Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that is greater than all my sin.
Understanding the enormity of grace is crucial to a godly life.
- Realizing my debt, helps me to give up my “rights” because “rights” makes no sense when I am the worst, (chief) of sinners. 1Timothy 1:15 I can keep my cool when my “rights” have been trampled on. I am willing to go where he wants me to go and say what he wants me to say. My life and time and reputation are not mine for I have been bought with an infinite price. “My” things are not my own. In fact they are all a gift that I am to steward, in gratitude, for the Lord. I am forever penniless and have infinite blessings at my disposal, freely given to me because I seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Anything that I “own” will soon own me, but if I am no fool to let go of what I do not really have in order to get resources which, when I picture them, are, “greater than that.” (If the father gave up his only begotten son for me, how shall he not, with him, freely give me all that I need to deal with sin and minister to others.)
- Realizing my debt, helps me to never judge another person’s worth, significance, potential, or kinship. I am brother to all, even if they are the runner up chief of sinners. If I try to picture myself having one mind with my brothers and being filled with God’s love for all mankind, then gratitude for grace will give me for all mankind, an acceptance and burden and love that is, “greater than that.” Philippians 1:7 2:2, 1Peter 3:8and9, 2Corinthians 13:11, Romans 12:16 15:6, 1Timothy 2:4 2Peter Realizing my debt, helps me be comfortable in finding my identity in God’s idea of who I am. My identity is not in who I think that I am, or in what I do, or in comparison with others, or in others acceptance of me, liking me, or at least appreciating what I do for them. No! I am who he says I am! A lot of that is future perfect and really hard to see right now. It does not yet appear what I shall be but whatever I can picture of my identity in Christ, it is, “bigger than that.” I shall be like him when I see him and even now people can see him living in me. 1John 3:2
- Realizing my debt, helps me to let go of all fear. If God loved me so much, I may safely cast my cares on him for surely he cares for me. 1Peter 4:3 What I have that is unloosable is also more that sufficient. Fear comes from believing that if I were to loose something, that would be terrible. There are a lot of positive valuable things that can be lost. Health, loved people, ministry, physical freedom, reputation etc. But what I have been given is “bigger than that.” So, if realizing my debt is so wonderful, why do I fight it so?
- In order to see the size of my debt—I need to let the Holy Spirit convince me of my sin, of what God’s righteousness would look like if it were played out in me, and of the negative consequences and lost blessings that my sin has caused.
- Then, how big is Grace? “BIGGER THAN THAT!” John 16:8
verlebellmd.com 
One reply on “GRACE just how big is infinite?”
“My” things are not my own. In fact they are all a gift that I am to steward, in gratitude, for the Lord.
How many everyday Christians actually think this way? They may confess that they are stewards of the stuff that they have, but in the back of their minds, they hold all the Lord has blessed them with close to their hearts. As you wrote, even our bodies belong to the Lord, and are not our own. We were bought with a precious price, that we cannot ever pay back.
If it is not ours to keep, why do we not make the effort to daily offer it to Him to use as He sees fit? Ah, the Sin Nature slips in unannounced to pull the wool of ‘Me’ over our eyes. Sigh. It is a constant struggle of power that we all must deal with. Yet with the help of the Holy Spirit, our efforts to be who the Lord planned for us to be will be rewarded!
LikeLike