From Hopscotch to Holiness

Growing In Grace11their vocabulary. They have replaced the delight of a personal relationshipwith Christ with the rules of religion. Because they often have a distortedimage of God the Father, they question the grace of God. A loving Godwho cherishes them completely, regardless of their performance, isforeign to their experience. But again, God always has a remedy. We canfind healing and freedom in Christ. If you see yourself, as I have, needinghealing from distorted images of God you must tear down the lies of theenemy systematically and replace them with the truth of Christ.GRACE FREELY RECEIVEDRegardless of the hindrances we may face, God’s grace is freely availableto each of us. Consider 1 Corinthians 2:12: “What we have received isnot the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we mayunderstand what God has freely given us.” Through the Holy Spirit we cancome to know this free gift of God. This understanding will never comefrom the world; it is imparted to us through the Spirit. This truth aboutgrace is amplified in John 1:17: “For the law was given through Moses;grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” Grace comes through JesusChrist! We no longer live under the law. Because of Jesus’ finished work onthe cross, we can freely receive God’s grace. As grace-given believers, we areempowered to give grace to others. That is our mandate from the Lord.GRACE FREELY GIVENWhat does receiving and giving grace look like in our daily lives? ConsiderMatthew 10:8: “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who haveleprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.” I’mthe first to admit this verse rocks my world. It is a directive from theLord concerning the supernatural ministry every believer should beinvolved in. It is a command wrapped up in God’s grace. Everything wehave received from the Lord, we should freely give to others. Beloved,