The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe
"Freely Given"
We do not earn, merit, or purchase any of God's grace provided through the Lord Jesus Christ.
"He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32).
Consistent reception of such promised provision requires the proper frame of heart and mind. Humility, faith, and submission to God's will place us in the place of grace whereby we receive His supply in a manner that glorifies and reveals the Lord Jesus as the sole basis of our Father's giving and our receiving. "And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus" (I Timothy 1:14). Both now and forevermore, "all things" come to us by way of Christ's merit and His redeeming work on our behalf. We receive such provision by focus on Him, and the inevitable desire to honor Him that comes with the realization of His sacrifice that makes possible God's supply.
In our best times and our worst times, we come to our Father as seemingly undeserving supplicants, which believers are apart from Christ. Our Father sees us, however, as not apart from Christ. He views us as beloved sons and daughters enrobed with the righteousness of His Son, and born again through the Spirit of Christ dwelling within our spirits (I Corinthians 1:30; Galatians 4:6). Like Joseph's brethren, who consigned him to slavery, but who later benefited as their brother's siblings when he became their rescuer from famine, God's blesses believers based solely on our relationship to the Lord Jesus. To the degree we know this truth will be the degree to which humility, faith, and submission pave the pathway of reception in our hearts and lives. "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God" (I Corinthians 2:12)
In times of sin and failure, the temptation to discouragement can hinder our approach to the aptly entitled "throne of grace" (Hebrews 4:16). In times of faith and faithfulness, we may be tempted to the pride that hinders genuine seeking of God (I Peter 5:5). At all times, however, we may come, we can come, we must come with the remembrance that every gift of God's grace both now and forever comes our way because of the Lord Jesus' person and work on our behalf. Yes, God spared not His own Son" that He might spare not in providing to us His "freely given" provision… "My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).
On the cross, God gave the Lord Jesus all that we deserve of judgment, condemnation, and wrath. In salvation, God gives to us all Christ deserves, based on His faith, faithfulness, and devotion to the Father's will. This marvel of mercy should take our breath away by its wonder. It will then motivate and empower us to use our breath to live in a manner that glorifies the Lord Jesus as the hope of our hearts, and the singular source of God's supply forevermore, in this day, and in this moment.
"For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich."
(II Corinthians 8:9)
Weekly Memory Verse
"I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin."
(Psalm 32:5)
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