ALL GRACE
And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished abundance for every good work and charitable donation]. (2 Corinthians 9:8 TAB)
I often think of the life I had and the one I nearly missed. I am speaking of course of life without and life with Christ. I am amazed at the goodness of God. The life I had before I came to know Jesus was no life in comparison and yet it was somewhat of a blessed life. I am certain that God took care of me even then. No matter what else was going on in my life, I did survive, so I can only credit that to God. As lost as I was, He loved me.
However, once I came to know Him, it was obvious that there is no life without Him. We do not begin to live the life that God intended until we come into His family through His Son Jesus Christ. If you have experienced this, then you know exactly what I am talking about. You have no doubt compared the two lives and no matter how good or bad your life was before, you realize that it was far short of the life God intended.
Today as I considered this it became clear that even now I am living no where near to what God has planned for me and for all who will put their trust in Him.
You see God’s plan for all men and women who were created in His image, was that we would live as caretakers of all that He possesses. Adam and Eve were the only ones who fully experienced this. They lived in the place of God’s perfect provision. There was no lack and no want, because everything was just as God planned it. They were caretakers. But then “the taker” came and sin entered the world. Since that time satan has been busy stealing, killing, and destroying everything and everyone that he can. Jesus came to put an end to all of that and restore us to the fellowship that God intended.
This is why I am certain that even though I have a great life with Christ; it is nowhere near what God really intends. There are so many places in the garden of this life that I have yet to explore. There is so much wisdom and revelation that awaits us all. And God is ready to make all grace abound to us in every realm that we will enter.
Believe me, I love my life, but I do not want to neglect any part of this great salvation. I don’t want to receive God’s great gift and then just sit around and play with the box. I know someone who bought a computer more than two years ago and still has not removed it from the box. That is much like going to church and never receiving Christ into our lives. I did that for 30 years never knowing what I was missing. Now I have known Him for nearly 25 years and have only begun to experience all that He has for me. No matter how far I go, I know there will be much more and I want it all. Don’t you?