Growing in Grace: 40 thoughts for daily consideration

Growing in Grace: 40 thoughts for daily consideration 1. Grace is the unmerited influence of God upon our hearts and its expression in our lives. It is a free gift of God, given without request. 2. Grace works through faith: Faith is confidence in God that makes us to joyfully obey him always, in small things and big things. 3. God is truth; truth is a person not merely an ideology; truth is God in Jesus. 4. Only truth gives real freedom, eternal value. 5. Truth is stability; reality that is consistent with the past present and future. 6. Grace works through faith; faith works through love; God gives us himself-truth-in love. Truth can only be communicated in love; otherwise, it is not truth. God is truth-God is love. God is light. 7. The mechanism of Grace refers to a step-by-step clarification of how grace works to us and in us 8. It is important for the heart to be established in grace 9. The heart refers to the inner man, the essential you: it is the outcome of the dynamic engagements of the intellect and emotions; it is the will, the executive choice of the man. 10. Our choices express our heart, and define our will. A man is thus essentially his volition, his heart, his will, his choices, his spirit. 11. The heart of a man is the essential feature of the spirit of the man; the man himself. 12. The spirit includes the consciousness, conscience and volition. The volition is the essential accountable, responsible right holder of the entity, the man. 13. Grace empowers the volition to make the choice of submitting to truth presented by the love of God. 14. The empowerment is from God within the man who, is made in the image and likeness of God. 15. His intellect is illumined by the truth of God’s love, and his emotions may thus be awakened into feelings of sympathy, affection, etc. 16. This knowledge triggers a call to action, a conviction that persuades the will to make a choice of submission; an evidenced-based data-driven informed choice. Not a flimsy emotional self-centered acceptance of Jesus as saviour. 17. Grace ignites the soul with thoughts of truth, knowledge, that requires intentional response. 18. This grace of God that brings salvation appears to all men; for God is not willing that any man should perish but that all should come to repentance. 19. Those who believe become saved. 20. To believe is to receive truth, not merely a creed. 21. Receiving truth is a big deal; because truth is consequential, not passive. 22. Receiving truth requires thoughtfulness without delay. 23. This thoughtfulness leads to confession, that is, to assent to the covenant that makes God to write his laws in your mind and in your heart. 24. To “assent” is to express agreement. We express agreement to the covenant of grace by experiencing the promise of God writing his words in our hearts and putting it in our minds. 25. Grace gives; faith receives. 26. But not all men have faith; why? 27. Does grace give faith; does it “automatically” make us have confidence in God, without the consent of the man? 28. What does the scripture teach us in precept and in practice? 29. Grace is a teacher; faith is the learner. 30. When there is no learning, grace is frustrated. 31. Frustrating God’s grace is to despise him. This is most consequential. 32. But we are not of them who despise the grace of God. 33. We are of them who choose to have confidence in God because of who he is and what he does 34. To have faith requires essential knowledge of who God is. 35. This essential knowledge is revealed by grace 36. We must grow in grace. The more we seek to know God, the more his Spirit enlightens our soul with who he is. 37. We must have quality faith by joyfully obeying the instructions that comes along with our confidence in God. Trust means entrusting; entrusting means reliance; and reliance means obedience—joyful obedience in all things, small or big. 38. There is no rush; only focus diligence and consistency. Let us run the Christian race with patience. 39. We will make it big! 40. He is faithful. Will you be faithful? Assignment: Identify 2 Bible references that underpin each of the 40 points