The Empowering Grace.

The Empowering Grace.

Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 15:10 “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. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

What is Empowering Grace?

Last time, we spoke and learned about the Saving Grace of God, that Grace is not just about the unmerited favor of God, not just an attribute but an active and continuous work of God in our lives through faith in Jesus Christ. Today scriptures emphasized God’s grace not just a favor but a force! A divine power, a transformative force that equips individuals to live a life of obedience and holiness.

John Bevere, minister and international contemporary best-selling author defined grace as: “God’s empowerment that gives you the ability to go beyond your natural ability.” Apostle Paul who wrote 13 books in the New Testament mentioned “grace” in all of his epistles approximately 110 times, which I believed is not surprising at all! For he himself did not simply defines it, as if it was an acquired knowledge but rather he learned and understood its full meaning and purpose for the things he went through with his life in Christ Jesus.

In Romans 12:3 Paul wrote, For by the grace given to me I say to everyone…then in Galatians 1:15 “ But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me”. Paul after his encounter with Jesus on the Road to Damascus (Acts 9 ) pursuing and persecuting believers in Christ, by God’s grace does not only changed his name from Saul the persecutor to Paul the preacher, Saul the murderer to Paul the minister! he was chosen, sent and appointed to minister and proclaimed Jesus to the Gentile nations (Acts 9:15) what a powerful testimony and an awesome power of God’s grace!!!

Not only his life was changed but also by the grace of God Paul was able to endure all the hardship and sufferings he went through in obedience to God’s calling. (2 Corinthians 11:22-33) beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, in prison more often, facing death again and again, facing dangers everywhere, sleepless nights, hungry and thirsty often gone without food, shivered in cold and nakedness. What keeps him and not giving up? But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. Paul is saying that the presence of God’s grace with him has totally made him who he is, Paul believed God’s grace is sufficient and able to sustain his needs and strengthen him in times of weaknesses that in spite of all the hardship and danger, saying with confidence “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong!

Paul wrote in Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

How God’s Grace helps and empowers a believer’s life in Christ Jesus?

1. G- Growing and Glowing in God’s grace -2 Peter 3:18 “Grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.” God gives a measure of grace as a gift to unbelievers so that they may be able to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember our salvation comes as a gift of God’s grace but it can only be appropriated by the human response of faith. (Ephesians 2:8-9) To grow in grace does not mean gaining more grace from God. Romans 6:1-2 “Shall we sin that grace may abound?” Sad to know that some churches are having this teaching such as “Hyper-Grace” a false premise to suggest that deliberately sinning would somehow lead to more of God’s grace. The more you sin, the more grace!???? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? God’s grace is infinite! (limitless) It can never be more, it can never be less. Now where in the Bible does it says that grace is a license to sin? Rather the Bible told us that there is no immeasurable /innumerable of sin where God’s grace cannot forgive.

To grow in grace is to be spiritually matured Christian as we also growing in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ through prayer (intimate fellowship with God) and reading His words (devotion and meditation) Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of God dwell richly in your heart”. Growing in faith through obedience and godly disciplines as we abide in Him. The kind of growing and maturing not in what we do, but about what God does in us, by His grace. Then we will prove 2 Corinthians 3:18: “We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord.”

2. R- Run with Grace (Running the Race with Endurance) Redeeming the Time!

Psalm 119:32 “I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart! Hebrews 12:1-2 “Let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Corinthians 9:24-26 “Run in such a way as to get the prize…not aimlessly ! Galatians 5:7 “You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? Jeremiah 12:5 ““If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses?

Isaiah 40:31 But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

James 4:14 “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes! Psalm 144:4 “They are like a breath; their days are like a fleeting shadow.

3. A- Advancing through Adversities.

Throughout the Bible, we have read the stories of godly men and woman who have gone through difficulties and obstacles, we heard life’s testimonies of believers who faced overwhelming life challenges but by God’s grace they are all overcomers! Advancing “through” our adversities is possible in the strength of the Lord. As we all know and aware, Life comes with blessings and battles. You can’t have one without the other, that sometimes God allows suffering teaching us to be strong and wise.

1 Peter 4:12 -13 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

Romans 5:3 -5 “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

James 1:12 “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

Paul struggled continually with a personal ailment, which he referred to as his “thorn in the flesh” God used these things in Paul’s life to keep him centered on divine power, not his own.

2 Corinthians 12:7 Before God elevates you, He humbles you. Before God blesses you, He allows you to be broken. Joseph life from pit to prison, prison to palace.

4. C- Courage and Confidence.

Isaiah 41:10 “Fear not, for I am with you;Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

David said, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” 1 Samuel 17:37

5. E- Exuberant and triumphant life.

2 Corinthians 4:7-8 “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

Romans 8:37 “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

2 Corinthians 2:14 “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ, and manifests through us the aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.

Finish Strong! The Story of Samson Life (Judges 13-16 / Hebrews 11:32 ) Samson name was written alongside Gideon, Barak Jeptha, David and Samuel.