Power Of Replacing Grace

Key Scripture:  “Clothe (apron) yourselves, all of you, with humility, (as with the garb of a servant), so that its garment cannot possibly be stripped from you, with freedom from pride and arrogance toward one another.  For God sets Himself against the proud

(The insolent, the overbearing, the disdainful, the presumptuous, the boastful)-and He opposes, frustrates, and defeats them) but gives grace, (favor, blessing) to the humble.”

I Peter 5:5 Amplified

Power Point:

      Sometimes I lose things. It might be my glasses (frequently) or my keys, (occasionally).   Last night my neighbor Sophie was talking about losing her car. Oh my.  Of course I’ve done that too.  I’ve walked out into a huge parking lot and for the life of me couldn’t remember where I parked my car. At least with the new smart keys, if we’re close enough we can click our key fob and it will cause our cars to light up and make a noise; the key phrase being, “If we’re close enough”.

     Sometimes I’ve lost track of my “grace”.  I got it as part of a package deal when I asked Jesus to come into my life. Grace means that you are eagerly willing (smile) to offer to others the same love and mercy that God offers them at all times. The operative phrase is, “At all times”. Well, sometimes I just can’t find my “grace place”. I was reading in I Peter 5:5 the other day and I discovered that if I lose something, God will return it to me.  The beginning of the verse says,  “Be clothed with humility.” Then it tells you why that is a good idea; if you are proud, God is the one opposing you.

     Have you ever been in a situation where you know you are right but things just don’t seem to be changing?  (They just don’t seem to be changing!) You keep butting your head against that same brick wall and it just won’t move.  Might I humbly suggest that the wall you are butting your head against is being used by God? In my own life, after my forehead is bloody and bruised and nothing is changing, I’ve discovered, much to my dismay, that I’ve been missing the whole point of what God is trying to teach me in my particular situation. And until I “get it” that wall is not moving. The good news is that when I finally figure that out, I can ask God for more of what I need, whether it’s peace, or love, or grace.  When I stop resisting HIM, He stops resisting ME. And then He gives generously and immeasurably of all the things I’ve misplaced along the way.

     Have you lost your grace? Is your mercy dwindling down to nothing?

     Is your forehead bloodied and bruised? Perhaps today would be a GREAT day to stop resisting Him and ask Him to replace your grace.

The amazing thing is that when God gives us anything, He doesn’t have a “cut-off” point. He gives and gives and gives and then He gives more. That’s a much better place to be than butting your head on the wrong side of the wall isn’t it? Well, isn’t it?

Power Thought:

God will help you move mountains, but that wall might be an indication of His resistance so that you can turn in the other direction and move on.