God has given us grace in myriad ways. He has given us life, a world, blessings in the forms of children and food and sunshine. He has given us healing at times, wives, and homes and protection. He has given us inspiration and encouragement on days when darkness seems to be all that reigns. He has sent an angel to comfort or a prophet to speak His word.

God hasn't always given grace like an impersonal parachute drop from above that satisfies a moment. We call ourselves Christians because has given us the greatest grace, the Messiah who is called Immanuel, which means that God is with us (Christ is the Greek word for Messiah). God gives us quality nurturing and mentoring time with Himself.

Sawyer Brown, a country music band, released a song in 2005 entitled "They Don't Understand" with a chorus that describes the daily pulse of so much of American life:

Everybody's busy with their own situation,

Everybody's lost in their own little world,

Bottled up. Hurried up. Trying to make their dream come true.

Everyone pursues their dreams, often times without considering that someone will be hurt when someone else wins. It's true. You cannot pursue the American dream without trampling on the life of someone else ... America is competitive, and whenever someone wins, then someone else will lose.

God's grace is not intended to fuel competition, or to somehow give you something so that someone else might be hurt. God's grace is intended to reverse competition and replace it with something called "reconciliation" - reaching out to others to help them win.

Have you wondered why healing is by far the most popular grace that most people seem to seek from God? Is it odd that of all the different types of grace that are described in Scripture, that healing would be the one that is so highly sought - particularly in an age when we enjoy some of the most advanced health and lifespans ever.

It is true that healing was a common feature of Jesus' ministry, but consider that it might not have been because the ministry of Jesus was a physical healing ministry. During this time, there was a widespread understanding that disease and sin were bound together (retribution theology), and absolution of sin would remove the disease.

When Jesus healed, note that his emphasis was on faith and sin. For example, "your faith has healed you" (Matt 9:22) or you are healed "so that all may know that the Son of Man has authority on Earth to forgive sins." (Matthew 9:6).

The healing was a meaningful outward sign of what God was doing spiritually with a person. So, is this still true today? Are we seeking merely good health or do we have a passion for a holy life?

God had a reputation problem a long time ago. The walls of Jerusalem were torn down and it was shameful and disgraceful. When surrounding nations would look at the condition of Jerusalem and God's people, it might appear as if God wasn't powerful, or didn't care, or wasn't providing gifts (grace) to his chosen people as if God's vision for them was evaporated.

In biblical terms, "disgrace" is the absence of gifts from God ("Dis" implies absence and "grace" is gifts given toward God's vision). And that's exactly the depressed emotion Nehemiah was feeling when he heard about the reputation of Israel and, by inference, God. It stirred strong emotion in him, led him through much prayer and fasting, and eventually caused him to act in a manner which would change the conditions.

Nehemiah was a first pursuer of God and God's word, then he was a pursuer of God, and finally he was a wall builder. He advanced the vision of God at a time when vision had appeared to stall!

All around us is fear ... of losing our jobs, of getting injured, of disease, of bill collectors, of crime. What's worse, we sit at the news bars and drink in glass after glass of intoxicating fear stories - 99% of these are not even real threats.

As Christians, we face situation after situation with fear rather than confidence and courage. God has our back, doesn't he? God doesn't want us to live a life of fear, but he wants us to live a life of courage where he is providing all we need to get where He is leading us.

And, even though you may indeed need to walk through a valley that seems frightening ... well ... read Psalm 23 for how God's people will carry themselves. :)

Have you experienced a time when your spiritual life seems to be on life support? God doesn't seem to speak or influence anything around, your prayer life has dried up and praise escapes you, and everything spiritual feels dry and sandy.

If you enter into a such a time as this, when the Lord seems distant and unresponsive, you may have entered a spiritual desert. But, this isn't bad. It is a period when God intends to strengthen you for the future and the testing can seem difficult at times.

Still, pursue that future and persevere. God has given you grace to be freed from slavery, and press through the temptations to return to that place of bondage!

The basic pursuit of every person is the pursuit of joy, happiness, peace, and the "good life." Have you ever considered that you may have been doing it all wrong?