Give It Away!

Our pastor has been preaching a series called, “God’s Amazing Grace: Have You Seen Grace?” It seems that over the past few months, God has been speaking grace into my life in ways I never could have imagined. He is bringing me into an understanding I have never known, and this understanding is driving my desire to dish out God’s grace to others in ways I never thought I could have.

Last night, my son was supposed to be finishing his vacuuming. Now a little background information is in order here. He is a ten year old boy who is easily distracted, and it is not uncommon for us to have to remind him to keep vacuuming as we often hear the vacuum cleaner shut off more than we hear it running. We will be doing things around the house and suddenly realize that the vacuum is not running. A little inquiry usually reveals a boy who has been distracted by something awesome that seemed more important to him at the moment than finishing his chores.

Last night my hubby was getting a little bit irritated (understatement) by this constant battle so when I realized the vacuum cleaner was not running, I figured I should go find my son. I expected he had found some action figure to play with, some book to read or a pencil and paper that took him into the world of his very old-fashioned, low-tech game that he said people played before computers. Instead, I found my son sitting in a chair in the breezeway with his head bowed. He had been sick the day before so I immediately thought his head was hurting or he was feeling sick again so I approached him and asked if he was okay.

My boy, sweet as he can be, looked up at me and said, “Yea, mama, I’m okay. I was just praying for Mittens to be healed and for that other cat to find a family to take care of him because I don’t want anything bad to happen to him. I don’t want any of God’s creatures to be hurt.” Mittens, the cat that we seemed to have inherited when we bought our house, had been injured badly in a cat fight, and my hubby, my daughter and I have all expressed that we’d like to hurt that cat just enough to keep it away if we could get close enough to it. As soon as my son made his statement, I put my arm around him and told him that was so sweet, but as I did so, God reminded me that His grace toward us is even sweeter than my son wanting no harm to befall a cat who badly injured his own cat!

In the church service yesterday, our pastor mentioned some scriptures out of Ephesians 2, so I read verses 1-10 this morning. God made something so clear to me, and I only hope that I can convey that message here so I can share what He is showing me.

Ephesians 2:1-10 (NLT)

 ¹Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. ²You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. ³All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. ⁴But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, ⁵that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) ⁶For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. ⁷So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. ⁸God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. ¹⁰For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Notice in verses 1-3 that every one of us used to live in disobedience to God. We obeyed the devil as we fulfilled the desires our sinful nature. Verse 2 states that the spirit of the devil is at work in the hearts of the disobedient, and that included us before we were saved by God’s grace. Now, this thought may not be very encouraging, but as I read further and came to verse 9 that says, “salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done”, I remembered another scripture Pastor Rich mentioned so I went there to see what it had to say.

Philippians 2:12-13 (NLT)

 ¹² Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. ¹³ For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

Obedience is not just important when someone is watching you or is with you, but as verse 12 says, obedience is more important when you are alone! Some versions state that you should work out your salvation, but I love the way the New Living Translation states this. It basically states that obeying God out of reverence and fear is the way that our lives show that we are saved. It is not saying that we only have salvation if we work hard. Remember Ephesians 2:5 says, “It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!” and Ephesians 2:9 says, “Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” When we work hard to obey God, He allows the results to show in our lives. The awesome part of this is that the Word of God doesn’t stop with verse 12, but it goes on to say that God’s spirit, rather than the spirit of the devil, is working in you after you are saved! God is the One who gives us the desire to do what pleases Him, but He doesn’t stop there. He also gives us the power to fulfill that desire to please Him.

I love what Ephesians 2:10 says:

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

He wants us to do His work on this earth, and His work is to bring salvation to every living soul. Salvation only comes through His grace. I’d like to close with something my pastor said yesterday because it is such a powerful statement to filter this message through.

“Until you give it away, you haven’t fully understood God’s grace.” Pastor Rich Fennelle

In His Grace!