The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Grace Through Faith"
Choices of faith lead to choices of faithfulness.
"The just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17).
Every step of obedience to God in the life of a born again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ can be traced back to His enabling offered, and His grace received by faith. We may not always perceive the direct correlation, but the protocol of grace through faith always operates.
"Let us have grace, that we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear" (Hebrews 12:28).
Consider the beginning of our day. Most believers approach the Lord in some manner to acknowledge the Lord's presence, involvement, and promise of provision, protection, and enabling for the day. We trust the Lord accordingly. What acts of obedience proceed from this general prayer for bestowals of daily grace? In one sense, all of them do, although we may also seek our Heavenly Father more specifically regarding matters that arise throughout the day. Whatever the case, grace offered and grace received result in grace manifested through obedient thoughts, words, and actions.
This comes as no surprise since the Christian life involves living relationship with God. He redeemed us to establish and maintain a fellowship of love, grace, faith, communication, and devotion, based on His working in our hearts, and the response of our hearts to Him. "When Thou saidst, Seek ye My face, my heart said unto Thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek" (Psalm 27:8). God is always first. He must move upon and within us to inspire and enable our capacity to respond. However, our response is real, uncoerced, and unprogrammed. King David perhaps most succinctly declared this truth:
"I will love Thee, o Lord, my strength" (Psalm 18:1).
Note David's determination - "I will" - based on God's empowering - "O Lord, my strength." David well knew that his freely chosen devotion was the only response that would have any meaning to God. He also knew, however, that the Lord must supply the grace that would lead him to love in a manner of sincerity and reality. Indeed, God promises to motivate, lead, and enable. He does not, however, make our choices of faith and subsequent obedience for us. We must "work out" that which God "works in" through the power of the Holy Spirit, and through our response of faith and submission to God's glory and will (Philippians 2:12-13).
How God works and how we respond offers the most fascinating subject we can consider. No subject is more important, and none more practical regarding life and how we live it. The clearly declared Biblical protocol of grace received through faith does not answer every question. It rather initiates our ongoing quest to discover our Heavenly Father's involved and dynamic working in our hearts and minds, and how we respond. We do well to seek the grace of growing understanding, whereby we more consistently and effectively access the grace of growing faith and faithfulness. "Let us have grace" indeed!
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."
(Romans 5:1-2)
Weekly Memory Verse
"For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."
(I John 5:4)
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