“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

What if Peter never denied Jesus and instead travelled with him to the cross? Would he have experienced Jesus’ grace?

What if Lazarus had not died and therefore Jesus never raised him from the dead? Mary might never have received Jesus’ grace and then become so grateful that she was led to lavishly anoint Jesus with oil.

What if Saul had never persecuted people of the Way and allowed Steven to be stoned to death? I wonder if he would have experienced Jesus’ grace on the road to Damascus.

This one word is so powerful it can change a hard-charging man like Saul to become the grateful man Paul who poured out the rest of his life for one cause—spreading the Good News to the world.

I am absolutely blown away how in the Bible there is a pattern that occurs over and over again that goes something like this:

Sin
Awakening/Clarity
Repentance
Forgiveness
Mercy
Love
Grace
Gratitude
Generosity
Contentment

God’s grace and His Holy Spirit are what powered Paul to finish his race well, to keep fighting when things got really really tough and to keep the faith.

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).

This grace turned into gratitude once he realized what Jesus Christ had saved him from. He plunged deeply in to the sea of grace and was forever changed. It took time, possibly more than the three years he spent in Arabia, but those three years “kick-started” his relationship with God and powered the rest of his life. He savored the new life he had in Jesus. His main priority in the beginning of this new life was not “doing” but instead being still with the Creator of the Universe in order to be filled with God’s grace and the Holy Spirit.

If we believe something is missing in our lives, could it be we have never truly experienced this sea of grace? Have we set aside time to be “kick-started” with God and the power of the Holy Spirit?