It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and Godly lives in this present age. Titus 2:12
The realization that God’s grace has ‘appeared to all men’ should change our evangelistic efforts. When a believer comes into the presence of an unsaved person, we must be conscious of the fact that God has already been revealing His grace to that individual! God’s divine influence is already in the works. This truth doesn’t mean we recognize it. We can’t see their heart condition. God is unorthodox! His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. He doesn’t make cookie-cutter duplicates of us! Everyone is an original. Just settle with the truth that God is on the scene of every person’s life.
Defining the word grace as ‘God’s unlimited favor” is incomplete. It limits our understanding and imagination in applying the original meaning of the Greek word translated ‘grace’ from the King James New Testament.
Each word translated ‘grace’ from the Greek word ‘charis’ in the King James New Testament means: God’s Divine Influence on our Heart and its reflection in our life.
(The only exception is in James 1:11 and refers to graciousness in James’ description of a withering flower and is from the Greek word ‘’)
God’s influence extends to the way we think. He works to influence the way we make decisions. He challenges the ways we manipulate our emotions to get our own way. He is definitely ‘working out our salvation’ long before we are! The depth of God’s grace is beyond human comprehension. Read Romans 5:2 (NIV) by inserting the Greek meaning of grace:
Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: through whom we have gained access by faith into this ‘Divine influence and its reflection in our life’ in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Once saved, we stand and walk in this grace by faith. His divine influence continues in our lives forever. And as we live under His divine influence, the power of His grace begins to reflect for others to see. People notice that our thinking, decision-making and emotional response to life is changing. To those on the outside of us it seems that God is making His appeal to them through us! (II Corinthians 5:17-21)
Gaining access by faith into God’s ongoing divine influence is a game changer. This place called Grace is a real place. In His Grace we learn to live and move and have our being. It is from this platform that our expectations (hope) in life run counter to the world’s.
The big decision continues to be how much of our life are we willing to yield to His Divine Influence. How willing are we to be His reflection in this world. His light? His truth? His Grace?
Hi Gene, Thank you for your devotionals you send to me. They are really helpful and inspiring. I noticed in this devotion that the scripture reference is wrong at the beginning of devotion. Should be Titus 2:12. God Bless, Craig Morris