And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace (John 1:16).
We are a blessed people. We often forget that most of the world is barely struggling to survive. Let me just put this into perspective. If you have food in your refrigerator, if you have clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of all the people in the world. If you have any money in the bank, you have some money in your wallet, and you have spare change in a dish some place you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy. If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are already ahead of five hundred million people who have experienced those things. If you can attend a worship service at a church on Sundays without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death, you are more blessed than about three billion people on this planet.
We just forget how blessed we are. God has given us a tremendous opportunity – to be a blessing. The Bible says that everything you have in your life is a gift from God. Everything you have in your life is a blessing from God. In fact, without God’s blessing you’d have nothing in your life.
Some might say, “But I worked for what I got!” Where did you get your ability to work? Where did you get your intelligence? Where did you get your health? Where did you get your life? It’s all a gift of God.
Let’s think about some of God’s gracious blessings. We’re saved by grace – forgiven by grace – strengthened by grace. We’re set free from problems and sins by grace. All of the talents we have were given to us. We didn’t choose them. They were just the gift of grace from God. We’re used by God’s grace. We’re kept saved by God’s grace. We didn’t save ourselves so we can’t keep ourselves saved. God just does it by grace. We’re transformed by grace. We grow by grace.
We are a blessed people. We often forget that most of the world is barely struggling to survive. Let me just put this into perspective. If you have food in your refrigerator, if you have clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of all the people in the world. If you have any money in the bank, you have some money in your wallet, and you have spare change in a dish some place you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy. If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are already ahead of five hundred million people who have experienced those things. If you can attend a worship service at a church on Sundays without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death, you are more blessed than about three billion people on this planet.
We just forget how blessed we are. God has given us a tremendous opportunity – to be a blessing. The Bible says that everything you have in your life is a gift from God. Everything you have in your life is a blessing from God. In fact, without God’s blessing you’d have nothing in your life.
Some might say, “But I worked for what I got!” Where did you get your ability to work? Where did you get your intelligence? Where did you get your health? Where did you get your life? It’s all a gift of God.
Let’s think about some of God’s gracious blessings. We’re saved by grace – forgiven by grace – strengthened by grace. We’re set free from problems and sins by grace. All of the talents we have were given to us. We didn’t choose them. They were just the gift of grace from God. We’re used by God’s grace. We’re kept saved by God’s grace. We didn’t save ourselves so we can’t keep ourselves saved. God just does it by grace. We’re transformed by grace. We grow by grace.
