The beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair.

So, the brilliance that you are about to read are not my words. These come from my flatmate. His name is Joshua David Garmon (and no that is not a joke...his dad's name is randy too...talk about weird...there is a link to his blog on the sidebar to the right, you should go check out his stuff...) Anyways, he has been wrestling a lot with grace lately, and has a revelation that needs to be shared. So I'm going to post it here for you to read. Prepare to have your life changed.

So here goes. Mr. Garmon, take it away:

Grace

I believe if you read what I write and take it to heart, your life will be changed.

The Holy Spirit has been stirring this message in me for a while, and I really believe God wants to set people free through me. To those who are reading, open your heart! Unclog your ears from rusty traditions and old religions. Hear what I have to say and be liberated!

We have often heard the word “grace” thrown around, but I believe the depth of what grace is for the lives of believers is far deeper than we realize. God longs to have his children live lives of satisfaction in him and not have to strive!

Some might think that grace is synonymous with mercy. How wonderful it is that God is rich in mercy! But I do not believe that grace is the same as mercy. Many have defined it as something like “God’s unmerited love and favor.” I think that’s much closer. Here’s a working definition I found at this website which was an awesome resource in my study! (http://www.learnthebible.org/q_a_what_is_grace.htm):

“Grace can also be defined as God's sufficiency or God's fullness in the life of the believer.”

He goes on to call grace “God’s enoughness.”

MMMMMmmmmm! Amazing grace how sweet the sound!

Oh friends..... Read this verse and DO NOT tune out because it’s the BIble. Bend your ear to God’s Word:

“And God is able to make ALL grace abound to you, so that in ALL THINGS, at ALL TIMES, having ALL THAT YOU NEED, you will abound in EVERY GOOD WORK!!!!!!!!!” (2 Corinthians 9:8) -Emphasis and twenty thousand exclamation points mine (:

Friends, this is good news! Listen to the completeness stated in this verse! All things! All times! Having all that you need! That’s too good to be true! No it’s not! That’s what God’s Word says, and I don’t know about you, but I stand on nothing else!

We don’t have to strive, friends. God’s grace truly is sufficient. He is SO enough. He’s so much MORE than we need!

I really felt God tell me the other day about grace:

There’s nothing you can do to receive it.

Not as in “It’s impossible to attain,” but rather, “there’s no work to be accomplished to gain it.

“Time out Joshua,” you say. “That sounds just lazy! Surely God wants us to do at least part of it. Are saying that our efforts have nothing to so with our success in life?

Well... YES!!!!!!

Nothing to do with our efforts. Nothing to do with our efforts. Offended? Well, I truly believe that this is what the scriptures say. Now, I believe we partake in God’s will for our lives! I’m not preaching laziness or passivity. God calls us to fight. But the scriptures always show God fighting for us as we step out in faith.

We’ve heard so often things like “God’s grace is so good, but nobody’s going to wake you up in the morning! You still have to try!” However, I’d like to suggest to you that we should do nothing apart from His grace. Not even roll out of bed and read our Bibles.

Please hear what I’m saying, and don’t think about what you’ve been told. Study the scriptures. Tell me if this is blasphemy. But don’t talk to me about what you’ve heard men teach. God is doing a new thing. He is revealing His grace to us in a deeper way! No longer will we trust in our own strength. We’ll trust that it’s true when He said that “...it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” Did you hear that? He takes pleasure in working through us to His will!

Let’s talk about Paul. If any man could have preached about being qualified and using our own efforts for life, it would be him. Let’s read:

“If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. (Philippians 3:4-6)

However, Paul didn’t make his ministry about human effort! After his encounter with Christ, He preached the gospel of grace!

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace. (Acts 20:24) -Emphasis mine

God used this man who was so qualified in the flesh (which is really no qualification at all!) and used Him to preach the gospel of grace! How good is our God. I think He has a sense of humor! (:

“Alright Joshua. I’ll humor you. Maybe our Christian walk has nothing to do with our effort. Maybe our success IS all about God’s grace. Well if that’s the case, then why do so few believers actually experience this wonderful life?”

I am so glad you asked. (:

I’d like to show you this simple truth that I think –and I believe the scriptures support it!– keeps the grace of God from our lives. Let us read again. This time we shall journey into the Old Testament. Jonah 2:8 says this:

"Those who cling to worthless idols
forfeit the grace that could be theirs.”

Yessir, when we worship idols, we block God’s grace from our lives. “Idol” sounds like a really intense word, but we all do it. Your idol might be a person, or a thing, or a position, or money, or your talent, but we’ve all experienced idolatry. It’s anything that is takes a place that only God should. We are to have no other gods but Him.

“Ah ha! Joshua! I caught you! You’ve already contradicted yourself! You just said grace had nothing to do with our efforts! Now your saying we have to earn it! Sounds like a works based doctrine to me!”

I’m so glad you noticed that. (: I thought the same thing as the Holy Spirit was revealing this to me. Let’s go back to Paul for a second. As a matter of fact, you may have even thought of a verse like this to refute what I just said. Here’s Romans 11:6:

“And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.”

I SO could not agree with you more if you believe this scripture. I really believe the Holy Spirit lead me to read the verse in context a bit. Here’s what comes before, starting with verse 2:

God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: "Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me"[? And what was God's answer to him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal." So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

Wow. I would say that certainly supports the Jonah 2:8 theory.

“Joshua, now I am just confused. Do we have to earn it or not?”

Again, I’m so glad you asked! Let me go Jesus-style a bit, and tell you a story.

Let’s imagine a nice person going on a stroll through a lovely, wide-open field. As this man is walking it begins to pour down rain. Absolutely pouring. The man did nothing to merit being rained upon. He didn’t even ask! He didn’t beg...He didn’t pay fifty cents or do a rain dance. It just rained. You get the picture!

Now, let’s suppose this person had an umbrella handy. He opens it up and holds it above his head. He is now blocked from the grace of God–excuse me rain. Even though rain is being showered upon him and all around him, if he keeps the umbrella open, then he will experience the rain.

I’m sure you understand what I am getting at! Friends, God is ready to pour out His grace in our lives! He WANTS to. He is a loving Father, desiring us so excel in EVERY part of life. He is that kind of dad! Basically we have to learn to do nothing, and just be rained on.

HOWEVER, when we serve idols, we keep ourself from the grace of God. When we strive in our own efforts, what idol do we serve? The idol of self! Simply learn to receive God’s grace in your life! He can deliver you from every bondage! In every broken place, every wound, every messed up relationship, every dark place His grace is sufficient. I’m not saying He will change every circumstance, but you better believe He will sustain you with His grace.

Now, I’m not going to temper the gospel of grace with anything, but let me make a few things clear. The Bible is clear that we will face trails and persecutions. Life is not going to be perfect and sun-shiny all the time. You may or may not be wildly wealthy, though I believe He wants to deliver us from financial bondage. There will be hard, dark times. But, I believe that God will give us all that we need to get through them! As Paul learned with a thorn in His side, God’s grace REALLY IS sufficient. We can still have peace in those times. Like James 1 says, we’ll still be tested and refined. But He won’t leave us without what we need.

Oh God is good!

What I’ve been doing is not asking God to give me grace, but saying “God, I rest in Your grace for this.” His grace is already there! We need not ask for what has already been given. Let your prayers be for God’s will to be done here on earth. Simply rest in the grace that is so readily there!

If something in you resonated with what I have said, then you should read the book Destined to Reign by Joseph Prince. As the Holy Spirit has been stirring this in me, I’ve been dabbling in this book at the bookstore at church. It’s absolutely life-changing. He teaches the same core message as what I just shared and I’ve been very inspired by it. But friends don’t idolize any person! Thank God for the revelation he brings through people. Anyway, I really believe that God is rousing this message all throughout the globe! Make no mistake this is HUGE!

It is my hope that this message has inspired you and/or liberated you! I don’t want to keep this freedom and revelation to myself!

I love you all!

-joshua