True Grace

“For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” (John 1:16 NIV)

I wonder if Grace is God’s Spirit working within us and around us.

What if we can’t recognize Grace? Does it make it less real? What if we mislabel it?  What if we mistakenly identify it as our own sufficiency or wisdom?

After his resurrection, Jesus first appears to Mary Magdalene.  “At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.” (John 20:14 NIV)

I think recognizing God's Spirit in us and around us is a process that cannot be hurried. We look for tangible, palpable fruits as evidence of the Holy Spirit within us. Fruits don't show up on a tree until late in the maturation process. But the spirit of life is in the plant even as it lies dormant as a seed, even as it germinates and expands underground, even as it puts out its first embryonic root.  

God’s Holy Spirit is within us and around us, whether we recognize the signs or not. I pray that the Lord will reveal himself to each of us in ways we can recognize and understand.