Convincing someone with a religious mindset that God desires them to succeed and walk in peace and joy can be challenging. For some, religion has stolen the life-giving message of the Good News and replaced it with pessimism and fatalism. When discussing God’s grace and abundance, someone will always rise up to defend their hardships and troubles.
I understand persecution for our faith, but I struggle to comprehend those who justify the suffering caused by illness, hopelessness, depression, insufficiency, and persistent failure. This is not Paul’s “full blessing of the gospel" in Romans 15:29.
“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).
2 Corinthians 9:8 is about giving, but I want to examine what “grace” means in this verse. “Always having all sufficiency in all things" to have “an abundance for every good work” sounds wonderful. It doesn’t sound like a life of sickness, depression, and insufficiency. God can make “all grace abound toward you.”
“For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17).
What should your life look like if you receive the “abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness?” Should you be reigning, overcoming, and victorious in Jesus or resigned to sickness, hopelessness, defeat, and failure?
“And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 1:14).
Grace abounds with faith and love. The Greek word “huperpleonazo,” from which “exceeding abundant” is translated, appears only once in the New Testament. Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon defines it as “to be exceedingly abundant, to overflow, and to possess in excess.” The grace of Jesus extended to Paul was overflowing in excess. Therefore, alongside faith and love, Paul received God’s grace abundantly.
God doesn’t just extend mercy to save us from the rightful consequences of our actions; He also offers faith, enabling us to embrace His immense love for us and all the benefits that love brings.
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Lord, help me to put aside any religious mindset that keeps me from embracing your love and all its benefits. Help me to see your pressed down, shaken together, running over, exceedingly abundantly more than I can ask or think grace. You have given me everything I need to reign in this life. I choose who you say I am, Jesus, and believe in the potential of the new creation I am in you. I receive your overflowing sufficiency—your healing, peace, and joy by faith. Praise you for your abundant grace for me today, tomorrow, and forever! The hardships that rise are nothing in you! Thank you, Jesus! Your favor is for life.
In Your wonderful Name,
Amen
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