Grace:   God's Riches At Christ's Expense ... as good a definition as we're likely to find.

Grace is the term that describes HOW we find ourselves in relationship with God. It clarifies that we don't find Him ... He finds us. It articulates that (a) the "initial recognition" of God's existence, (b) the "invitation" that initially brought us to Him, and (c) the "glue" that now holds us to Him is all a result of His gracious, undeserved gift. Even the DESIRE to be with Him is from Him. (The enemy certainly would never give us that desire.)

( Do you need some encouragement today, by the way? Well, there it is ... God is at work in your heart even as you read these words! He is the one who even gave you the desire to be with Him :)

So, ... as we now embark on the path of becoming His disciples, let us never forget that, though we are ACTIVELY and CONSCIOUSLY INVOLVED in the process with Him, ... though we are PARTICIPANTS with Him in walking the same path the FIRST twelve disciples did, ... we no more deserve credit for "following" than Peter, James, John, Bartholomew and the others did. It is God who gets the credit for every inch of success in our endeavor.

The reason we bring this up is because any time we approach the topic of growth in Christ, of  "working" to become more His disciples, there is the possibility that extreme, overzealous advocates of grace will react with, "No! All the work is done! We don't have to DO anything! We already ARE His!" Well, though there is much truth to what they say, we must remember that, when God came to this planet Personally, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, He called twelve men to FOLLOW Him, not SIT with Him. They were asked to drop their nets (or whatever else they were doing / clinging to) and walk with Him / keep up with Him. They had to put one foot in front of the other, walk long distances, gather firewood, light the campfires, go get food and water, extinguish the campfire each morning, and FOLLOW Him. That took a conscious expenditure of energy. But those actions no more EARNED credit for the first twelve followers than our taking the pill the Doctor prescribes when we're sick EARNS us credit for our recovering from the flu. The DOCTOR gets the credit. So does our Master.

So as we embark on the exciting journey of walking with the Master, let us not blur the distinction between our work and His grace. He gets all the credit. He graciously gives the desire. He provides the energy.

What is it that saves us? A faith that works.

Our task daily? Just like the daily task of the first twelve ... stay six inches behind the Master. So close we can "smell His cologne." (No offense intended.) And if we're that close behind Him, all we have to do is follow. Turn left when He turns left. Turn right when He turns right. Stop when He does. Run an errand when He sends us on one. We don't have to become theological giants. Apologetic experts. Evangelistic machines. We DO have to obey. We DO have a list of instructions. But we're not following a rule book. We're not trying to adhere to and perform according to an ethic / a system of some kind. No. We're following a Man. The Man who was God. (And when necessary, He carries us.)

Grace ... God providing the call. God providing the desire to answer and to follow. God providing the energy our legs need to move. God providing the "successes."

Grace ... God gets all the credit.

If we're all on the same page, let's start the journey. Let's see what Faith Launched looks like ...