Grace Has Made Himself Known.

Published January 31, 2025

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Grace Has Made Himself Known.

“If you want God’s grace, all you need is need, all you need is nothing. But that kind of spiritual humility is hard to muster. We come to God saying, ‘Look at all I’ve done,’ or maybe ‘Look at all I’ve suffered.’ God, however, wants us to look to him – to just wash.”

Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters

Isn’t that something?

In God’s mercy, He does not give the full consequences of what we do deserve. In His grace, He blesses us with many good gifts, despite what we have or haven’t done, giving us what we don’t deserve.

In John, it reads:

16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, He has made Him known. ― John 1:16-18

So, I got engaged at the end of 2024, at the age of 31.

It was a whirlwind of a time: the grand gestures, the surprises of family and friends flying out to see me and my fiancé, and the celebrations.

It was all so beautiful and well-thought-out—truly, an amazing weekend. 

Of course, we got an influx of congrats: calls, texts, Facebook comments, Instagram comments, Instagram DMs, etc.

And, I remember reading one of my ‘congrats.’ What I’m about to say is not a knock on them. I know they meant well, but they mentioned they were so happy for me because I ‘deserved’ this romantic love and to be treated well by a romantic partner.

While so well-meaning, these are the traps we find ourselves in.

We begin to think we’re entitled to a certain thing. I was single for a while, experienced a lot of heartache, and the thought of a fiancé wasn’t even in my mind in January 2024. (now, don’t go out there and say, “Well, Bria said I might be single now, but I might be engaged in December” – wait a minute now!)

By that time in my life, I had gotten to a place within my singleness, only by the grace and power of God, where I truly realized lasting fulfillment, contentment, and abundance of life can only come from God.

I wasn’t, and you aren’t ‘half of a person’ out there looking for our other halves, should we desire them and should God will.

However, God continues to make us whole people, made so by Him and Him alone.

I’m no marriage expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I believe it actually takes a whole person + a whole person to become one.

Due to a broken world, there isn’t a guarantee of how our lives might end up in this regard, and He sees that. He intimately knows our pains and struggles, regardless of our life experiences or personal brokenness.

Only by His power and overwhelming grace can we be content, no matter what may come.

This concept that I am getting what I deserve by being treated well by a partner is just not the truth.

The Word says the language & epitome of God is grace and truth—which came through Jesus Christ. He is the One who makes God known.

So, I have to tell you the truth.

The truth is that what I really deserve, for mistakes and the sin and brokenness in my own life, is eternal separation from God.

And yet – by the grace of God, His unmerited favor upon us, He makes Himself known to us. He allows us to experience His presence first-hand, to approach the very throne of grace of the Most High King.

When we yield to this truth and accept forgiveness, we are given his Spirit that transforms us and makes us whole.

We might have deserved death, hell and the grave, but someone else experienced that on our behalf and overcame it to make us His own: Jesus Christ.

And this is the unmerited favor we receive—even regarding just that little bit about ‘deserving’ some partner—the Bible actually says, “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.”

That doesn’t say anyone deserves anything but emphasizes, in this situation and many others, how God is the one that grants us grace, unmerited favor.

Nothing that we could earn, nothing that we could count as a notch on our belts, but only what we can attribute to God Himself grants us grace.

Through His Son, Jesus, this freely given grace has made Himself known to us.

Practical Next Steps

Read: John 1:16-18

Journal: Reflect on God’s grace either by jotting down a few related scriptures or making a list of ways His grace has been made known to you today.

Reflection Steps

Reflect on these questions as you think about God’s grace and mercy:

In what ways have you experienced God’s grace?

In what ways do you find yourself trying to earn God’s grace, when it’s freely given?

What area of your life may you need to accept God’s grace in?

Let’s Pray Together

Lord, thank You for making a way for me to approach Your throne of grace. You have made Your very self known to me through your Son, Jesus Christ. Help me to accept this grace and how it is freely given to me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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