How do I get God's Grace?

Today | Me

[mlizzy]

"To begin to believe, for me, I need to see Him present. To see Him present, I need to see an extraordinary Presence."

I see Christ's extraordinary Presence each and every day at Mass, where I'm also able, as a Catholic, to consume [be nourished by] Him. This is what gives me the strength to continue on in my day's work (for Jesus, the angels and saints).

"Holy Communion is the shortest and surest way to Heaven. There are others, Innocence for instance, but that is for little children; Penance, but we are afraid of it; A generous endurance of the trials of life, but when they approach us we weep and pray to be delivered. Once for all, beloved children, the surest, easiest, shortest way is by the Holy Eucharist" --Plus X.

Pray the Rosary for Peace

[svcw]

If I am offering you a gift, you put out your hand and take it.
God offers Grace, take it.

[FourtySeven]

LOL I love Seinfeld!

[Responsibility2nd]

I recall reading once a letter in the paper to Dr. Billy Graham.

It went sorta like this:

Dear Dr. Graham. I've heard you say many times that you must accept the Lord Jesus into your heart. Well, I've done that 3-4 times. And so far, he has not entered in.

What am I doing wrong?

_____________________________________________

I'm sorry, but I had to lolol.

[earlJam]

Sorry, I could not help myself. I didn’t mean to hijack your thread.

Please have grace on me... or is it mercy I need?

[Erik Latranyi]

Depending on the church, it might be for sale......

[trisham]

LOL!

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

Not quite. Both of those things require grace in order for you to do them, or even to consider doing them.

Somewhat true. No man can come to God except that God draw him (John 6:44), and God gives repentance (II Tim. 2:25). At the same time, however, man has the responsibility to respond to the grace that is extended (Romans 10:9-13) and by responding to that grace in repentance, is said to "recover himself out of the snare of the devil" (II Timothy 2:26).

In a way, you're rehashing to old Calvinism vs. Arminianism argument, when neither of those positions is actually correct.

[FourtySeven]

If I am offering you a gift, you put out your hand and take it.
God offers Grace, take it.

Right, and I believe that, let me make that clear. But again, that's not answering "how".

How do I "put out my hand and take it?" Am I alone in my house, reaching my hand up to Heaven and suddenly I get........something? Or, what?

Maybe it's best to phrase my question this way: How does the Grace of God operate in our world, today? How? Literally, "how"?

[Mr Rogers]

Define grace.

“The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” 8And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.” - Ex 34

If grace is his mercy and patience and love towards men who repeatedly reject him, then we ALL receive his grace - it is just many do not acknowledge it to be such.

How do we become aware of it? In my case, it was from meeting some christian kids while in the 7th grade. They weren’t like the other kids, and I knew I wanted whatever it was that made them different.

In the years since, I’ve seen it in the physical world, in scripture, in my experiences with others (painful and pleasant), in my dogs and horses...

It surrounds us. The more you respond, the more you will see it.

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

Yes, but *how* does God "give it"?

Who knows? He does because He chooses to. Any explanation beyond that probably falls under the purview of Duet. 29:29 and Romans 11:33.

[A.Hun]

that doesn't answer *how* you receive it

You're not really given His Grace until you meet Him at the Pearly Gate, so its not like he sends you a fax or something.

[FourtySeven]

You know actually that gets at the heart of my question, I think! :)

Anyone can *say* they have “accepted the Lord Jesus Christ into my heart”, but what does that *mean*? You see?

What does it mean? How does it work? The only way I can know if I’ve accepted Jesus is if I know how it’s done, right?

So how’s it done? How do we do that?

[SnakeDoctor]

You receive grace through the acceptance and acknowledgement of Christ as Savior and Son of the Almighty.

Baptism is a formality publicly acknowledging Salvation ... but is not a prerequisite. You demonstrate your Salvation by Baptism and works ... but cannot gain Salvation by Baptism and/or works alone.

SnakeDoc

[cajuncow]

Grace is the receipt of a positive benefit from God that one does not deserve to receive.

[jacknhoo]

Grace (gratia, Charis), in general, is a supernatural gift of God to intellectual creatures (men, angels) for their eternal salvation, whether the latter be furthered and attained through salutary acts or a state of holiness.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06689x.htm

[HalfFull]

The fact that He has not vaporized a sinful human race (and provides the Way to satisfy His Holy Standards) proves we have already received a large measure of His grace.

[SnakeDoctor]

>> This notion of “grace” is insufficient, I would submit. It’s insufficient because it doesn’t change lives; it doesn’t truly distinguish itself from any other belief system, like Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, etc.

To the contrary ... Grace is the primary distinguishing characteristic between Christian theology and that of any other religion on this planet.

SnakeDoc

[LonePalm]

I asked for it.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[svcw]

Ok, I am having trouble understanding your question. Sorry.
I see Grace everyday, every moment that I live. I see God’s Grace when my grandchildren are playing, that I have been Graced to see my inheritance. I see God’s Grace when I am able to provide a meal or blanket to a homeless person. I see God’s Grace when my adult daughter still calls me to ask for advice and when she hugs her father she kisses his neck and calls him Daddy. I see God’s Grace when my SiL, hugs me and tells me “I love you Mom”.
I see God’s Grace everyday in my life.
Are you are asking how does a loving God allow bad things to happen?
The spiritual answer is sin / the fall.
The worldly answer is I don’t know. All I know is there is a purpose in all things.
I trust God to know what He is doing.