THE MANTLE OF GRACE

Author: Holy Spirit
Mouth Piece: Dr. Dotun Oyewole

“For the law was given by Moses, but GRACE and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).

What is Grace?
G–RACE is God in the RACE. There is no grace without the God-factor. It is God’s “gift” sent from Heaven through Jesus Christ (John 1 :17). G-race fuels the Christian’s RACE from the time of salvation till the day that the Christian returns to Heaven to be with the Lord.

Categories of Grace

a) Saving grace: When you receive Christ as your Lord and savior, you receive the saving grace that “saves” from eternal destruction and bestows upon a believer, eternal life through Jesus Christ (John 1: 14 & 16)

(b) Enabling grace: From the time you say “yes” to Jesus,  the enabling grace “enables” you to serve God “acceptably” with “reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews  12:28 ), two major ingredients needed to keep your “status” as a citizen of Heaven. Without the enabling grace, the believer will find him/herself entangled by the affairs of this world, thereby making it impossible to serve God with reverence and godly fear. When reverence and godly fear is missing in one’s service to God, one’s eternal destination after death becomes questionable.

(c) Perfecting grace: It is the mind of God that we be perfect even as He is perfect. Perfecting grace brings the best out of our weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:9). When we surrender all to Jesus and acknowledge that we are weak and He is strong, He releases upon us the perfecting grace which then covers our weaknesses and allow God’s glory to shine forth in our lives. The perfecting grace works on us and in us to bring us into conformity with God’s image.

 

Effects of Grace

a. Grace saves from sin and death
b  Grace heals and delivers
c. Grace accelerates our journey
d. Grace is a recipe for faith
e. Grace vindicates
f.  Grace perfects

 

 

A. GRACE SAVES FROM SIN AND DEATH: Grace is tangible. It is not abstract. Zech 12:10 talks about the Spirit of Grace that would bring about conviction and turn the house of David to God. Grace is divine influence on the heart that is reflective. As a result, grace can be seen. Act 11:23. This scripture points to the fact that Barnabas saw the grace of God. What did he see? Act 11:21 says “And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed and turned unto the Lord”. The hand of the Lord is the “divine influence”. The great number of people believing and turning unto the Lord is the “reflection of that divine influence on the heart of the people”

 

Prayer #1 Father, let your SAVING GRACE transform every unbelieving soul in your church and in the world.. Let it bring a revival amongst us that all will turn to you and seek for a deeper relationship with you.

 

Prayer # 2 Pour the Spirit of Grace upon me oh God.

 

B. GRACE HEALS AND DELIVERS: John 5:2. The pool was called Bethesda and Bethesda means the house of Grace. The name of this pool is not a mistake. The name is a prophetic declaration of how God can give Life to hopeless situations. Sick people came to this pool hoping that they would be the first to enter the pool at the troubling of the water by the angel of God. God is teaching us two simple lessons: a). “I can do all things when you come under grace”. b). Tap into Grace before it’s too late.
The man at the pool couldn’t tap into Grace day after day, year after year for 38 years but when he encountered the author of grace (Jesus Christ), who Himself is Grace, his life made a complete turn around for good.

 

Prayer #3: Jehovah Rapha, make me a carrier of your Grace for your word says that “I am the temple of the Living God”. Use me to affect lives with your Grace. Let my prayers heal the sick, deliver the oppressed and free the captives from their captors.

C. GRACE ACCELERATES OUR JOURNEY:  “….and immediately the ship was at land where they went” (John 6:21). When Jesus the epitome of grace steps into your boat, the fulfillment of your God-given purpose is accelerated. Boat stands for Your Life or ministry. Jesus is not a magician but he is the author of life. He gave you that life; he gave you that ministry and He alone knows how best to fulfill your Life purpose and the purpose for your ministry. When you have Him in your Boat, You enjoy prompt answers to prayers and your righteous heart desires will be granted. All these are possible when you are covered by grace.

 

Prayer #4: JESUS COME INTO MY BOAT. YOU’RE ALL I NEED. I willingly receive you. Come and take your place in my life, ministry, family, and career.

Prayer #5: Jesus! The epitome of Grace, accelerate my fulfillment.

 

D. GRACE IS A RECIPE FOR FAITH: Romans 4:16 says “Therefore it is of faith [i.e. justification/salvation is by faith] that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law…” In other words, faith in God implies and depends upon the grace of God. Without God first displaying His grace to a person, there can be no faith by that person. A man cannot have faith in Jesus without him first being told about the grace (saving grace) of God that is available to him/her through Jesus. Now that the grace of GOD has been displayed to him, he now KNOWS and is now able to profess his faith in Jesus. His profession of faith in Jesus then commences his journey of salvation. Romans 10:13-14 (READ ALOUD)

 Prayer #6: OH Lord, Ignite in me the passion to spread your gospel of grace. Give me a burning zeal for lost souls.

 

 

 E. GRACE VINDICATES: Zechariah 3: 1-2 When the prosecutor, the accuser (Satan) rises to accuse you before God, GRACE is all you need.

 Prayer #7  Every accuser standing at my right hand to accuse me before God, you are a liar. The Lord rebuke you!. I carry in me the Spirit of Grace. All your accusations against me is nullified. I receive from God all my blessings that has been delayed as a result of your accusations against me in Jesus name.

F. GRACE PERFECTS:. 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 reads “My grace is sufficient for thee: for MY strength is made PERFECT in weakness.” God chose not to remove the “thorn” in Paul’s flesh, rather, God promised him that grace will be continually available for him. Persecutions will certainly come but no matter what persecutions may come against us, one thing is sure JEHOVAH SHAMMAH IS THERE in the storm with us but we must learn to TRUST Him

 

 

God’s message to the Body of Christ:

 In your brokenness, my strength is made perfect

In your humility, my strength is made perfect

In your submission and total dependence on me, my strength is made perfect

If you think you are strong, you are in my way and I will not be able to perfect my strength in you.

You need my strength to run this race to the end; without my strength you will faint. Have you forgotten that “if you faint in the days of adversity, thy strength is small”. Son, daughter, you need my perfect strength.

When I perfect my strength in you, you will mount up hills like eagles. You will not be tired. GIVE IT ALL TO ME. I NEED YOU. GIVE ME YOUR LIFE, ALL OF IT. I NEED IT.

Prayer #8: Oh God of perfection, perfect your strength in me.

Prayer #9  Father, when I am physically and spiritually persecuted let your grace be sufficient for me. Let me have an endless supply of your grace.

Conclusion:
If we need the type of FAITH that moves mountains (Matthew 17:20), then we do ourselves a huge favor to plead for more GRACE, because FAITH will only come by GRACE.  Grace is a recipe for Faith. Remember that if you have faith, you can do the things Jesus did and even greater things than He did.

May the Lord clothe you with the mantle of grace in Jesus name. God bless you.