consumed by His grace

Micah 7:18-20  NASB

Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love.  He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot.  Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea.  You will give truth to Jacob And unchanging love to Abraham, Which You swore to our forefathers From the days of old.

It is the truth of God that consumes us and changes our lives.  In Romans 12:2 we are told or challenged to not be conformed to this world but to be transformed by God.  He changes our minds.  He renews our hearts and minds that lead to redeemed thinking, words and actions.

Who is like God?  Think of your experience.  Think about what you have learned from Him and from others who follow Him.  His forgiveness is real.  His anger has been removed and grace has been put in its place.  Have you experienced His grace?  It will change you when it consumes you.

He will again have compassion on us.  That word AGAIN is an amazing thing.  Second chances have become second nature for this church, and that challenges and changes even me.  In fact when I am consumed with the second chances God has given me I want to give them to others. 

I seek to be consumed by God, but there are pieces that don’t consume me or run through me because of my choices.  Stop right there.  God called us to follow Him fully.  There means “all or noting”.  But American Christians, or really believers for as long as I have known, have made it a practice of not allowing God in some areas of their lives.  Grace giving is one of those areas.

Our current series is called GIVE IT ALL AWAY at The Community Fellowship.  IT can mean and does mean many things.  The stuff we can and must give away runs the gamut from the tangible to the intangible.  Grace is intangible but can be seen.  It is not contained in a bank account.

The character of our God, marked in these verses above, leads us to examine our own walk with God and our faith.  We are forgiven.  We are touched and changed by His love.  But it is His grace that stays on my mind.  His grace leads us to live, give, think and do everything differently.

It is the grace of God that makes our character be leaning toward generosity.  There is a promise for those who take from God.  There is also a promise for those who are generous. 

Take some time to look at these verses and ask God to help you, and me, become known as generous, godly people!

2 Corinthians 9:11  NLT

Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.

Proverbs 11:25  NLT

The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.

Psalm 37:21  NLT

The wicked borrow and never repay, but the godly are generous givers.

Psalm 112:4  NLT

Light shines in the darkness for the godly. They are generous, compassionate, and righteous.

Isaiah 32:8  NLT

But generous people plan to do what is generous, and they stand firm in their generosity.

This is also true of our God.  In fact we are most like God when we are sharing what God has given us.  He was and is gracious to us.  We must be generously gracious with others.

James 4:6  NLT

And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.