A God of Grace by Charles Stanley

March 15, 2014  •  Leave a Comment

I grew up with a distorted mindset of just who God is. Relating a father figure to God was unconceivable to me. It has been extremely difficult to break away from it. This is one of the main reasons Crystal and I believe that a godly father figure is one of the two most critical factors in a child's life. That is not to say that the child will share the parent's faith in Jesus but it does provide a flesh and bones sample of God's love for us. I use the word "sample" carefully because a godly parent only represents only the tiniest portion of what God is like.

The way we perceive our earthly father is usually the first characters we assign to our heavenly father, whether it is true or not. This is all the more reason to demonstrate godly characteristics to our children.

~~
twh

Read | James 1:17-18

The Lord’s character is often distorted by the world. To unbelieving eyes, God can seem like a harsh ruler who is quick to condemn any disobedience. Somehow that false view has infected our churches as well. There are believers who approach the Lord as if He were a stingy old man doling out shreds of love, grace, and forgiveness. But spiritual poverty is not the Father’s plan for His children.

At salvation, we received every good gift that God intends to give us: forgiveness, redemption, righteousness, a place in His family, and much more. There is a misguided notion among some believers that the Lord’s grace to us increases as our faith matures. If that were accurate, we would be earning His blessing though works. The truth is that spiritual growth broadens our capacity to recognize and enjoy His grace in our lives.

It is sad that so many people feel unworthy to enjoy the Lord’s blessings. Thankfully, we do not have to merit His goodness, because none of us would be able to measure up. In fact, Scripture underscores the fact that God operates on the basis of His grace rather than our works (Eph. 2:8-9). Think of how big, wide, and deep His love is—He cares for us and showers us with grace because He wants to and not because we earn it.

Our heavenly Father is not stingy—He lavishly pours out grace upon us. Instead of sampling meager bites of His Word and His presence on Sunday, we ought to devour whole “meals” every day. Follow the advice from the Psalms: “Open wide” so you can “taste and see that the LORD is good” (81:10; 34:8). - Charles Stanley of InTouch Ministries

 


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