Grace is given

 [From John the Baptist]:  Out of his fulness we have received grace in place of grace already given.  For the law was given (first grace) through Moses; (second) grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  John 1:16-17

Each form of grace had a purpose.  What form of grace is given through Jesus Christ?  There is saving grace (which the law could not do), but there comes more for the believer.  Then comes living grace.  Julian of Norwich describes what I think is living grace:  "...we, soul and body, are clad and enclosed in the goodness of God." Sometimes I fail to see that grace is expressed in goodness.  Some because, when I am unobservant and obsessive, I fail to look at life as grace-covered;  I look at the pain, suffering and failure instead of acknowledging the wholeness, healing, success and victory that has emerged.

I am challenged to think about resting in the wholeness, healing, success and victory in order that I may receive the full rest and sense of grace God has given me.  I do not usually wait around for the full effect of rest and grace.  I am usually three steps, time zones or projects ahead.  

Could staying in the moment be the very joy Jesus wants to experience WITH me such that He can have delight in my soul?  Could staying in the moment be that ultimate communion Jesus wants with me when we are not wrestling over some issue, but rather just looking together at what He has done?

Surely, this causes the devil sorrow to find us at peace and resting in Christ.  What was his sabotage, trickery or attack is instead turned into God's goodness and joy for us.  I could extend the devil's time of sorrow and frustration by staying in the moment of exultation over God's grace.

So, I will seek today's victory and celebrate what God has done!  I feel the surge of self-respect, knowing God has joined me in success.  I relax in areas of healing, thankful for God's touch.  I rest and am content in wholeness and contemplate good, knowing it is by God's grace that I can feel, that I can hold to happiness and love, and that He wants those things for me.

More than ever!  Praise the Lord!