Submitted by Lara Cook
For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon
grace. John 1:16 (NASB).
Someone recently asked me what was my favorite Christmas gift I received
as a child? I had to really stop and
think about it. I didn’t have any
memories of the best gift ever. I
remembered a few things but nothing huge.
I am sure my parents would be shocked to hear me say that because we
were poor and every gift given came at a great sacrifice.
The scripture above talks about another gift we all have been given, a
much more memorable gift than any gift we may have received for Christmas or Birthdays. The New Living Translation states this verse
this way: From His abundance, we have all received one gracious blessing
after another”. Basically, this is saying that
Jesus was all grace and truth and out of His abundant fullness, He gives us more
grace and goodness than we could ever deserve on our own. Time after time - “One blessing after another.”
Often, we don’t think enough about our grace gifts from Christ. We struggle in our sufferings and fail to live in the blessings He so freely and undeservingly gives us, over and over again. It is easy to be caught up in all that is wrong in our lives and not think about what is right and good. Satan has a little to do with that too. The Bible warns Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8 You may not think of struggling and failing to realize the grace gifts in your life as something that comes from Satan, but I believe he piggybacks us with suppression and heaviness and does not want us to be free from the weight of the burdens in life. He does not want us to see or live in the grace that Christ gives. He wants us focused on the things that are going wrong, our failures, our insecurities. He nips at our heels with unworthiness and dogs us constantly with hopelessness. He does not want us to live in Christ’s fullness and truth where grace after grace comes from. He wants to distract us from the goodness that gets buried under the rubble of every day.
Often, we don’t think enough about our grace gifts from Christ. We struggle in our sufferings and fail to live in the blessings He so freely and undeservingly gives us, over and over again. It is easy to be caught up in all that is wrong in our lives and not think about what is right and good. Satan has a little to do with that too. The Bible warns Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8 You may not think of struggling and failing to realize the grace gifts in your life as something that comes from Satan, but I believe he piggybacks us with suppression and heaviness and does not want us to be free from the weight of the burdens in life. He does not want us to see or live in the grace that Christ gives. He wants us focused on the things that are going wrong, our failures, our insecurities. He nips at our heels with unworthiness and dogs us constantly with hopelessness. He does not want us to live in Christ’s fullness and truth where grace after grace comes from. He wants to distract us from the goodness that gets buried under the rubble of every day.
Struggle and burdens are a part of life but as a child
of God, so are the graces of Christ.
They are not dependent on our attitude, our level of gratefulness, or
our accomplishments. They are just
given. Gifts. Don’t allow yourself to get bogged down in
the mire of life. There will always be
some mud along the way. Throw the devil
off and kick him away from your heels.
Look to Jesus and bask in His beautiful fullness and remember the graces
and goodness He gives you.
And God is able to make all grace abound to you so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. ESV
