"Understanding Grace" -2

"Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: Thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;" (Psalms 30:11) Understanding grace is something that takes time for some people; forgiveness is an easy concept to understand, but grace, grace is something that must be answered to; you cannot just receive grace, and then walk away fulfilled and done, there must be something that comes of it your life. For most of us, this is pretty much common knowledge; yet, there are those times in our lives when we do not show the fruit of what we know we must do. Call it laziness, or whatever you want to call it; personally, I think it is sin; which means that we have missed the mark, the mark being our testimony of Jesus Christ! Looking at this verse from the perspective of someone who is actually interested in understanding grace, there is a certain element missing in way that David is being changed from one thing to another; it's a little thing called 'self'', as in I have changed from this to that; because, that is not how grace works! It is by God's grace that we are changed, for the grace of God has lifted us up from death unto life, and has placed us into a position where we have been made a son of the King, forever and ever! The fruit of that transformation is the "dancing" and the "gladness", where it is something that is an automatic response with our hearts; in other words, "Your life will surely show it"! It is God who turns our hearts, and it is God who has clothed us with His righteousness; we cannot change our own heats, and we surely can't clothe ourselves with righteousness! There are two things to consider as you look at this verse, and as you meditate upon what David is putting into this "Prayer of Thanksgiving", and that is, how God has changed us, and, what that change looks like. Do you understand that it is God that has put the gladness into your heart? You might recall a song that we all sang once upon a time, it goes something like this: "I've got the joy, joy, joy, down in my heart, Where?" Yes, where is a good question to ask, as in, Where did that joy come from? The answer is so very simple, it actually does not need to be said, but it must be said!!!! IT IS JESUS!!! Knock Knock!! "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me." (Revelation 3:20)