Grace from God.

Quote from When Helping Hurts:
--- >>> Poverty alleviation is the ministry of reconciliation: moving people closer to glorifying God by living in right relationship with God, with self, with others, and with the rest of creation.

I absolutely love this book for anyone and everyone who is in the business of empowering those around us and loving through any kind of

ministry. 

but I am going to do a mini blog series on...
Grace from God
Grace for self
Grace for others
Grace for rest of creation

So today.
Grace from God.

What does that mean? What is grace? and why the heck is God so willing to pour out his grace on our sinful dirty broken lives?

definition of Grace: 

•  Simple elegance or refinement of movement

•  The free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings.

[[ Synonyms: acceptance, generosity, kindness, favor, approval. ]]

__ What is grace from God? How would you define it? __

>>> ME. I have never sat down and pondered about what grace, especially grace from God really is/means until now, until moving to the Philippines. Its just something that is always said. "Give them grace... Oh you gotta have grace in all situations.... God showers us with grace so shower them with grace..." 

I am learning to give grace to others which in return I am really seeing what God's grace has looked like and is looking like in my life. 

But what does it mean to give grace, to shower others with grace and better yet to be showered with Gods grace? 

Acceptance --- Generosity --- Kindness --- Favor --- Approval. 

+ God accepts me for who I am. My sins, my brokenness, my selfish living. He calls me His daughter, I am a part of the Body of Christ. He takes me and loves me for ALL that I am. Past Present & future. 

--->>> How many of you can say that you accept others with flaws? maybe a few. but it is sure hard and I know that since my human flesh judges & holds grudges I will never be able to accept confidently without God's help in breaking those barriers and uncovering my eyes to look into the persons heart and accept them for who God has created and sees them. 

1 Peter 4:10 (NLT)

" most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, 

for love covers a multitude of sins. 

Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay." 

+ God has an unfavorable amount of generosity towards my life. Blessing me with beautiful sunsets, children's contagious laughter, memories with family & friends. Also so incredibly generous when I make mistakes, wrong decisions & things that clearly do not line up with His desires. He gives me a generous amount of leeway : ) oh how thankful

--->>> When I think about generosity I think about being generous with my time, money & skills. Giving people more and more of myself. I love this. I love giving myself, even just the little things. I love cooking for others, spending time listening, cleaning up the house, buying coffee or ice cream. This brings so much joy in being able to give myself to those the way Jesus gave Himself for me. even though none of those compare to what He did with His life on the cross. Something about serving others, there is just a wonderful feeling in putting others first.

Romans 5:17 (msg)

"If death got the upper hand through one man’s wrongdoing, can you imagine the breathtaking recovery life makes, sovereign life, in those who grasp with both hands this wildly extravagant life-gift, this grand setting-everything-right, that the one man Jesus Christ provides?"

+ Kindness goes far. 

“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” 

Mark Twain

--->>> Why not be kind? why be bitter? unhelpful? unloving? This seems like it would be more exhausting to do these things towards others instead of loving without ceasing. 

2 Timothy 2:24 

"a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, 

be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people." 

+ Favor is defined as an act of kindness beyond what is due or unusual. To find favor upon someone or something is a humbling experience. Putting the persons desires before your's and going out of your comfort to make them feel that much more special. 

--->>> Its hard. its really really hard to find favor upon those who have hurt you, given you deep scars, broken you down to someone who can't even recognize. But if we are to ever make it out of this world alive and with a strong beating heart we need to find favor & forgiveness to those individuals. If I can do this I know you can. It might be unusual to them as why we are bringing them some baked yummies or they find a letter in the mail addressed to them that has words of appreciation written inside. But its worth it. and you will find healing and reconciliation. 

1 Corinthians 15:10

" But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out His special favor on me- and not without results. For i have worked harder then any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by His grace."

+ Approval is something we all crave & desire from those around us in our lives. Maybe even from those we have yet to meet aka I do from my future husband : ) Its something that is engrained into our culture.... can I go to even say our world? or in everything? We are always seeking out approval from our parents, friends, boss, coworkers, classmates, the cashier at the grocery store, the always perfectly accessorized girls at Nordstrom (no pun intended to those who know our family history ), from the girl running on the treadmill two down from you, the other moms at school, the lady waxing your legs, the guys stooped up at the bar. Lets face it, it is apart of who we are and we thrive on knowing if we get the approval of that person, that clique, those people who you desire to connect with. WHY is it like this. I struggle and I know others do to with this. Unfortunate tragedy happens when we take being "approved" to far. 

--->>> this is something that has controlled my life, and I am slowly receiving healing from this constant yearning to be perfect for others. Who am I kidding, I will never be perfect but only in the eyes of my Creator. This is a humble and comforting feeling that I don't have to strive to be anyone else but me, Emily Elizabeth Schoneman, because that is exactly who God has made me to be. Flaws and all : ) I am learning to embrace me. 

Ephesians 1:7-10(MSG)

"Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth."

Getting down to it. Grace is love in every way, to everyone, and through everything. God is Love. so therefore God has accepted us for who we are; flaws and all. He generously gave us His Son to die on the cross for our sins so that we have a way to come back to Him. His kindness transcends on every path we take; whether His desires or ours, He gives us a kindness that anyone can understand, feel & know. He gives us favor in situations when we come to Him seeking direction. He allows us to give that favor to others and then bless us when the time is right. His approval is the only one we should be seeking because He is the one who created us and to live a life worthy is something we should be striving for, His approval of a life well lived, we get a big thumbs up when we meet Him face to face. 

{{ We can not do this alone. We can't give grace to others without fully understanding }}

{{ what it means for us to receive Gods grace. }}

"My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness. So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I get a picture of me, in a boat, in a storm ( there is a wonderful story in the Bible about this ) and there is God, out of His love & desire for my heart, throws out a rope that has just a little extra length on the end to make sure that I will grab it no matter what. He gives me that extra length of grace because He doesn't want to lose me. So I take it with both hands and I don't let got. I might lose my grip and slide back a few inches but there is more then a mile of rope behind me. 

:: I can look back on the last 24 years of my life and see those times where He continued to give me the extra rope. I am beyond thankful that He never stopped reeling it out to me. That His Angels were covering me with protection so that my boat could get to the place I am now. I know I still have plenty more storms but I am confident that God will NEVER let me go because His grace is sufficient, it is all that I need in this world. ::

>> So.
>>Do you feel His grace?
>>Do you understand how incredibly special you are to Him that He continues to cover our lives with grace?
>>He keeps forgiving and then forgetting to keep us moving forward on the path He has chosen for us.

"The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. The Lord is good to everyone. 

He showers compassion on all His creation." 

Psalm 145:8-9

He wants to love you, hold you, whisper how much He desires your heart in your ear. 
Show you how special, perfect & one of a kind you are in this world. 
Remember that. 
Hold that close to your heart. 
Read it in His words, His promises. 
Give Him thanks for who you are in Him.
For His acceptance, generosity, kindness, favor & approval.
Even though we do not deserve any of it. 
He is eager to shower us with it. 

In Christ's Grace-filled Love,
Emily Elizabeth

( I am a new woman now after chopping off about 8 inches) 
hope you all like it! cause I LOVE it. esp in this heat.