His Amazing Grace

1 Corinthians 15:10a “But God's grace has made me what I am, and His grace to me was not wasted (NCV).”

Who said this? It was Paul, who had written 14 Epistles in the Bible. His life was changed and our lives can be changed through Jesus Christ our Lord! Paul continued to say: “All the other apostles are greater than I am. I am not good enough to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God (1Cor.15:9 ncv). “I worked harder than all the other apostles. (But it was not I really; it was God’s grace that was with me (ncv: 1 Cor. 15:10b.)  

What exactly did Paul do to persecute the church of God? Acts 8:3 tells us what he did: “Saul was going everywhere to devastate the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into jail” (QVLAB). Wow! No wonder, Paul embraced God’s amazing grace and gave him a chance to work for Jesus Christ and spread the gospel of grace. God’s amazing grace has reached our hearts so we could grow to love Him more each day and draw closer to Him. This song always touched my heart from time to time. This song even brings tears to my cheek as I thank God for amazing grace. I pray that God that would touch your hearts today and be changed in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen!

Amazing Grace
1. Amazing grace! How sweet that sound,
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

2. 'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!

3. Thro' many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
'Tis grace hath bro't me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

4. When we've been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we first begun.
(Lyrics: John Newton; John P. Rees 1831)

May God bless you real good!

Dorothy

With That Grace

1 Timothy 1:14b " . . . With that grace came the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus."

What was Paul talking about the "grace that came with faith and love that are in Christ Jesus?" Do you realize who Paul was as a former Saul who thought that all Christians who accept Jesus Christ were really wrong? Paul as Saul was given authority to arrest every Christians and put them in jail for "wrong belief."

Paul, from Jerusalem was on his way to Damascus to find more Christians who escaped from that city and to put them in jail. Paul actually thought he had done the right thing until Jesus appeared to Paul as Saul. He was shocked when Jesus told him that "he was wrong." His former name Saul was changed to Paul because he was a changed man after he met Jesus. This was what Paul wrote to Timothy how much Paul appreciated "with that grace."

1 Tim. 1:12. I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who gave me strength, because he trusted me and gave me this work of serving him. 13In the past I spoke against Christ and persecuted him and did all kinds of things to hurt him. But God showed me mercy, because I did not know what I was doing. I did not believe. 14But the grace of our Lord was fully given to me, and with that grace came the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

I want you to notice something, "but the grace of our Lord was fully given to me . . ."  Paul embraced that grace because he realized what he had done. Now do you ever felt guilty of what you had done and thought maybe God would not forgive you? Just remember what Paul wrote and you could say, "But God showed me mercy, ... and with that grace came the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus."  Oh, this is amazing grace!

So let us embraced God's grace!

Dorothy
PS. Just thought of a song, Amazing Grace for the next blog.

Established By Grace

Hebrews 13:9c "... it is good that the heart be established by grace ..."
When I depend on God's grace, my heart becomes established. It is NOT because I deserve it. It is NOT because I earned his favor. It is not because i am good enough. The only thing I know that allow me to receive God's blessing is my faith in the finished work of Christ, my heart becomes established. I can stand firm on the promises of His Word because Jesus paid the price for me. That is grace which I don't deserve, but I believe and I receive!

To be clearer about the word, established, I need to dig it. The dictionary meaning:
1: to make a permanent part of a nation's laws like establish a constitution.
2: to put securely in place or cause to have a firm and lasting position like establish a statue on its base.
3a: to bring into existence: FOUND like establish a school. b: to cause to exist: BRING ABOUT like establish a good relationship or establish radio contact.
4: to set on a firm basis like establish their children in business.
5: to gain full recognition or acceptance of like establish a claim or establish new ideas.

Also the meaning of the heart here would be like the most important part of our lives is to be set on a firm basis on God's undeserved and unmerited favor, GRACE. (It means we don't deserve it and we cannot earn favor by being good). It is a gift of God, grace.

Song: Grace Greater than Our Sin
Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt,
Yonder on Calvary's mount ourpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was split.
Chorus:
Grace, grace, God's grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God's grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin.
(Julia Harriette Johnston, Sing His Praise)

Dorothy
PS. Ooooo, that feels good! Established by God's grace!
(January 29, 2013)

Find Grace

Hebrews 4:16 "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."

How are we able to enter the throne of God boldly? Hebrews 4:14-16 QVLAB:

That is why we have a great High Priest who has gone to heaven, Jesus the Son of God. Let us cling to him and never stop trusting him. ¹⁵ This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same temptations we do, yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it.

I like to know exactly what the word, boldly means from the dictionary: willing to take danger or take risks. How is this different from being brave? Being brave means to face with courage like pioneers who braved the dangers of the frontier. Was there any reason that the writer encourages us to “come boldly to the throne of grace?” Yes, there is. Some Christians approach to God meekly with their heads hung how. They were afraid or fearful to ask Him to meet their needs.

We are taught to show great reverence or great respect because He is our King, but the Scripture also tells us to come before the throne of grace with bold assurance because He is our Friend and He is our Counselor. Why? Because we have this High Priest who understands our weaknesses. This is a wonderful promise that God encourages us to find grace in Him to help us.

What are your needs right now? I would go to Him in prayer and in worship, knowing He alone has all the answers to all our needs. Prayer:  Dear Heavenly Father, what a joy it is to begin the day talking with You, opening our hearts and minds to You. Keep us in the center of Your plan with our lives. We trust You and thank You for already met our needs by faith in Jesus’ name, we pray, amen!

So let us find grace to help in time of need.

Dorothy
(January 28, 2013)

Under Construction Jan 21-26

My Manna is under construction until further notice. So please feel free to check
out the old devotion from the list. Or check out

http://www.deafprayerpartners.blogspot.com/

Dorothy
January 21-26, 2013

Grace Abound

2 Corinthians 9:8 "God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye . . . may abound to every good work."

KJV: And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.

NTL: And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.

The meaning of the dictionary, abound:

1. to be present in large numbers like wildlife abounds.

2. to be filled or abundantly supplied like a stream abounding in fish.

For us, the meaning of the word, abound:

1. generously provide all you need.

2. always having all sufficiency in all things.

3. plenty left over to share with others.

It takes faith to hold on to God’s word when the Scripture said: God is able to make all grace abound toward you when you are constantly suffering with pain. When I think of a few friends who are going through this, I often wondered what exactly God is up to. One, maybe, He is working on character building to be like His Son and two … I don’t exactly know, but I put my trust in God knowing He has a plan. His plan is to make all His grace abound to meet our needs. Deep in my heart, I trust Him.

Sometimes healing comes, when you focus on doing good work to others who are in need. I find this true so often. God blessed so much more when you share with others. To become a generous person, it takes God’s love inside of you to do this. The love inside will make you tender and a loving person that radiant Christ inside of you.

Sometimes a prayer song really helps, “Christ Is the Answer.”

Christ is the answer to all my longing;

Christ is the answer to all my need.

Savior, Baptizer, the Great Physician,

Oh, hallelujah! He is all I need.

(Emil Balliet, Sing His Praise)

Dorothy

January 18-20, 2013

More Grace

James 4:6c "He ... giveth grace unto the humble."

James 4:6 - QVLAB: He gives us more and more strength to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say, “God sets himself against the proud, but he shows favor to the humble.”

James 4:10 was my constant reminder whenever I faced a hostile situation, I would quote, “Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” To the humble means leaning on His power and His guidance, and not going our own independent way. I have seen the works of the Lord who had lifted me up  when I do not really deserve God’s favor. He cares; He loves; He embraces; He hugs and He cries, too. There’s a song that I always remember, “He giveth more grace.” When I sang this song, somehow it just lifts my spirit as He “clothed me with His grace and His strength.” That’s the beauty of this.

Song: He Giveth More Grace

1. He giveth more grace when the burden grows greater;

(ASL: When burden too heavy, He gives more grace)

He sendeth more strength when the labors increase.

(ASL: When work too much, He gives more strength)

To added affliction, He addeth His mercy;

(ASL: Many problems; more mercy He gives)

To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

(ASL: Many troubles; more peace He gives)

Chorus:

His love has no limit; His grace has no measure;

His power has no boundary known unto men.

For out of His infinite riches in Jesus,

He giveth, and giveth and giveth again.

(Annie Johnson Flint, Sing His Praise)

May the Lord gives you grace and strength for today!

Dorothy

(Jan.16-17, 2013)