God And You
A Dynamic Couple
by
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Chapter 1
Grace
Every single thing we have is a result of the grace of God. He has allowed us opportunities and successes so we can have the things we do. Don’t fool yourself. You didn’t get where you are in life on your own merit. Because of our salvation experience, we became the recipients of God’s grace. He has provided us with His blessings since we are now involved in His work. This began at the point of salvation when His grace placed us in His royal family.
We are far from being deserving of the benefits of salvation; however, God’s grace is bestowed upon us due to God’s character—certainly not ours. His grace is so powerful that it surrounds us eternally. It is not a temporary gift; it is permanent, sealed in who God is. God delights in treating us in His grace because we are His children. We belong to Him, thanks to one of the salvation blessings and gifts.
Because of who God is, grace is an expression of His character. The very fact that we are allowed to have such a dynamic relationship with the God of the universe can be mind-boggling. It’s all a matter of grace. His character is grace, so He treats us in such a way. When Christ died on the cross for us, that was an act of pure, genuine grace. We tasted grace.
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Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.
—Corrie ten Boom
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Since we are the beneficiary of grace, every blessing we have or ever will have comes directly from Him. Our very sense of happiness and peacefulness entails grace gifts because God instituted them for our personal benefit. Trying to wrap our minds around the concept of grace can be quite a challenge. I don’t think it’s possible to do such, but we can certainly appreciate His grace by simply looking around us. Look at all that you have—it is all what we call grace gifts.
In eternity past, God saw we would fail Him at times, but He’s still treated us with grace. That is His character. We definitely don’t deserve such divine treatment, but we get it—thank goodness! If we were to be treated in the way we deserve, based on our own character, we would be in a terrible mess. Grace sees beyond our faults and sees that we belong to the Master.
If we want to understand God’s grace, we need to understand who and what God is. His divine character is grace oriented. God is the following:
• all present (omnipresent) (Jeremiah 23:24)
• all knowing (omniscient) (Luke 16:15)
• all-powerful (omnipotent) (Luke 1:37)
• truth (Psalm 117:2)
• sovereign (Acts 17:24)
• just (2 Chronicles 19:7)
• grace (Psalm 84:11)
• never changing (Isaiah 40:28)
• love (1 John 4:8)
• eternal life (Isaiah 45:18)
• righteous (1 Samuel 2:2)
Combine all these qualities, and you will understand the God to whom you gave your life. Furthermore, you will understand where His grace comes from.
Some individuals may underestimate the grace of God. However, we need to understand that the opportunities we have in life offer us the chance to better ourselves and those around us. There is no such thing as a self-made person. God has provided since the day we were born. His grace is perfect, powerful, and stable. The fact that He offers salvation to all of humankind is a perfect example of His grace (see Titus 2:11). All of humankind has the opportunity to place faith in God as a result of grace. God is constantly waiting to flood us with His grace (see Isaiah 30:18–19).
His grace has nothing to do with human merit, ability, or human good. It all depends on who and what God is. The problem we may have is our pride. Our pride can cause us to reject grace and actually believe we are powerful enough to substitute grace for our own efforts and strength. Nothing can be further than the truth. Our strength is puny when compared to God’s grace.
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When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives.
—Ezra Benson
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All of us have experienced difficult times in our lives. Sicknesses, deaths of loved ones, job losses, misunderstandings—all of these and more may have left us with emotional and mental scars. We may have felt that our world was going to fall apart. We ached and cried. Tragedy beset us. The reason our worlds remained intact was God’s grace providing for us. We certainly didn’t earn or deserve it. But grace never depends on us. It always depends upon God. As mentioned before, everyone has tasted the grace of God in life. That’s who God is.
The majesty of God is expressed to us through both His love and grace. As part of His royal family, grace belongs to us. The power of grace now reigns and is at work within each believer. The power of grace does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Grace allows us to work with God in His operations in our lives. Divine opportunities are offered to us daily as God provides the means by which we can carry out His will.
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The majesty of God is expressed to us through both His love and grace.
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When we look at all the things God has provided for us, we are to be grateful—even overwhelmed. God’s grace can be seen in every aspect of our lives. The unbeliever doesn’t have such a privilege, but believers in Christ certainly do. Our lives are truly blessed by His grace. It never ends!
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About the Book
At the exact point of salvation, the individual is coupled with God, and their connection becomes a dynamic relationship. The individual receives grace and blessings from God that last forever. God provides for believers in magnificent ways, treating us with divine grace. His love is unchanging and everlasting, pure and genuine.
God and You explores the spiritual riches God bestows upon believers. We have an everlasting lifelong relationship with Him, and He demonstrates His power in our daily lives. Because God’s grace is evident in all His provisions for believers, we can live lives of spiritual joy and happiness—all gifts that make up the dynamic relationship we have with God. At the moment we began trusting Christ as our Savior, our Father placed within us His own divine righteousness. This is our eternal spiritual insurance policy. He forever maintains His very personal relationship with us as His sons and daughters, making our inner selves people of great worth.
Inspirational and uplifting, this study guides believers to a better understanding of their close and dynamic relationship with God and all its wonderful provisions.
About the Author
James Ray Ashurst, PhD, has lived in the Northeast Georgia mountains for thirty-five years. After nine years as a teacher in Florida, he moved to Georgia, where he became a school counselor for twenty-five years. He has also been a private clinical therapist for fifty years. This is his ninth book; he writes intended to be a lifeline to those who make up his life and for those whom he has yet to meet.