Topic: God’s Grace Causes Us to Grow— Wednesday September 6, 2017.
Text: 2Peter 3:18a (NIV & LB), Acts 20:32 (New Living Translation)
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ… *But grow in spiritual strength and become better acquainted with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ… *And now I entrust you to God and the message of his grace that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself.
Colossians 2:6-7 (NKJV) says, “as you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving”. Child of God, how did you receive Jesus as your Lord and Saviour? Ephesians 2:-9 says, “for by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
You received Jesus by grace and so you will walk in Him by His grace. You will also be rooted and built up in Him by His grace. It is by His grace that you will be established in the faith. Your faith must always be in His grace. This does not at all mean that we will not participate or have any role to play; rather, it means that everything we do is fuelled by our understanding and receiving the revelation of God’s grace towards us. The revelation of God’s grace in Christ has the capacity to build you up in every area of your life. This is why Apostle Paul prayed for God to fill believers with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, Col. 1:9. The term ‘all wisdom’ here refers to every way God’s revelation can be applied to our lives.
Nothing builds and stirs up our faith like the revelation of the grace of God towards us in Christ Jesus. As we grow in faith, we are transformed and we become more mature in God. As a result, we are able to access and maximize all of the power, glory and inheritance that God has freely made available to us in Christ.
Prayer Focus: Ask God to fill you more and more with the truth about His abundant grace towards you in Christ Jesus.
Bible In A Year Reading Plan: Psalm 148-150; 1 Corinthians 15:29-58
Empowered to do exploits…
CGMI Above Only Daily Devotional, was written by Most Rev. M.E. Benson-Idahosa, Archbishop of Church of God Mission International, CGMI.