Hi, this is Joni Eareckson Tada. Sing this beautiful classic with me, would you?
(Joni sings:)
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.
Good singing, friend! And I know you sure do celebrate God’s amazing grace every day. And I hope that like me, you are amazed not only at his grace that saved you some years ago, but the more-than-amazing grace that sustains you. That keeps and preserves you and grows you.
Kind of like a letter from my old school friend I received the other day. After twenty-five years of friendship, it was so good to read that she is still growing in the Lord Jesus. But I was especially touched when she signed off her letter right at the bottom before her signature, “Grow in grace.” It made me think: Just how have I grown in God’s grace over the last year? I mean, is it something that can be measured?
Well, Bishop J.C. Ryle puts it this way: “When I speak of growth in grace, I mean an increase in the degree, size, strength, vigor, and power of the graces that the Spirit plants in our hearts. When I speak of a person growing in grace, I mean simply this—that his sense of sin is becoming deeper, his faith stronger, his hope brighter, his love more extensive, and his spiritual-mindedness more marked. He feels more of the power of godliness in his heart. He manifests more of it in his life; and he goes on from strength to strength, from faith to faith, and from grace to grace.”
So, friend, I have to ask you: is your sense of sin deeper than it was last year? Is your hope brighter? Are your prayers more fervent? Do you sense more of God’s power in your heart? Are you more patient? Are you quicker to forgive than you were this time last year? Do you yield easily in conversations and look out for the interests of others? Most of all, can tell you are growing in grace when you find yourself talking about Jesus more and more? Sure you can.
You can be transformed into his likeness every day; yes, you can look back on yesterday and be different today, be more like Christ today. Something big, something different can happen in your life from year to year. Friend, that is amazing! Change is possible; a new and improved you is within reach. And the grace found in 2 Corinthians 3:18 is how it happens, where it says as we behold the Lord, we reflect his glory and are transformed “into his likeness with ever-increasing glory.” So read his Word, meditate on his life, reflect on him in prayer, and the guarantee from 2 Corinthians 3 is you will grow. So I pray today that God will transform you into the person he wants you to be because you were saved you are being saved and one day you will be saved. Until then, keep growing in his amazing grace.
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 91376
© Joni and Friends