Skip to main content

Grace Encourages...Leads the lost to Christ



Acts 11:22-24
American Standard Version (ASV)
22 And the report concerning them came to the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas as far as Antioch:
23 who, when he was come, and had seen the grace of God, was glad; and he exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord:
24 for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord.


God's Grace imparts encouragement to the receiver who then in turn becomes the encourager. Grace gives us a look back at where we've been...how far we've come...and when we find WE WERE NOT RESPONSIBLE for this favor from God through Christ, we are prone to want to spread this Spirit around. I cannot encourage someone when I am a slave to my sinful condition, or mired in chronic sin consciousness. God's grace also gives us wisdom to be able to help folks understand WHO THEY ARE IN CHRIST.

As a youth Jesus knew who he was at an early age;
Luke 2:40
And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace (favor and spiritual blessing) of God was upon Him.

Grace allows all believers to stand on level ground at the Cross so all who believe are accepted into the body ; 
Romans 12:3
For by the grace (unmerited favor of God) given to me I warn everyone among you not to estimate and think of himself more highly than he ought [not to have an exaggerated opinion of his own importance], but to rate his ability with sober judgment, each according to the degree of faith apportioned by God to him.

 1 Corinthians 15:10
But by the grace (the unmerited favor and blessing) of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not [found to be] for nothing (fruitless and without effect). In fact, I worked harder than all of them [the apostles], though it was not really I, but the grace (the unmerited favor and blessing) of God which was with me.


One who has been touched by grace will no longer look on those who stray as “those evil people” or “those poor people who need our help.” Nor must we search for signs of “loveworthiness.” Grace teaches us that God loves because of who God is, not because of who we are.
 

 
Philip Yancey
What’s So Amazing About Grace? Zondervan, 1997


24 for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord.

When people hear the true Gospel Message and realize that Jesus will meet them where they are at...that we don't climb up the Cross...that He came down to us...and that His love and acceptance is not performance based...many will come to Him. 




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

join the community of Faith

Acts 2:42-47 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.  On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit of God blew into the hearts and lives of common, ordinary followers of Jesus and the church was born. On that first day, Peter stood up and preached a very basic message pointing people to Jesus. He called them to repent and be baptized. On that day, about three thousand people came to faith! So what do you do with three thousand new...
Post a Comment
Read more

You Have The Victory!

 Romans 8:37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  If God’s Word says that we are more than conquerors through Christ, then we are. We are not going to become, we already are. We may be experiencing some failures or setbacks in life right now, but only good will come out of our situations because God says that “in all these things we are more than conquerors”. We have the victory! You see, God has placed us in Christ, whom He has exalted to the highest place in the universe. We are not trying to get to victory ground. We are already on victory ground. We don’t confess God’s Word to get victory. We confess His Word because we already have the victory. We don’t fight for victory. We fight from victory.  The devil will try to steal our victory. He will come against us with lies and fears, and cause us to be conscious of our failures, weaknesses and symptoms in areas such as our health. But we are not trying to be healed...
Post a Comment
Read more

The God to Whom We Pray

Nehemiah 1:1-11 Nehemiah demonstrates power in prayer. As a servant to King Artaxerxes of Persia, he had no right to request leave to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls, much less to requisition materials and protection. Yet knowing the nature of the God he served, Nehemiah did not hesitate to act boldly and ask the king for what was needed.  His prayer began, “I beseech You, O lord God of heaven” (Neh. 1:5). Lord, when it appears in all capital letters, denotes the word Jehovah (a form of Yahweh, the Hebrew name for God). It means “God who is eternal in His being”—conveying that everything everywhere is in His presence. So, when God makes a promise, He knows how He will keep it. That is why Nehemiah called Him “the awesome God who preserves the covenant.” He knew God was committed to bringing repentant Israelites back to their homeland to dwell in His presence (Neh. 1:9). Another Hebrew name used to refer to God, Elohim, is translated “He who is absolutely sovereign.” If He...
Post a Comment
Read more