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Abundance of Grace – Part 1

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This entry is part 1 of 4 in the seriesAbundance of Grace

Over the last year I have had an overwhelming experience with the grace of God. I would go so far as to call it a revelation or even a revolution in my personal life. I have been amazed at how good God is, and how good He is being in my life. This revelation of God’s grace has not come unassisted. I have found that many of my comrades in ministry are experiencing the same thing and even my mentor – Tony Sutherland – has had an incredible revelation of the gospel of grace.

So, looking over the past life changing year, I started to gather some of the undeniable fruit that has been produced from the abundance of grace in my life… and I’d like to share them with you.

First, let me say, I’m using the phrase abundance of grace straight from Romans 5:17 which says, “ For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” Because I’m receiving an abundance of grace, I am able to see the following products… I’m able to reign in life.

1. Due to this abundance of grace, I can rely on God’s love for me and not my love for God.

1 John 4:19 says that, “we love because he first loved us.” That’s great news! I don’t have to muster up love from my limited abilities… no, I can look to the source of love, the God who is love, and by simply receiving His love for me, I can produce love for Him, for others and for myself.

Proverbs 20:6 says that, “man boast of his own steadfast love”. Isn’t that the truth… we go around talking about how much we love God, how passionate we are about different things, how much we love this person and that person… But the proverb goes on to say, “but a faithful man who can find?” We can boast of our love all day long… but the truth is that our love is flawed. James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” While our love has much variance, we can look to the one who has an unchanging, unmoving and perfect love.

2. Through an abundance of grace I can be free from stress.

You can read Romans 8:1-4 and you will notice a phrase right in the middle that  says, “For God has done what the law, weakened by flesh, could not do.” My friend, if you were having a tough month financially and could not make your car payment, you would have reason to worry. However, if my good friend Andy McMillan came along and paid your car payment, you would have no more reason to we troubled.

That’s what Jesus did for us! He paid a debt we could not pay and by that payment removed the wrath that was intended for our sin. The condemnation for sin has been removed from the believer! And even when you can’t perform perfectly you have an advocate with the receipt of payment in hand! (1 John 2:1)

Abundance of Grace – Part 2

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This entry is part 2 of 4 in the seriesAbundance of Grace

3. The abundance of grace allows me to prosper mentally, physically and financially.

Back to our key verse, Romans 5:17… the Apostle Paul said that those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness [will] reign in life. Joseph Prince has often said, “it’s hard to reign in life broke and flat-on-your back all the time.” Even Solomon said that through wisdom a house is built (Proverbs 24:3). James even tells us that if you lack wisdom God will give it to you (James 1:5).

Not only can we derive from the scriptures that we can prosper mentally, physically and financially… but if I was to remove this from my list of seven things… the other six would ultimately lead me to being able to prosper. Think about how much the removal of stress alone could play into your prospering.

Now, I know this is the point where all you “money sensitive people” are going to stop reading… but I’ll continue for everyone else’s sake. (I am smiling when I say this… so be nice!)

4. With and abundance of grace I can use my natural ability above my natural capacity.

The best way I can explain this is with an example.

Michael Jackson was probably one of the most gifted performers of our age. Right before his death he was preparing to do a highly anticipated comeback concert series called This Is It. Sadly, we never got to see him perform this.

When tickets went on sale for This Is It, they sold out within minutes. So AEG (the concert promoter) started adding more dates. I think the final number of shows scheduled ended up being forty nights.

Then people started wondering can Michael do 40 concerts in a row? No one wondered if he was gifted enough to put on an incredible show… but with his obvious frailty and the fact that he had just turned 50, was he strong enough to do it?

So, the gift could be equated to quality, but the capacity could be equated to quantity.

With an abundance of grace, I have found the my capacity is much greater… because I am able to lean on the One who has infinite capacity. Now, I’m not saying I can perform my gifts infinitely… that absurd! But the fact is, between my natal capacity and infinite capacity is more capacity than I had when I started!

Through God’s grace… the gift that has been given by grace (Romans 12:6) is being multiplied by grace!

Abundance of Grace – Part 3

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This entry is part 3 of 4 in the seriesAbundance of Grace

5. The abundance of grace allows me to stop comparing myself to others.

Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.

2 Corinthians 10:12 ESV

Honestly, I have always struggled with comparing myself to others. On paper I know that I am uniquely gifted and qualified by God to minister… but, never-the-less… I have lots of friends who are really talented and really successful.

For years I would look at my friends who “had it all together” and feel like I was never going to amount to anything. But thanks be to God who causes me to triumph! I can sense the voice of the Lord in my life. I’m flowing in revelation! I have a word from God! I don’t have to worry about what someone else can do or can’t do… I’m connected to the God who created the ground on which I stand!

I may not know tons of people… but I’m hooked up to the Jesus who has a name better than any other name. Praise God!

6. Through the abundance of grace, I’m doing good works better than ever.

I’m sure you’ve been around long enough for the church to tell you what you can and can’t do. And knowing what is good and what isn’t is great… all scripture is good for teaching (2 Timothy 3:16) but we still need to rightly divide the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).

In James 1:19-25 we see a passage of scripture that is usually presented to us in a way that says, “perform for God and you’ll be blessed.” But if you look at it slowly (the key to understanding) you’ll see this phrase, “But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being not heard who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”

The word perseveres in the James 1:25 NKJV is translated continues. So what do we continue in? We continue looking in the perfect law of liberty. In other words we continue hearing and seeing and abundance of grace! Then, when we receive an abundance of grace we are blessed in our performance! That’s right… grace will produce more good in you than the moral code will.

Abundance of Grace – Part 4

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This entry is part 4 of 4 in the seriesAbundance of Grace

7. The abundance of grace allows me to receive revelation.

This is probably my favorite part! I have been so blessed to have the Bible come alive to me. I am learning everyday… the Holy Spirit has started to instruct me and it’s been incredible.

If you have a Bible around, go grab it… (I’ll wait till you get back)… now turn to John 1.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

(John 1:14-17 ESV)

Often we will hear people comment on the phrase “grace and truth” by saying, “Grace is beautiful, but we need the truth!”

That’s absolutely, positively, 100% and completely correct. Grace is beautiful and we do need the truth.

Jesus was full of grace and truth… so if you want the one true God, the real Jesus… if you’re hungry for the real deal, then you want grace, but you are also eager for the truth.

The question is what is the truth? Looking at verse 17 we can derive that the law and the truth are not necessarily the same thing. Otherwise the scripture would read, “grace and the true law came through Jesus Christ.”

I’m going to take a moment and try to reveal the truth to you. What is the truth?

Look at verse 14… This passage says that the Word became flesh (Jesus) and that He is full of grace and truth. Jesus is full of truth. So we know where truth is, it’s in Jesus. But what is the truth?

Looking on to verse 16… “and from His fullness…” What is Jesus full of? Grace and truth. Continuing to read, “and from His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.”

So if Jesus is full of grace and truth… and from that fullness we receive grace upon grace… what is the truth?

The truth is the truth about God’s grace! The truth is that we need more and more grace. We need an abundance of grace! Hallelujah! Praise God!

So, the past year has been–for me– an incredible year of receiving the grace of God. As a matter of fact, it’s been a great year of seeing that it’s only about Jesus and His goodness… His grace. Without the abundance of grace there is no success in life, no success in living Godly, no success in knowing God. Without grace we are merely servants, but through the abundance of grace we’ve been made joint heirs with Christ… and we are children of the one true God!

So if you’ve wondered why it’s called the gospel of grace, it’s because there is no news like this great news… that God loves us, accepts us and gives us victory in Jesus name!

Continue to renew your mind with the abundance of grace… never grow beyond it, only grow deeper in it! With the abundance of grace you will certainly reign in life.

Blessings!