Empowered by His Grace

Ephesians 2:8-10

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” NKJV

The grace of God through Jesus Christ is not just good news for the lost, it is good news for every believer. We often think of grace as being soft, easy, getting a pass. But grace is the mightiest power we will ever see at work in our lives. It is also the only power that brings real fruit to our walk with God. The writer of Ephesians reminds us that we are not only saved by grace,but we are empowered by grace. Grace is what enables us to carry out the good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

We as Christians are often so hard on ourselves as we try to be like Christ or attain what we see in God’s Word and take on the burden of achieving what we feel God has called us to accomplish. Perhaps, we have tried and failed, or we have just given up and taken the grace card to accommodate our shortcomings. The great Apostle Paul struggled with some issues in his life and brought those issues to the cross of Christ. Jesus’ response to him was, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." To which Paul responded, “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

In Mark, chapter 3, a man with a withered hand came to Jesus for healing. Jesus commanded him to stretch forth his withered hand. When he did, it was healed. We often want to hide our withered hand, our weaknesses and failures. However, Jesus commands us to extend into the open our weaknesses because in our weakness he is made strong and His grace is revealed. It is not by our ability and hard work that we overcome. It is by His grace that we overcome every failure and obstacle that rises up against us. It is when we extend our withered hand that the power of Christ rests upon us. It is not by our ability but by His grace that we overcome.

2 Corinthians 4:7 says, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” By the Holy Spirit the full nature and power of God resides in you. His grace is sufficient for whatever you are facing today. Not only is it sufficient to carry you through, but it is sufficient to empower you to demonstrate His grace to those around you.

May you be empowered by His grace and may you empower others with His grace.

Andy Clark