As I meditate on the coming year, I believe God is speaking to my heart that this will be a year of grace: grace for others, grace for me, grace from God, grace for the people in my life.
Grace – unmerited, undeserved favor. It’s supernatural, beyond our natural ability.
Without grace we can’t in our natural human responses honor, prefer, and love those who have done nothing to earn our respect or recognition. Neither is it natural to expect it when we don’t deserve it. However, God in flesh, laid down His life, giving grace to mankind, me, underserving, yet now justified by my faith in Him.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but will have eternal life.
I don’t know what 2025 holds for us, for me. Our world, my world, could change in a moment. Experiencing grace doesn’t mean that difficult times won’t come, but with grace, God’s unmerited and unearned favor, I can trust that nothing is too hard for Him. I know He loves me, and that gives me peace and strength to stand strong in the midst of every storm.
I stand in awe of the goodness of God! Mere words cannot adequately describe what if feels like to know that God sees and cares about every detail of my life. In my innermost being I feel Him. In my mind’s eye, I see Him. God is Love. Agape love. A love beyond what we as humans can love.
This is why my heart cries out; He is worthy of it all! All my hopes, all my dreams, all my life. I want to give Him everything, my will, my relationships, my possessions, my heart! And it’s all because grace, the undeserved favor of the Creator of this universe, that sees me. Nothing is worth more to me than Jesus and His unearned, undeserved, love for me.
2025, whatever it brings is going to be a year of grace. My expectation of experiencing the vastness of this grace, like never before will be a day-to-day wonder! I’m thankful, humbled, expectant, hopeful. The greatest grace of all would be that those in my life that have never tasted of the goodness of God would know just how truly amazing this grace is. Maybe, just maybe, 2025 will be their year too.
Ephesians 3:14-17
When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. The Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. You roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is.
