Until you can use or maximize Grace to bring your flesh under subjection, control, you have not gained so much from Grace.

It means you have not come through Grace or been taught of the Grace of God, and when you have not maximized Grace, it will be difficult to live or trust on Grace. The resources of Grace are accessed or maximized by the medium of Faith, and Faith can only be King where Grace has prevailed. Your submission to the principles and authority of Grace is without another choice; it is not possible to do combine service of choice of Grace and the flesh and profit from Grace. (See Titus 2:11—15.)

Men of old who understood Grace from the very heart of God maximized it to the fullest. And it was true that failure wasn't on their side at all, their success in things that others struggled with was obvious and evident to all. See the testimony of apostle Paul on how the Grace of God sharpened and perfected his life for great exploit in his lifetime among men:

"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me" (1Cor.15.10).

The difference between the disciples ‘of our Lord’ who had gone ahead of us, who lived on the Grace of God, and men and women who lived in their generation was vivid and obvious. Grace made the disciples of old strangers to failure. It was not only true for apostle Paul and the 12 but true for all of them. They were empowered by God to do all things through Christ Jesus (Grace). ("I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" [Phil.4.13].)

 

What is the Grace of God?

One question people don’t often ask is what is this grace of God all about, and what is not the grace of God? One thing the grace of God is not an errand boy, grace is not a force locked up somewhere to be released at will. Grace is not an independent possession that dances the music of the flesh, that we command at will. What then is the grace of God?

In Hebrew chapter 4 verse 16, the Bible says, “Let’s therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find GRACE to help in time of need.”

Wow! What a vivid text that the Lord has planted in our Bible, it is so elaborate. Our first interest there is the “Throne”, the fact that there is a throne, which means there is first a personality that is sited by the throne or upon the throne. The throne is not grace, but where grace is made available. The throne is the embodiment of the grace that is upon it.

The throne is not grace, it is like referring to the throne of the King of Igala kingdom; “the throne of Attah of Igala.” The throne is a platform where the king sits, to see the king and receive anything from the king requires that you, first of all, come to the throne of the king, the same thing is what the Lord is calling us to in Hebrews. The grace of God might be a gift to all, but it can only be accessed at the throne, to seek grace anywhere else is like not seeking grace at all, because you wouldn’t find it somewhere else.

Grace is not a mobile force or magic power that can be suspended in a bottle. Grace is not a wind, because wind can’t sit upon a throne. Grace is a person. Grace is an individual.

Let’s see more in the Book of John chapter 1 verse 14. We will still go back to Hebrews but let’s quickly lay hold on the person of grace. See what the Bible says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of GRACE and truth.”

Have you ever filled a 20-liter gallon with either red oil or groundnut oil before? If you don’t have anyone on your own, at least you might have seen it before. The rubber is only a container for the oil; a room to pour the substance, the oil is the value that gave relevance to the rubber.  In a real sense, the value of the rubber will just be like every other rubber around if not that the owner of it found it worthy and he filled it with oil.

And wherever or whenever the owner is asked if he had oil or not, he would boldly say, “I have oil”, even without talking of the measure or quantity of the oil he has. The rubber is just a measuring can or vessel for the store of value, without it, the oil will still be oil and will still be useful. But for convenience in a carriage, rubber is required.  

This is not different from what the Lord God has given to the world in Christ Jesus. Jesus is the Grace of God given to man. “The Word became flesh,” as a necessary condition to bear the Grace of God before men just like oil is carried about in a rubber. The body of Jesus is room for the physical bearing of the grace of God, among men. Anywhere Jesus makes an appearance it is the grace of God that has appeared. It is like a symbol but much more than a symbol, He is the revelation of the Grace of God. And the Bible says, “He is full of Truth.” Jesus is the grace of God and the truth, the Word of God.

Grace is a person, not a force or a wind. He is the person of Jesus. So, when Jesus is saying to us in John chapter 15 verse 5 that “Without Me, you can do nothing.” He is simply telling us that without grace we can do nothing, hence the Bible says, “Come boldly to the throne of grace [ to Jesus] to obtain mercy [forgiveness, fatherly pity, favour, divine benevolence] and find GRACE to help you in the time of need”.

As mentioned already, grace is not our errand boy, Grace is the help of God that we have received in the person of Christ Jesus, the filling of His Spirit, upon us, in our lives, who is dwelling within us, to help us in the time of needs.

How does GRACE help us in time of need?

Grace helping us in the time of need is not ultimately you praying and calling down fire, nor saying that “in the name of Jesus you demon must die today” and all of that. No, the grace of God is given to us to help us, aid us, teach us, see us through, comfort us, and lead us daily.

One thing the grace of God that we have received does for us is that it probes into the needs of our lives. Don’t forget, He is a person, and we have received Him as a measure of God’s filling of Spirit upon our individual life. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 11, “For what man knows the things of a man except for the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.”  The Spirit of Christ within us knows precisely what the mind of God is for us, and daily He knows what our needs are. As long as we are available in the will of God for us, the Holy Spirit is responsible for meeting our daily needs. He sees into our need’s life, and He aligns us with the will of the Father for our daily living.

When the Holy Spirit sees that you need money, or you will need money some days from today, He will begin to command your environment, align your environment to meet the needs of your life. He calls them forth, He orders your place to make sure that when you reach that point of need you are not overwhelmed by it.

Our needs are of great paramount to Him, and daily He is with us to make sure everything that happens within us and around us moves us towards the fulfillment of the Father’s will for us. Grace is our source of livelihood, grace is our do and don’t, welfare, answers, survival, possessions, and our greatest inheritance on the face of the earth, any other thing we anchor our search and life on apart from the grace of God is a waste of essence, it will amount to nothing.

The Grace of God is God's empowerment, Oil, Spirit upon a man, woman, or child to do what his human strength is not fit to do (nor is acceptable even if he were able to have it done) by human strength or energy. Grace can also be seen as the strengthening of Christ, the infilling of His Spirit upon His disciple.

Grace alone is the deal, the only choice that brings the personality of God into the realm and affairs (dealings) of men, women, and children without reservation or doubt.

How to position ourselves correctly for the GRACE of God

There was a man of the tribe of Levi in the days of King David who was not consecrated for the service of carrying the Ark of the Lord, who out of pity decided to help God’s Ark from falling. There was a service that his division was consecrated to do, and that was what brought him to the scene of the event in the first place. But not to help with the carrying of Ark.  In his good mind and willpower, he was like saying to himself, “why should I be here and the Ark of my God be shaken to the floor, no, I will do whatever I can to rescue the God of Israel from reproach.” And the Bible says, “The moment he reached out his hand to the Ark, the Lord stroke him, and he died.” (See 1 Samuel 6:7)

It is not all about having the energy, nor the technical know-how, nor is it all about having the financial power or the intellectual ability. To profit from divine service and worship, you require grace to function. When Jesus said, “Without Me, you can do nothing,” He is not trying to say that without Me, you cannot go to your farm and come back, that is not what he is saying, His point of the expression is on DIVINE SERVICE AND WORSHIP. You cannot be said to be ready for it, nor can any one of us has it done acceptably except he or she is filled (or you have received grace to function in it).

Jesus at another point talked about making the tree good to make the fruit good, for a bad or evil tree can only produce evil fruit. Let’s take a brief account of that passage: “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit” (Matthew 12:33).

Friend, before we think that Jesus was just talking about mango trees, orange trees, palm trees, or maybe He was just referring to the leaders of the Jews; the Pharisees and the Sadducees, let’s quickly read a text in Matt chapter 7 from verse 8 to 12, see what the Bible says:

For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? IF YOU THEN, BEING EVIL, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 

Do you see that Jesus was not just referring to the religious leaders alone, but all the human race? Everyone is born of the will of the flesh and blood. There is a need for transformation and empowerment of grace for anyone of us to become useful in the hand of God. It is a process that we must submit to under the making of His Spirit. Except we release ourselves wholly to the spiritual making of the Spirit, we will just be too narrow and unsuitable for the filling of the Spirit, His grace. There is a need for our preparation, cleansing for us to be able to contain the fullness of Him. Jesus told the disciples, “You are already clean becomes of the Word that I have spoken to you,” according to John chapter 15 verse 3.

God didn't plan it that your life (or my life) should be maximized for Him and His Glory on the struggle or basis of the flesh. The truth is that, even if you can do so much for God by the effort of your flesh, you have only laboured for the fire. Grace is the resource for Divine service and worship that are acceptable to God. Sand and cement are for building houses, it is not appropriate for you to tell yourself that since cement is strong and durable you should use it to construct cars, no, it wouldn't work. The resources for building cars are different, only iron is the common resource that building cars and houses could share in common.

Similarly, it is not appropriate to labour, work, or live for God through the energy of self, the flesh. There is a need to completely submit your all to the Grace of God to fashion out a new you for His service, and earthly relevance in your generation.

 

God's Provision for the Supply of Grace

Just like a man who needs his money goes to the ATM to make a withdrawal of cash for use, that's is how Jesus has been appointed the dispenser of the Grace of God.

In Jesus is the stored-up of Grace for every one of us. The Bible says, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And of His fullness, we have all received, and grace for grace” (John 1:14, 16).

Grace is free but it is not like sweet that we may branch any shop to just buy. When the Bible says we should come to the throne of Grace to find Grace that will help us in the time of need, it is because there is no other place, we can get it in our willingness, we can only access the Grace of God that had been stored up for us in Him, Christ.

So that you don't say you don't know if there could be Grace for you too, “maybe there is none for me.” That is not true except you abandoned the Grace that has been credited to your account to help you in the fulfillment of God’s purpose for you in your generation, nobody can make a withdrawal of your Grace on your behalf. Although it could be possible for anyone to withdraw your money from your earthly Bank on your behalf, such dealing is at the level of man. When God shut a door none can open it, and when He opens none can shut it. What is meant for you is for you, the access is unique and peculiar, your package of Grace has your name written on it. 

One thing we must also understand about Grace when it comes to living our lives for the Glory of God is that there is no way God will assign a task to a man or woman, a boy or a girl and He won't make provision of Grace (Spirit energy) to have the job or task done. Only pharaoh (the world or men) could give you a task and say to you, "You are idle! Idle! Therefore, you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord. Therefore, go now and work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks.” That is because physical energy and mental ability are mainly required to do man's made works, but concerning God and His agenda that He delights to commit to us, only Grace is required to have it done, and He is the supplier of Grace. So, it is always available and can't be out of stock.

Also, God wouldn't behave like father Isaac who emptied all that he had to pronounce on his children when Esau cried to him, “ And Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me—me also, O my father!” And Esau lifted his voice and wept.”

But Isaac was helpless in the situation because he had no blessing left to give: Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Indeed I have made him your master, and all his brethren I have given to him as servants; with grain and wine I have sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?” "I have no more blessing [Grace] left, all that I have is given out not even a single one is remaining.” No, far be it from our God, the judge of all the earth wouldn't do such a thing. He has fashioned grace for all, like Jeremiah, He knew us long before our conceptions.  Every one of us has his customized or apportioned graces in the Lord Jesus, and God cannot make mistakes with them in His wisdom. That was while the Lord Jesus was bold to declare unto us according to John chapter 15 verse 5, see what the Bible says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

Grace can only be abandoned but cannot be stolen. See what the Bible says in the Book of Jonah concerning how men often abandoned the Grace that has been credited to their account long before birth:

When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the GRACE that could be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD. (Jonah 2:7-9 NKJV.)

Men and women can only abandon their Mercy and Grace but in Christ, there are made ready. We are only asked to come; we have the responsibility of coming. They don't just fall on us suddenly by merely wishing it, no, it requires transformation and growth process to walk in Grace, to lay hold on your Grace. It is free but not like biscuits and sweets.

The men who went ahead of us paid the cost, they forsook all to enjoy the life and inheritance of Grace that they were invited for. They forsook all to ensure they lay hold on the provision of Grace. Here is the difference between us and them in terms of our responses to the provision of God’s mercies and graces.

The very things that we develop headaches and heart attacks from, things that we abuse and defraud one another to decorate ourselves with, we take another to court, some people will even tell you, "Christianity is not stupidity [foolishness]," those were things that those early disciples and apostles abandoned without a struggle to follow after Christ Jesus. Apostle Paul even called them dungs:

We love those things, we Cherish them, we defraud and cheat to get them, yet we want to carry the same anointing like those men who exercise self-denial over all the appetite of the flesh. It wouldn't work that way, to bear fruit like them we ought to become the tree that they were. They were changed, transformed from the old into the new. Their reverence wasn't on lips service, it was out of the fruit of life caused by the Grace (the Anointing) that they settled on and live for.

The Bible says, "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit" (Matt. 12:33.)

Your ability to bear the fruit of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, self-control, kindness, goodness, faithfulness it’s dependent on your mind or life renewal by the Word. Except you have become a new man, a new woman, or a new boy or girl, it is not possible to produce the new regardless of your zeal, desires, and wishes. Have you become a new creature? Has your appetite changed, has your taste bud changed? Has your reason for living changed, I don't mean if you sing it, or pray it, these are only activities?

Have you allowed your life to align with the Word of God? How has the Jesus you known shaped you, influenced your choices? We have a set time to let Him be glorified through us and in us; the stage wouldn’t be ours forever. If the flesh still has the say or the reign over the life we live, Sir/Ma, it is not possible to experience their experience, only a crucified self can bring glory to God by the apparatus of grace — the infilling to the Spirit (the Anointing).

Thanks for the gift of your time, I am John Ojoagbene!

Feel free to share your thoughts or testimony in the comment box below. I promise to respond to them as soon as possible!