Were it not for grace.....

I once asked God, “Where would I be if it were not for Your grace?”

I had hoped that He would reveal that I would simply have been a “good person” who was kind and helpful to others, but lost and empty without Christ. Instead, God led me to the second chapter of Jonah to read the account of Jonah's plunge to the depths. God revealed to me that my life would have been buried in a sea of sin and its consequences. I would have been surrounded by the dangers of the world and eventually drowned by the engulfing power of my enemy. I was shocked to read that without the grace of God I would have sunk down to the very roots of the mountains, as if seaweed was wrapped around my head, choking the life from me. Like Jonah, I would have gone to the lowest possible depths that a person could go without God’s infinite grace bestowed upon them. The answer to my question did not paint a very pretty picture of life without Christ.

And like Jonah, I could never have climbed up from the depths of my transgressions. As surely as God provided a way for Jonah to emerge safely from the depths of the ocean in the belly of the whale, God did the same for me. He reached down from heaven and lifted me up from that pit, cleansed me of my filth, and established me on higher ground forever.

Oh yes, were it not for grace, I can tell you where I would surely be. But now, let me tell you where I am! I’m on top of the world. In fact, I’m even higher than that. I am now seated in the heavenlies in Christ. High above the mire and the mundane is where you can find me!

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

Ephesians 2:4-6 (NKJV)

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ and you do not sense that you are living life on a higher plane, then you have been deceived. God has given you an abundant life, overflowing with joy. Claim it today!

Express your gratitude to God for the grace He has shown in rescuing you from the life you would have had without His salvation. Thank God today for His abundant life whether you are currently experiencing the reality of it or not. It’s yours. You must believe that by faith. Ask God to work in your life to bring you to an understanding of all that is yours in Christ.