definition of grace, and I understood what the Bible had
to say about grace. But I didn’t have a revelation of it /in my own
life. So I decided to approach God and ask Him to give me a revelation
of what Grace really is; And He did.
I want to paint you the picture () God painted for me. I want you to
visualize it / right where you are physically and spiritually.
I was standing /on a dirt field. Everything was brown and the field
went far /beyond where my eyes could see. Jesus was standing next to me.
Then, I noticed a shovel on the ground next to me. I picked it up
and looked at Jesus.
He kindly looked at me and said, “Don’t do that.” I
turned away and began to dig.
After a few moments of digging I looked at Jesus. Once again, He
kindly said, “Don’t do that.” I looked back down and continued to dig.
Sweat was dripping down my forehead, and dirt was what now appeared to
be my clothes.
Before I knew it, I had dug myself into a hole so deep, I couldn’t
get out. I looked around and found myself surrounded by walls of dirt. I
stood /at the pit of it all. Understanding now why Jesus had told me
not to do this, I was ashamed /to look up and see if He was even still
there. I had no choice. I couldn’t get out. I had literally dug myself
into this mess, and I had no way out.
I slowly looked up, to find Jesus standing there. I expected to see a
look of disappointment, or even anger. I expected him to say, “See
what you did? I told you not to do this, and you didn’t listen to me!
Now look at the mess () you are in!”
Instead, He reached down into the hole, He lifted me up and out of
it, and He began to dust the dirt /off my clothes /until I was clean
again. He hugged me with the most loving and comforting embrace, with
no sign of bitterness, disappointment, or anger.
THATis grace. God’s complete love and forgiveness in our life, especially when we don’t deserve it.
That is how God explained it to me /when I asked. Every time I share
this so intimate and personal encounter I can’t help but cry, and
usually find those () I share it with crying too. I have experienced
sharing it with non-believers and having the presence of God fill the
room and their hearts. Why? Because we serve a God of love and grace,
and that is the message () this world so desperately needs.
It is so important for us to understand God’s grace. Whether you are
naturally a rule-follower or naturally a rebel, Scripture says that we
are all in need of God’s grace.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being
justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus (Romans 3:23, NKJV)
I love this scripture. I love that it says “being justified freely
by His grace.” I was reading it this morning /as I drank my Jasmine
Green tea and the word “freely” stood out to me /because it isn’t needed
in order to complete the sentence. It can so easily read, “being
justified by His grace.” Instead that word is there /because we serve a
God who “freely” wants us to be justified.
That is the freedom () we are called to live in. As natural
rule-followers or rebels, we live our lives righteously and then allow
grace to come in /when we don’t. We repent and thank God for His grace /
when we miss it knowing () we have been covered by His grace. That is the
grace () I sought to understand. It was the grace () I needed to understand.
And when I did, I was able to live freely from the bondage of falling
short, knowing () He has redeemed me, and God wants you to know more than
anything that He loves you and that He has redeemed you.
Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, I come before Your throne and I thank You for your
grace. I thank You for the power of grace in our lives and for a
revelation of it. I ask that You fill the hearts of every woman /reading
this right now with Your love. That you would give her an
understanding and revelation of how you see her Father, washed white as
snow. You alone had the power to redeem us, and You did /out of Your
love for us. We are so grateful for You our love and grace.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.