Strengthend by Grace

Hebrews 13:7-9 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them.
 
IT is common within each passage of Scripture to hear a teaching that causes one to stop and think more acutely about a truth God wants us to know. Although verse 8 may be the most well-known sentence here, let’s stop and focus on this: It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace.
   Grace is God’s forgiving mercy on us. By grace he has saved us. Our salvation changes our hearts to love God. This love strengthens our hearts when we seek, know and believe God.
   For it is not by works you can imitate Christ. Only the Spirit’s power graciously bestowed into you will change your heart, so you want to know who Jesus is. Through the Spirit you understand the way Jesus lived. You hear the way Jesus spoke and acknowledge he is your all-sufficient Savior. You know he rescues your soul into heaven.
   Countless leaders in the church have been strengthened by God’s grace. The Hebrews writer may have been referring to the apostles.  God graciously strengthened their hearts as he appointed them to imitate Christ. For example, the spontaneous, prideful Peter developed a strong, humble, obedient heart. The Spirit transformed John, the “Son of Thunder” into a man of peace and love. Thomas, who doubted Jesus’ resurrection, became the strong evangelist to India. Saul of Tarsus, the Christian persecutor, became Paul, the apostle, whose strong heart for Jesus directed him to suffer for the gospel to the Gentiles. His words may best define strengthened by grace: 1 Corinthians 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Do you see that? By grace God was with Paul. The Lord changed the man to affect change in the world.
   Grace changes lives. Grace strengthens lives when we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). After all Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. It would be of little use to fix our eyes on Jesus if he is a changing god, leading us with whims and emotions that suit his desires each day. But we know he is always the Son of God, perfect in every way. Although false teachings and new ideas try to change the way we see Jesus, we know that only Scripture defines Jesus. When God’s grace empowers us to be as Jesus, we more clearly bear the image of God.
   Grace is God’s power tool, changing, strengthening your life. Use it well.