Learning to live in God’s grace

All of us are born into a fallen sinful broken world, a world filled with sickness, disease, famine, poverty, hate, and death, it is filled with lost men and women whose greed and desires drive them to wicked demonic behavior of which we used to be.

Sin and death reign over mankind and do all they can to destroy our lives from the moment of conception until our last breath.
Make no mistake we are in a battle.

The battle is real, the war is raging and we have to decide which side we will stand with.

We can give into the lies, the fears, we can focus on the fallen world around us and fret over sickness, sin, and death, for these things easily snare us and get our attention they are talked about 24hrs a day 7 days a week, or we can focus on God's grace mercy and love, choose life and renew our hearts and minds in His word daily.

When we put our eyes and heart on God we will see His grace in the face of a child or a baby, we will see His grace in the morning sunrise, or evening sunset, we can feel His grace lead us as we learn to walk with Him and trust Him, every day.

God calls us to holiness; that is a life separated from the world. He delivers us from evil, leads us from temptation, provides our daily needs, He has forgiven those who repent and He speaks to us through His word, through fellowship, through prayer every day.

We must choose to either focus on the beauty of a Christ-centered life or the ugliness of self-centered life, we must choose life or death, grace or the grave.

God gives His grace daily to us, like manna to the Israelites in the wilderness He gives us each what we need to sustain our lives, we must choose to receive what God is giving to us.

I choose grace, I choose life, I choose not to dwell on the things around me, for all things are in God's hands, not mine, He is in control He alone is God, I am not.

When death takes my family or friends, when sickness slows me down or stops me from pressing on, when others provoke me to anger, when I see hate and wickedness, I pray, I pray for God's mercy and grace in my heart and for those around me.

We get to choose how we will respond, so I ask if God answered our prayers our way, would those prayers change our world and bring glory to Him, or just give us our best life now?

Living in God’s grace is not about getting our way, rather it is about seeing others as God does, knowing Christ died for all of mankind, not just us, knowing our lives are not our own.

As for me, I choose life, I choose God's grace.

God’s word says this:

“All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.

But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John testified concerning him and exclaimed, “This was the one of whom I said, ‘The one coming after me ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.’”) Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness, for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”John‬ ‭1:3-5, 12-17 CSB

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one.

Let love be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good. Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lack diligence in zeal; be fervent in the Spirit; serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer.”Romans 12:1-3, 9-12 CSB

“But know this: Hard times will come in the last days. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, demeaning, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid these people. For among them are those who worm their way into households and deceive gullible women overwhelmed by sins and led astray by a variety of passions, always learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.

But you have followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance, along with the persecutions and sufferings that came to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured — and yet the Lord rescued me from them all. In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Evil people and impostors will become worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed. You know those who taught you, and you know that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”2 Timothy‬ ‭3:1-7, 10-17‬ ‭CSB‬‬​

“For if I want to boast, I wouldn’t be a fool, because I would be telling the truth. But I will spare you, so that no one can credit me with something beyond what he sees in me or hears from me, especially because of the extraordinary revelations. Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so that I would not exalt myself. Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it would leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”2 Corinthians 12:6-10 CSB