Astonished by Grace

8 Blessed (happy, enviably fortunate, and spiritually prosperous—possessing the happiness produced by the experience of God’s favor and especially conditioned by the revelation of His grace, regardless of their outward conditions) are the pure in heart, for they shall see God!

--Matthew 5:8 (AMP)

My one, increasingly desperate desire is to see God in all His Glory, to gaze upon His endless beauty, to worship and adore Him forever and ever.  According to the above scripture, in order to do so, we must have a pure heart.

“But how is that accomplished?” one might ask.  It’s so simple, we often miss it.  We must stay connected to this amazing Grace that totally envelopes us and carries us from one season to the next, day in and day out for the rest of our natural lives here on earth and then on into eternity.

This Grace has revolutionized my life.  The Amplified version of the above scripture says that we can be “conditioned by the revelation of His Grace.”  One of the definitions for being “conditioned” is “to be made suitable for a given purpose.”

Isn’t that perfect?!  Not a single one of us can accomplish our God-given purpose and divine destiny without a revelation of God’s endless Grace.  It certainly takes Grace to live in a world where people can do you so wrong, where we can wrong each other, and worst of all, where we can wrong our Most Holy God…and still only by the power of His Magnificent Grace can we make it through totally scot-free! What a God, what a God, what a God! Somebody help me, what a God!!!

His compassion humbles me. This Grace was displayed in the birth, life, death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who is Grace personified.

Fight to stay in love.  Fight to keep its commands. Fight the good fight of faith.  Stay intimately connected to Christ through faith.

Don’t get burned out working in your own strength.  You’ll wither up and fall away.

28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”  (Matt 11:28-30 MSG)