No More Excuses
Can you feel it? God's mercy, grace & favor?
I can. I live it. I breathe it. I experience it.
So many of us have yet to come to understand how God’s mercy, grace, and favor works. Often, we use those three words interchangeably in conversation. However, I do believe we would benefit from using them separately to ensure that we understand the meaning of God’s mercy, grace, and favor.
You see, God showed us mercy when “he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but will have eternal life” (John 3:16). He sent Jesus to save us. Because of His love, He showed us mercy. In doing so, He has given each and every one of us another chance—a chance to accept Him as our Lord and Savior and surrender our ways for His ways and our thoughts for His thoughts; that is God’s mercy.
God’s grace is given to us freely, and because of our imperfections, there is nothing anyone can do to be deserving of His grace—it can NOT be earned. No amount of good deeds can deem us worthy. Mercy was given, but grace is chosen—it is our choice to accept God’s love and walk with Him. It is up to us to choose Him the way He chose us. It is up to us to accept His grace, which gives us salvation (through faith of course). Ephesians 2:8 gives us confirmation of this very thing, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.”
Now, by definition, favor (n.) is gracious kindness; approval from a superior; a special privilege or right granted or conceded. Think of favor as affirmation for living a life that reflects the word of God. Favor is evidence of who you are in Christ. It reveals the connection that you have with God. When you take delight in the Heavenly Father, He delights in you. You don’t have to demonstrate perfection, but you have to be a willing participant with Him—okay? Favor is a privilege; it is God doing the utmost—extending His love to us beyond our needs—satisfying the desires of our heart. His favor is not just in external or physical reward. God’s favor is felt in the spirit—bringing peace of mind and confidence in Him. When we seek God’s kingdom first, with a desire to be close to Him and live righteously, He extends favor. Remember, through faith and obedience, God’s followers were shown favor—Ruth, Noah, Abraham, Mary, Jesus, and the list goes on.
I believe understanding God’s mercy, grace, and favor only brings us closer to Him; and I’m not talking about quoting scripture. I’m talking about engaging with Him. Actively seeking Him—reading His word because you are hungry for all that is an extension of Him, because you desire a connection with Him. Despite imperfection, God showed us mercy. Despite imperfection, God offers us grace. Despite imperfection, He extends favor. I say all of this to remind all of us that God doesn’t require perfection, but He does expect our best.
As Christians, we have to stop using imperfections as an excuse for our poor choices. Once you have been made aware of or introduced to the Lord and Savior, you are either with Him or against Him. Too many of us sit back, knowingly engaging in things and living a life that is contrary to the word of God, and our response [defense] is imperfection. But, we must know this—we can feign ignorance with others, and we can even feign ignorance with ourselves, but we cannot deceive God—never. He knows our heart. He knows when we make a choice between right or wrong where our heart is. So yes, thank God for His mercy, grace, and favor; BUT, how about we thank God for our ability to choose Him—to choose obedience? Imperfection is not a scapegoat. So, we must stop allowing it to be our Achilles’ heel. Let’s show Satan how God’s power is made perfect in our weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:9) and stop giving into his attempts to control us through those same weaknesses [imperfections].
Until next time, peace and love to you.