At our Church plant the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day,
we spent that day in devotional thought meditating on what we should be
thankful for. In the week after and heading toward Christmas…I find it is very
helpful to continue thinking what I am thankful about.
As we enter this season, let’s take a moment to be thankful for God’s
Grace, learning from Paul and grabbing lessons for our life.
1. His Grace gives us Self-Acceptance.
God designed each one of us, with our strengths and weaknesses. His grace will
help us to accept and wait upon Him to change us. This does not justify sinful
characteristics, but it should help us understand those things we do not like
about ourselves, God allowed and desires to enable us to grow in the midst of
them.
1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I
am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of
them - yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
My weaknesses can be His strength!
He has a plan for you, the way He made you. You are not an
accident, God designed you!
2. His Grace Translates
to us. Jesus desires to make us like Himself. Jesus gave up all so He could
share it with us. Sadly, too many in the Church translate “riches” to
mean financial situations. While God will help us with these issues, the riches
He is referring to are Character issues.
2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you
through His poverty might become rich.
My genetics does not determine my character.
Never think that a deficiency in your life was something that
surprised the Lord. He knows who He made and has a plan for you. It is never
right to ignore genetics, BUT, God is able to overcome any issue that you were
born with. We spend far too much time trying to figure out why something
happened, instead of focusing on where to go from here. The Scriptures share countless
stories of people born with many problems, God does not worry about the
circumstance, He says, “Where do you and I go from here?” - Focus on what God wants, not why things
are what they are! 