GREAT GRACE

And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Acts 4:33 NKJV

As born again ones, we don’t live at the cross of Christ; we live at the throne of God. The Cross is the bridge, the transition point from the cursed existence of sin to the apex of reality, the throne of God. If you camp at the Cross, as wonderful as it is, you will never experience the overcoming power of God that is available for you at the Throne. Authority comes from the throne of God. The Cross is the necessary intermediate point that ultimately takes us to the Throne. In Romans you have the presentation of the Cross. In Ephesians you have the presentation of the Throne. The concept of freedom has two great prepositions that go with it: FROM and UNTO. With the Cross you see freedom FROM; with the Throne you see freedom UNTO.

…made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) (THE CROSS – ROMANS), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (THE THRONE – EPHESIANS)… Eph 2:5-7 NKJV

As I was brought up more as a businessman than a theologian, I am much more interested in the practical aspects of the walk in Christ than what could be called the mystical or theological. This is why I am not so concerned about subjects like eschatology, as necessary as it might be. I am concerned about what works, what really helps people!

As I was studying again the word GRACE, I became fascinated by the usage in Acts Four – ‘great grace’! This is the only usage of that term in the New Testament. Grace itself is astounding…but what is ‘great grace’? And, how do I access it? Since God is no respecter of persons then what He did for them in Acts Four He must be willing and able to do for you and I as well.

One thing that struck my mind was that the apostles had been trained in the gifts of the Spirit by Jesus before Pentecost. They had seen many signs and wonders. But after Pentecost, they took it to another level and really pressed in to the gifts. In my experience I have observed that most people who get trained in the gifts, at first seem to see many miracles, but then they begin to ride their memories – ‘when God did this or that’ rather than press in to new heights. The apostles were not satisfied, even though they had seen many miracles under Jesus’ training. They were hungry! The question is, are you hungry?

What is great grace?

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us…Eph 3:20 NKJV

You see it in the Old Testament, where when the children of Israel left Egypt, they left with all the wealth of Egypt, plus there was not one feeble knee among them, so thorough had been the healing in the Passover. You see it with Daniel in the lions den, and David with five smooth stones, the number for GRACE, before Goliath. Again, with the children of Israel at the Red Sea, the provision of quail in the wilderness and the gushing water from the rock. Remember the land flowing with milk and honey! You see it with the gold and silver in Jerusalem, like it was nothing, under David and Solomon’s early reign.

Great grace is God blowing the doors off of what He has promised, and doing amazingly, abundantly more!

You see it in the New Testament with Jesus multiplying the loaves and fishes, and there being twelve huge baskets of leftovers. You see it in the multiple occasions when everyone got healed. In Acts you see that there is not one need among that congregation of tens of thousands (remember, three thousand in Acts Two and five thousand in Acts Four, and they only counted men, heads of households, not the women and children). Remember the windows of Heaven opening up with the tithe? Great grace is a couple having twins, not just a single baby, after 24 years of waiting. And so we could go on and on…

Great grace is the purposeful overflow of the overwhelming abundance of God, literally Heaven coming to earth.

How do we access great grace?

And He put all things under His feet…Eph 1:22 NKJV

God pours His abundance down where He wills, but we can learn to position ourselves to receive and walk in that abundance. First, we learn to sit with the Lord on the throne of God. Authority flows from the throne of God. Nothing touches the throne of God, and there is perfect safety and security there. You don’t earn the right to be there…He earned it for you. That’s grace! Being positioned so close to the Lord we can hear His voice daily and respond to it in love diligently.

Hungering and thirsting after righteousness is not really a salvation verse, but a general call to the proper state of the Church. You need to stay around a group of people who are growing spiritually, who are seeking more, hungering more, believing and trusting more and more, who are moving from the Cross to the Throne.

Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul…Acts 4:32 NKJV

Christianity is a team game, an army on the march. We live, eat, sleep and fight as a team. You have to die to the individual agenda. When I visit other Christian groups, especially uninvited, the things that the leaders seem to fear is that I come with an agenda. When they realize that we have no agenda other than to love and serve, with respect and courtesy, then relationship begins to build. Unity of heart with the Lord and each other is essential to the release of great grace.

Great love positions you for great grace.

…according to the power that works in us…Eph 3:20 NKJV

Now there is a great practical key in Ephesians 3:20 that needs to be brought out. ‘According to’ sets a standard, and I believe it is an individual standard. In other words, ‘according to the power that works in us’ may be different in you than it is in me, not because He loves you more than me, but that you operate that power more consciously and consistently than I do. God makes the same power available to everyone one of His born again ones, but some are more diligent, more trained, more instructed accurately than others. If you use the gifts, starting with speaking in tongues much, as tools to accomplish the work God has given you, you are going to see great grace.

Let me encourage you, dear one, to study great grace and believe to receive it in your life so that you and your people may become a shining example, a city on a hill, for all the world to see the brilliant love of God. Love you!

Remember dear ones, we must be about our Father’s business…