Receiving the Amazing Grace of God

Receiving God’s Amazing Grace

I have been focusing on God’s children changing….on being renewed. (Romans 12:2)  If I am perfectly accepted in God’s sight, and perfectly loved, perfectly forgiven, why do I need to change? (Colosians 1:21-22) What am I trying to change?  I do not want to carry an unnecessary burden on myself.  I especially do not want to push this burden on others.  I struggle with greatly desiring to live only in truth.  What is true? What is from the amazing heart of God our Father?

Father, last Friday, you allowed me to experience “change.”  You were so sweet to remind me once again that it is my choice to believe and to receive….You asked me… “Will you believe and receive the love and acceptance that I have freely given you?  Will you embrace the identity that I have given you?  Do you believe and receive the glory that I have given you?”   I wish there was a word for this….maybe there is.  Maybe this word for all my English speaking ones is GRACE.  Grace wraps it all up. It is Love.  It is acceptance.  It is my identity.  It is my glory that you give me.  It is what I long for everyday.  It is GRACE.

When I humbly believe and receive God’s grace, it changes everything. (I Peter 5:5, Gal 5:22,23)

Yes, I am perfectly loved, perfectly forgiven, perfectly accepted in God’s sight. I am his daughter (all because of Jesus).  I do, however, still have stinky thinking, stinky actions, and I struggle with doubts of all kinds.  Whenever I humbly choose to believe and receive His grace, it all starts to change.  Here are some examples:

1.  The horrible doubts and anxiety about myself often needs to change…..

My stinky thinking involves emotions and thoughts like…..”Am I doing enough?  Am I valuable?  Perhaps I need to get a job to prove this. If I make money, this will prove my value.  I need to get on a rigid exercise program to show that I have self control.  I need to get skinny so that I will look good.  If I look bad I will be unacceptable.   Oh yea, I need to start working harder at service projects and I need to take on more responsibilities at this Christian organization.  If I do not, someone will think I am lazy.  Maybe I am lazy.” 

I need to change.  My mind needs to be renewed.  But I cannot change.  I read my Bible.  I go to church.  I memorize scriptures.  I serve others.   I try. I try really hard to think correctly.   But I cannot change.  I am miserable.  I start looking for alternatives to make me feel better.  I try doing the things my stinky thinking mind comes up with.  I start looking for others to validate my value.  I look to others for my love needs to be met.  My mind becomes a twisted mess. I need to change.

Only when I receive the grace of God does everything change. Grace sweeps down upon me when I say in my heart, with all conviction and belief, “I choose to believe you, God.  I choose to trust who you say that I am.” (Who God says we are is a great topic to explore!) It is not just a prayer. It is an all out decision of my mind, will, and emotions to believe God. The Bible is so very true.  My faith really does access the grace of God.  I believe and then I receive.

At this point it is almost impossible for me to describe what happens in my mind.  I equate it to trying to describe the ecstasy of making love.   It cannot be explained in a WORD document.  God’s grace literally washes over me.  God’s Holy Spirit gives me grace. He does a miraculous work in me. He gives me a whole new perspective.  He changes all my stinky thoughts.  I no longer feel compelled to try to prove anything to anyone.  I feel loved, valued, and accepted.  I do not have to look to others for these needs.  (These are needs that are real to every single person on this planet.)

It would be nice to say that I have only had to pray this prayer of conviction and belief once in my life.  That is not the case.  However, it does seem that the stinky power of my mind is losing control.  The power of God’s grace is getting stronger and stronger.  This I cannot explain, except for maybe this is what the Bible means when it says to “grow in grace.” (II Peter 3:18) I am living by the Spirit.  Not my own stinky mind. (Gal 5:24)  (Note: this is pertaining to God’s children, already secured eternally by His Spirit . Eph 1:13-14)

2.  The doubts and anxiety I feel about God often needs to change…..

My stinky thinking about God involves my questioning His ways.  I grapple with the pain and suffering of the world.  I grapple with His means of communication to the people He created……

Once again His grace sweeps down on me when I say in my heart, with all conviction and belief, “I choose to believe you, God.  I choose to acknowledge that you are God, and I am not.  I will trust that you are a good God.”

I receive the grace of God….my faith once again accesses his grace. Grace sweeps down and changes the thinking of my mind of who God is. I believe and receive.

3.  The attitudes of unforgiveness, bitterness, discontentment, jealousy, impatience,  pride,  and a whole other host of sinful stinky thinking needs to change. 

My stinky thinking involves all of these attitudes.  I cannot escape these attitudes from my own self-will.  Even though I am the daughter of the King,   God’s  princess, I still have these attitudes.  I am the fussy little princess. However, these attitudes seem to just dissolve when God’s grace sweeps over me. (remember , His grace is His love, His acceptance, His identity, His glory given to me, the longing of my heart) His grace fills my mind, allowing His Spirit to control me.  I can live by the Spirit and not my stinky mind.  I do not have to hide my inner self.  My inner self is love.  It is patient.  It is kind.  (Gal 5:20)

All of this said, to say…….

To receive the amazing grace of God is to choose to believe the truth of who God says that He is and who He says that I am.

When I make this choice, I humbly offer myself up to God to receive His grace. My faith accesses His grace. I believe and then I receive.

I will change when his grace is filling my mind. It enables me to live by the Spirit, instead of my stinky mind. I do not have to try to be kind.  I am kind. 

How will I do this?

(remember….I cannot change myself.  Only God does this by filling me with His grace. I have to believe and receive)

I need help with believing. I know I must choose to believe, but my stubborn stinky mind does everything it can to detour me.   I will offer myself to receive the grace of God by humbling myself before God with these “disciplines.”  These disciplines do not change me.  They provide a path for me…..

·         Meditation

·         prayer

·         fasting

·         study

·         simplicity

·         study

·         solitude

·         submission

·         service

·         confession

·         worship

·         guidance

·         celebration

I am discussing how we receive the grace of God, and how we can humbly present ourselves before God through these Christian disciplines at First Look Pregnancy Center.  I am indeed a blessed woman! 

Defragmentation

February 8, 2012

Defragmentation

Thank you, Lord, continue to bring it on……

I am transforming. Changing.  Being Renewed.  Defragmenting.  Yes!  The truth of Romans 12:2 is weaving itself into every fiber of me…..”Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”  Love it!  It is a work of God.  A work of His grace.  I am offering myself to the work of God and He is transforming, or changing me. 

I am fully aware that I am made of body, soul, and spirit.  My soul (mind, will and emotion) needs renewal.  Yes, it is happening.  God is so sweet to have verified this to me last Thursday at First Look Pregnancy Center.  I am leading a Bible study there.  Our theme is “New Year Transformations.”  Our verse to memorize last Thursday was Romans 12:2. We repeated it over and over until we all got it.  It was my birthday, so my fellow women gave me a devotion book (Jesus Calling)  The devotion for the day, February 2, was based on Romans 12:2.  We were all astounded, to say the least.

I really loved this devotion book.  When I got home, I decided I would read one more day, but only one so that I wouldn’t read all the days up.  I read January 1.  Guess what the verse for this one is…Romans 12:2!  I do believe God was trying to get my attention. 

My dear friend at the center told me a couple of days later that God had given her a word picture of Romans 12:2…..”Defragmentation”   She runs a program on her computer called “defragmentation.”  I have run it on mine as well.  So cool.  That is what happens to us in a way, our minds need to be defragmented.  Cleaned up. Changed.  Reprogrammed.  God is defragmenting my mind.  He is changing me.  Renewing me.  It is His work.  Not me.  I am offering myself to Him and He is doing it. 

When I became His child, He put a new spirit in me.  He gave me a new heart.  I will always be His daughter.  There is nothing I can do to try to earn more love from my Father.  His love for me is deep and high and long.  However, I deceive myself if I think I do not need my mind to be renewed, changed, or transformed.  My stinky thinking, actions, and lack of faith can bring Him grief.   It brings me much grief as well. 

What is my motivation to change?  When I catch glimpses of the glory and majesty of Jesus Christ, the desire to be like Him explodes in me. (I feel like I have only seen glimpses)  He is so creative, so tender, so pure, so humble yet all powerful, so loving, so just, so strong.  I honestly look forward to zipping out of my earth limitations  and experiencing the reality of I John 3:2  Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.  But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

So therefore I will continue to offer myself to God to be transformed.  I will take seriously the “disciplines” that allow myself to be placed  before God as an offering.  We are studying these disciplines together at First Look Pregnancy Center. Richard Foster is walking me through these disciplines in his book, “Celebration of Discipline.”  I am very blessed.  So very blessed!