Friday, July 22, 2011

God Abounding in Grace

"It is the grace of God that trains us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives" (Titus 2:12). It is the grace of God that does this, His favor, His graciousness, His loving disposition toward you as His child.

Be careful to note what does not do this. It is not accountability, aim, best efforts, behavior, the bible, chastisement, church, conduct, confession, conformity, commands, dedication, desire, discipline, doctrine, ethics, expectations, failure, fear, fervor, gifts, greatness, guidance, guilt, hell, helpers, information, institutions, instruction, law, legislation, manners, morals, obligation, opportunities, preaching, prescriptions, principles, procedures, programs, ramifications, rituals, rules, sermons, shame, signs, songs, standards, structure, threats, trials, troubles, turmoil, ultimatums, urging, want, or worry. God uses some of these things but the only thing that offers real change is God's grace!

God's grace is His permanent attitude of loving-kindness that causes Him to be gracious. If you do not understand God's permanent loving-kindness towards you then you cannot change for the better, you will not have peace. You will burn out, cry, complain, fear, and get depressed. The only thing that transforms us is knowing how loved we are by Him and learning to live inside that reality. WITHOUT HIS LOVE WE ARE NOTHING!

Psalm 103:8 says, "The Lord is compassionate and gracious and abounding in loving-kindness."
Abounding means a present and continual abundance. If I had an abundance of food that would mean I have more than I need, more than I can eat. God has more love for you than you can handle! You want to talk about a love story? God wants to be with you forever! And He did everything He could to make that happen.

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