Grace Archives - Seeking God with Jaime Wiebel

Grace Poured Out Like Rain

Jaime Wiebel — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 10:03:45 +0000

Grace Poured Out Like Rain

Over the past month, we have been doing a word study in our Seeking God Daily Facebook Group. If you have not already joined, feel free to do so here, as well. We love making new friends! Before you go, grab the free resources here for our Grace Study. Our word study is focusing on the word grace and I have been learning the deep need for God’s grace poured out like rain in my life and the need to others.

Let’s explore the gift of Grace together.

Often times when I am studying God’s Word with others, I hear them say they know this or that to be to be true… but… they don’t take His words and keep them for themselves. This can often be said about grace. We struggle with grace because we know deep down who we are and we don’t believe we deserve it. If this is you… keep reading, I have great news!

Grace by definition is the unmerited favor of God. The two defining points of grace that really stand out to me are to find favor or kindness by God bending and stooping in kindness. It is amazing how He isn’t some far-off God but one that will bend and stoop to His people and show them kindness.

The other definition is the divine influence on the heart and its reflection in the life. An influence that I certainly desire.

Old to New

We see in the Old Testament this idea of God stooping or bending down to show His kindness a lot. I love it. From the stories of Noah and Joseph to Ruth and Esther. God leaning toward His people to show His grace. To rescue them, even if they may not have deserved it, because of His kindness and goodness.

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. Genesis 6:8 (KJV)

I just can’t help but imagine what if Noah had not found favor with God. Humanity would have a totally different story.

How does this translate into the new? God sent His One and Only Son to die for us. To save His people from their sins.

Why? Because they were good people. Because they didn’t deserve death. Sadly, No, Christ died for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8)

I am so grateful that #Christ didn't wait until I got my stuff together. I am so #grateful He didn't wait until I was ready and that He loved me in spite of all that I have done. #SeekingGod
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Because from the old to the new He restores. He restored my old soul and made it new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Just as He did throughout the new testament.

From Peter, Oh Peter, the restoration He received after He denied Christ three times and Christ called Him out by name to restore Him. To build His church. To be called to a Holy calling.

Paul, once named Saul, He took all his wretchedness and made Him a new man. A man that would write over half of God’s inspired words in the New Testament.

His Undeserved, Unmerited Grace

So if you are here today and you don’t think you deserve God’s grace, it’s okay. I have felt like this way so many times, even this week, I have had such a hard week, But God… He shows up in every moment and reminds me of His grace.

The first thing you need to realize when it comes to grace is it is not deserved. You did nothing to merit God’s favor.

You get grace because God’s chooses to give it. He chooses to give it not because He has a supply of it to give but because it is who He is.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 (NIV)

God is full of grace. FULL. He doesn’t have a sprinkling to give and He limits it to go here and there. It is not a tank that runs out. This word full means complete. In Him grace is complete. Grace to its fullest. So that is why when He gives grace it pours because it is pouring out of His fullness.

I was thinking about this word full last week. And it came to me that even if God did just give me one sprinkling or one drop of grace, it would be full. It would be a drop of complete grace and it would be all that I needed.

That is pretty awesome. I don’t deserve it. And as wonderful as you are. You don’t deserve it either. (I said that with love.)

Just When You Think it Might End

There have been times, when I have thought, “I can’t believe I have messed up again.” Seriously, how long is God going to put up with me?

And I wonder for a moment, is this going to be it? I mean He can’t possibly have any more grace for me.

But then I am reminded of this beautiful verse in John.

Out of his fullness, we have all received grace in place of grace already given. John 1:16 (NIV)

There it is again. Out of His fullness. His complete grace. On top of the grace that He as already heaped upon my head in its place, He has poured out more. Amazing!

Living With My Past

For a long time, I lived in a cycle of sin. I knew it was wrong because the Holy Spirit was convicting me of my life but in an attempt to live my life according to my own selfish desires, I ignored it. Knowing I accepted Christ as my personal Savior but I would go on living for myself.

I actually believed I could ignore God and live life on my own.

My greatest fear was that I had become so deep in the trenches of my sinful life that I was too far away from God for His grace to reach me.

I thought I had messed up beyond repair. So, I kept on sinning. What was the point of changing if I had already messed up this much?

Paul addresses this thinking in his letter to the Romans.

What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? By no means! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer? Romans 6:1-2 (BSB)

The idea that we are forgiven and so it doesn’t matter how we think, speak or act is what Paul was addressing. He is saying, No way! We cannot just keep living, however, we please.

We Are Called to a Holy Calling

The underserved grace that we are given calls us to live a holy life. It calls us to a life set apart from those around us.

For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time–to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 1:9 (NLT)

Friends, if you are still looking for the great news in this story, here it is. If you have put your trust and faith in Jesus Christ to be Lord over your life, you have been saved. You have been called.

The greatest news! He did this!

I did nothing to earn it.

We can do nothing to work for it.

I did nothing to deserve it.

That is such a relief. You can let your belt out a loop and breathe with me. Because I would have blown it so many times by now. I can’t do enough. I will never be enough to deserve the grace, the unmerited favor, of God.

Yet, as His child, It ours out on me like rain. He gives it because it was His plan to give it before the beginning of time. It is His love and greatest joy to give His grace to His children.

Hallelujah! I am jumping for joy right now! You with me?

Friends, I hope this encouraged you to press on and press into Jesus. There you will find His grace!

Personal Reflections:

Do you feel trapped in your sin with no way out?
God’s Grace was not just made available to the people of the Bible but is available fresh for you, do you believe that and live like you believe it?
What do you do with God’s grace? Do you keep it for yourself or pour it out on others?
What is one thing that you have done this week that you can point to God’s grace getting you through?
How has God’s grace had the biggest influence on your life?

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This summer we are are going to be doing Word Studies. We are focusing on three words. The first word we are digging deeper into is the word grace. Please feel free to look around and enjoy these Seeking God Daily Resources.

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A Living Hope: A New Covenant and Sitting Among Friends #67

Jaime Wiebel — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 06:59:00 +0000

A New Covenant.

There are many questions that surround the new and the old. Out with the old in with the new. That saying can leave a bit of a sting. If we have the old or become the old. We don’t necessarily want it to be set aside because the new came along.

That is how many of the Pharisee’s felt as Jesus was telling them He had come to fulfill the law. The law (the old covenant) was what they knew. It had become their identity. Through it, they knew who they were. It was linked to their family heritage and it was to set them apart from the rest of the world. It would signify them as children of God.

It cannot be a surprise as to why Jesus rocked their world. He was essentially telling them, all they ever knew or understood was going to be turned around. Who and what they held so tightly to, needed to be made complete and it was going to come as something new.

While the old covenant and the laws pointed us to our sin and the need for a Savior, the law was not designed to give us a new heart.

Hebrews 8:7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.

The old covenant was established with Moses and is often referred to as the ten commandments. There were also many laws that were given to the people such as festivals, sacrifices, and purifications. You can find them in the first few books of the old testament.

Some are lead to believe that the laws are no longer good or appropriate for our time. We live under grace. While that is true, because Christ came to fulfill the law, all the laws are not obsolete. In Matthew 5 Jesus said I did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it.

Christ made the law complete because He could give us a new conscience and a new heart. He would now write the laws on our hearts and put them in our minds.

I understand that many may be thinking we are free from the law. It is no longer relevant. While some laws had their own purposes, God’s law is not abolished.

What we have now in the new covenant.

Step away for a minute here with me. If you are a parent, you make rules and set boundaries. It helps them know how to navigate the world. When your child breaks the rules, there are consequences so they understand the depth of the importance of the rule.

As parents, we want our children to follow those rules not just because we said so, although we may say that, but we want them to follow the rules because we love them and gave them for their safety and growth. We want them to show that love to us by being obedient.

Before we know Christ as our Savior, we are living in rebellion to God. The laws are set so that we can see and understand how far away from a perfect God we are. They are for us to understand what sin is, as Paul explains in Romans 7.

They were never meant to perfect us but lead to Christ who does.

For a long time in my life, as you can read from my testimony here, I thought that rules were to make me perfect. What I found was that they were too hard to keep up with. So, I didn’t. I made my own rules, ones which I thought I could keep. Ones that satisfied my flesh.

I chained myself back to rules, even my rules. I chained myself to my own rebellion. I chained myself to my shame and found my worth in the comfort of those chains.

While all the while I could have been living free. I was given life in Christ but was choosing to go back to the path that leads to destruction. I was free to walk in Christ’s grace.

After all, He already knew I wasn’t perfect. Who was I kidding? It was not possible. It was never meant to be. Hold on to that truth.

What I didn’t understand was that being obedient was no longer just a chore, a to-do or an unachievable task but an opportunity to be pleasing to my Lord and give Him my worship.

It was freedom. It was a gift.

The new covenant that we receive as believers in Christ is not a checklist of being perfect. It is walking in grace and humbly allowing Christ to perfect us.

When we put our faith and trust in Him, we become His child. He loves us!

The boundaries and rules are for our safety. They are so we can continue to receive His blessings and see His glory in our lives.

The new covenant gives life (2 Corinthians 3:7).
It gives us a new hope (1 Peter 1:3). A new heart and a new spirit (Ezekiel 36:26). A hope in the Living God (1 Tim 4:10) that we can receive from nothing and no one else.

Christ has the power to change lives and I would love to talk to you about how He can change yours. Email me at yoursewtrendy@gmail.com

Personal Reflections:

Have you chosen to see the laws for what they are and learned to walk with Christ in obedience? In what areas, do you struggle? In what areas, can you celebrate victories?

How has living up to your list of perfections hindered your relationship with Christ?

Do you use chains in your life as a crutch or as an identity? Are you afraid to let them go because they are all you have ever known or you have become comfortable in them? As a believer, do you believe God can break those chains for you?

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The post A Living Hope: A New Covenant and Sitting Among Friends #67 appeared first on Seeking God with Jaime Wiebel.

Grace and Mercy

Jaime Wiebel — Thu, 17 Sep 2015 14:02:00 +0000

I recently posted this picture.

It sparked quite a bit of interest and so I thought
we would dive into this topic a little more.

John 1:14 says The Word became flesh and made his
dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son,
who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

I just love this verse. It actually kind of makes me
envious to be quite honest of the men and women that were able to witness this.
I would have loved to live there and walk with Christ, hold His hand, and hear
Him speak of His Heavenly Father. What an amazing thought. Amen.

As believers
we often times long for the coming of Christ or just for the moment that we
will be in His presence and sitting at His feet. I love the pictures that are depicted
of Christ with little children surrounding Him. What a perfect portrait of a
God who loves His children so much that He is sitting among them.

John 1:1 tells us leading information for verse 14
it says: In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The Word was God.
Both of these verses use the same Greek word. Logos which means Word. Verse 14
says the Word became flesh. So God became flesh. And made His dwelling among
us. John was a witness to His glory. He was a witness to the glory of the One
and Only Son.

What makes my heart melt about this verse is just
the comfort of knowing that my God is not unreachable. He loved us so much that
He came down and made His dwelling among us. He is not some far out unreachable
deity that I can never attain. He came here to die for my sins and for yours.

The thought of one day being able to be in the
presence of my Lord is not unreachable. It is not unattainable. Why? Because of
His Grace and Mercy.

I like the NLT version of this verse. Isaiah 59:12
says: For our sins are piled up before God and testify against us. Yes, we know
what sinners we are.

I think that we can all be honest about sin. It is
the things we think, say or do against God. Most of us are aware of our
imperfections. No I don’t mean crooked noses or teeth. I’m talking about things such as anger, hate, greed, malice,
lying, and deceit. We’ve all been there.

Isaiah 59:12 explains my sin as it really is. Before
a God that is perfect they are piled up. Like my dirty laundry it is just piled
before me. They testify to the person
that I am without Christ.

Because of my sins, I deserve a consequence, a
penalty. The penalty before me is death.

On the cross God extended His Grace to me. He looked
at my pile of dirty laundry and He said I will make it white as snow. And He
laid it upon His Son. What do I deserve
for the choices that I have made? What do I deserve for all that has piled up
before my Lord?

I certainly don’t deserve God’s forgiveness. This is
God’s Amazing Grace! Because God is merciful (He doesn’t give me what I do
deserve, which is death) He sent His Son to die on the cross for my sins, to
take my place. Because God is graceful (Grace
is when God gives us what we don’t deserve) I can live in eternity with Him in
Heaven.

Mercy = God doesn’t give me what I deserve. Grace =
God gives me what I don’t deserve

He doesn’t give me death even though I deserve it
(Mercy). He offers me life eternally with Him (Grace). That my friends is a
gift.

We experience Mercy and Grace from others so we can
see these two things played out in our everyday lives.

Mercy may look like this. You go speeding through town 10 mph over the
speed limit, police officer pulls you over, and because he is merciful (doesn’t
give you what you deserve) the police officer doesn’t give you a ticket.
Instead he smiles at you and lets you drive off with a warning.

Grace may look like this. You show up late for work,
you sit and text your friends all day long, and you take extra-long breaks.
Because your boss is graceful (gives you what you don’t deserve) you get a
raise even though you are not receiving any “Worker of the Year” awards.

Grace and Mercy. Both rely on a God that loves you
more than your sin. He did what it took to stand in your place. You see when
Christ came to dwell among us He was full of grace but not at the cost of not
speaking truth.

Truth is, we are sinners but grace wins because
Christ died on the cross in our place.

What a glorious day!

Comment below. Tell us your story of mercy and grace
from your loving Father or share with us how you have experienced grace and
mercy from those around you.

The post Grace and Mercy appeared first on Seeking God with Jaime Wiebel.