Where would we be without the grace of God?
Lost, separated forever from the Creator. But God had a different idea. He chose to re-connect with humanity instead of totally giving up on the ones He made in His image.
The following excerpt is from the introduction to The Grace Impact.
Out of deep love through undeserving grace, God reached into world with grace, bringing redemption to the failures of people and transformation to those who who were weak.
Grace is present throughout the Bible. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word rendered as favor can be translated as grace. Noah found grace in the eyes of God and was saved from destruction. Job persevered through misery by God’s grace. Moses made excuses, but God overrode them and used him to set the Israelites free. Hannah cried out in faith, believed the promise spoken to her by Eli, waited in hope, and was granted favor from God in the fulfillment of the birth of her son Samuel. Mary found favor with God, believed the word spoken by the angel, and carried The Promise to life. That Promise, Jesus Christ, lived a life of grace, forgiving and loving with extraordinary power. The power of grace was fully displayed in His resurrection, but it didn’t stop there. God went on to share this grace with the disciples who had abandoned Christ. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, the disciples went on to spread their story and experiences with God. Lives were transformed over the millennia.
God’s grace reaches us even today. His forgiving love is available to anyone who will accept it. God accepts us as we with all our imperfections and sin. He loves us too much to leave in our broken, sinful condition.
The truth of unconditional acceptance is explained in Ephesians 2:4-5, 8-9.
“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions…For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast.”
We can do nothing to earn grace. We can only accept the gift. Our eyes need to be opened to see the grace around us. Then, God calls us to extend His grace tot his hurting world.
The Grace Impact is based on 2 Corinthians 9:8.
God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things at all times, may have an abundance for every good work.” (NKJV)
The four sections of the devotional book consider-
- how God is able to reveal His character to us,
- how His grace is sufficient for living the Christian life,
- how the sustaining power of grace is with us in all thing at all times, and
- concludes with seeing that we have an abundance of grace for every good work, to share the love of Christ with others.
The Grace Impact is a thirty day devotional combining real life stories and biblical teaching. At the end of each daily reading, there is a section with questions, scriptures for meditation and a prayer. It can be also used as a Bible study on God’s grace.
After years of prayer and learning about grace, The Grace Impact will be released in April 2015. I want to give a huge shout out to my husband and theological editor Rick L. Grace for his support and encouragement throughout the process. Also, a big thank you to Tami Clymer and the team at CrossRiver Media for your support.
If you are interested in placing an order for the book, please go to CrossRiver Media’s website by clicking here.