_"...this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." — Romans 5:2_
THE DIMENSIONS OF GRACE- SUSTAINING GRACE (b)
When a child is learning to walk, how does he stand? If you watch carefully, the child is not really standing by himself. The mother’s hands are under his armpits. The child may think he is walking alone, but it is the mother’s strength that is sustaining him. When he stumbles, he does not fall to the ground because the mother’s hands are there. That is Sustaining Grace.
God knows you are still a toddler in many areas. He is not shouting, “Stand well or I will leave you!” He has placed His everlasting hands under you. That is why you have not fallen away till now. It was not your willpower; it was His grace wherein you stand.
If Saving Grace is the grace that brings us IN, Sustaining Grace is the grace that keeps us STANDING.
Sustaining Grace is that daily, quiet, continuous supply of God’s strength that keeps you from falling, keeps you from quitting, and keeps you from going back.
*Saving Grace forgave your past. Sustaining Grace secures your present*.
Paul says in Romans 5:2, we have access by faith into _"this grace wherein we stand."_ We did not just fall into grace and fall out again; we STAND in grace. Grace is not just the door; grace is the house we now live in.
Many Christians know how to enter grace but don’t know how to stand in grace. They are saved but struggling, forgiven but falling, believing but breaking down under pressure. What they need is not another forgiveness — they need Sustaining Grace.
The Law told you to stand by your own strength. Grace says, “I will hold you up.”
> _"Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling..." — Jude 1:24_
Sustaining Grace works in three ways:
*1. It Keeps You When Temptation Comes:*
It does not just tell you to resist; it empowers you to overcome. - 1 Corinthians 10:13
*2. It Holds You When Trials Come:*
When the journey becomes hard and you feel like giving up, Sustaining Grace whispers, “My grace is sufficient for you” - 2 Corinthians 12:9. It does not always remove the thorn, but it gives you strength to live above the thorn.
*3. It Lifts You When You Stumble:*
The righteous man falls seven times and rises again - Proverbs 24:16. What makes him rise? Sustaining Grace. It is the hand of God that will not let you stay down.
*You are not kept by your grip on God; you are kept by God’s grip on you.*
A man standing by his own strength can boast, but a man standing by grace can only give thanks. Those who understand this do not condemn or look down on those that have fallen.
*Are you trying to stand by discipline alone, or are you leaning
_Father, thank You for not just forgiving me but for holding me up. Today, I lean not on my own strength. Let Your Sustaining Grace keep me standing, keep me strong, and keep me going in Jesus’ name. Amen._