As Believers, we are instructed to live our daily lives with true goals, aims, and divine purpose. We cannot achieve this unless we walk in God's grace.
What is the key to experiencing God's grace? Embracing our weakness!
God is not looking for strong people to help Him accomplish His work. The truth is that the Lord is looking for people who are weak enough to be used. We must remember that His strength is made perfect in our weakness (see 2 Corinthians 12:9). The key to experiencing supernatural, liberating strength is personal weakness.
Understand that personal weakness does not mean weak character or faulty Biblical knowledge. On the contrary, God is looking for a people who have come to the place where they have lost confidence in their fleshly power to accomplish the work of the Spirit. Only when we embrace the weakness of ourselves apart from Christ can we become strong and "graced" to accomplish things for the true advancing of God's glorious Kingdom.
This truth is clearly displayed in the story found in Psalm 107:23-28, which describes the strong, seaworthy sailors who made their living upon the high seas. One day, however, the Lord raised a stormy wind that blew away every last ounce of their self-confidence. They found themselves at their wits' end and cried out for the Lord's grace and help. Although they were skilled and experienced, the winds and waves of the sea convinced them of their dependence upon God.
Have you encountered the winds of change in your life? If not, you can be confident they are on their way!
Christ Jesus declares: "Without Me you can accomplish nothing!" (John 15:5). This word "nothing" means completely, totally nothing. It truly means less than nothing. Ours is a life of unspeakable joy when we come to the place where we understand that only the work of the Spirit can advance the Kingdom of God.
The Deposit of Grace
In other words, absolutely nothing you have ever done in the past and nothing you could ever accomplish in the future will match the unparalleled joy of letting Jesus live His life through you! God has exactly fitted for each of us a unique walk of grace. As we yield our wills and ways to the Holy Spirit's control, we begin to experience this walk of grace. Through yielding and embracing our personal weakness, we experience the abundant grace that enables us to accomplish all that God has assigned for us to do (see Philippians 4:13).
This deposit of grace is what makes the fire of passion burn so brightly in new Believers. They are overwhelmed with all that God is doing in their lives. Their happiness and excitement is contagious. Their entire life is ablaze with God's love.
As pastor, I was able to teach a new converts class, and my heart was always blessed by the joy of those who have only recently experienced the amazing grace of God. It is this same amazing grace that causes the light of contentment to dance in the eyes of mature Believers who have also learned to abide in God's glorious grace. Our life should testify to the ability of God's awesome grace to use us to accomplish great and mighty things for God's glory.
In short, we were saved by grace and must continue to live by grace: We cannot separate our daily responsibilities and activities from a grace-filled life. We are saved by grace and we are kept by God's magnificent grace!
The Body of Christ seems to understand much concerning the grace of God touching an unbeliever's life: It is only by God's grace that anyone comes to the place of repentance and salvation. However, we lack true understanding concerning God's ability of grace to operate in Believers' daily lives, thereby bringing them into a daily faith walk of radical effectiveness and extreme fruitfulness. Grace does not just change our mind, but learning to embrace our weakness and function through His strength alone has a profound, all-pervasive, transforming effect upon our lives. Grace is a powerful motivator, provoking us to reach higher and accomplish more for Christ and His Kingdom.
Essential Ingredients for Grace
The Apostle Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 15:10, "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." Paul declared that the grace of God was not wasted upon his life, but he labored more because of the active grace in his life.
Although we are radically dependent on God's grace in all that we are and all that we do, we are still called to labor abundantly to advance God's Kingdom. This is one of the great paradoxes of the Christian life. It is only by and through grace that we accomplish anything, yet God expects us to labor diligently in His service. Charles Spurgeon once said: "Faith goes up the stairs that love has built and looks out the window which hope has opened."
Just as diligent labor is required to extract all of the grace that God has given us, humility is required to obtain grace. "All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, 'God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble'" (1 Peter 5:5).
Grace is promised to the humble. A great saint of years bygone, made this observation: "The moment humility announces herself she is already on her way out the door." If we would be truly humble, and careful not to usurp God's glory, always giving Him praise for what He is doing, I am sure we would receive more grace.
The Lord warned me once that the highest form of treason was to take the gifts and graces He has given leadership to win and woo the Bride to Himself, and use these gifts and graces to win the Bride to ourselves.
May each heart embrace the promise given in Psalm 84:11: "For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory." In this passage we see the true key to advancing God's Kingdom. It is by God's gift of grace that we are able to behold the glory.
Any good thing ever accomplished by mankind is the direct result of the anointing and impartation of God's grace. May we walk a grace-filled life in order to see the glory of God fill the earth!
Grace is an open door, which bids us to draw nearer to God. In Proverbs 8:17, 21, God declares, "I love those who love Me, and those who seek Me diligently will find Me... That I may cause those who love Me to inherit wealth, that I may fill their treasuries." This is an awesome promise and powerful incentive. We are called to find God. And when we find Him, He indeed blesses us with overflowing treasures.
We must never forget that God has great plans for His people. Hear His promise stated in Jeremiah 29:11: "'For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,' saith the Lord, 'thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.'" It is time to open our hearts wide to God's grace and experience the good plans He has for each of us.
Waiting Upon God
The Lord desires to change us. He seeks to bring us up into His purpose. He waits for us to reach out to Him and knock on the door of His heart. Just as Esther had to approach her husband's throne, we too must prepare ourselves to approach God's throne. He, too, has extended His scepter. Now is the time grace has provided an open door in Heaven. Now it is time to approach the throne of God's grace to find favor and help during these days (see 2 Corinthians 6:2).
In Psalm 46:10 we are instructed to be still and know that God is God. Spending quiet time in the Lord's presence is necessary and carries great importance. It is as we wait upon Him that we are renewed in power and strength (Isaiah 40:28-31).
Each of us must find a special quiet place where we can shut out the cares of this world and get alone with God. Each day, we should come to our "set apart place" to worship, acknowledge His goodness and grace concerning us, and thank the Lord for His guidance and blessing upon our lives.
Great grace is released when we truly enter His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Make the time to praise the Lord and to bless His Holy Name!
As we take time to behold Him with an unveiled face, we are changed into ever-increasing glory (see 2 Corinthians 3:18). In this place of quiet worship and prayerful reading of His Holy Word, there is a release of His grace, which produces "Spirit and Life." His Holy Spirit flows into our being to build our faith and provide the "enabling grace" for obedience. It is essential that we set apart time each day to be in His presence.
Attending local church services is vital and not to be neglected, but this is no substitute for our devotional times alone with the Lord of Glory.
Being One with the Lord
Have you noticed in Luke 3:2 that the Word of God came to John the Baptist while he was alone in the wilderness? The programs of the "church" of that day were in full operation, yet John was called apart to be with the Lord alone.
So also today, there are those who are spiritually hungry and seeking something more, who likewise are being called apart to be alone with the Lord for a time of preparation. As a result of his being alone with the Lord, John came into a oneness with the Lord that could not have been accomplished in any other way.
When John was asked who he was, his response testifies to this experience. He said: "I am 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Make straight the way of the Lord," as the prophet Isaiah said'" (John 1:23).
Each one of us should come to the place where we also could make this statement, "I am the voice of one." There is an urgent need for this "voice" to cry out in the midst of the frustrations and perils of our present day (see Isaiah 40:3-5). We live in a world that must have the grace and peace of God.
The need today is not new-fangled methodology, but rather a turning aside to stand in the manifest presence of the Lord, to be prepared as "the voice of one crying in the wilderness" of our day.
May it be stated of us, as it was of the disciples of old, that it is apparent that we have been with Jesus. This and only this will make the changes that must occur if we are to reach this hurting world with the message of God's redemptive, transforming grace. We must be radical reflectors of His life.
I heard about the testimony of a preacher who, toward the end of his life, was asked what he would do if he had his life to live over again. He said he had spent seven years in preparation for 45 years of ministry. Instead, he would spend 45 years in preparation for seven years of ministry. It is very important how we begin, but it is far more important how we end.
The Lord is seeking to bring us to the end of our abilities so we can tap into His ability. This requires that we recognize His presence and turn aside to stand before Him. Only then will we be enabled to become the expression of His voice – a voice crying in the wilderness of our day. The most noble quest of our day is to seek HIS presence. The presence of the Lord will make all the difference! Prepare for His presence!
Bobby Conner
Eagles View Ministries
Email: manager@bobbyconner.org
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