"Understanding Grace"

"Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;" (Psalms 30:11) There are just some things that require you to receive them before you can believe them; as with the case of the unforgiving and unthankful servant, who forfeited the gift he had been given by not receiving the completeness of that gift. It really is pretty interesting how that works, because God has made us more than saved from the condemnation of our sins; He has established for us an inheritance into something we could have never ever obtained, and something we surely do not deserve! And whether you know it or not, part of our inheritance that we have been given is really not ours to keep! Take the sister that I was sharing about yesterday; she understood what she had been given, and knew what it was she needed to give away: the expression of joy in a God that loved her, and in Who's hand she was forever safe and secure. Yet, as I shared yesterday, she was scared of the disease, but you could not tell that from looking at her; because even though she was scared of that disease, she was looking forward to getting to heaven. Not all of us can do that, yet we should! Something as great and wonderful as our inheritance must be shared, and the way that we share it, is by making it known; and part of making it known, is to live it out! You see, part of grace is giving thanks; as a matter of fact, you cannot receive grace and hold onto it without giving thanks! As with that dear sister, who could have gotten away with walking around defeated, instead, she wore gladness and joy; and we that looked upon her could see for a moment what grace actually looks like and how powerful it is to overcome whatever might come against us. I know that not everyone out there will understand what I am saying, because there are some among us who have not yet received the completeness
of God's gift of grace; and until you do, you really cannot believe how incredible everything else just does not matter much any more; everything else, that is, except for giving thanks and praise unto God... "Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." (James 5:19 & 20)