Journey to Ephesus

Day 14

'But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says:

"When he ascended on high,

he took many captives

and gave gifts to his people."

(What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.'

Ephesians 4:7-13

God has given us grace. When you hear the word grace, what does it make you think of? For me, I see some kind of graceful princess or whatever in my head. But grace isn't always about being elegant and graceful. The grace that God shows us is the unconditional love that he has for us, even though we don't deserve it. He has shown us mercy and forgiven our sins, for that is the Grace of God. That is why the ideas of God are different to the ideas of he rest of the world. God is all about giving us what we don't deserve, and not giving us what we do deserve (like death with no hope of resurrection). But the world is all about giving people what they deserve, and not giving them what they don't deserve.

Let me explain that a bit more. The world says that if you succeed, you should get money, and if you don't manage to, then it doesn't matter if you do end up on the streets. But THAT IS NOT HOW GOD INTENDED IT TO BE! God wants everyone to be shown grace and mercy, and even if you don't deserve something, you should be able to have it. He wants everyone to know that they have an opportunity to spend eternity in heaven, and that they are all children of God. Jesus died so that we could be shown grace.

But it's not just Christ who can show people grace. You can as well. Even if someone has said something really horrible about you, you can forgive them, and show them grace. Look at Cinderella (OK, so she's a fairy-tale princess, but still). Some people think that she's a wimp, but she is actually just full of grace. Even though she has been treated horribly by her stepsister and stepmother, she is able to forgive them. That is just demonstrating an unbelievable amount of grace. And though you are hopefully not in as bad a situation as her, you can still be full of grace to the people around you.

Prayer

Dear Lord,

Thank you for showing me grace, even if I don't deserve it. Thank you for being full of the most wonderful grace. Please help me to show grace to other people. Help me to stand out and act differently from the way the rest of the world does.

Amene