“We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.” (1John 4:16 NLT)
“And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth.” (Exodus 34:6 NKJV)
“And law came in, that the offense might abound, and where sin abounded, grace hyper-abounded.” (Romans 5:20 LSV)
“But He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you [My lovingkindness and My mercy are more than enough—always available—regardless of the situation]; for [My] power is being perfected [and is completed and shows itself most effectively] in [your] weakness.” Therefore, I will all the more gladly boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ [may completely enfold me and] may dwell in me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9 AMP)
Here is a challenge worth taking. I double dog dare you to exhaust God’s love. I have found that the more I draw on His love the more He lavishes it on me. I am absolutely amazed at how freely (with no conditions or hidden agendas) my Daddy in Heaven pours out His love on me. He loves me unconditionally regardless of my behavior. His love says to me, “I love you for no good reason at all.” I don’t have to earn it in any way. Even more amazing is that He has filled me with His love to the point of overflow so that He is able to love those in my life through me.
I double dog dare you to overextend God’s mercy. Mercy can be defined as “not receiving the negative consequences, or discipline, that I deserve.” The Bible clearly teaches that I will “reap what I sow.” However, on more occasions than I can count, God in His ever abounding mercy, has spared me the full consequences of my actions. Rarely do I get what I deserve. Instead I get blessing upon blessing from my merciful Father.
Last dare: I double dog dare you to run God’s grace dry. While mercy is not getting what I deserve, grace is getting what I don’t deserve. Mercy bails me out when I blow it. Grace blesses me when I am in the midst of wrong choices, and less than desirable actions.
Before you wear yourself out trying to run God’s grace dry, let me tell you, “Can’t be done!” Grace wins every time!
The Apostle Paul had to defend himself against major opposition, and harsh criticism, over his understanding of God’s grace. When he taught that where sin abounds grace abounds much more (hyper-abounds), he was accused of giving license to sin. He wasn’t! Paul knew that the secret to holy living was not found in rules and regulations (law), but in God’s goodness (grace). It is the goodness of God (grace) that brings people to repentance (a change of thinking that unlocks the ability to live righteously). The key to living a life free from the power and presence of sin is being so conscious of the fact that by grace I have become the righteousness of God (apart from anything that I do) that I no longer have any consciousness of sin in my life. I am no longer hung up on fighting to behave in a way that somehow pleases my Daddy, and instead I simply receive His grace and focus on enjoying our relationship.
The more I try to stop sinning, the more I sin (Romans 7). When I realize that I am not condemned, even when I sin, and realize that by grace I have already become a son of God, a joint heir with Christ, an overcomer, and stop fighting sin, the less I sin (Romans 8). This is part of living in the Kingdom of Heaven where everything is inside – out and upside – down.
For the next 30 days I am going to test…
…Eric’s Life Lesson # 163: “I can never exhaust God’s love, overextend his mercy, or run dry His grace.”