By: Robert D Rogers
Many people think if we preach or teach a strong message on the grace of God, people will begin to live a very loose life and dishonor the Christian standard. My experience, however, is just the opposite. If the message of grace is ministered and received in its truest form, the result will be a deep abiding and humbling gratitude that flows from a life of humility.
Grace by its very nature is a gift of such magnitude we should be humbled by its riches. It is said that the Apostle Paul began to teach and preach that he was the least of the apostles, and that as the message of grace grew in his life, he taught he was the least of the saints, and ultimately when grace had done its greatest work, he taught, "I am the chief of sinners!"
1 Cor 15:9
9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
Eph 3:8
8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
1 Tim 1:15
15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
Is it not true that most of us come to the place where we believe we "deserve better"? In truth the very thought "I deserve" is a path of deception of the greatest magnitude that will lead us to a miserable and easily deceived life. How much richer our life would be if we were grateful for even the smallest of blessings. I would like to use the phrase the Apostle Peter did when he was reminding his hearers of a great truth.
2 Peter 1:12
12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.
The great truth I would like to remind us of is the word the Lord once spoke to my heart saying, "Son, tell my people that they can be as rich as they want to be. For wealth is not determined by what you have but rather by your ability to be thankful and grateful for what you have."
The Lord then gave me the following vision: I was in a very nice restaurant and a waitress had just brought me my food. Before she left I said, "Thank you so much." She stopped and said, "Oh, are you thankful for this?" I responded by saying, "Why, yes I am." She scooped up the food and she and another waitress brought me twice as much as I had before! Once again I responded by saying, "Thank you so much." They stopped and looked at me with astonishment and said, "We have the greatest chef in the world back in the kitchen, and he wants to prepare a meal for you that is beyond anything you can imagine." They rushed off and soon a veritable army of waiters and waitresses appeared with an endless array of the most exquisite food I have ever tasted. There too, was the chef smiling and so delighted that a grateful heart had opened the door for his limitless skills to be released.
Dear one, the Lord is waiting to find hearts that are truly grateful and full of humility, so that He can pour out His limitless supply of grace and sufficiency. However, ungratefulness is an ugly and selfish spirit. If the Lord would allow us to continue in this way, our life would grow into a black hole that sucked everything around it into its sprit of un-thankfulness. So great is the spirit of un-thankfulness that it results in an "unqualified or reprobate mind."
Rom 1:21
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened
Rom 1:28
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
The word reprobate means "unqualified." When we come to the place where we are dwelling on the subject "I deserve," or we fail to be thankful for the smallest of favors, our mind becomes unqualified to judge things.
This includes more than our thoughts, it encompasses our feelings as well as our will. In other words, when we are ungrateful not only are our thoughts wrong, but our emotions as well as our wills are corrupted.
At the beginning of this year when the Lord spoke to my heart and said, "This year I will teach you how to minister the "Truth about Grace," and when you do that, truth will transform my Church as nothing else has and she will become the loving and powerful force the world needs in this hour." I had no idea that it would lead to such a brokenness in my life, and start working in me a depth of humility I had not known.
How will I know I am receiving the grace of God? We will know because we will have no desire to judge or condemn others. We will cry out to God to show even our greatest enemies the mercies of His love and grace. We will experience an ever increasing degree of humility that results in the fruit of agape love. Agape love can kiss the hand that has offended it because it knows that very hand is releasing the grace of God into its life. We will know because we are now looking for opportunities to forgive rather than responding to an ever increasing wave of offenses.
We will know because humility has drawn us into the presence of God in such a way that - nothing can offend us because we already know that if we got what we deserved we would all be rejected.
Has the Lord brought offenses into our life because He loves us so much He is determined to drive ungratefulness from our inner being? Have we not desired to be wealthy? Is God then not answering our prayers with the only path to true wealth? Once again - we can all be as wealthy as we want to be, for wealth is not determined by what we have but rather by our ability to be thankful for what we have, and dear one, that includes the offenses!
1 Thess 5:18-19
18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
19 Quench not the Spirit.
Imagine... a body of Christian believers all speaking, declaring, and proclaiming God's strategic word for this moment in history. Will you join us in this strategic moment of history so that the Church may fulfill its end-time destiny?
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