A devotional by Angela Anderson
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
–Ephesians 2:8-9 (NASB)
One of the areas with which some people struggle during their Christian journey is the concept of grace. The Bible very clearly indicates that grace is a gift from God.
This gift is available the moment we believe and receive Jesus in our hearts. It is not something that we can do for ourselves, nor can we take any credit for it. It is actually very simple, yet we tend to make it so very complicated. Perhaps many of us are accustomed to earning everything in life, and so it becomes difficult to just accept this gift.
Grace is the power of God that enables us to be free from whatever is holding us down or preventing us from moving forward in life. God wants so badly for us to experience the freedom found in His grace. Even though we do not deserve this and many of His wonderful blessings, He still covers us in grace every day of our lives.
To counteract grace, the enemy offers us disgrace. Many of us readily accept this, not even realizing just how harmful it is to our very being. Disgrace shames us into thinking that God would never love us or accept us after what we have done or what was done to us. Disgrace presents itself in so many ways including the negative self-talk that brings us down. We dislike ourselves, reject ourselves and then convince ourselves that God feels the same way about us.
But we can be sure of this one thing: The blood of Jesus Christ washes us clean from all wrong. When Jesus wraps us in His robe of righteousness and presents us faultless before the throne of God, our Heavenly Father (God) looks at us and sees His Son (Jesus) standing there in our place. Regardless of how we feel about ourselves, God still loves us and showers us with grace.
Although by ourselves we may not be worthy of God’s grace, we can still accept this gift by placing our faith in the One who freely gives it to us.
Let’s Pray: Heavenly Father, we cannot thank You enough for Your grace. Please help us to grow into an understanding of righteousness through the blood of Jesus. May we never take advantage of Your grace, but may we be grateful that grace saves us through our faith in You. In Jesus’s name I pray. Amen.
Song of Reflection: “Were It Not For Grace” by Larnelle Harris. Listen to it here.
~*~
Author Bio:
Angela Anderson was born in Brooklyn, NY, and raised in NJ. She found her love for writing when she was in elementary school. She continued writing through high school, college, and into adulthood.
Grace is the power of God that enables us to be free from whatever is holding us down or preventing us from moving forward in life. God wants so badly for us to experience the freedom found in His grace. Even though we do not deserve this and many of His wonderful blessings, He still covers us in grace every day of our lives.
To counteract grace, the enemy offers us disgrace. Many of us readily accept this, not even realizing just how harmful it is to our very being. Disgrace shames us into thinking that God would never love us or accept us after what we have done or what was done to us. Disgrace presents itself in so many ways including the negative self-talk that brings us down. We dislike ourselves, reject ourselves and then convince ourselves that God feels the same way about us.
But we can be sure of this one thing: The blood of Jesus Christ washes us clean from all wrong. When Jesus wraps us in His robe of righteousness and presents us faultless before the throne of God, our Heavenly Father (God) looks at us and sees His Son (Jesus) standing there in our place. Regardless of how we feel about ourselves, God still loves us and showers us with grace.
Although by ourselves we may not be worthy of God’s grace, we can still accept this gift by placing our faith in the One who freely gives it to us.
Let’s Pray: Heavenly Father, we cannot thank You enough for Your grace. Please help us to grow into an understanding of righteousness through the blood of Jesus. May we never take advantage of Your grace, but may we be grateful that grace saves us through our faith in You. In Jesus’s name I pray. Amen.
Song of Reflection: “Were It Not For Grace” by Larnelle Harris. Listen to it here.
~*~
Author Bio:
Angela Anderson was born in Brooklyn, NY, and raised in NJ. She found her love for writing when she was in elementary school. She continued writing through high school, college, and into adulthood.
In 2021, Angela started writing articles for an online magazine called Christian Women Living, where she focuses on writing messages for mothers and sharing advice on parenting. In addition to this, Angela wrote a devotional that is featured in a book published by Proverbs 31 Ministries. The book title is Hope When Your Heart is Heavy.
Angela has a passion for inspiring and impacting others through her writing as well as speaking. She is the co-founder of Anchor Moms, a ministry to cure loneliness in Motherhood. Currently, this ministry meets via a group on Facebook.
Angela has been married to the love of her life, Duane Anderson, for 17 years. Together, they have two sons: Thomas (age 9) and Ryan (age 4). Angela’s favorite pastime is journaling, and she also enjoys spending quality time with her family. Her personal mission is to empower others to achieve their goals and dreams.
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Connect with Angela:
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/angela.thomasanderson
Facebook fan page for her devotional book, Just When I Thought I Knew God:
https://www.facebook.com/jwitikg/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angelanderson1104/
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