Grace be Multiplied
GSM Promise Message |
September 2020
Grace and peace be
multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord (2
Peter 1:2)
We are in the ninth month of
this calendar year. Days, weeks and months are just passing by. But not the
uncertainty remains. Looks like the whole year is going to be a wash out
(Courtesy: Covid19).
There is one phrase in the
Old Testament, which our Jewish friends use very often to wish each other. It is predominantly found in Psalms. It says~God is Good and His Mercy endureth for ever. I think the idea was for people to remember
(and not forget) God's goodness and mercy, regardless of times and seasons in
their life. One translation reads, His love never quits. Our faith, our
prayer, our worship, our giving and even our love towards God might
diminish. But His love toward us is
unending, unstoppable.
Not only his love or his
mercy. The New Testament introduces us
to a new word called Grace. Love,
mercy and grace, might appear synonymous, but they all carry distinctive
meanings. The Old Covenant people who
were under the law were familiar with God's love and mercy. They knew their Yahweh God was loving and
compassionate showing mercy to generations.
But they had very little clue about this concept called Grace.
Grace Personified
What is so amazing about
this grace?
The Bible says in John 1:17
says that Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ.
John 1:14 says that Jesus was "full of grace and truth". In other words, Jesus was not someone who
displayed grace. He was Grace himself.
We know well Apostle John's most famous record of Jesus's "Seven I am" statements, which
describe who He was in so many ways.
Jesus did not speak truth, Jesus himself was the Truth. Similarly, Jesus did not show grace, Jesus
himself was Grace. Besides other
credentials, Jesus was nothing but God's grace personified in human form. This magnificent attribute of God was not
revealed until the coming of Lord Jesus Christ.
Law Vs Grace
The people who were so
fixated with the Law of Moses, could not grasp the prospective of Jesus'
salvation by grace, through faith. How
can somebody grant so great a redemption to them without works? It made no sense to them. But God had made the wisdom of men foolish
when he offered the same through grace, since the requirement of law was
fulfilled "once and for all" by Jesus when he sacrificed his life on
the cross. In one way, this is like a
student passing out from school without even sitting for the exams. Imagine a
student coming to write a test, but the teacher saying that his paper has
already been submitted and even evaluated as promoted. In simple terms, this is what Jesus did for
us.
Grace bearers!
More often than not, we are
verbose and fervent to proclaim Jesus as 'the Truth'. We go about saying that He is the true God,
His way is the right way, He alone could give life. No doubt.
We even take great pride in saying that we live for the Truth (synonymous
to the Word of God) and that ours is not a religion but the 'Way of
Truth'. Perfectly so. We say God's word is the "Ark of
Testimony" which we are supposed to carry in our lives. Very true. But the question that I would like to ask
myself (and to those reading) is that as Christians, are we as passionate to
carry Grace as much as we like to
bear the Truth (or the Word). Remember the order, Grace and Truth. In other words, though of equal important,
truth follows grace. Truth without
Grace will not be representative of Jesus Christ. If Jesus is the personification of Grace and
Truth, we, who have received Jesus into our hearts, we who are called to
imitate Him in all ways, we who are called to become like him ought to be
reflectors of Grace and Truth, not
just reporters.
Grace Testing
It is quite interesting that
in the year 2020, the word POSITIVE, for obvious reasons, was the most NEGATIVE
word. A person undergoing Covid-19
antigens test would pray for his test results to be negative, positive.
Pathologically, if the presence of this novel virus is confirmed in the life
cells of a person, he is construed Corona
+ve. If not found, negative. A sigh
of relief! In spiritual barometer, it
is the other way round. One should test
positive, not for Corona, but for
GRACE. They say that if the virus, which
enters through our mouth or nose, gets into our lungs, it can greatly hinder
our breathing and may even prove. The inverse is true, when it comes to GRACE. The spread of Corona, in the worst case, may
lead to death, besides infecting those around us. The spread of Grace, in all
the cases, will lead to life! Life to you, life to others. Life eternal!
Because Jesus is the life! Wherever he went, he infused life. In the same way wherever you go, wherever you
are, you MUST INFUSE LIFE, NOT INFECT
DEATH! How to take the Grace test?
Symptomatic?
Even though fever, cough and
breathing difficulty are considered to be three major warning signs of the
presence of virus, the list of symptoms is continuing to increase, every other
day. It appears as if this virus is
capable of triggering multiple symptoms, differing from person to person. So,
people with symptoms, decide either to take a test or go for self-medication. But this virus, they say, can also sit on
people without showing any visible symptoms. Startling!
Grace, on the other hand, is
not asymptomatic. Grace is seen the way
we speak, we behave, we conduct, we transact and much more. The opposite is also true. One who says
he/she has the grace, cannot behave in a way which is contrary to its
character.
The Diagnostics
The Greek word for grace is Charis
which, according to Strong's Dictionary,
means "divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in
life". In other words, God's very
own disposition plainly evident (not hidden) in human life. Grace is also
defined as "unmerited favour". Showering favour upon those who deserve the
least. In fact, trying to define Charis, within
the pages of this article is like attempting to contain the waters of the ocean
in a bucket. Grace is an enormous
topic. Grace demands experience, rather than explanation.
Apostle Paul, in all his epistles, has dealt with the topic in a great
measure. A person who, despite all his
exploits, admits that he is what he is but by the grace of God (1 Cor
15:10)
Pronounced more, Practiced less
And God is able to make all grace abound toward
you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every
good work (2 Corinthians 9:8)
Modern day Christianity focusses
a lot on celebrating God's grace through its songs and sermons than living it
out in a day-to-day setting. Volumes of
talk on God's grace, vehement confession of God's graciousness is of no use, if
the same is not backed by good intentions, good works and good acts. It is time
to practice grace. Paul wishes and
prays, in almost all his epistles (Eg.,Rom 16:24,1 Cor 16:23,Gal 1:3) for
people to not just receive grace, but be established, be multiplied in grace.
Transformational Knowledge
And have put on the new man, which is renewed in
knowledge after the image of him that created him: (Colossians 3:10)
Knowledge, in biblical
terms, is not some volume of information about God. The bible uses the word knowledge in a much
more significant way. Adam knew Eve and Cain was born (Gen
4:1). Knowledge means knowing God
personally, in a more intimate way. If I
say I know God and have not produced anything out of that knowledge, then the
fact is that I have not known him at all!
Therefore, even as Peter writes in his Epistle (2 Pet 1:2) we abound in
grace only to the extent to which we have known
him. A true, faithful, abiding and
intimate relationship with Lord Jesus Christ!
Religious Christianity does very little to help you grow in grace. But relationship with Christ will fill you
with all grace. You may know him, when
you spend more time with him. You may know him, when you speak more with
him. You may know him, when you hear
more from him! And if that takes place in your life, you will live out GRACE in
all walks of life.
I would like to point out,
in summary, three areas of our everyday life, where GRACE needs to be
manifested. Let us take a closer look at
them and evaluate ourselves. Am I GRACE
positive or NEGATIVE in these area. In
this case NEGATIVE, not POSITIVE, is disastrous for your soul.
(1) Grace to Live
These things have I spoken
unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full
(John 15:11)
Jesus said I have come to
give life, life abundant. Jesus did not promise that he will give you wealth,
riches, materials and all the prosperity of the world. Well, His idea was not make us paupers or
beggars. He wanted us to become
spiritually rich. His promise was that
if we seek first the Kingdom of God, all the rest will follow. In another occasion, Jesus spoke of Joy~His Own Joy. He wanted his joy to remain
in us. How is your life today? Is it
filled with remorse, resentment, grief, worry, unforgiving nature, bitterness
etc., Then your test result is
NEGATIVE. Just as a Covid19 +ve is
capable of spreading the disease to other, a Grace -ve person is also capable
of spreading negative to others. All the negative and hurtful sentiments have
no place in the life filled with Grace. May this grace be multiplied in you!
(2) Grace to Love
By this shall all men know that ye are my
disciples, if ye have love one to another (John 13:35)
Jesus summed up the Old
Testament law in two short sentences. Love
God. Love others as you love yourself.
It all boils down to LOVE. Love
is not an emotion; it is an action.
Jesus demonstrated his love towards us not through preaching and
teaching. He gave his own life to us, to
prove his love. Are we expected to kill
ourselves to prove our love? No. Jesus was not expecting people to commit
suicide to prove love. Jesus expected
people to die to their self. Paul says,
we die every-day. When we die to self,
the needs and wants of others (emotional and physical) takes priority than mine
own needs. To a Levite, to a Priest,
their ministry, their assignment came first on the day they saw a certain man
lying half dead. But to a Samaritan, the man became the priority. The Bible says he had compassion. In other words,
he had grace to love, not when it was convenient. He loved, inspite of…. How is your love barometer today? Jesus wants us to do what that Samaritan did
that day. Show mercy (Luke10:37). If
you are saying, I am offended I cannot talk to him than you are testing Grace
Negative. The antibiotic of grace,
called Love must be seen in you. Are you
unable to love some people because of what they are or what they have
done? May this grace be multiplied in
you!
(2) Grace to Loosen
Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on
thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee? (Mat 18:33)
As Christians, we may all be
familiar with Lord's Prayer. It was not his prayer, but a prayer pattern shown
to disciples. In our Church services, in our individual prayer time, in public
gatherings we all do this prayer. But
how many realize that there is one conditional clause in that prayer. Jesus
makes it very clear about the same in Mathew 6:14 and 15. In the parable of unjust (unforgiving)
servant, Jesus makes it even more clear.
A man who received waiver from a creditor to whom he owed a sum, failed
to pass on the same gesture to his debtor.
When the original creditor got to know of this act, he not only
retracted his waiver, but sentenced him to gruel punishment. Jesus warns that if one fails to do the same
to his own brethren, he will do like-wise.
The Message translation puts it this way And that's exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one
of you who doesn't forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for
mercy. By not forgiving someone, in
our hearts, we hold a noose around their neck.
Except devil, we are not supposed to tie anyone in our life. Having received the precious Grace of God, we
should never carry any grudge, animosity, ill-feeling towards anyone. Grace is given to loosen them. May
this grace be multiplied in you!
Conclusion
We then, as workers together
with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain (2
Corinthians 6:1)
The outpouring of God's
grace was not a one-time occurrence to facilitate our salvation. God showers, fills, charges us with His
grace. Why? To pass it on to others. If we do not live the Life of Christ, if
we do not Love as Christ loved, if we do not loose (forgive) as Christ forgave
then the grace of God becomes vain. How
can we waste such a precious gift in our life? Grace is also called a gift.
My prayer and your prayer
should be the prayer of Paul and Peter too.
Praying for GRACE TO BE MULTIPLIED.
When GRACE is multiplied PEACE also gets multiplied.
Not just a prayer, I
encourage you to claim this as a Promise for September 2020 and even for the
months to come.
Our GOD will surely multiply
GRACE in your life to love, live and
loosen.
God bless you!
Pray for us!
Your brother in Christ
Vinod Kumar
God's Shadow Ministries
9840011374, 9840995057
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