Great Grace 1

Devotional Reading: And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. Acts 4:33 KJV

Christ told Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” Paul wanted out of the troubles he had to endure, but instead Christ gave His grace to go through. God may not always deliver us from the fire but He will walk through the fire with us.

This word, grace, is one of the most precious and powerful words in scripture. It is a word used to designate anything that is called out of the heart—wonder, admiration, pleasure, joy. The word grace also came to signify the doing of a favor graciously, spontaneously, a favor done without expectation of return but arising only out of the generosity of the giver. Grace is a gift which implies the presence of the giver. The giver and gift are so involved that the gift cannot be handed over unless the giver is involved.

Grace is everything that we need for today—for church growth, for revival, for restoration. You may have your various ideas as to what the church needs to bring about growth, to spark revival and those idea may be well and good, but I still believe that all of our needs can be brought together under one subject and that is “Great Grace.” It was said of the church in Acts 4:33 that, “great grace was upon them all.” Is that the identifying mark of the church today? If not, it must be before the church will make an impact upon the world.

Great grace in the early church came as a result of their love for one another. Love is the oil that allows the machinery of the church to operate properly. You can have organization, you can have all the right programs, you can have all the talent, but if there is no love one for another, everything else is vain. I think we are safe in saying that great power, great grace came as a result of prayer, steadfastness to doctrine and love one for another. As a result of great power and great grace, they spoke in such a way under the guidance of the Holy Ghost that they were effective in leading other to believe in Jesus.

Prayer and Confession
Thank you Jesus for your wonderful grace made evident through your death and resurrection. I walk in the light of this truth a member of His body. Amen

Further Reading – Romans 5:20, Acts 2:42-43