Hi how are you all today? I am well. The weather here is supposed to be warming up as it is springtime but there has been a blustery wind for a few days. I prayed this morning that just like this natural wind is blowing so I am believing for the wind of the Holy Spirit to blow over my nation. It will happen and all we need to do is believe. How has the weather been at your place?
This week I want to look at grace. Grace is a word that is spoken of flippantly at times. We say grace covers me and I can do what I want because of grace. But grace is not something that is flippant. It is empowering.
Empower means in the Oxford dictionary is to make someone stronger and more confident. Grace empowers us to do in the natural what we can’t do without God.
Grace does not cover us; mercy does but only if we ask for forgiveness. God extends mercy to forgive our sins because of Jesus.
It is by grace we have been saved- the empowerment from God to us to make a choice to follow Him.
Grace gives us the empowerment; mercy forgives.
So let’s look at some Bible stories where grace was given.
1. Esther – she was an orphan girl who became Queen to a foreign king. The kings prime minister Haman asked the king to sign a decree that would annihilate the children of God.
Mordecai begged Esther to go the king to plead for the peoples lives. Esther was not allowed to just go into the king, even though she was his wife, unless he called for her or held out the golden sceptre to welcome her in.
Esther fasted and prayed for three days until she had not only Gods wisdom on how to handle the situation, but Gods grace or empowerment to prosper that she needed to go to the king without being called.
We know the story in the book of Esther. The king saw her and held out the golden sceptre. She asked the king and Haman to go to a banquet for two days running. She exposed the wicked plan of Haman and saved her people.
None of this was done in Esther’s strength. In the natural she would have been fearful for her life and her people. But Gods grace enabled her to do what she had been called to do to save the people of God.
This story is a good example for us. When God calls us to do things that are hard in the natural, He will give us the grace we need to empower us in those moments to prosper. This gives God all the glory as we know that it definitely would not have been accomplished in our own strength.
2. Jesus was given grace to go to the cross. That is a big and probably controversial statement. Wasn’t Jesus the Son of God? Yes but on earth He was a natural man. How do I know He needed grace?
Let’s look at the verses in Luke 22:41 – 45 in the NKJ Bible which states:
41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” 43 [f]Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
45 When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow.
Jesus was just about to go to the cross and be separated from the Father, which had never happened before. He knew what He would be facing and became anguished and stressed as we can see from the above verses- he was in agony and his sweat became like great drops of blood.
But Jesus endured the trials, the cross and the crucifixion because of grace – He was empowered to prosper by God and He did it for us.
If Jesus needed grace to do what He thought He couldn’t in the natural then we do too.
Grace is not mercy but a supernatural power to do the things we can’t naturally do without Gods help. Where do you and I need grace today? Let’s be bold enough to ask for it, instead of struggling on your own. Your life will never be the same.
Have a great week and keep living the life God intended for you.
Bless you
Karen
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