When Joseph Parker, the great London preacher of the last century, was debating one day on the town green with enemies of Christianity, an infidel shouted to him, “What did Christ do for Stephen when he was stoned?”

Parker answered and he said the answer was given him like an inspiration from Heaven: “He gave him grace to pray for those who stoned him.”

It was the belief of St. Augustine and of Luther that the prayer which was offered by Stephen for those who stoned him, and which Paul must have heard when he held the clothes of those who did the stoning, was used of God for the conversion of the apostle.

Grace:

• a disposition to kindness and compassion; benign good will; “the victor’s grace in treating the vanquished”
• (Christian theology) the free and unmerited favor or beneficence of God; “God’s grace is manifested in the salvation of sinners”; “there but for the grace of God go I”
• a sense of propriety and consideration for others

Grace, in itself, is hard for us to understand, but the more we use of it, the more He gives… it seems an endless supply… I choose to prove that!  Consider this:

He Giveth More Grace

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater;
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase.
To added affliction He addeth His mercy;
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

His love has no limit;
His grace has no measure.
His power has no boundary known unto men.
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth and giveth and giveth again.

~Annie Johnson Flint, 1866-1932~

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and serious disease.  Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year-old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness.  The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister.  I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, “Yes I’ll do it if it will save her.”  As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks.  Then his face grew pale and his smile faded.  He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, “Will I start to die right away?”.

The little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her. ~Unknown Author~

I wonder…how many of us would do the same…?  Do we love God that much?  Jesus did!