"Living in the Overflow of God's Grace" | October 25, 2025 | Ps Joel Lowery

There's something profoundly liberating about understanding the true nature of God's grace. Not as a thin veneer we apply when convenient, not as a limited resource we ration carefully, but as an overwhelming, abundant, never-ending supply that covers every broken piece of our lives.

The Picture of Grace

Imagine for a moment that you're broken—not metaphorically, but actually in pieces. Life has been hard on you. Circumstances have shattered your confidence, your plans, your sense of security. You're fragmented, scattered, uncertain of how all these pieces could ever come together again.

Now imagine God's response. Does He come with judgment? With a checklist of what you did wrong? With conditions you must meet before He'll help?

No. He comes with grace. And not just a little grace—not a single scoop to get you through the week. He comes with heaps upon heaps upon heaps of grace. An overwhelming abundance that buries your brokenness, surrounds you completely, and declares that His love isn't measured by your performance.

Grace Upon Grace

The Gospel of John gives us this remarkable phrase: "from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace" (John 1:16). Some translations say "grace for grace" or "grace in place of grace," but they all point to the same stunning reality—God's grace isn't linear. It's not a single line you must carefully walk. Instead, it's an overflowing abundance, heaping upon heaping, infinite in supply.

This matters deeply because somewhere along the journey of faith, many of us forget about grace. When we first come to Christ, grace feels meaningful and necessary. We know we need it. But the longer we walk with God, the easier it becomes to slip into thinking we've somehow graduated from needing grace. We start believing our good behavior earns God's favor, or that our mistakes push us beyond His reach.

Neither is true.

Grace and Truth Walk Together

Here's something crucial to understand: God's grace is not the opposite of truth. They're two sides of the same coin, walking hand in hand. Jesus came full of both grace and truth.

We're often wired for one or the other. Some of us are truth people—we want things clear, straightforward, black and white. Enough of the "lovey-dovey stuff," we think. Let's get real about why life isn't working.

Others of us are grace people—we lead with compassion, always ready to give another chance, focused on making sure everyone feels loved and accepted.

But God doesn't ask us to choose. He embodies both perfectly. His truth keeps us grounded in reality. His grace ensures that reality doesn't crush us.

The danger for truth-oriented people is becoming modern-day Pharisees—using Scripture as a measuring stick to judge rather than as an invitation to freedom. The danger for grace-oriented people is avoiding necessary truth that actually sets people free.

We need both. And God gives both in perfect measure.

Three Gifts of Grace

When we truly grasp God's grace, it transforms our lives in practical ways. Grace isn't just a feeling or a theological concept—it's the active, practical demonstration of God's favor in our lives.

Grace Gives Freedom

Ephesians 1:6-8 speaks of God's "glorious grace" that He has "poured out" on us, describing Him as "rich in kindness and grace" who has "showered his kindness on us." Notice the language—poured, rich, showered. There's nothing stingy about God's grace.

And this grace purchases our freedom. Not just freedom from eternal condemnation, but freedom today. Freedom from the chains of past mistakes. Freedom from constantly looking over our shoulder. Freedom from thinking God is perpetually disappointed in us.

When we're submerged in God's grace, we walk lighter. We stop trying to prove ourselves. We stop carrying weights God never intended us to bear.

Grace Gives Forgiveness

Romans 5:20 contains a stunning statement: "But as people sinned more and more, God's wonderful grace became more abundant."

This messes with our sense of fairness. Wait—they sin more, and God gives more grace? That doesn't seem right!

But here's the truth: we don't want a fair God. If God were fair, none of us would make it. None of us measure up to His holiness. The moment we start thinking we measure up more than someone else, we've missed the entire point.

Your debt has been forgiven. Let that sink in. Whatever you walked in with today—whatever weight you're carrying from yesterday, last week, or ten years ago—your debt has been forgiven. Stop choosing to pick it back up.

The enemy will always whisper reminders of your failures, your weaknesses, your mistakes. But that's not God's voice. God's nature is grace, and He has declared you forgiven.

Grace Gives God's Presence

Perhaps most beautifully, grace means we're never separated from God. Hebrews 4:16 invites us to "draw near to the throne of grace" with confidence, knowing we'll find mercy and grace to help in our time of need.

Your worst days can't scare God away. Your best days didn't earn His presence in the first place. He's always available, always near, always ready to meet you exactly where you are.

As Psalm 139 declares, even if we travel to the farthest oceans, even there God's hand will guide us and His strength will support us. There's nowhere outside the covering of His grace.

Living in the Overflow

Here's where this gets really good: God doesn't give us His grace just for our own benefit. He fills us to overflowing so that His grace spills out onto everyone around us.

We don't manufacture grace. We can't produce it through positive thinking or good behavior. But when we position ourselves to receive God's abundant grace, it naturally overflows from our lives into the lives of others.

When we truly understand God's forgiveness for ourselves, we can extend authentic forgiveness to others. When we experience His freedom, we can lead others to freedom. When we encounter His presence, we become carriers of that presence wherever we go.

An Invitation

Perhaps you're reading this in a valley season. Life hasn't been fair lately. You're carrying disappointment, discouragement, maybe even anger toward God.

God can handle it. He's not fragile. Pour out your heart to Him. Lay it all at His feet. And then let Him come in and fill those empty, hurting places with His overwhelming grace.

Or maybe you're on a mountaintop right now. Things are going well. Don't forget—you still need grace. You didn't earn this season, and you can't maintain it through your own strength.

Wherever you are today, God's grace is sufficient. It's abundant. It's available. And it's yours—not because you've earned it, but because that's simply who God is.

He is good. All the time. And His grace never runs out.