Welcome to a special edition of
Daily Favor for Palm
Sunday!
Thanks for joining us on Daily Favor Blog.
Born to Receive Grace
Did you know that the word “grace” is mentioned in the
Bible almost 150 times in several aspects or contexts of the phrase or act? That’s
a fact, and so is this … Every person ever born will have received the grace of
God in their lives whether they realize it or not.
During my Bible reading I thought about all the people
who received the grace of God during the life work of Jesus while here on earth. This
doesn’t even count those who walked in the favor of God recorded in the Old
Testament.
The time period I want to talk about is around the end of
Jesus’ earthly ministry when He fulfilled His calling by the Heavenly Father. If you compared it to our times, to look at
what was happening you would think Jesus had won a world title with all the praise
He was receiving from “fans”.
“Christ
became human flesh and lived among us. We saw His shining greatness. This
greatness is given only to a much-loved Son, from His Father. He was full of
loving favor and truth.” (John 1:14 NLT)
The Passover Story
It seems almost poignant that the world would be
experiencing such harsh times as plagues, earthquakes, fires, tornadoes and devastation
that the Easter holiday is upon us.
Picture Jesus slowly entering Jerusalem riding a borrowed
donkey. The streets overflowed with
people anticipating the week long Passover (Pesach in Hebrew) feasts, parties
and gathering whatever they needed for the events at hand.
It’s a time where the Jews celebrated spring, birth and
the forty-year long Israelite journey from slavery out of Egypt to freedom as told
(mostly) in the Old Testament books of Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
Then there were the Jesus followers of that period – they
were filled with joy due to the grace that was shown them in healing, restoring
finances, relationships and so much more that isn’t even recorded!
“For
out of His fullness (the superabundance of His grace and truth)
we
have all received
grace upon grace (spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing, favor upon favor,
and gift heaped upon gift).”
(John 1:16 AMP)
The Forgotten Passover Story
Sadly, most of those people forgot about the grace of God
as noted in the Bible. I can give you an
example right up to the time of Christ’s death.
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, followers of the Lord laid palm
branches on the ground crying out,
“Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in
the name of the Lord!
The
King of Israel!”
Literally they were
shouting (when saying hosanna that is) save us now, I pray O LORD and send
prosperity. (Psalm 118:25)
Tracing back from the time spanning between the triumphal entry to the crucifixion of Jesus it was only a few days,
but boy did mankind have a change of heart!
It didn’t take long for them to trade in their loyalty
coats of what Jesus did for them. Whew …
one wonders if they really understood the grace they received, forgetting what the
Messiah did for them and witnessing all those miracles day after day too.
Although it’s easy to judge, let’s step into the present Jesus
followers. Have we truly grasped the
concept of God’s unmerited favor and grace?
Okay, what if I was to ask you this - How long does it take for you to forget when
someone has shown you grace or mercy? One week … one day … one hour?
Scary I know, it doesn’t seem like the first “Jesus followers” were that different
than us.
When we fail to demonstrate the grace of God that has
been given us, we have forgotten the New Testament Passover story also. It’s as if Christ’s dying on the cross to
redeem us from sin was of no effect and really wasn’t that big of a deal.
Thankfully by faith, when we repent of our sins, God’s gift
of grace is available and still in effect.
Whether we receive it or not won’t change what Christ did and why He did
it.
“For by grace you (we) have been saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God,
not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
(Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV)
This Week’s Challenge:
Practice Grace
For those who believe in Jesus Christ as the risen Son of
God, the next seven days starting with Palm Sunday, are referred to as Holy
Week.
As we prepare for Resurrection Sunday celebrations no matter where they will be, I’d like
for us to remember the grace of God that is ours because of the work of Jesus
on the cross.
Our
challenge this week is to be a vessel of grace in which God can use. First, we have to identify if there is any
recognizable sign of it before we can actually act on practicing grace
(unmerited favor) on anyone.
Next,
do a spiritual heart check-up on yourself.
Is there evidence that you’ve been changed by saving grace (the favor of
God through salvation)?
Grace
can change a heart if we live like God’s love is for real. Believe you are forgiven by grace, then live like that (like you are
forgiven!) and it will be easier to show grace (give favor) to others.
In
these difficult times we especially want to live like, and show, Jesus to
the “least of these” the way scriptures teach in Matthew 25:31-45. Ask the Holy Spirit for help in living out
God’s grace so that everything points to the redemptive cross of Jesus.
With feeling a bit crowed from having everyone home due
to the pandemic, we reach our boiling points in frustration levels much quicker. So, let’s put these few guidelines into action
starting now.
When your children (or spouse for that matter) get into
mischief, don’t blow it out of proportion, but show them grace (cut them some slack). That may
even mean you have to leave the room for a few minutes to get a deep breath and
rethink the situation.
If your neighbor, co-worker, boss, friend or
spouse seems unruly or unfair, remember grace … they’re going through this
too, but may not be handling it the same!
While standing in line at the bank, check-out or deli (social
distancing acceptable at six feet or more), administer grace while being
patient. No one wants to wait, especially if someone next to them
may be harboring a disease.
You are the “experienced” example … remember, the Christ
follower others want to see! Be that
person Jesus trusted His favor to in forgiving you.
The world has never experienced anything of this epic
nature. We truly are in this together, and I’m not referring to the “high
school” kind of thing! This is real,
this has touched all of us on some scale and it isn’t over – yet!
No one needs to be pinned to the cross ever again for a
sin they’ve committed. Jesus already took care of it, so we can (must) live
by and through the eyes of His grace, giving favor to all
even if it’s undeserving.
The world is hurting and is desperately seeking help, begging
for someone to come save them from all that is happening. People are looking to believers for answers
and help that isn’t like what they can get on their own.
They want rest for a weary soul, and we can show them how
to receive it through Jesus by the way we act during any crisis. As in the days of Noah, the door for coming
to Christ is open, but for how long before God closes it?
We
can show the world that grace through love can be theirs too. Let this Holy Week be the start of your remembering the grace (unmerited
favor) of God for whatever sins you’ve committed in the past.
Remembering that we have been given the gift of
grace through salvation by believing in Jesus Christ, living examples of
God’s grace is what we want others see and receive from us.
In celebration of the love of Jesus who died for us on
the cross, and as followers of the Messiah, may our prayerful words reflect
those who first came to believe – “Hosanna, Jesus I pray, save us now and send
prosperity!”
Until
next time, remember God’s saving grace favor.
“My
grace, saving favor I give to you.”
Jesus
Christ
By
Bob Goff
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Disclaimer
Notes: Results may vary due to lack of belief.
Scripture
reference was taken from the New King James Bible Version provided by Bible
Gateway
Image
credit: Google Images Creative Common License if not specified.
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