"For by grace you have been saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God,
not of works, lest anyone should boast."
~Ephesians 2:8 NKJV
This grace is a marvelous thing, I thought. I need all of it that I can get! Later I ran across other Bible verses that talked of grace, such as, "The LORD will give grace and glory." This grace, like the other, comes from God. Who does He give it to? How often does He give it out? Where do I go to get more of it?
Thirty-five years have passed since I first began to ask those questions. I've received God's grace over and over again and have discovered that it didn't ever come because I "deserved" it or had "earned" it in some way. It has always come as a gift from the hand of a gracious (or grace-filled) God who loves me just as much as anyone, since God is not a respecter of persons.
There are times, however, that He withholds His grace--not because He doesn't love His child, but rather because He cannot bless me when I am acting naughty--when I am acting proud.
"God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble."
~James 4:6
Won't you this day purpose, along with me, to reside in the land of humility?
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