What To Do When You Have Fallen And Can't Get Up?

Peace and Hope

5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.
Paul summarizes the argument he has made thus far in the first four chapters.  We have been made right with God through what Jesus has done for us, and our faith in Him.  The result of a right relationship with God is peace.  When we were stuck in our sin, we were at odds with God, and the result was fear and anxiety.  The thought of our relationship with God was not comforting, but we had a sense of judgment and condemnation.  But through faith in Jesus we experienced something completely new, peace.  You don't know peace until you find it.  You can't explain it.  When you are not at peace with God, you would not have been able to put a name on it.  But when one you found peace with God, you realize how badly you missed it when you didn't have it. 
The second really important part of this passage is the phrase, "through whom we gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand." We don't just receive grace one time and that is it.  We stand in grace our whole lives, and this same grace will lead us home.  Grace is amazing when we first receive it, and it is no less amazing every day when we ask for forgiveness.  We remember God's grace every Sunday when we go to God to ask for the forgiveness of our sin and the pastor says, "You are forgiven by Jesus' word and work on the cross."  
Every time I come to God with my failures I am amazed at his grace and mercy for me.  Sometimes I wonder how he puts up with my repeated failures.  But thank God we have this grace in which we stand.  Access has been granted and nobody can ever close the gate on it.    
Where do you need God's grace to stand?  Where have you falled and can't get back up? Where do you feel defeated and are tempted to think you have run out of grace?  Where is the devil tempting you to think you don't deserve grace anymore?  For all of these situation remember to stand in the grace that God has given to you in Christ.  It is a gift given to you in love that will never be taken away from you!

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