God's Boundless Stores of Grace...

A man can no more take in a supply of grace for the future than he can eat enough today to last him for the next six months or take sufficient air into his lungs at once to sustain life for a week to come. We must draw upon God's boundless stores of grace from day to day as we need it. -D.L. Moody

The roots of a godly man must be cemented in the warehouse of God' grace. We might think of a godly man as fully occupied keeping from the touches of the world through self control, but this is not godliness. A negative portrait of godliness is like believing there are only negative numbers in the world.

Godliness is better described as the person who lets the person of God transform him by the glorious truths God has revealed in this world. Jesus was full of grace and truth. He lived life to the fullest. Each step in Christ's life was overflowing with the goodness of God pouring out so that others would also come to experience God's goodness.

Grace astounds us with its powerful story of God's love. Grace shines through all the pages of scripture amazing us with an awesome but puzzling picture of God. Grace is a truth which is like a sea where we cannot reach the bottom. The more we understand grace, the more we stand humbled in its shadows convinced we will never well understand it.

Graciousness is a character quality born from a true understanding of grace. Although the Reformers had rediscovered grace, we hear of many cases where God's grace was not extended in the form of graciousness. Many today are proclaiming grace from their pulpits, but the willingness of many to tolerate bitterness and politics in the church embarassingly reveal how little we know of God's grace.

What is a good functional definition of grace? How about this: Grace is bringing God's goodness into the life of the undeserving.

To Thee I lift up my eyes, O Thou who art enthroned in the heavens!
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, 
As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress; 
So our eyes look to the LORD our God, Until He shall be gracious to us
(Psalms 123:1-2).

Prayer: My Lord and my Friend, I pray that my sympathy may be sincere and comforting, and with a glad heart I may bring rejoicing to my friends. May I learn from thee how I may be a permanent friend. Amen.

May God Bless You,

Lindsey