2 Peter 3:18
18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ.
Every
believer has access to the unlimited, immesurable grace but may not be claiming
or living in the fullness of God’s love. I’d like to share some simple, practical,
daily attitudes and tactics you can implement by faith in your daily life in
order to grow in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Firstly; a simple acronym
to help you understand what grace is:
God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense
1) Rest in Jesus’ finished work of
redemption. As long
as a person keeps faith in the Lord; they don’t need to strive to earn or
sustain their right standing with God. Jesus has already paid the due penalty
for your sin debt by bearing God’s wrath on the cross. You did nothing to earn
your salvation except to believe in Him and you can do nothing to sustain your
salvation except to keep on believing in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21
21 For He made Him who knew no
sin to be sin for us, that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him.
2) Claim the surpassing riches of his
grace you already have simply by being in Christ and thank God for making every
possible provision for your life. Stop deceiving yourself into thinking you are
inadequate to successfully live the Christian life victoriously. (John 1:14)
Ephesians 1:3 3 Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
3) Ask your heavenly Father for more
grace to overcome life’s difficulties. Make prayer your daily “refrigerator” trip for grace. God
has an abundance of grace that outweighs any difficulty or need we may have or
want.
Hebrews 4:16
16 Let us therefore come boldly to the
throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of
need.
4) Be content to dwell in weakness. God does not want us living
independently from Him or to become self sufficient. An attitude of humility is
highly prized by the Lord. (Numbers 12:3)
2 Corinthians 12:10) 10 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.
5) Live in union with your Christian
brothers and sisters.
Christ Jesus has so designed His church to be mutually supportive and submissive
to one another for His glory and every believer’s building up.
Ephesians 5:21
6) Guard against legalism. Outward religiosity
is no substitute for true holiness that recognizes our own innate sinfulness
and God’s genuine holiness though oneness with Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 3:4-6
And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not
that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from
ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who
also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of
the letter but of the [a]Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit
gives life.
7) Eagerly await the return the Jesus
Christ. Awaiting
Christ’s return keeps our minds pure and undivided. Perfection will be
impossible in this life because of our fallen nature and our fallen world.
Idealism will only be possible with the return of the King.
Luke 12: 37 Blessed are those
servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say
to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and
will come and serve them.
8) Forgive others. Forgiving others displays grace and
keeps us positioned to experience grace from God.
Mathew 6:14 For if you forgive men their
trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
9) Confess your sins to God and to
spiritual men and woman you trust.
Confession leads to healing because it sheds God’s light upon our
darkness. (1 John 1:9)
James 5:16 Confess your trespasses
to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The
effective, [b]fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
10)
Meditate on the glory of heaven. The best is yet to come. (Philippians 3:20)
