I define grace as God's ability in our inability that ushers in his capacity into our lives. Thus, when God's grace shows up, our inabilities are taken out of the equation as we tap into God's infinite capacity. God's grace can empower us to do what outweighs our own abilities. So, when talking about grace, it implies the mission is beyond what we can do by our own will or strength.
WHAT IS THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF GRACE?
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. (2Cor 8:9). This is it!!
The highest level of grace is the ability of God that enables an individual to stoop lower than his or her status in order to reach others. That's, denying yourself what you are entitled to, in order to make others better. It is like leaving heaven to the earth in order to give others the opportunity to live in heaven as well.
I know this isn't the kind of message many today would want to hear. We are living in a world where people striving to enrich themselves even at the expense of the most venerable. People who spend thousands of dollars each day just for leisure are still looking for means to rob people who are barely looking for food to eat.
Listen! All our talks about grace are just like a clanging cymbal, if we know nothing about this level of grace. By grace, Christ, "though he was rich, yet for our sake, he became poor that through his poverty, we might be rich." We all want to go to heaven, but he left heaven, came and lived in this world and died a shameful death just to bring us salvation. What an example!
I know some religious folks would say; that's Jesus. Yes, but he did it by grace, and that grace is available to each of us for our generation. Listen! This present world would perish, unless God's people everywhere step into this level of grace. In the last four decades, we have been taught on how to be wealthy and there is nothing wrong with being prosperous. God is now saying to us; it is time to become poor that through our poverty millions around the world can become rich. I know it sounds complex; let me break it down with some illustrations.
1) Let's say an individual who has the money to buy a car worth $20.000.00 and above, but decides to purchase a car for $4000.00 in order to invest $16.000.00 for a cause to better the lives of others and to sponsor the gospel of the kingdom.
2) Instead of owning four cars or more as a preacher, and lodging in hotels worth $2000.00 a night, you decide to have two cars and to lodge in hotels worth $200.00-$400.00 to save $1600.00 for the work of the ministry.
3) Denying yourself the comfort of a private jet plane in order to invest the money into projects that can improve the lives of people even though you have what it takes to own one.
The examples can go on and on and on. This is something none of us can do. Nobody hates himself, but when we enter into this level of grace, we no longer live for ourselves, but for God's kingdom and humanity.
The world we see today with wars, diseases, poverty, crime, and death is simply the fruits of human greed. The church that ought to be the light of the world in this respect, has failed in several quarters as our greed and egotism is now over the limit of the secular world.
What in the world is a preacher doing with nine private cars? What for God sake is someone who is requesting for public support for his or her cause, ministry work or organization doing in a hotel worth $1000.00, $2000.00 a night? If you have that much to spend, why not use it instead of asking people to give to support your cause, ministry or organization.
Oh! For the manifestation of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ through his people once more!
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. (2Cor 8:9).
Dr.Benard Etta
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