God loves us more than we can imagine. That’s why He allows us to go through trials. His purpose is bringing us to overcome and experience His great grace and redemption. The world and our humanity have a hard time getting this. But if we seek God and His kingdom with all our heart, we will truly find Him, and His solutions. This enables us to live as overcomers. Our challenge is being willing to seek Him and receive His solutions. Truly, His ways are higher than ours.
RELEVANCE
God truly offers us grace in His great love. As we receive it, we can endure life’s trials in the grace of His strength. We can also receive His blessings. This is His intention. So, the more we intentionally seek Him, and the more we are willing to participate in His working in our situations, the more we receive His blessings. We get to experience His overcoming strength and redemption. This brings great joy!
“Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord — that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.” (James 5:11)
Jesus, our Good Shepherd, offers to lead us in God’s higher ways as we receive Him. His ways are filled with God’s lovingkindness, grace and wisdom. His ways lead us in God’s faithfulness.
“He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:11-13)
As we receive Him, we receive the reality of His abundant grace gifts. We receive great dimensions of our Heavenly Father’s love. As a result, we get to participate in a host of blessings as children of God. This includes the manifold grace gifts of the very presence of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. The more we actively receive Him and His grace gifts, the more He acts in real ways in our life.
Therefore, willingness is a powerful virtue. It takes believing, even more, beholding God’s grace and truth. So, the more we can receive this reality, the more we can behold His goodness and glory.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth…16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:14-18)
REFLECT – RELATE – RESPOND
Read the following scriptures and meditate on these reality principles of the kingdom of God. Let the Holy Spirit work in you to receive the grace of God’s refreshing and His work of transformation.
Matthew 11:14 Be willing to receive God’s prophetic views
Matthew 22:3 Be willing to accept God’s invitations
Matthew 26:41 Be willing to yield to the Holy Spirit
Matthew 5 Be willing to embrace the heart issues discussed in the Beatitudes
Romans 12:1-2 Be willing to sacrifice the ways of the world and our carnality by renewing the mind