Devotionals for the Heart: God's Favor

Grace, God’s Unmerited Favor
A devotional by Nanci Rubin

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works lest any man should boast.” ~Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV)

This scripture always pings my heart. I try and envision God in Heaven asking, “Who will go and save my creation? My children have been deceived and have gotten off course. They need someone to show them the way home. Someone who can bridge the crevasse sin has created.”

I can imagine the angels, the Holy Spirit and Jesus talking with God at a Heavenly Holy Ghost board meeting. Jesus, the chairman of International Outreach, raises his hand and says, “I will go.” Everyone nods and an ethereal melody that only the Heavenly Host can hear permeates the atmosphere. The Angels nominate Jesus as God’s representative and the Holy Spirit seconds the motion. Everyone is in agreement. God’s only-begotten son will become the savior.

There is a flurry of activity as preparations are made for Jesus to come to earth as the Son of Man. He willingly lay aside his robe and crown to come down to our level. He became the propitiation for our sins. I often wonder, why he did that? How deep is a love that would willingly take all our afflictions and sins? It is beyond all human comprehension.

So, how does grace come into this? According to Ephesians at the top of this blog, it states we’re saved by grace, God’s unmerited favor, not by anything that we say or can do. It is God’s greatest gift to mankind. He gives it freely. We can’t earn it. We can’t save ourselves. We all need a savior. God knew it. It wasn’t enough any longer for our sins to be merely covered by the blood of a sacrificial animal it was time for our sins to be laved away, once and for all. This was accomplished by the blood of Jesus at Calvary. His sacrifice opened the door unto eternal life.

In Isaiah, Chapter 53, God’s Word clearly defines what Jesus accomplished for us at The Cross. He took upon himself. ALL of our sin, All of our sicknesses and diseases, and we were healed. It’s already done. So many wonderful Christians fail to understand this gift of grace. I want to have the unmerited favor of God. I want to know that when I fail and sin, which we all do, that God has made a way for me, and you, to confess our sins and be forgiven. We need to get it through our heads that God loves us so much he has given all He can give to show us that love. There is not one thing you can do to make him love you more nor can you do anything to make him love you less. He just loves you.

When you think, you’ve screwed up and made a mess of everything God is not sitting on His throne with a whip, ready to punish you. No, GOD IS NOT MAD WITH YOU. HE IS MAD ABOUT YOU. He wants to restore you back into fellowship with Him. We all have such a tendency to run from God when we’ve messed up, but we should be running to Him.

Many years ago, God chastened me about speaking negatively about myself. I was constantly calling myself stupid or saying what a dummy I was when I’d done something wrong. God spoke to my spirit, and said, “Don’t say those things about My creation. You don't see yourself through my eyes. I see the finished product. You cannot.” From that time forward, I became very conscious of how I spoke about myself. I began to believe that indeed I was wonderfully and marvelously made by God’s own hands. Sure, I still mess up, but I realize it's covered by Jesus’ blood. I confess my faults, get up, dust myself off and start over.

This is the walk we choose when we accept grace. It’s wonderful to know God is always there and ready to restore us when we’ve gotten off course. Don’t allow the enemy to deceive you into believing God will not forgive you. Remember grace and Jesus’ sacrifice.

If by chance you’ve stumbled and lost your way call out to God and tell him you’re sorry and want his unmerited favor. When our children err and confess what they’ve done, we are forgiving because we love them. God loves you a zillion more times than that.

~*~
Author Bio:

Nanci writes Inspy Amish romance. She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and two fur kids, Romeo and Juliet, rescue cats. She is working on her debut novel, Plain Justice.

She retired earlier than planned from nursing to care for her mother, diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Her mom passed last year at the age of ninety-nine and Nanci has delved more into her writing.

She is active in an intercessory prayer ministry in her church, belongs to The Woman’s Club, a service-oriented volunteer organization dedicated to the welfare and enrichment of the community and volunteers two days a week at the Mary Washington Museum.

Currently, she's enrolled in Rhema Bible College’s correspondence Bible studies. She belongs to ACFW and RWA. When she’s not working, reading or writing she’s hiking with her husband at Shenandoah National Park.