Pastor Jason Anderson - Set Aside Your String Beans

Galatians 2:21 starts out with "I do not set aside the grace of God."  So there is stuff that we do set aside right?  We set aside our string beans when we are eating, or we set aside some money that we aren't spending.  But grace isn't to be set aside.  When you set something aside you are benching it, taking it out of the game.  Giving it a rest.  You inactivate it, or make it stand still.  It’s like having a phone that is turned off.  It is designed to help connect you with people, but off, it will do nothing.  Anything set aside is serving no current and active purpose.  Those beans are doing  nothing for no one set aside on your plate.  (I give my string beans to the dog.) 

So Paul is not keeping grace in the fridge, or in his pocket, but he is always keeping grace in motion, in all that he does he runs it through grace.  So what does it mean to go through your day with grace operating?  It means you aren't in judgement of others, or criticizing others.  It means you think good of others and yourself, and aren't expecting anyone to uphold some sort of Christian standard that you yourself have set.  It means that in all you do you can operate in the authority of Jesus Christ and expect mountains to move, storms to calm and sickness to leave.  That authority is afforded to you because you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.  Grace.  It means no weapon formed against you and your family can prosper, and that you accept no calamity as well deserved since Christ has died and paid the penalty in full for all sin for all time.  It means that when you fail you are actively forgiving yourself, or if others let you down, you actively forgive them.  You keep that grace in motion, you meditate upon it, and you allow that grace to teach you godly living.  It is God's grace who forgives you. It is a gift that frees us to be happy.

The Living Word Bible Church

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