Growing in Grace
Lesson # 10
“Grace: Up Close and Personal”
God has an agenda for the life of
every believer, it is that each will be
progressively molded into the image of His son. Each day of our lives and each experience
of each day; is designed to progressively fit us to be citizens of heaven. God is daily
working in our lives to perfect our character and bring it us to completion.
There are a number of Scriptures that illustrate this principle, (Romans 8:28-29,
Philippians 1:6, 3:21, Colossians 3:9-10). Let’s examine them.
”And we know that all
things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according
to His purpose. (29) For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the
image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
”being
confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it
until the day of Jesus Christ;”
”who will
transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the
working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.”
“Do not lie to one another, since you have put
off the old man with his deeds, (10) and have put on the new man who is renewed in
knowledge according to the image of Him who created him…”
There are three things that we need to acknowledge about the process of growing in
grace.
1.
It takes time
2.
It requires pain.
3.
It means change.
Five Areas That Need Attention In Most
Believer’s Lives.
(THE ISSUE OF INSECURITY). 1 Corinthians 15:6-11
“After that He was seen by over five hundred
brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen
asleep.(7) After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. (8) Then last of all
He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. (9) For I am the least of the
apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the
church of God. (10) But by the grace of God I am
what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than
they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. (11) Therefore, whether it
was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.”
Grace was very important in the life of Paul.
He recognized that it was grace made him who he was.
Grace gave him the courage to be who he was. Grace energized him to accomplish what he
did. What grace did in Paul’s life was that it enabled him to live without comparison to and competition with his peers.
Sometimes insecurity surfaces in the form of perfectionism. Do you know any
perfectionist? I am afraid that I are
one! I realized that I have some perfectionist tendencies. I have heard a perfectionist
described as “a person who takes pains and gives them to
others.”
(THE ISSUE OF WEAKNESS).
2 Corinthians 12: 7-11
”And lest I should be
exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given
to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. (8) Concerning
this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. (9) And He
said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in
weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the
power of Christ may rest upon me. (10) Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in
reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am
weak, then I am strong.”
Our world prizes strength whether it be – physical strength, financial
strength, political strength and military strength. Paul however had a different take on
strength. Paul says that weakness has a way of making us rely far more on God than our
strengths do.
I read a beautiful story of this kind of grace that we can all aspire to have. “David, a 2-year old with
leukemia, was taken by his mother, Deborah, to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston,
to see Dr. John Truman who specializes in treating children with cancer and various blood
diseases. Dr. Truman's prognosis was devastating: "He has a 50-50 chance." The
countless clinic visits, the blood tests, the intravenous drugs, the fear and pain--the
mother's ordeal can be almost as bad as the child's because she must stand by, unable to
bear the pain herself. David never cried in the waiting room, and although his friends in
the clinic had to hurt him and stick needles in him, he hustled in ahead of his mother
with a smile, sure of the welcome he always got. When he was three, David had to have a
spinal tap--a painful procedure at any age. It was explained to him that, because he was
sick, Dr. Truman had to do something to make him better. "If it hurts, remember it's
because he loves you," Deborah said. The procedure was horrendous. It took three
nurses to hold David still, while he yelled and sobbed and struggled. When it was almost
over, the tiny boy, soaked in sweat and tears, looked up at the doctor and gasped,
"Thank you, Dr. Tooman, for my hurting." [Monica Dickens, Miracles of
Courage, 1985. www.christianglobe.com/
Illustrations/faith]
This grace has
to do with our response to people. While we cannot control the all the things that happen
in our lives, we can control how we respond to them.
In Colossians 4:5-6, “Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming
the time. (6) Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know
how you ought to answer each one.”
Paul here tells the believers at Colossi that their speech is to be gracious,
but not so fearful of offending someone that it is tasteless.
“Salt” in this passage probably carries with it the idea of “good taste, tactfulness, well-timed words”.
Tact certainly is a skill that we have to learn. It has been said that “Tact is
like a girdle. It enables you to organize the awkward truth more attractively.”
[as quoted by Charles Swindoll p. 205]
An illustration of tact is seen in the life of the former President James Madison. “In his old age,
President James Madison suffered from many ailments and took a variety of medicines. It is
said that a longtime friend from a nearby county sent him a box of vegetable pills, one of
his own home remedies, asking to be informed if they brought relief. In time he received
one of those gracious and carefully worded letters for which Madison was noted. It went
something like this: "My dear friend, I thank you very much for the box of pills. I
have taken them all; and while I cannot say I am better since taking them, it is quite
possible that I might have been worse if I had not taken them." [Source
Unknown. www.christianglobe.com/Illustrations/tact]
(THE ISSUE OF COMPROMISE). Hebrews 13:7-9
One of the
greatest challenges that believer’s of today face is the need to be able to stand up
for what they believe. In the world outside the church there is the constant temptation in
the workplace to just concede, to stay quiet when the subject of faith
surfaces.
The writer of Hebrews says, (Hebrews 13:7-9), “Remember
those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow,
considering the outcome of their conduct. (8) Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today,
and forever. (9) Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is
good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited
those who have been occupied with th em.”
(THE ISSUE OF PRIDE). (James 4:6-7, 1 Peter 5:5)
It has been said that “God designed the human body so that can neither
pat our own backs nor kick ourselves too easily.”
Pride can be viewed as the root of
sin, because it was the sin that lead Satan fall from heaven (Isa 14:12-17).
James 4: 6-7
”But He gives more
grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the
humble." (7) Therefore submit to God.
Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
”Likewise you younger
people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another,
and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to
the humble."
Not open to correction. [Alfred Ells. “Getting Your Greens.” Focus on the Family Magazine. February 2001. p. 9]
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