For years, I, like many of you, shared one common struggle: believing, accepting, receiving, and relying on God’s grace. I just couldn’t grasp His saving grace nor his sustaining grace.
It was difficult to believe that God could or would completely forgive my sins, the ones I did and all the ones I thought about doing. So many sins, too many repetitive sins, that many sins indeed couldn’t be totally forgiven, or so I thought. That’s what happened when I tried to trust the “god in a box” that I could understand, instead of the unfathomable God the Father, the great “I Am” of the gospel.
Inside this box, His grace would never be enough. Inside this box, His love was conditional, distant, and fleeting. Inside this box, the gospel didn’t flow like streams of Living Water; it was a trickle of truth to a dry and doubting heart.
And just like many men, I made my own justice greater than God’s, which demanded that I worked to prove myself and earn His love, His favor, His grace, again and again, and again.
Sound familiar?
Be mindful that we will never receive and rely on God’s grace if we don’t believe in the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God of the Gospel who is our Father, Savior, Friend, and immeasurably more. God who loves you with an everlasting, unconditional love, who freely grants us grace, no matter how often we ask. Through His eyes, our sins aren’t a list of repeated failures; God sees them as one step closer to being finally free.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
“It is the gift of God” because our effort to earn grace will never be enough.
Perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate your belief and understanding of who God truly is. Learn to believe and trust in God, who is King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Father, Savior, Friend, and wondrously more!
To guide your learning, I recommend that you begin using a daily devotional like “New Morning Mercies” by Paul David Tripp, that will help you get to know, love, and trust the God of infinite grace who was and is and always will be our “Abba.”
I hope today’s blog has encouraged you. Make sure you sign up to receive blogs posted every week. At TransformingFamilies.org, our resources are designed to guide you through the restoration process of developing your heart, mind, and strength, enabling you to become the man or woman God created you to be.
I also provide one-on-one coaching; if you want to improve your relationships, let’s connect through e-mail at ‘rturner@transformingfamilies.org’. My hope for you is that through these blogs, references, and resources, God will transform you from being bruised or broken to an abundantly blessed child of God.
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Forged is uniquely designed to be used in five distinct formats; as a small group curriculum, relationship workshops, themed retreats, self-guided study, and a one-on-one coaching tool.
If you are interested in developing an aftercare program for your counseling, church or men’s ministry, checkout our Faclitators Package. We will provide training and promotional materials to help you launch Forged in your men’s group, church, or counseling/coaching ministry. For more information, please contact me at rturner@transformingfamilies.org
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