I doubt the Apostle Paul ever made New Year’s resolutions. I could be wrong about this, but I just can’t imagine him resolving to join Weight Watchers or to learn a new language. Can you?
Paul was consumed by the grace of God. Nothing else mattered. When Paul met Jesus grace became everything to him. From that point forward, he lived to tell others of this good news.
If he met you today, here is what he would tell you about the grace of God.
- Jesus is full of grace. (John 1:14, 1 Corinthians 16:23)
- Grace saves you and gives you life. (Ephesians 2:1-10)
- Grace justifies you and makes you right with God. (Romans 3:24)
- Grace makes you new. (2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 Corinthians 15:10)
- Grace is sufficient. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
- Grace produces fruit in your life. (Colossians 1:6)
- Grace teaches you to say “No” to sin and to live righteous, upright lives. (Titus 2:11-13)
- Grace is where you stand. (Romans 5:2, 6:14)
Paul’s purpose in life never changed. Day after day, year after year, he found new ways to carry out the task the Lord Jesus had given him — “the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace” (Acts 20:24 NIV).
On second thought, maybe this was Paul’s annual resolution.
Has the grace of God changed your perspective on New Year’s resolutions?
Oh, most definitely grace has changed my perspective on New Year’s resolutions. It’s as if I have permission to not partake in that futile thought process. Quite frankly, over the last few months of the sermons coming from church, I think less linear and more 3D. God doesn’t exist within the confines of January through December. Really? We don’t either. Our bodies might, but the real ‘us’ don’t.
Grace has given me permission to stop gutting it out for God. To stop feeling guilty when once again, I’ve failed to “behave”. Grace seems so simple when we sing songs like “Amazing Grace”, but as we live each day in Christ, we find that grace is so deep.
Thanks Bob, for the though provoking post…
Well said Lisa. Grace radically alters the way we think about everything. As you say, it is deep.
Bob, Yes! Grace gives us the power every day to begin new. As I have heard many times, God is not the God of do overs, but the God Who picks us up and prepares us, enables us and allows us to move on, move forward or move heavenward. This may have also been Paul’s resolution. I have referred to it as I reflect back on a year or days passed. ” Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”(Philippians 3:12-14 NASB) it is again refreshing, that as Christians we do not have to wait or revere a specific or special day to celebrate or recommit. His grace is abundant and His mercies are new everyday.
Grace is not bound by time. Nor does it follow a schedule. Grace is now, and it meets us at our point of need today.
Thank you once again for encouraging us to live by faith in the
grace of God through Jesus Christ. No resolution can replace
the determination to remember who we are in Christ and that God is
for us, not against us, that He lives in us by His Holy Spirit
and will never leave us nor forsake us. What gems to remember
daily and hold on to as He holds on to us.
Love you in Him,
Lucy
Love your response, Lucy. What a wonderful reminder to know that:
1. God is for us
2. God is NOT against us.
3. God lives IN us via the Holy Spirit
4. God will NEVER leave us nor forsake us.
These few thoughts alone give us peace and contentment. What more could we want? Thanks!
Thank God grace doesn’t cost me anything up front and neither does it require monthly installments nor can it be repossessed ,because I am broke!
As a christian I believe the grace of God teaches me how to live my daily life without being so hard on myfelf and others. Not to try to be perfect and want everyone to like me and not to expect those around me to be perfect. I love others because of Jesus and His grace and truth. Sara Grass
If grace is a gift of quality and not a wage of quantity,then it has been doled out as an essence that is spread across all creation equally. That one thought,despite my deviant outlier nature,is what determines my behavior. LPF syndrome(level playing field at foot of cross syndrome)