The God of All Grace
1 Peter 5:10 says, “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast.”
Why do we call grace amazing? Grace is amazing because it works against all odds. Grace runs contrary to the grain of common sense. Life tries to teach us that we are too wrong to meet the standards of a holy God; forgiving grace teaches us that it’s all right despite so much in us that is all wrong.
Experience teaches us that we are too weak, too messed up, too human to change for the better; grace gives us the strength and power to find the way to being a better person. Someone said that we are trapped in a rut of fate; grace promises that we can trust God to have a better future than the day we made for ourselves.
“The God of all grace” or the “Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” is Amazing Grace.
Strong’s Concordance describes the New Testament word Grace (Greek word is charis) as “graciousness, benefit, favor, gift, goodwill, thanks, or grace.” Charis is used over one hundred and fifty times in the New Testament and is most often translated as “grace,” but has also been translated as “favor,” “thanks,” and “pleasure.” It is especially used for kindness or favor bestowed on someone who is ill-deserving, such as Holy God toward sinful humanity.
God comforts us in ALL our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in ANY pain. And He comforts us in ALL our trials. When we are going through hard times, God comforts us with His grace, and that grace has a divine influence on our hearts. Often, He uses someone else to help bring that grace to us. Then, further down the road, when we meet someone else who is going through hard times and the grace that God poured into our lives is now reflected into their life — so that further down the road, when they meet someone else who is going through hard times. And on and on it goes.
Life is tough. Struggles, trials, and hard times will come. When they do, look around you.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, “All praise to the God, of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us” (The Message).
God is probably bringing someone alongside you to pour Grace into your life. Grace to turn your life around so that one day you can help turn someone else’s life around by the Grace of God!
With the Grace of God TOGETHER,
Pastor Steve