The gift of grace is too wonderful for words therefore I will bow in reverence and surrender my life in obedience to God. Grace is not self-induced or self-sustained but it originates and proceeds from the Spirit of God. We are a blessed people above all people on planet earth. A nation whom God has chosen for His own inheritance. A nation who continually receives the outpouring of amazing grace upon us. We have complete and total access to the Father through His Son Jesus Christ. We who are chosen vessels of God should be in awe and glad that the everlasting love of God and His grace constantly pursues us every single day no matter how many sins we commit against Him. Our sins deserve death but mercy says no. When the world says no God says yes. When we fail at life and want to give up grace says try again and again then favor steps in with the blessings. “I delight to do Thy will, O my God: yea, Thy law is within my heart. Let all those that seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee: let such as love Thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.” (Psalm 40: 8 & 16) “The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall trust in Him; and all the upright in heart shall glory.” (Psalm 64: 10)
As we learn to balance our responsibilities and priorities making our God the head and not the tail, He continues to intervene on our behalf. He has already prepared the way, now He’s preparing us for the glorious appearing of His dear Son. Loving and obeying is a daily decision and constant commitment that we choose to do making wise choices to honor Him. We discipline ourselves to do righteously and to stay true to the calling without compromise. “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9: 8) We are ordained to eternal life powered by grace that sustains us for the duration of our lifespan. Saved by grace through faith and kept by grace. It is critical that we live in faith, humility and love day-by-day to receive the continued grace of God. “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” (Titus 2: 11-14)
Grace is available 24/7 in every situation we may face. It gives us power over trials and it pushes us through our fears and anxiety. It still protects, provides and guides us and we cannot fathom the width and length, the height and depth of God’s ongoing love, grace and mercy. Trials are intended to make us think, to wean us from the world, to send us to the Bible for help, guidance and comfort and it drives us to our knees to pray to God who is the source of our strength. One of the greatest blessings of our Christian salvation is that we have access to God in prayer. He sees our afflictions and He uses everything we go through for His glory. “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” (James 4: 6)
God was merciful and gracious to the children of Israel even when they were rebellious and refused to obey Him. For 40 years He sustained them in the wilderness and provided for their every need. They lacked nothing. “Moreover Thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go. Thou camest down also upon Mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments: And madest known unto them Thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses Thy servant: And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which Thou hadst sworn to give them.” (Nehemiah 9: 12-15) But after they had rest from their enemies they did evil again and again and God was gracious and merciful again and again. “He made known His ways unto Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel. The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will He keep His anger for ever.” (Psalm 103: 7-9) “Nevertheless He saved them for His name's sake, that He might make His mighty power to be known.” (Psalm 106: 8) But there were times when God dealt with the sins of some of them where he totally annihilated them. He forgets every sin after repentance and wipes the slate clean. Grace frees us of all charges. Our guilty verdict was changed to innocent and our sentence was changed from death to life. God wants us to be thankful for difficulties for they cause us to grow and mature. Limitations build strength and character and our painful mistakes teach us valuable, hard-learned lessons. “The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The LORD is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works.” (Psalm 145: 8-9)
Apostle Paul, the servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an Apostle after he persecuted the church of God, blasphemed God and had Christians killed. He obtained visions and revelations and was given a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to bruise him and keep himself humble. “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” (2 Corinthians 12: 8-10) When we are weak God is strong. He had given Paul the power to be victorious. His attitude changed when he realized that trials were simply an opportunity for God to produce His power, His mighty power to pull down strongholds, to beat Satan at his own game. Grace supplies the peace, the joy, the victory and it enables us to overcome any and every obstacle. “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.” (2 Corinthians 9: 15)
Paul was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. He taught the Word boldly from city to city preaching the Kingdom of God and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus with all confidence. The passion he had for killing Christians has now flipped to saving them. “For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” (1 Corinthians 15: 9-10) He served with his whole spirit praying and longing to see the brethren to impart spiritual gifts to strengthen them in their faith. The grace that was given him by God to be the minister of Jesus Christ he used wisely praying for those he ministered to. “Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of His power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” (Ephesians 3: 7-8)
Abraham was chosen by grace. He and Sara knew by the laws of nature that it would be impossible for them to have children but by grace and faith in God all things are possible. “And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.” (Romans 4: 19-22) Being justified by faith with grace we rejoice in hope to the glory of God.
Grace, the divine act of God giving to His people things they don’t deserve, has been with us since the beginning. Moses, Gideon, Lot, Ruth, David and Ezra all found grace in God’s sight. Noah also found grace in the eyes of the Lord. His job was to build the ark for himself, his family and for the animals. God supplied the grace to preserve life and to start anew with the covenant of the rainbow promised to all mankind. Each of these individuals also discovered that God used their trials and burdens, though numerous and difficult, not only to sustain, preserve, strengthen and deliver them but to do mighty works through them for His holy name's sake. “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” (1 Peter 5: 10)
Even Jesus had grace upon Him. “And the Child grew, and waxed strong in Spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon Him.” (Luke 2: 40) “And He began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bare Him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?” (Luke 4: 21-22) All holy scriptures from beginning to end points solely to Christ as our source of grace and truth. We surrender it all to Him by trusting His plan, His way, His agenda.
Without grace we could never maintain a steady walk in His commands. He is ready, willing and able to supply and provide everything to make our walk fruitful and successful. Our fruit does not originate in our circumstance but in our relationship with Christ who delivers us from a world full of sin. “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” (Hebrews 2: 9)
Can we or how do we fail God’s grace? The answer is sin and disobedience. We want the blessings but we’re not willing to let go of the world and the lifestyle we’re accustomed to. When we struggle with flesh and Spirit it’s like a civil war, always fighting against each other. Our old sinful life and the lust we used to feed keeps on resurfacing from time to time. Still testing us to see if we want to give in. We are no longer a slave to sin. The more time spent with God the more detached we become to the things of the world. We must be big enough to admit our mistakes, smart enough to learn from them and strong enough to correct them. “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.” (Hebrews 12: 14-15)
And finally brethren, we live in a culture that fights against God and His purposes. I believe the greatest battle we fight is in the area of LOVE. So get ready because those battles can be with family, friends, associates, strangers and even brethren. But that’s the world’s way of doing things when we do battle and cause confusion. It is carnal! Our battle is with the evil one, Satan himself, not with each other. A warrior of God does not seek out conflict, nor do they fight every battle they see. We position ourselves to hear from God and He tells us which war to engage in. We fight with the Word of God as directed by God! He is a God of justice! He will do the right thing every time. We are not to fight with flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness. How do we expect great grace to be upon us when we are not in the will of God? There are plenty of examples in the Bible of those who lost battles doing it their way. Grace can’t save you! Our battles are fought with prayers, hope, trust, praise, worship and faith in God alone like Jehoshaphat did in 2 Chronicles 20.
There are still rough roads to trod, mountains to climb, croc-infested waters to cross and giants to slay. David let God choose the battle and which weapon to use. We cannot win unless God goes before us blazing the trails in enemy territory. We are frontline warriors for the cause and advancement of the Kingdom. We show up to the fight and let God take over. Little David ran up to Goliath in faith trusting God for the victory that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel: For the battle is the Lord’s. “Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you. Greet one another with an holy kiss. All the saints salute you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.” (2 Corinthians 13: 11-14)
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