God as Generous
by: Gary Rohrmayer, President of Axelerate
This Article is an excerpt from
“JESUS: A 21 DAY JOURNEY TOWARDS A DEEPER RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST”
“In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgivenessof sins,in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that helavished on us.” – Ephesians 1:7-8
Have you ever been to a lavish event? Where every detail is over the top and opulence is not in short supply?
My wife Mary and I (Gary) attended a lavish dinner in Chicago where #1 the silverware was goldware and #2 there were so many different types of knives, forks, and spoons surrounding the plate that it was a little intimidating. I remember Mary saying to me, “Just start from the outside and work your way in toward the plate.” That little word of advice helped me move from a nervous intimidation to a pleasant enjoyment of the evening.
How do you handle the lavishness of God? The Apostle Paul handled it with exuberance. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3).
Our God is generous! He is lavish in his grace! He is an above and beyond God! There is an abundance in God that we cannot fully comprehend but we can increasingly enjoy and experience through the spiritual blessings we have in Christ.
In his letter to Titus, Paul gives a vivid picture of the lavish generosity that God has displayed in the gospel, “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:5-7).
A life marked by generosity must first be marked by the generosity of God. Offer a prayer of thankfulness today as you move toward a generous life.
Father in Heaven, You are generous! You are lavish in your grace! You are extravagant in your mercy and abundant in your blessings. Through the gift and the power of the Holy Spirit, may generosity flow through my life as liberally as your grace flows to me through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.