Grace upon Grace

We often hear the song "Amazing Grace" and are touched by it. Even marginal and unbelievers are attracted by it. At one time it was at the top of the charts done by bagpipes. Grace can perhaps best be defined as "unmerited favor" receiving something that you did nothing to earn or deserve and that is very much the truth of the matter but does not define it's depth. Very few people understand enough about grace to fully appreciate the vastness of what it really means and how it can affect a life. If we fully understood grace and walked in it's fullness we would have no problem loving God to the extent that He asks of us. Jesus said that we should love God so lavishly that by comparison our love for our family would seem like hate. Luke 14:26 (New King James Version)
26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.




It is only through a deep and thorough understanding of grace that the fullness of the love of God is revealed and when we can really understand His love then loving Him though we cannot see Him becomes natural. It is an interesting phenomenon that the bulk of life actually occurs in our mind rather than in our outer activities. Therefore it is vital that our mind be right and in tune with reality to the fullest to experience life to the fullest.Ephesians 3:17-19 (New King James Version)
17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

When you are filled with the fullness of God then life becomes very different and I don't mean that you become ultra religious either. I mean your living out of your life takes a very different path. A study of the life of Jesus reveals a very regular kind of person who really loved the people around Him and was actually a major irritation to the religious elite. He didn't fall into the traps set by man but was faithful to God under all circumstances. When He needed something it was often provided supernaturally. Some would say that it was He who did it and they would only be half right because Jesus said that He only did what the Father was doing. It is said and rightly so that Jesus was totally man and totally God and that is fact but He humbled Himself to the man side and never exercised His powers apart from the Fathers leading. What I am getting at here is that when we walk in the fullness of God as the scripture above says we can then our life should and will be just like the life of Jesus. When we need something it can and will be provided supernaturally.
One time Jesus needed some money to pay a tax, so he told Peter to go down to the lake and go fishing and the first fish on his hook would have a coin in it's mouth that would cover the tax. Now I cannot promise that you are going to pay your taxes with money you find in a fishes mouth but I can promise that if you have a need that He will provide it in ways that will astound you, providing that you are walking in harmony and full understanding of what grace has done and is yet doing for you.

If I never do another thing in my life but can help people attain to the fullness of what God has purposed and provided for them then I will be satisfied.
It is not enough to know something but one must experience it and then it belongs to them and becomes part of their life so if you want to live the kind of life that I'm talking about here then you must seek to experience it and there is but one way to do that. You must diligently seek the ONE who rewards those who diligently seek Him.
Hebrews 11:6 (New King James Version)
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Notice it says that "without faith it is impossible to please Him" and you say well I try to have faith but just can't seem to get a hold on it. Well that is where your mistake is. You don't try to get a hold on faith, rather you get a hold on God. Seek after Him and He will give you faith for faith is simply knowing someone to the point that you believe what they say and trust them fully.
Ephesians 2:8-10 (New King James Version)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Please note that the above verse says that you are saved by faith but that faith didn't come from you but was a gift from God. That is the very beginning of the grace that I am talking about, Grace upon Grace. If you didn't receive the first touch of grace then you could not possibly believe enough to receive the second touch of grace that wipes out your past evil deeds and makes you clean and acceptable to God. But that is as far as most people go in their understanding of grace. Often they don't even realize that it was God who made it possible in the first place but they accept the premise that His grace wipes out the stain of sin. However because their understanding is limited they then continue to sin and expect that grace will take care of everything and they are bound for heaven but that is not so because the scripture states that "without holiness no man shall see God".

There is a third aspect of grace that is understood and received by a relative few Christians. All throughout the New Testament we can read the commands of Jesus and at times they can discourage us because we feel we just can't measure up and when we look at other Christians around us we can see that they have the same struggles so we accept the premise that these commands are ideals that are unobtainable and to make matters worse we begin to believe the lie that it's okay not to measure up because God only see's us through the blood of Jesus anyway. It's just not true folks, Yes the blood of Jesus wipes out all confessed sin but that is only the beginning of grace. The real fullness of grace is that He Himself will perform in you all the commandments that He requires of you leaving us all with no excuse for not becoming pure and holy in reality.Ephesians 5:25-28 (New King James Version)
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

If this scripture is true and I know it is then it rules out the idea that we are already perfect in God's eyes because He see's us through the blood of Jesus. This verse says that He is in the process of sanctifying us and cleansing us by washing us with His word. Now here's the stickler, you are responsible to get His word into you and I don't mean by reading Old Testament stories that are interesting but rather filling your heart and mind with the words of Jesus and the teachings of the Apostles from the New Testament. The Old Testament is a book of history and shows us that God does not change but the New Testament is God's New Deal with mankind and if you ever hope to attain to the promises it holds then you must get it into you heart and be ready to live it out. There is not a single requirement written there that He is not ready to perform in you and for you if only you will lay down your other life and take up His. He must become your priority and I can testify that few are willing to do that but what a life they are missing out on.

You may say that you just don't have the motivation. God knows that and all you need to do is ask for the motivation.Matthew 7:7-8 (New King James Version)

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
My guess is that few have even considered this scripture in this context. Usually it is applied to asking for something physical such as a better job or a new car or for the salvation of a relative but it's greatest promise is to meet your heart's cry for a closer walk with God. You may tell me that "I've already tried that and it didn't work" and my answer would be , God always tests us and proves us. He already knows what is in our heart and motives but He tests us in order to show it to US. If you have tried and didn't receive that answer it is most likely because it didn't matter that much and you didn't persevere. God's word is true "ALWAYS" and if it fails we can be sure that the problem is with us not with God's honesty. He would never deny a sincere request for a closer walk with Himself since that is what He demands of us, but He does not accept lukewarmness.Jeremiah 29:12-14 (King James Version)

12Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

13And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

So I bring this session to a close with this one admonition. Seek God with all your heart and leave everything else up to Him and you will find joy beyond your greatest imagination. You say you just don't have time, I know better. I don't know of a single home that does not have a television and a telephone in it as well as a plethora of other entertainment devices and none of them suffer as much dis-use as the bible. Some try to spend time with God at the end of the day but they are just too tired for it to even penetrate their consciousness. When you go to work in the morning do you see the boss for your orders or do you just go out and do whatever and then check in with him at the end of the day only to find out that everything you did was just the opposite of what he wanted of you. Your job wouldn't last very long at that rate. You just cannot imagine how close and personal God will get with you until you make that a priority. Here is my favorite bible verse. 2 Peter 1:3 (New King James Version)
3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
Here again is scripture that is rarely understood for what it is saying but it says in a nutshell and very few words the very things that I have written thousands of words trying to get across to my readers and it is this " God has given us everythingwe could ever need to live a good life and to fulfill all His righteous requirements but that it is obtained by our "knowledge of Him". That simply means really knowing God and the only way to get that is through passionate pursuit. Amen

john Martin
email justjohn@eoni.com

If you agree or even disagree I welcome you comments and I will answer every question.