And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12: 7-10, NKJV).
Heavenly Parent, it is with great joy that we have been experiencing Your grace. Help us not to keep the good news to ourselves. May we share it with others for Your honor and glory. In the matchless name of the One who bought our grace – with His own precious blood, Jesus the Christ we give You thanks. Amen.
Yesterday we ended our devotional on a powerful note which we will continue to look at today, the abundance of grace. Paul in making his point of the efficacious nature of grace, declared “But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more” (Romans 5: 20). Yesterday I mentioned that because grace is a gift it has to be accepted in order to produce the desired effect. That brings us to another aspect of grace: it does not work alone.
The person who receives grace must receive it by faith. You have to believe that grace is available and that you can receive it. That is when the arms of faith reaches out and lays hold on God’s amazing grace and the work of transformation begins.
Realizing that grace works by faith does not minimize the power of grace or its abundance. To the contrary, I believe it exalts these attributes of grace! Can you imagine if grace was only presented to us, but without the pathway to it? That would be like holding up a nutritious, delicious, plate of food to a person who was dying of hunger on the one side of a gulf with no bridge to connect the person to the other side. The food to keep that person alive would be there, but the person would eventually die of hunger because the food was out of his or her reach. The truth be told, that was exactly our condition, until Jesus became the bridge that made grace accessible! Hallelujah!
Paul puts it this way “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2: 8-10). Another reason why we should share God’s grace with as many people as we can. It is not our own, and we cannot deserve it; just as the needed food was not prepared by us, nor could we provide the bridge that gave us access to it.
Grace was provided by Christ, and brought within our reach by Christ. His body and blood became our food and drink. The cross became the bridge! Praise God for His wonderful life-giving grace!