May 23, 2020 Grace

Grace is given to thee that you may see the powers of heaven come upon you
Did I not say that grace would be upon you?
Did I not pray for such grace that you may see My face?
Grace I give you, grace I gave you, grace I give you
Grace, I put in your hands, grace, with a great demand
Would you not receive, do you not believe?
Grace I give you, boldly
 
Why have I given you this grace? Boldly you shall come and seek My face
Boldly, come to the throne room of grace, grace I give you
Do you not know My daughter, I give grace all the time, but they do not receive
They will take a dime, but they will not receive My grace
I give to thee so boldly and freely, the grace is here to draw you near
 (Excerpt from Hear My Heart’s Cry, Power of Heaven – February 5, 2017)

Grace is an amazing gift God gives to all believers.  Grace is unmerited favor.  God gives us grace to come before Him and to make our pleas. He gives us grace to know that He is listening and answering them.  He gives us grace to hear His voice, and understand His words. He gives us grace to boldly and confidently come to His Throne Room. He gives us grace to forgive our sins and iniquities, and set us free from their hold on our flesh. And His grace does so much more for us.  As God said above, His grace is bold and free, but will we choose to receive it?
 
Paul was a man who understood grace very well.  He was a very learned student of the Word of God, but He got it all wrong.  He rejected Jesus and persecuted everyone who claimed to believe in Jesus as their Messiah.  But then through the grace of God, He met Jesus and his whole mind, heart, and life changed. Of the 131 times that word grace was used in the entire Bible, He used it in his writings 100 times. He understood grace, and was so grateful for Jesus taking even his sins and transforming him. He knew that was only by His grace! 

Ephesians 2:8-10 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
 
Grace is something that is available to all believers, but it will look differently among us because of the different gifts we all are given. We must be careful to be good stewards of the Grace and Gifts He has given us for His purposes, and not desire what others have been given. This will only lead to envy, jealousy, insecurity… Not a path we should be going down.

Romans 12:3-6  For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly…
 
As important as grace was to Paul and to all believers, it is even more so to God.  His love for us is greater than we will ever be able to comprehend, and it is because of God’s grace to send His Son to die for our sins, and His Holy Spirit leading us, that we can come near to Him and fellowship with Him.  This is the desire of God’s heart.  To make this clear to us, He ends the Bible with these words:

​Revelation 22:21  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.