Skip to main content

Grace Extensions

AS GRACE EXTENDS 
SO THE GLORY GOES
2Cor 4:14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory (revealing? Fame? Beauty?) of God.

I am somewhat new to the hair style scene. At least to the scene that requires extensions. I asked my wife about a lady's hair and how beautiful it was and she remarked back, "Oh you mean her extensions?" After an explanation I was lead to believe that the extensions were not a part of the lady's real hair, but it did make it look more beautiful.

Extensions not only are for making things longer and more attractive but also for assisting in our getting across or over something that is in our way--a hindrance or hurdle. Take extension ladders for example. When you slide the extension part of the ladder up for use it allows for us to be able to reach much higher than normal. When you are finished you can retract the extension part, restore the ladder to normal size, and store the ladder back in the corner for later use. Then there is the extension bridge that utilizes engineering finesse to construction a longer bridge to span the distance from one side of the river to the other. Extensions are for attraction, to reach higher and too gain access. Grace is an extension for the glory of God.

“Grace extensions” lead to increased thanksgiving which in turn glorifies God. Evangelistic grace brings glory to God as well as edifying grace! Grace extensions are avenues for God to break into this world—through our circumstances so He might reveal Himself in us and through us to other so they might see Him and be drawn to Him. God is also revealed in us as we extend grace to others like He has extended it to us. Grace makes the glory shine--it makes you look beautiful, and as you reach out to extend a hand to another, it lifts them higher and helps them gain access into the grace within which you stand (cf. Romans 5:2).


How does grace extend to others? By believers being active in the world in love? I think so.

Are you needing a grace extension? A ladder of God’s grace extended to you to help raise you up?
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

I Wish We'd All Been ... Left Behind

  Perhaps you have heard the group DC Talk sing the remake of Larry Norman’s’ song, “I Wish We’d All Been Ready”? There is something tragically deceptive about the lyrics though. As we sing along, we find ourselves participating in a couple instances where we wish we had been ready to be taken instead of left behind. But that is not how Jesus tells his side of the story. The words are inspired by Matthew 24:40-41. But let’s look more closely, shall we? MATTHEW 24:37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away . That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. ...
Read more

IN ESSENTIALS, UNITY

I just had a board meeting where I went over a study on the word "unity" and "divisions." The question that immediately came up was, "Well, Christians don't have to agree on everything...right?" My response went something like this, "Well, wouldn't we want to?" It hit the fan like a lead balloon, which is not at all what I had expected. I thought all of the other board members would be shouting, "Yes!" and giving me high-fives and chest bumps. Well, maybe not chest bumps at this age.  There were some other ideas, thoughts and opinions expressed, and I was like, "We just went over this study of like 25 verses that state we are to be unified and have no divisions among us. Why don't you get it?" Seems like I was the one who actually didn't get it. It wasn't that I thought my interpretations were wrong, the weren't. The question centered around their application. "How in the world are we to agree on e...
Read more

Review: Evangelism More Caught than Taught

I teach Evangelism & Discipleship I & II online for a Christian University in Ohio. I was looking over an assignment that really threw me for a curve because the exercise goes against what the course is teaching. The course uses as one of its textbooks, Becoming a Contagious Christian: Communicating Your Faith in a Style that Fits You, which teaches that there are several ways of evangelizing referred to as "styles" and that there isn't only one acceptable way. Those styles are: Direct style, Intellectual style, Invitational style, and Serving style. Then the course has students read an article that emphasizes one style (Direct, or perhaps Intellectual) and asks them to attempt to do so. The article gives the following statement for its rationale: "We are dedicated to equipping people for evangelism, not because large numbers follow us, but because it is the command Jesus gave to His followers. We don’t take others with us for OJT because it’s c...
Read more

Family Time Videos