Blessings of His Grace: Joy and Power Through the Grace of God

By A.G. Astudillo

Joy comes to a person who lives a life filled with God’s grace — enjoying it, being empowered by it, and freely sharing it. But we cannot earn grace and obligate God to give us grace. However, we can certainly create the right conditions — the right state of heart and mind — to find grace when it comes and be ready to receive it. And when we do receive it and use it according to his will, we can enter into a virtuous cycle of grace that will bring us the lasting joy we earnestly seek.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 12, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973612193

A.G. Astudillo

A.G. Astudillo is an MBA, a CPA, and a Project Manager, and has spent many years pursuing a management career. But his joy lies in studying and teaching God’s word and discovering how to apply its spiritual principles in the “real world.” While he has been actively involved in various church ministries, God has eventually lead him to express his spiritual convictions and discoveries in writing. His writing, he half-jokingly claims, is a result of “casual philosophical thinking by an accountant . . . ‘Life as a Christian and the Art of Double-Entry Bookkeeping’ - whatever that means.” He lives with his wife and three children in Vancouver, British Columbia.

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Copyright © 2018 A.G. Astudillo.

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This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission.

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-1218-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-1219-3 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 04/18/2019

Contents

Preface

Part 1: A Life of Grace, A Life of Joy

1: In Search of the Fountain of Joy

2: The Path to Joy

3: Who’s Your Daddy?

4: Jesus Christ and the Three Graces of Joy

5: A Saving Grace

6: An Enabling Grace

7: A Practical Grace

Part 2: The Winds of Grace

1: Harnessing the Power of Grace

2: Onward Christian Soldiers

3: Missing Grace

4: Knock Knock Knocking on Heaven’s Door

5: Ain’t Too Proud to Beg

6: Up Close and Personal

7: The Virtuous Cycle of God’s Grace

8: Your Journey Begins

References and Endnotes

About the Author

Preface

W hat started out as a series of Bible studies on happiness and how we can attain it became a personal journey of spiritual discovery. I began this journey many years ago after bouts of depression and deep insecurity in my life, incidents that made me seek happiness through my Christian beliefs. It is through my Bible studies that I found Christians have access to a more profound happiness, which is called joy. But even as a Christian, I had to ask myself a fundamental question: Why are the Bible’s many promises of joy and an abundant life a distant reality for me and for many Christians? What was missing? What was I doing wrong?

In the process of discovering the answer to achieving joy, I found grace. My journey to joy thus begins and ends with this gift – the gift of God’s grace. This book presents key insights from the Bible and from discerning, Godly writers that have helped me and that continue to help me live a life of joy, and grace, as I continue my journey. This is for all the pilgrims on this same journey to seek and find the joy promised to all who believe in Jesus Christ and his power.

I found inspiration in A.W. Tozer, a self-educated pastor and writer. What he said of his remarkable book, The Pursuit of God, resonates with how I feel about my own book:

Nothing here is new except in the sense that it is a discovery which my own heart has made of spiritual realities most delightful and wonderful to me. Others before me have gone much farther into these holy mysteries than I have done, but if my fire is not large it is yet real, and there may be those who can light their candle at its flame.¹

It is my prayer and hope that this book will help others find grace and joy as they navigate through their own life journeys.

A.G. Astudillo

This book is dedicated to

my family, certainly God’s gift of grace and a source of blessings to me.

Special thanks to Matthias Hoehne, who patiently read and reviewed this book. Your comments and suggestions were edifying and very much appreciated.

Thank you also to Jeffrey Lowe for his opinions on content, to Bruce Garrison and Chris Wong for providing useful edits and comments that refined earlier drafts, and to Sandra Judd for her meticulous editing of the final draft.

Part One

A LIFE OF GRACE,

A LIFE OF JOY

One

IN SEARCH OF THE

FOUNTAIN OF JOY

I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him. (Ecclesiastes 3:12-14)

I want to be happy. And who does not? Happiness is arguably the single most sought after human objective. Think of the plethora of self-help books, seminars, and workshops that instruct people on how to attain happiness. Even the most stringent ascetic, while denying himself all the pleasures of the world, is after some form of happiness. Such is the intoxicating power of being happy.

But what is happiness? Happiness is many things – enlightenment, self-fulfillment, nirvana, self-actualization, and self-satisfaction, to name a few – and it comes in many forms. We have all experienced the feeling of being happy, but it’s hard to precisely define and not always easy to recognize in ourselves and in others.

Happiness could relate to attaining certain positions of wealth, power, or social standing. It could also be connected to pleasurable experiences, like looking at beautiful scenery, or playing with a child, or going to the movies. Some will feel happy after meeting certain challenges or goals – reaching a mountain peak, graduating from school, or even being able to serve the homeless at a soup kitchen.

Much has also been said in the happiness literature about adopting positive attitudes and willing yourself to be happy. This may help create happiness to a certain extent but there is no guarantee it will last. Some people do not have the will or mental disposition to attain happiness, and most cannot sustain such a willful effort. Some are too scarred from previous experiences or limited by psychological or physiological issues to succeed at such an endeavor.

Despite the strong desire to be happy, happiness is frustratingly elusive for many. There are two reasons for this:

Firstly, people think that happiness is solely contingent on being able to achieve it by themselves, through their own efforts. So, they expend considerable effort working for happiness. They work hard to accumulate wealth or achieve a certain position in their career or life that they think will bring them happiness, or they engage in physical, mental, and spiritual pursuits that they think will give them ongoing satisfaction. All of this is the focus of many self-help books, seminars, and workshops where the message often is: If you are not happy, you are not trying hard enough!

As Joel Osteen described in his book, Every Day a Friday, we are fighting our way to happiness … always trying to reach somewhere else to be happy.² But the desire for happiness is a monster that needs to be fed again and again. You have to keep finding ways to be happy because the feeling of happiness does not last. And the harder you try to find lasting happiness, the more elusive it is.

Secondly, people think that happiness is contingent on something happening, such as winning a lottery, getting a promotion at work, building a large number of followers in social media, or developing a certain mindset or personality. To them, it’s the end result that counts. They think that once they achieve a key goal or objective, they will gain lasting happiness. They constantly search for the end of the rainbow, thinking that the pot of gold awaits them there and they can live happily ever after.

I am not saying that people should