JOHN 1:14-17 – And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
THEME OF THE DAY: THE SPRING OF GOD’S GRACE NEVER RUNS DRY. How many times have we failed the Lord and the whispers come, “Look at you. What kind of Christian are you? Same sin again and again. Do you really think God will continue to pour the grace of His forgiveness out to you again? Will He for the umpteenth time show you patience and give you restoration? Don’t you think you have drained the well of His grace dry?” Don’t underestimate the power of the devil as the great accuser and the power of a tender conscience to bring those painful experiences to our minds and hearts. If our spiritual foes get us to place limits on God’s grace, we will be defeated Christians. Yes, we will not lose our salvation, but we will lose the joy or our salvation, and without joy, there is no strength for the Christian life and no influence for Christ from our Christian lives.
My grandmother grew up far in the backwoods of West Virginia. She was poor, simple, and lived alone in a small house with no indoor plumbing, electricity, or running water. Yet, I never experienced a more contented and thankful person in all my life. To convince her to move out and live with my parents only happened when age and inability won out. I remember as a youngster going down over a hill near her house to get her fresh water. Located about a third of the mile from her home was a wonderful mountain spring flowing with cold and refreshing water. It was dug out with a small pipe in place to allow for the gathering of water. And gather we did. I carried many jugs of water for grandma. Yet, there were times in the summer when it was hot, little rain over a period, that the spring did not flow as normal, and water had to be brought to her from another source. The spring simply ran dry.
The grace of God is like that spring of water in at least two ways and different in one way. First, it does not come from man. Yes, we built a little pool around grandma’s spring, had a pipe in place to make filling the water jugs easier, and kept the pool clean, but we did not or could not generate the water. And neither can we generate the grace of God. Look at today’s scripture. It comes from the Lord Jesus. The Apostle John writes, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Grace is all of God. And not just in small measure. Jesus is full of grace, and that leads to the second way God’s grace is like grandma’s spring; it is refreshing. I remember so often drinking of that spring water and its refreshing nature, even when I wasn’t thirsty. God’s grace is satisfying, bringing contentment and soul refreshment to us.
Now the one difference between God’s grace and my grandma’s spring; God’s grace never runs dry. Again, the Apostle John’s words, “For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” Please tell me when anything of God is limited. The “spring of God’s grace” flows and flows and flows, never running dry, and for that we praise Him for there will never be a time His grace reaches its limits in forgiving and restoring us!.
PRAYER: “Father, I thank You for Your amazing grace that knows no end in its outflow in my life.”
QUOTE: “The fullness of Christ’s grace is to not only satisfy us, but to change us to be channels of His grace to others.”
In the affection of Christ Jesus,
Pastor Jim