Abundant Grace
By J.B. Hixson, Ph.D.
01/23/2022
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8)
The Chicago Cubs were having a particularly rough season. Their pitching was terrible, and their batting was even worse. On one occasion the Cubs were traveling to play one of the best teams in the league. Their manager assembled the team in the hotel lobby for a pre-game meeting. “Fellas,” he said, “we have a big game tonight, and there will be two busses leaving for the ballpark later this afternoon. The 2:00 pm bus will be for all those who need extra batting practice. The empty bus will leave at 5:00pm.”
Do you ever feel like you need a little extra help in your Christian walk? No matter what you do, it seems like you fall short. Day after day is a spiritual swing and a miss. And the harder you try, the worse it gets. How can we stay consistent in our walk with the Lord, honoring and glorifying Him with our lives?
The Bible has a one-word answer to that question. You are already familiar with it because you came face to face with it when you first trusted in Christ for eternal salvation. It is called grace. The same grace that saves us also sustains us as a child of God.
God’s sustaining grace gives us strength in times of need (Hebrews 4:16). The Apostle Paul, who was as familiar with the grace of God as anyone ever has been, wrote, “God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). In the context, Paul was referring to the ability of the Corinthians to give generously to a collection for the needy in Judea. God’s grace, however, is not limited to financial matters. It is sufficient “in all things,” Paul said.
Grace in the Christian life is a lot like gravity. One of the most basic skills astronauts must learn how to master is how to function in an environment of zero gravity. While it may be a thrill to find your body suddenly capable of flying and free-floating anywhere in the spaceship, an absence of gravity can also increase the difficulty of completing a host of otherwise routine tasks.
For instance, how do you get the toothpaste to stay on the toothbrush when there is no gravity? For astronauts, such a basic item as the pen had to be redesigned so that it did not depend on gravity to deliver ink to its tip. Without gravity, everything must be nailed down, self-contained, and sealed tight or it will simply drift away. The world of zero gravity is a place where nothing can be taken for granted.
The same is true for God’s grace. It is as fundamental to our spiritual well-being as gravity is to our physical well-being. Grace helps us contain our lives and keeps us from drifting away into a frightening world with no meaning and no purpose. We often forget that grace, like gravity, is always there holding us up and helping us along the road of life.
Grace is one of those things that is easy to take for granted. But where would we be without God’s amazing grace? An absence of grace in our lives would certainly make it more difficult for us to function in several areas. For instance, how would we handle the loss of a loved one without a measure of grace? Indeed, how can we withstand any of the trials of life apart from grace?
Have you ever had times in your life when you shifted gears into manual mode and began to take control of your own life over and against God’s guidance and grace? If you have, you are not alone. Human pride is such a strong emotion that it often causes us to expend energy doing things that are unnecessary. When we take matters into our own hands, trying to do things in our own strength, we are pulling against the tide of God’s grace.
One difference between gravity and grace is that while we may tend to take both for granted, we never act as if gravity is not present. Can you imagine how silly it would look if my wife came in and found me anchoring down the kitchen table and chairs? “I don’t want them to float away!” I might say. Wendy would respond, “Honey, I really do not think that is necessary.”
It is equally foolish to run around trying to please God based on our own merits when His ever-present grace has already made us acceptable to him. His grace is abundant. It was abundant when we received the free gift of eternal life, and it is just as abundant day after day when we need it for every good work. Rest in God’s abundant grace today.
01/23/2022
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8)
The Chicago Cubs were having a particularly rough season. Their pitching was terrible, and their batting was even worse. On one occasion the Cubs were traveling to play one of the best teams in the league. Their manager assembled the team in the hotel lobby for a pre-game meeting. “Fellas,” he said, “we have a big game tonight, and there will be two busses leaving for the ballpark later this afternoon. The 2:00 pm bus will be for all those who need extra batting practice. The empty bus will leave at 5:00pm.”
Do you ever feel like you need a little extra help in your Christian walk? No matter what you do, it seems like you fall short. Day after day is a spiritual swing and a miss. And the harder you try, the worse it gets. How can we stay consistent in our walk with the Lord, honoring and glorifying Him with our lives?
The Bible has a one-word answer to that question. You are already familiar with it because you came face to face with it when you first trusted in Christ for eternal salvation. It is called grace. The same grace that saves us also sustains us as a child of God.
God’s sustaining grace gives us strength in times of need (Hebrews 4:16). The Apostle Paul, who was as familiar with the grace of God as anyone ever has been, wrote, “God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). In the context, Paul was referring to the ability of the Corinthians to give generously to a collection for the needy in Judea. God’s grace, however, is not limited to financial matters. It is sufficient “in all things,” Paul said.
Grace in the Christian life is a lot like gravity. One of the most basic skills astronauts must learn how to master is how to function in an environment of zero gravity. While it may be a thrill to find your body suddenly capable of flying and free-floating anywhere in the spaceship, an absence of gravity can also increase the difficulty of completing a host of otherwise routine tasks.
For instance, how do you get the toothpaste to stay on the toothbrush when there is no gravity? For astronauts, such a basic item as the pen had to be redesigned so that it did not depend on gravity to deliver ink to its tip. Without gravity, everything must be nailed down, self-contained, and sealed tight or it will simply drift away. The world of zero gravity is a place where nothing can be taken for granted.
The same is true for God’s grace. It is as fundamental to our spiritual well-being as gravity is to our physical well-being. Grace helps us contain our lives and keeps us from drifting away into a frightening world with no meaning and no purpose. We often forget that grace, like gravity, is always there holding us up and helping us along the road of life.
Grace is one of those things that is easy to take for granted. But where would we be without God’s amazing grace? An absence of grace in our lives would certainly make it more difficult for us to function in several areas. For instance, how would we handle the loss of a loved one without a measure of grace? Indeed, how can we withstand any of the trials of life apart from grace?
Have you ever had times in your life when you shifted gears into manual mode and began to take control of your own life over and against God’s guidance and grace? If you have, you are not alone. Human pride is such a strong emotion that it often causes us to expend energy doing things that are unnecessary. When we take matters into our own hands, trying to do things in our own strength, we are pulling against the tide of God’s grace.
One difference between gravity and grace is that while we may tend to take both for granted, we never act as if gravity is not present. Can you imagine how silly it would look if my wife came in and found me anchoring down the kitchen table and chairs? “I don’t want them to float away!” I might say. Wendy would respond, “Honey, I really do not think that is necessary.”
It is equally foolish to run around trying to please God based on our own merits when His ever-present grace has already made us acceptable to him. His grace is abundant. It was abundant when we received the free gift of eternal life, and it is just as abundant day after day when we need it for every good work. Rest in God’s abundant grace today.
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