My Dear Friend, 

Grace, grit, growth, glory - these terms describe adequately, if briefly, the Christian pathway. Let's stroll along it.

It all begins with grace. By God's unmerited favor, when we repent of sin as we understand it and believe on Christ as the Gospel presents Him, we receive saving grace from God - the very gracious nature of Christ enters our graceless being by the grace of the Father. And, if we desire and ask, we may also receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. This grace imparts new life, overcoming strength, and a gift and call with which to help build God's kingdom. If we persevere!

His grace, however, needs our grit, that is, our full commitment or willingness. Not to save us but to nurture and fully develop the divine Life grace has given us. Grit speaks of our hearts firmly determined, utterly abandoned to cooperate with God's grace so we can grow spiritually and ultimately fulfill our gifting and calling to be a blessing to others. Jesus warned Satan will come "immediately" (Mark 4:15) to try to steal God's Word and render our life fruitless, so we must meet his challenge with a militantly fixed mind.

We must be determined to seek God, determined to abide in Him daily, determined to study His Word, determined to build a prayer life, determined to abandon sin and surrender our self-will, determined to live the spiritual lifestyle, determined to love nothing and no one more than Jesus, determined to persevere through hard tests of faith and patience, however long, and, if we should fail, to quickly confess, rise again, and overcome the same tests the next time they come.

Whenever such grit and grace combine, spiritual growth always follows. As we study and obey God's Word, seek and follow His guidance, listen and respond to His humbling correction, recognize and exercise our gifts, discern and serve in our calling, and live close to and worship Jesus daily, a gradual inward miracle occurs.

Our old sin- and self-serving ways wither, die, and fall off. Our attitudes and behavior change. Our life goals become completely altered. Our view of life, its purposes, and how "success" is defined all become radically altered. Filled with the transformative thoughts and instructions of Christ teachings, we begin to actually think like He thought, live as He lived, serve as He served, love as He loved, pray as He prayed, and desire what He desired.

The more we live in Christ, the more He lives in us. The more He lives in us, the more the fruit of His Spirit appears on the tree of our soul. One day it becomes apparent, we are a profoundly changed creature, no longer resistant but pliable in Christ's hands and thus very valuable to Him in His kingdom service. Grit and grace have combined to produce growth, full spiritual development, Christian maturity, Christlikeness. But it won't end there.

As we grow spiritually mature, we are becoming ready to live in God's glory - His full manifest presence - forever. In inseparable, loving union with Him. In perfect oneness with His purposes. In the pure "Spirit and truth" worship that flows ceaselessly around His throne. In the new home of the redeemed, the Christ-made eternal city, New Jerusalem, with redeemed saints, martyrs, and prophets from all ages! Forever and ever and ever. No more devil. No more tribulation. Only bliss. World without end. With this glorious end before us, let's focus on the means.

If you've never received God's saving grace, the Savior, Jesus Christ, receive Him now as you read this piece: confess you're a sinner, repent of your sins, and ask Jesus to come into your heart. "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God" (John 1:12). Then ask Him to fill you with the Holy Spirit so He may take control of your life from within.

If you have already received God's grace, apply your grit. Set your mind to overcome the world, your flesh, and the devil - not for salvation but for spiritual growth! Then believe in and anticipate life in God's glory. Expect a wonderful foretaste of this as He manifests His nearness, life, peace, and strength to you daily while you seek Him and His Word alone and with other committed believers.

Expect also a marvelous, supernatural foretaste in the great End-Times awakening, revival, and harvest soon to break out in the church worldwide (Matthew 25:6-7). When it runs its course and prepares Christ's bride, expect further for Jesus to personally appear in the heavens, catch us up into His presence, and take us to the Glory - the full presence and throne of God in heaven above (1 Thessalonians 4:14-18).

So there it is. We've just taken a little stroll along the Christian pathway. By grace, with grit, through growth, to glory!

Maranatha, come Lord Jesus!

Greg Hinnant
Greg Hinnant Ministries