Ask yourself this question: How many times would I watch a person betray me, talk about me, stab me in the back, and ask me to forgive & forget before I say, “No more?”  When was the last time you took your income tax money, put your plans on hold just to free someone else from the stress and slavery of their debt?  Oh, and by the way, what you ask in return?  Nothing.

Pretty stupid, huh?  Pathetic? According to our “Give-to-get” society it is.  To God, this is one of the Greatest Gifts He has given to us.

GRACE – God’s unmerited favor (Salvation-Grace)

It is characterized by God looking at our helplessness and ridding us of a debt we could never pay in the first place.  The one place where this is most evident is at the point where we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior.  The Apostle Paul reminded us that we are saved by grace (Eph. 2:8-9) through faith.  Let us take some time to examine this.  We are not saved through any skill, talent, value, or merit of our own.  This is because in God’s eyes, they are not enough to fulfill His standards of righteousness.  The reason why this is important is the Sonship & Adoption cannot override His inherent Attribute of being Holy (Ps.99:9, Ps.145:17).  This means, that if we are to be a “Son” we would have to find some way to pay the “Fee” if you will (the atonement for our sins) .  While we want to be close to God, our “pockets” are no where deep enough to pay that price.  No need to fear.

Jesus comes along and pays that debt for us so we can walk through that gate or partition which separated us from God.  The “faith” in Eph. 2:8-9 is necessary because we have to base our access and reconciliation with God upon another (Jesus Christ) and we have to believe:

• That He really did exist
• That He was more than just a man
• That He bore our sins upon His shoulders
• That He is authorized to set us free
• That all this is possible without having to see God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit

The scripture reminds us that grace is the, “Gift of God.”  This point, to me, is the catalyst for True Worship.  When we can inflect to our own human flaws, accept the fact that we are prone to failure.  This does not give us an alibi for foolishness and luke-warm living.  Our sins still have consequences.  I have found though,  the extent to we accept our own inability to “justify ourselves” or “be our own saviors”  would determine our depth of Worship to God for His gift of Grace towards us.

I our final series of 2009, we looked at what Jesus was really talking about when He faced His antagonists in John 10:1-10.  They considered His a thief because His teachings were unorthodox.  Jesus explained to those who would listen that the thief does not come through the doorway to the sheep but, through some hidden breach in the shepherd’s keep.

He, then, revealed one of the most assuring glimmers of Divine intent ever recorded in Scripture:

“The thief cometh not but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly Jn. 10:10.”

It would have been enough to promise only life.  Gk. zoe which is our life force & existence, which He has delivered on.  In fact, you would not be able to read this entry without being alive.  However, I have come to realize most people are stagnant at this level of merely existing.  They are led into the rat race in a quest o fill the empty shell that is their life & existence.

I am so glad that Jesus did not just promise us existence, but ‘life more abundantly.’    So what is the abundant life?  It will blow your mind but I will explain:

“The abundant life is one that overflows the boundaries of one body.”

Abundance means overflow.  The Life Christ promised was life that could not be contained in one life.  You have so much joy that you have to share, such a blessed assurance that you have to assure the insecure, and finally, you have so much (even though your material possessions may not be evident) that you don’t think twice about giving.

In conclusion, I would share this phrase which I believe sums up the abundant life in Jesus Christ.

“Live your life like you know that there is more than enough.”