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His Grace Keeps Us

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.

It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions

and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,

while we wait for the blessed hope-the glorious appearing of our great

God and Savior, Jesus Christ . . . .” Titus 2:11-12 (NIV)

God’s grace for us gives us the strength to say, “No”, to the ways of the world. We try to not do things just because everyone else is doing it. His grace keeps us from falling into sinful habits. He teaches us to live a life of self-control.

When we follow Christ, those who spend time with us know what we stand for. They know from being around us that we will pray for others, will go out of our way to give help to someone in need. They watch us as we get into our cars on Sundays as we head for church. They listen as we talk and take note of the words we don’t use.

We are able to live as we do because we await Jesus’ return to earth.

Grace Yields Kindness

“From the fullness of his grace we have

received one kindness after another.

John 1:16 (NIV)

God sheds His kindness upon us, His children, out of His grace. He loves His followers so much that He provides ALL their needs. As an exercise take sheet of paper and list the things in your life that you have. Take a second sheet; divide this page into two columns. Head the left-hand column with “Necessities”. Head the other side, “Luxuries”. Transfer each item from your first sheet onto the second sheet according to whether it is a necessity or not.

When we categorize our things like this we find we have more possessions that could be considered luxuries. For our 20th anniversary, we bought a brand new car. I felt so blessed, I promised the Lord, I would use it for Him. You see, this was the first brand new car we had bought. I wanted to thank Him for the gift.

God is good to His children. He answers prayer from His storehouse of grace. He rewards those children for their obedience.

Grace Abounds

“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 (NIV)

“God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that

you are ready for anything and everything, more than just

ready to do what needs to be done.” 2 Corinthians 9:8 (MSG)

I love the news I hear in this verse. Can you imagine God making ALL grace come to us? He’s God; He’s sovereign. What I receive in these two translations is that:

“God is able. . .” He can grant us peace, make us safe, and use us because—

“ . . to make all grace . . .” all grace-grace for all things not matter how small or large our need.

“. . . abound to you . . .” God’s grace is in abundance. His storehouse of grace is vast and is available to us whenever we need to access it. This grace is so evident that we can feel it, see it, or sometimes taste it.

“. . . in all things . . .” God grants us grace for each task we do, whatever the size or importance.

“. . . at all times . . .” whenever we need His grace. God doesn’t keep office hours-if we need him in the wee hours of the morning, He’s there.

“. . . having all you need . . .” When we have God and His grace we don’t need anything else. This grace is ours whatever our situation.

“. . . you will abound. . . . .” When we are in the Lord’s Will, we will overcome issues that would enter our lives and plague us.

“. . . in every good work.” God guides us in each task He sends our way. It is our task to go into His presence, present our requests and wait for God to shower us with His grace.

"Word from Scotland" from Sandy Shaw

What Are We to Do When Others Give Us A Rough Time?