Finding God’s Grace
It is so important that we are finding God’s grace!
First let me say there are literally tons of scripture dealing with this issue! This is only a small but very important selection of them!
In the book of Isaiah chapter 61 we find a picture of God’s blessings on His people. This is no surprise to me as I have begun to see more and more the promises of God’s blessing in my own life. God made a covenant with our Father Abraham and told him if he would keep God’s commandments his way would be blessed!
Isaiah 61:3 in part, “To give the beauty for ashes”. I love this verse as I have seen it unfold in my own life, I have been in the ashes, the lowest of lows and felt unable to find my way out! I have been in a spiritual wasteland and been where I could not feel His wonderful spirit. This of course was done of my own choosing.
You might say, who would ever choose to do this to themselves? Truth be known we do this anytime we remove ourselves from God’s will by our choices we make. We can either choose to walk in the spirit and follow the will of God and lean on His grace or we can choose the easy and sinful path that will lead us to that wasteland! The empty place where there is no spirit and guidance! We will wander around until we remember the goodness, or grace of God!
No matter who you are or where you are, your situation is seen by our Lord! You may think, my situation is special and I am in this alone and no one else has this same problem! Mine is special, well, God will give you special grace if that is the case. The Apostle Paul said that he was the chieftest of sinners!
One thing I would like to encourage you in this is to not murmur and complain in your situation! Remember the children of Israel in the wilderness? Their murmuring and complaining kept them from entering the promised land! Be strong in spirit and trust God!
James 4:6
Amplified Bible
6 But He gives us more and more grace (power of the Holy Spirit, to meet this evil tendency and all others fully). That is why He says, God sets Himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace [continually] to the lowly (those who are humble enough to receive it).
1 Timothy 1:
12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;
13 Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
14 And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
Concentrate on verse 14! God’s grace is exceedingly abundant to do all that it needs to do! The word implied here in the translation for exceedingly means a “super” amount. God’s grace is “Super abundant” to us! Whatever our needs God’s grace is sufficient. Paul was a murderer of the saints! He was present and held the coats of those who stoned Stephen to death! God’s grace is sufficient for whatever ours needs are!
Romans 5:8
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
God has loved us with an everlasting love! We are made in His image and likeness and His love abounds toward us and He desires us!
Do not be afraid to ask for this grace and His blessing in your life! It is His good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. If it is His good pleasure to give you the Kingdom how much more of His grace here?
It is a misconception to think that God wants us to live in poverty and want while here on this earth!
How many times have we looked around and seen people who were successful and were blessed of God only to resent them and feel like in our hearts that they must be doing something wrong in order to have the material things they have been blessed with? A new home, a new car, a new boat, money enough to pay their way and their family’s way! On and on we see those who are rich and just because they are rich we assume they are unGodly! Not so, we do them and ourselves a great injustice! Be careful how you judge others for you shall receive the same judgement!
It is God’s will to bless us and for our storehouses to be running over with abundance! The key to this is to keep His commandments! We have been taught that poverty is Godliness! Well, I for one do not believe this under any circumstances. No I am not rich in worldly goods but God has shown his super abundant grace to me and increased the goods of my storehouse! I am continuing to try to follow the leadership of His Holy Spirit to please Him and I am looking forward to the storehouses to start overflowing so I can be a blessing to God and others also!
This is the purpose of our blessing, our abundance, our overflow, so that we might bless God by blessing others. There are many rich Christians, pastors, mentors, etc in God’s work who do not flaunt their riches but use the to edify the church and glorify God! These riches are always blessed with many returns over!
I used to get bitter and jealous of those who had what I deemed riches because I thought, how hard it is for those who are rich to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for the rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven! This was my justification for not having an abundance of finances. When we condemn others it makes us feel better in the flesh! It weakens the spirit and grieves the spirit but it make this flesh feel better!
Most people who have an abundance of finances are doing something right or they would not have them. There are special cases but most people have worked to get to where they are at!
The famous verses about money in 1 Timothy,
1 Timothy 6:10
10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
This verse is misquoted so many times as money being the root of all evil! It is the love of money and the power it gives people that is evil! I like the amplified Bible version of this verse also!
This is the Amplified version.
1 Timothy 6:10
10 For the love of money is a root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have been led astray and have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves through with many acute [mental] pangs.
You see, there is no evil in the money itself no more that there is evil in the car we drive or the home we live it, it is a blessing of God! How we use it and how we look at it is where our hearts get involved and it becomes a good or bad thing! When we love “Stuff” more than we love God it has become a near and present evil to us!
Yes, money is a blessing from God when used for His glory and the upbuilding of His kingdom! If we bless others with it God will continue to bless us with it!
Grace is defined many times as “The undeserved favor of God” and this is so true but grace has also another meaning in different scriptures. It also gives us power to do the will of God!
James Ryle has suggested “Grace is the empowering Presence of God enabling you to be who He created you to be, and to do what He has called you to do.” Alternatively Bill Gothard has suggested “Grace gives us the desire and the power that God gives us to do his will.” Both of these definitions make good sense of the word grace throughout the Bible.
I heard a minister say this once and I am in total agreement with them, “Grace is God’s equaliser”!
No matter where you are from or where you have been, God’s grace is able to lift you up and put you on an even ground with everyone else around you. If you bless others and God in your walk He will lift you up above the norm! Deuteronomy 28 tells us , “You will be the head and not the tail, you will lead and not follow”, etc. God has a blessing for His people. We just have to rely on and trust His grace! Quit leaning on our own understanding and follow the Lord!
Hebrews 4:16
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
We need to learn to come boldly before the throne of Grace! It is our Fathers good will to give us the Kingdom! Remember, the Kingdom is within us we started living the Kingdom when we were saved. We became the blessed of the Lord then! We need to live like it!
Jesus said to consider the Lilies! We are much more precious in His sight than lilies!
James 4
1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
The part of this I want us to consider is the last part of verse 2! “yet ye have not, because ye ask not”.
My prayer is that we can learn to live in the unlimited Grace of the all Powerful God! I pray we can come out from under the curse of feeling like we have to live in poverty to love and please God! We only need to follow His commandments.
Lord what is the greatest commandment?
Matthew 22:36-40
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
The amplified version says it like this,
Matthew 22:36-40
36 Teacher, which kind of commandment is great and important (the principal kind) in the Law? [Some commandments are light—which are heavy?]
37 And He replied to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect).
38 This is the great (most important, principal) and first commandment.
39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself.
40 These two commandments sum up and upon them depend all the Law and the Prophets.
If we do this, we will be the blessed of the Lord! Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ and nothing but ourselves can separate us from God’s grace toward us! We can realise who we are in His grace or live underneath the privileges or our inheritance. It is up to us!
My prayer today!
Father God, I bless your Holy name! You are the creator and keeper of us all! You are the Lord of Heaven! Your name is wonderful and Mighty. Your grace is sufficient for each and every need that we have or will ever encounter!
I pray for all those reading this that they might come into the knowledge that you have grace enough to spare and that you have more than enough to keep them out of poverty while here in this earth. You Lord, own it all! Help us to understand it is your will to give us the blessing of the Kingdom while here! Open the eyes of our hearts that we understand your will and come to know you better.
Help us to press into you that we might love you more! Keep our hearts and minds focused on you that we may receive your grace and loving kindness in our lives. May we forever be a blessing to others and work toward the upbuilding of your divine kingdom! Now, all Golry, Praise, Honor, any type of verbal acknowledgement we ever receive here we give to you! You are the Lord of Glory and we praise and honor you. These things we pray and speak in the name of our blessed Lord and Saviour, our risen King, Jesus! Amen!
