Grace for the New Year

For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. (1 Corinthians 10:9-10 ESV).

The year is winding down and it seems there are competing thoughts. So many people have been so kind in many different ways this past year that it would be difficult to begin to thank each one. Some were generous with their financial support of the ministry which becomes more and more vital as the ministry grows here in Texas as it did in Tennessee. Others have been encouragers with a fit word or a kind expression. These have always come at a time when it was just right as there have been some challenging moments during the year. Whatever the expression, my reflection over the year is like a mosaic of beautiful stained glass with bright sunshine filtering through the colors and bringing delight. It was all God’s grace. Grace is not only God’s disposition to do good for us when we don’t deserve it. It is an actual power from God that acts and makes good things happen in us and for us. God’s grace was God’s acting in Paul to make Paul work hard: “By the grace of God . . . I worked harder than any of them.” So when Paul says, “Work out your own salvation,” he adds, “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13). Grace is power from God to do good things in us and for us. As I begin to look forward to the New Year about to dawn, I must remember that this grace is past and it is future. It is ever-cascading over the infinitesimal waterfall of the present, from the inexhaustible river of grace coming to us from the future, into the ever-increasing reservoir of grace in the past. Throughout the day today, you will receive sustaining grace flowing to you from the future, and you will accumulate another day’s worth of grace in the reservoir of the past. The proper response to the grace you experienced in the past is thankfulness, and the proper response to grace promised to you in the future is faith. We are thankful for the past grace of the last year, and we are confident in the future grace for the New Year. In the next few days we’ll look more deeply into this principle. Today, may I encourage you to both give and receive the grace God has given to you? And, may I also inspire you to a deep sense of humility that the power of God has entered into our lives through nothing we have done. Jesus did it all, all to Him I owe!