Accept God’s Abundant Grace and then Choose to Grow

A place was set for you at the banquet table of God’s grace in His kingdom. God sought you, found you, called you beloved, and invited you to feast on the abundance of His grace. His loving grace, in time, transforms us. This grace invites us to be like Jesus.

There is a place that we long to call home. A place exists far from where we were born. Each of us was born far beyond its walls. We were born so far from the Kingdom of God that it sounded and felt like every other story we were told. Then it happened. Jesus found us beyond the walls. He sent people to us. People who came to invite us to dine with Him at His banquet table. The invitation was made of grace, and it is grace. This invitation of grace is the first face we will see of God’s love.

As we accept this gracious invitation, the invitation’s grace is poured out upon us. We find that our eyes now see ourselves with compassion and love. It is through this grace that we come to understand Jesus. We can know Jesus because the grace of God is enough. To dine with the divine is to feast on love in abundance. When the following morning arrives, we discover there is still more than enough grace. Just as, today, there is more grace than I could need in a lifetime. The generous love of God does not hold back, but gives in abundance the grace and mercy we need every day.

With time, we come to trust in God’s grace. It becomes like the air that we breathe. It is unseen, enveloping, and life-sustaining. It is inescapable. Nowhere is unexplored by His love and grace. It is there in every crevice, depth, distance, and height. It sustains us while being invisible to our eyes. Without seeing it, many can easily move through life without acknowledging its presence. Their eyes look right through the loving grace of God, never noticing it’s there.

Instead, choose gratitude every day for God’s gifts of grace, mercy, and love. Cultivate gratitude that Jesus sought after you with His forgiving grace. The more we cultivate our awareness and gratitude for God’s abundant grace, the more we find ourselves changing.

The first lesson of grace holds a mirror to our soul. It reveals to us who we have been, and who we are. There is no hiding from grace, for grace measures us against the perfection of Jesus. Grace contrasts who we are and who Jesus is. We begin to see our way of life compared to the way of Jesus. We walk the journey we are on with our cross, and reflect on the journey Jesus took with his. The first lesson of grace concludes with radical acceptance of ourselves, and our God.

The final lesson fixes our eyes on the giver of grace. We lock our eyes on God and find that we grow towards him like plants towards the sun. As with all who draw breath, our hope follows our gaze. The longer and deeper we look upon Jesus, the more we long to be like Him. Having accepted ourselves honestly and tragically, we find that we are free to let go and become. We are free to become more like Him, upon whom our eyes are fixed. We come from dust, and to dust we shall return. And yet, in the space between, we get to walk with Jesus. We get to walk towards Him. It is here that we find ourselves among the communion of saints whose eyes are also fixed on Him. Each of us are trusting that with each step we will find He has given us the faith, strength, and hope to keep going. With each step we find more of the abundant grace that began our journey. Let us grow with each step. May we grow into the heights of hope that sings as our soul turns and stretches towards the glorious light of our savior.

• Contemplate and be open to the new things God’s grace will reveal to you about yourself.
• Meditate on the ways you can cultivate gratitude for the abundance of God’s grace in your life, and in creation.
• Reflect on the ways that fixing your gaze on Jesus has invited and inspired you to grow.
• Reflect on how the trajectory of your character has shifted since you began following Jesus.
• Sit quietly in the loving presence of God. Ask for a deeper appreciation of His grace, for greater awareness of His presence with you, and for gratitude over the growth in your life.
• Ask Jesus to give you the faith to endure the cross you carry, and to be tenderly present with you in His grace and love.