Saturday, July 9, 2011

Foundations July 10, 2011

SCRIPTURE READING
Phil 2:12-13 Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now
that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation,
obeying God with deep reverence and fear. 13For God is working in you, giving you the desire
and the power to do what pleases him. (NLT)

A working definition of grace is the power God gives you to do what pleases Him; the
provision He supplies for you to carry out His Will. When God makes His grace abound to you,
you will have everything you need in all things and at all times to abound in the good works
He is calling you to. So that means the moment you take a step of obedience towards God
He responds by making His grace abound to you so that you have the energy you need and
the revelation you need and the resources you need and the ability you need and the finances
you need to do the things He’s calling you to do. That’s Grace – He calls you to do something
you can’t do on your own, and then He provides everything you need to carry it out, piece by
piece, as you step out in obedience. Notice the importance of OBEDIENCE for the release
of Grace. Now I want you to notice something very important here in this passage: Grace
is predicated on obedience. ‘. . . obeying God with deep reverence and fear.’ This is really
important because a lot of people think of grace as something that God does 100% of the
work – He does it all, and I do nothing but enjoy the benefits of it. That’s not true – the amount
of God’s grace – His desires and power – that can flow into my heart is directly correlated to
the amount of obedience in my life.

PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Have you ever thought about this definition of grace – that real grace is the power God
gives you to do what pleases Him; the provision He supplies for you to carry out His will.
How does this change the way you feel about embracing the tough stuff for Him?
2. Have you been tapping into the true grace of God? What are some practical ways that
you can tap into this sort of grace? Are there areas of disobedience that are preventing
you from getting a full measure of the grace of God?
3. Spend some time thanking God for giving you the resources and ability to do the things
that He is calling you to do.