The Heart Established by Grace

I've recently realized just how important it is to be established in the grace of God.  Hebrews 13:9 states, "Do not be lead away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened (established in some translations) by grace, not by foods which have not benefited to those devoted to them."  (emphasis mine)

It IS good for our hearts to be established by grace.  There is such freedom in knowing that God is pleased with you, simply because you're in Christ.  The following has been taken directly from Joseph Prince's book Destined to Reign daily devotional, January 22 entry:

God does not want your heart full of worries and fears, tossed and turned by every challenge that comes your way.  He wants your heart at rest and established by His grace toward you.

But when you think that the breakthroughs to your challenge depend on your ability to obey God, then your heart will not be at rest.  It will be full of worries and anxieties.  Why?  Because you can never obey God perfectly.

But when you depend on God's grace, that is, His undeserved, unmerited favor, the opposite happens - your heart becomes established.  When you know that the only thing that qualifies you to receve God's blessings is faith in the finished work of Christ, your heart becomes established.  Then, you will walk without the fear of your troubles swallowing you up.  You will walk with full assurance that His blessings will be manifested in your life.

My friend, God wants your heart established, knowing that His righteousess, healing, protection and prosperity are yours - all paid for by Jesus' finished work at the cross.  God's blessings are sure in your life because they are not dependent on your ability to keep His laws, but Jesus' perfect obedience......today, under the new covenant, your sins no longer disqualify you because God Himself has said, "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." (Hebrews 8:12)

So let your heart be established by God's grace.  Because of His grace, you have full access to His blessings.  You no longer have to worry about whether you are good enough.  You can stand firm on the promises made in His Word and enjoy His blessings today because Jesus has paid the price.  Your part is only to believe and receive! "

I hope you take the time to get established by His grace.  God IS pleased with you, regardless of whether or not you've read your bible faithfully (or fill in the blank with the work of your choice).  Although reading the bible is essential in our walk with the Lord, it isn't a requirement for God being pleased with us.  Accepting Christ's finished work has made God pleased with us, and that will never change.  Praise God!

I have found in my own life that once I really got more established by His grace, the more I wanted to read the Word, etc.  Titus 2:11, 12 states that "The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and wordly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, godly lives in the present age."  How awesome that God's grace is what teaches us to "live right".  We don't have to live right in order for God to like us.  We just need to believe in the finished work of Jesus!

image: Luigi Diamanti/freedigitalphotos.net