Great Grace

 “When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord.” Acts 11:23 NKJV

Our reference for today describes the true picture of greatness in the city of Antioch, including the sweet fellowship of persecuted disciples, the spontaneous turning of sinners to saints, the attraction of believers from neighbouring cities, and the incubation of prophets, teachers, evangelists and many other battle axes and weapons of war in the hands of God. Yet, it took the visit of Barnabas from Jerusalem to discover the secret of Antioch, which is the unique measure of the grace of God - great grace. For “When he came and had seen the grace of God”, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord. Likewise, the challenges in believers’ lives and the grossness of oppression and persecution in their world are designed to lead disciples and saints into the presence of God for His great grace. Unfortunately, until we are able to discover the great grace in God’s presence, we will be regularly tempted to lose heart and discontinue our sweet fellowship with the Lord. Whereas, the great grace does not just deliver believers from sin and its worldly affection; it enables believers to dwell sweetly in God’s righteousness with zeal for good works.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Righteous Resolution

  “ Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; And in his law doth he meditate day and night. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: But the way of the ungodly shall perish.” Psalm 1 : 1 - 2 , 6 KJV The problem with the concept of New Year resolutions is that the resolutions are results focussed, including new walkout goals, new diet habits, new relationship models for family, social, and workplace partners, etc. We know that these results resolutions are hard to keep and maintain with the best of human strategies. When Thomas Edition acclaimed ‘Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration ’, he probably believed in the divine order of the 1% inspiration in the 100% success principle. Remove the 1 ahead of the 100 and you’ll get zero, NOT 99! Little wonder the psalmist clearly adopted a righteous resolution strategy, instead of ...
Read more

Best Bride

  “ And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son .” Revelation 21 : 6 - 7 NKJV By reflecting on the best activities in the passing year 2025 and its lost privileges and opportunities, the most sincere response in the assessment of human efforts is likely to be baggage. Nothing is definitely assessed as “ It is done! “ on the basis of human limitations on relationships, participation, etc. Notwithstanding, the engagement of God in all of life’s affairs always leads to the production of a transformed life, a new beginning, and somehow like the best bride. Instead of getting wrecked by the disappointments arising from our engagement of human activities and opinions in the passing 2025, we can get rocked by the transformation of Jesus Christ into the best bride for the year 2026...
Read more

Honourable Honesty

  “ Let the saints be joyful in glory; Let them sing aloud on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, And a two-edged sword in their hand, To execute vengeance on the nations, And punishments on the peoples; To bind their kings with chains, And their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute on them the written judgment— This honor have all His saints. Praise the Lord! ” Psalms 149 : 5 - 9 NKJV In seasons of afflictions and persecution from a culture of dishonesty, “ Let the saints be joyful in glory; Let them sing aloud on their beds ” appears distasteful. While heaven and its promises wait, saints often walk around with their eyes dropped, shoulders lowered, and feet shackled…thinking what a joyful noise in gory? Unfortunately, dishonesty and diplomacy are the only wares that trend in the waiting seasons. Whereas, heaven always expects faith in God to inspire the righteous delight of saints who are called and commanded to be joyful in glory on their beds of af...
Read more