Grace and the Obedience of Faith

Good afternoon all!

So, I posted a picture about obedience on my facebook today which, I admit, only depicted a part of grace. It was so relevant to my spiritual experience though I just had to share! We had been discussing at vesper the parable of the sower. That is honestly a parable that I've read through numerous times and have been  blessed differently each time. I digress. It was over 2 hours of discussion and reading and I don't have it all word for word, but below are some questions that were brought up:

How many times have you heard a sermon or been apart of a Bible study and became so motivated to study the Word of God and so moved by His love? How long did that feeling last? It went away didn't it. What did you do to maintain the feeling? Or did you just simmer in joy until it faded away? 

How many times have you learned something new but maybe you didn't write it down or didn't study it a little more and....well, you forgot what it was about? It was so interesting! But ....what was it again? Well, next time. Or even you're going down this journey with God and won't you look at that? Temptation. Well, God loves me at the end of the day, I'm just going to take a pit stop. 

How many times have you ever been too busy/tired to study the Word of God? Your day was crazy! I mean, I' m in medical school, my life is studying, eating, sleeping, and trying to fit in exercise. It feels like there's barely time to even do those 4 things most days. Between your job, kids, spouse/SO, family commitments, classes....etc. You know the list. Maybe you're just so involved in the church, you don't get the chance to spend time with God, I mean it feels as though you spent all day working for Him. How many friendships/relationships/habits have made you question and/or almost end your relationship with God? Did you hold on to them for one reason or another?

I've only listed a few scenarios, the list goes on an on . I'm not judging if you've related to any of these. I too can relate. There are some more that directly apply to me, but for the sake of keeping this short and sweet, I haven't included. You can make your own list in your free time, but I want to help you get to the root of the problem (or at least one root). 

(Below is partially taken from my facebook) 

Grace has two parts, acceptance and faith, which can be shown by our obedience. Romans talks a LOT about grace, maybe in an attempt to further explain it to us (not sure why). Grace is given to us; it ours! We have to have faith that when we ask for forgiveness, we are forgiven and have faith that God really died for our sins......etc. I mean, we weren’t present when it happened. Works alone means nothing and that is emphasized. You can't take God out of the picture. That's now saying you have what it takes to get to Heaven without Him. If that were so, He wouldn't have made such a sacrifice for us. At the same time, the idea that we are saved by grace without showing our obedience is also emphasized. Showing our obedience to God is listening to Him and having that faith to follow Him even when we aren’t sure where we are going. Yes, we are saved by grace, but intentionally not living according to God’s word can compromise our relationship with God. Grace was given because we are not perfect, and as we get to know Christ more and develop a deeper relationship with Him, our character will become transformed. We will want to be more like Christ and do more for Him simply because of the love we feel in our hearts. Grace and the obedience of faith work together. One cannot work without the other.

²⁰ For by works of the law no human being^[a] will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.²¹ But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²² the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Romans 3:20-24

and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,⁵ through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,

Romans1:4-5

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:8,9

More verses are out there, but I'll let you guys study for yourselves. ;D

What's my point? We need to study God's Word so we can get to know Him better. Thus, strengthening our relationship with Him and transforming ourselves to be more like Him. We will fall into problems along this journey simply because of our sinful nature, but grace is there to help us along. It's ok, I've got grace, I'm going to keep on moving forward towards my Jesus. Don't just stand there visiting each temptation just because you've got grace. You see the difference? "I'm stumbling to my Lord, but I've got grace." "I sin, but I've got grace" Both are true, but which statement sounds like that of a person who is heavenly bound? I purposely made the answer obvious. Grace is there for WHEN we fall (we're not professionals), not for us to jump off the rope because we know there's a trampoline down there. Keep moving forward, saints!! Don't beat yourself up when you stumble, just stay close to God so that He can help you. From where comest my strength? My strength cometh from the Lord!

Isn't a wonderful to know we are not alone? :D God bless!