Your Amazing Grace

 

Good morning, 

I wrote a new post on Friday, 13 Feb, but then, after meditating about it for some time, I decided to delete it. I felt the message was not shared clearly enough, and the story told was taking away focus from the real message God wants us to hear. So this is the new version. 

I want to share something with you in love, something that touched me very deeply and the message penetrated every fiber of my being in mind and spirit. It is a gentle but urgent warning that is shaping my own walk with God. The Holy Spirit was consistently reminding me of the importance of this message.

When we get saved, changed, or touched by God, that moment and instance will bring a sense of strong awe and amasement of God's grace. But as time passes and we allow the experience to wear off, over weeks, months, or even years, we can find ourselves slowly drift into a place where we treat that holy encounter like something that was ordinary. Maybe we felt that it was owed to us by God, or something that we deserved over years off being a good person? Or was it something that happened to us because we did the right things?

The touch of God and what we experience is always because of God's grace. And I want us to look at how that grace enters our lives.

• In the moment, and shortly after us being saved by God, we are amazed. We get to understand that God, in His holiness, looked past all the sins, and the bad things we have done. He looked past our anger, resentment, unforgiveness, hurt and rejection. God could have given us exactly what our sins deserved—wrath, separation, judgment. But instead, through Christ, He poured out mercy (not getting the punishment we earned) and grace when he died on the cross for us. (getting the forgiveness, adoption, and eternal life we could never earn). Initially, many feel deeply humbled and overwhelmed with gratitude, taking time to process the profound moment of salvation. They often can't stop thanking Jesus for His grace.

  Common experiences include instant profound peace and joy, as guilt and sin's heavy burden lift. Its like a massive weight removed or the feeling of truelly being a "new creation." Freedom emerges from addictions, depression, suicidal thoughts, or destructive habits; people hate their old ways, crave righteousness, and discover real purpose.

  A personal, intimate relationship with Christ follows, offering daily guidance, unexpected favor, restored health, and confident eternal security amid trials. I have heard testimonies that describe being "happier than ever," fearless, and blessed with "favor after favor"—all from God's unmerited love. And this is all experienced because of His grace

• Then, over time, that amazement fades into expectation. We keep receiving His daily mercies, receiving forgiveness when we stumble, provision in need, strength for the days that we have tough times, and it becomes... normal. We still say "thank You," but the wonder and the amasement dim. We start assuming He'll keep showing up the same way, because He always has.

• And then eventually, if we're not careful, expectation hardens into demand. We catch ourselves thinking (or even saying out loud in prayer or frustration): "God, this isn't fair, You have to fix this," or "Why aren't You doing what I expect after all I've done?" We begin to treat grace as an entitlement, as if the holy God is obligated to keep blessing us on our terms.                                                                                                                        The alarm bell should ring loudly the moment we feel God owes us grace or mercy, and we've stopped thinking about grace at all.

Please see my heart as I write this. I am NOT saying this happens to all people that have been saved. But it is a pattern that I have seen in some, and without judgement, we have to caution and love our friends family and fellow christians to ensure nobody ever gets to that place. 

Why is it important?

Because grace by definition is something we cannot deserve.

We have no merit before God except demerit. And if God should ever treat you justly outside of Christ, we will perish, and our foot will slide in due time.

This is part that touched me deeply. Friend, I have to say this in love: I believe there are people reading these words right now, perhaps even you, who are nearer to the brink of hell than they realize. And deep down, there’s an assumption that it won’t happen to you… that God’s patience will simply continue forever, no questions asked.

To that point I want you to understand this hard truth.

But if there is a God, and there is, and if He is holy, and He is, and if He is just, and He is, he could not possibly be without wrath.

And if you have not been reconciled through the blood of His Son, the only thing you had to look forward to is His wrath, which is a divine wrath, which is a furious wrath, and is an eternal wrath because God must be regarded as holy by anyone who comes near Him.

Grace, by its very definition, is something we don't deserve and could never earn. Mercy is God withholding the judgment we do deserve. Neither is a right; both are lavish, voluntary gifts from a perfectly holy God who is never required to give them.

As Romans 3:23–24 reminds us:

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

And Romans 6:23:

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

If God dealt with us in pure justice—giving us exactly what our sin earns—we would perish. But in Christ, He gives mercy (sparing us wrath) and grace (clothing us in righteousness we didn't work for).

Ephesians 2:8-9 seals it:

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Let's pray together:

Heavenly Father,

You are holy, just, and exceedingly gracious, far beyond what I can imagine or my heart can fully grasp. I come before You today not on the strength of my own goodness, but clothed only in the righteousness of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Thank You that in Him, I have received mercy I never deserved:

You withheld the wrath and judgment my sins rightly earned. And thank You for grace I could never earn: forgiveness, adoption as Your child, eternal life, and the promise that nothing can separate me from Your love.

Lord, forgive me for the times I have grown accustomed to Your kindness—for when amazement has faded into expectation, and expectation has hardened into entitlement. I confess those moments when I’ve thought, even quietly, “You owe me this,” or “This isn’t fair after all I’ve done.” Have mercy on me, O God. Renew my wonder. Stir my soul afresh so that I never treat Your grace as ordinary or owed, but always as astonishing, lavish, and free.

In Jesus name. AMEN!