Today’s Scripture: John 10:10

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Why do we not experience more of the endless supply of God’s grace? Why do we so often seem to live in spiritual poverty instead of experiencing life to the full as Jesus promised (John 10:10)? There are several reasons that may or may not apply to a particular believer. One that might apply to most of us is our frequent misperception of God as the divine equivalent of Ebenezer Scrooge, demanding the last ounce of work out of his people and then paying them poorly. That may sound like an overstatement of our perception of God, but I believe it’s a fairly accurate representation of how many Christians think.

Consider the following words from one of John Newton’s hymns: “Thou art coming to a king, large petitions with thee bring; for his grace and pow’r are such none can ever ask too much.” How many Christians really believe those words? How many really believe his grace and power are such that we can never ask too much? Rather, we tend in the direction of believing God is reluctant to answer prayer and his grace and power aren’t sufficient to fulfill our needs, let alone our requests.

We should not forget that Satan’s very first temptation of mankind was based on questioning the goodness and generosity of God (Genesis 3:1-5). And his vicious attack on the patriarch Job was designed to cause Job to question God’s goodness so that he would then curse God (Job 1:6-11). Satan has not changed his strategy today. This perception of God as the reluctant giver comes right from Satan and must be resisted by us if we are to experience the fullness of God’s grace. (Excerpt taken from Transforming Grace)

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