(a chapter from the section, Foundations, of my book, Heaven on Earth)
Grace and favor stems from the constant, consistent, unconditional and uncompromising love that God has for humankind; the same love that prompts Him to send His Son so that humankind will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 NIV) Whosoever who would believe in Him that was sent would also receive the One who sent Him. There is nothing we can do to earn the grace of God. Grace is given abundantly and lavishly out of His glory and His riches – in purity, in holiness and in truth, in justice and in righteousness. Grace was earned by Jesus Christ on the cross and then freely given to all humankind who would believe – from the goodness of God. We cannot mix grace with trying to earn it by doing (good works). We receive grace by being who we are. All thanksgiving goes to the giver and the source of grace – LORD GOD.
LORD GOD promises us a favored life – each individual person with blessings created and tailored for each individual person. The Garden of Eden is a lush, bountiful and spacious place for everyone to move and have our being – with room to grow for everyone. The LORD is good in all His ways. How do we get there? Jesus said: I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. (John 14:6 NLT) I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. (John 10:9 NLT)
The opposite to grace is having to keep doing good works to try to please God. We don’t become righteous by doing good works. This is back to front and unsustainable. When we try to do good works out of human effort, inwardly, we are still struggling within ourselves to sustain the good works. We get resentful and disgruntled when we fail to sustain our good works. We wonder what is wrong with us. We languish in guilt and condemnation.
We become righteous first by believing the word of God. Then out of the grace and the abundance of God’s love that we receive, we are empowered and we end up doing good works. These are sustainable good works that God has created for us to do. These are sustainable because we are empowered by grace.
The grace of God also showers us with blessings, gifts and strengths that empower us to realize our dreams, our visions and the desires of our hearts for our journey through life. This is called the favor of God – every spiritual blessing under heaven made available to humankind by Jesus Christ on the cross. All we have to do is believe and receive.
May the grace and peace of Abba Father the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Thank You, Abba Father, Lord Jesus Christ.
In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Word Sabre, scribe for Abba Father, LORD GOD, Lord Most High, Lord Jesus Christ.