Optimist Roundtable 7/29
By Martha Sykes
God’s grace is something that surrounds us every moment of our days. One thing to be thankful for every single morning is to realize how blessed we are to be alive through God’s grace.There are many verses in the Bible that remind us of that very important part of our spiritual journey. Grace is a love that God gives to us with no questions asked, but it is always there.
“For it is by grace that you have been saved by faith, and this not from yourselves it is the gift of God;not by works, so that no one can boast” Ephesians 2:8,9 The grace of God is a gift. I Peter 5:10-11 reminds us that” the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast”. Our God is the God of all grace because He is so gracious and extends that grace,and His favor toward us in so many different ways.
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” can be found in Ephesians 1:7. Because of His grace, we can be rich through the gifts that He gives us through the redeeming blood and the salvation that is offered to us through Jesus.
Many of us have grown up saying “grace” at our meals and we still do, but when we were young, we probably didn’t exactly know what grace really meant when we thought about the grace of God. A simple way to teach children is to use the anagram “ God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense”. Teaching them that God’s grace gives us the gift of many riches in the form of His favor and blessing us with His kindness. God’s grace is a free will gift from our Lord.God has blessed us with His wonderful favor (grace) and with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We do not deserve this gift but He offers us all this gift through His grace.
Just as the song says, God’s grace is amazing. Without it our lives would never be like they are today. We are here by His grace, Grace gives hope. God looks on all of us through grace-filled eyes, forgiving our sins, but gives us the righteousness of Christ. Grace has been defined as a gift from our Heavenly Father as an enabling power and spiritual healing offered through the mercy and love of Jesus Christ. Let us remember these words from Hebrews 4:16 where it says, “Let us approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need”. May the grace, mercy and peace of God be with you all!!
