Grave Clothes

The throne of grace

15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. – Hebrews 4:15-16 (NKJV)

There are many things that we cannot do simply because we are human. We have many limitations. Whether it's in our education, our skin colour and even just our abilities. There's only so much we can do as Christians and as people. Where we are limited, God's grace is sufficient. We all need the grace of God. We cannot live our best lives in Christ without utilizing God's grace.

We are saved by the grace of God. There's nothing we could have done to receive Jesus. Salvation is by God's grace.

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. – Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJV)

We cannot receive salvation without Grace. We need the grace of God to operate in our lives.

What is the grace of God?

What then is the grace of God? There are many ways to define God's grace. God's grace is His Divine enablement working in our lives. Grace is Divine empowerment. Grace is the divine power that enables us to do things or to receive things that we are not qualified for. Grace is God's favor operating in our lives. And we need to that Grace.

Let's look at a few examples of people in the bible who received grace. We are going to look at one character from both the old and new testaments.

6 And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 So the Lord said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." – Genesis 6:6-7 (NKJV)

In the old testament, we have a guy called Noah. Noah the boat guy. In genesis 6, we see that God was not happy with His creation. He created man in His own image and so when everyone started to sin, it hurt God. God has a personality that expresses emotion. And sometimes we do not see how much we affect God by the choices we make.

He made us in His own image. We bear the image of God. Do you know what happens when we sin or do something wrong? It grieves God. He is our manufacturer. He is responsible for us. And we have to realize that what we do or do not do grieves God. In the same chapter, we see that God set out to destroy every living creature that He had created.

8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. – Genesis 6:8 (NKJV)

Noah found Grace – Divine empowerment that saved him from being destroyed. He found grace in the eyes of God. And we need this Grace!

52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. – Luke 2:52 (NKJV)

Jesus also needed to increase in grace. He increased in favour with God and men. We also need that grace. There are so many things we cannot do and it only takes God's grace to do those things. Whether it's school. Or ministry or even work. Everything we do requires an amount of grace to assist us.

My grace is sufficient for you

8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 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 12:8-10 (NKJV)

In the few years that I have been born again, I have had to depend on the grace of God. I got saved in 2014 and life hasn't been easy, but it has been exciting. Growing in the lord is not fun. It's not easy. It's hard and it comes with a whole lot of persecution. Did you know, the more that the early church was persecuted, the more they grew? And we like to run away from the things we have to suffer and the things we have to endure.

Even Paul wanted out. But Gods word to him was. "My grace is sufficient for you." God gives us the grace we need to do the things we are required to do. We first have to recognize our helplessness. At the throne of Grace, there's availability of help. The help we need at that time of weakness. At that time of temptation. At that time of great persecution. At the time when all hope seems lost, that's when we need to cry out to God.

I believe that we cannot utilize something we don't know and we cannot fully function in something we don't understand. Each time we struggle with anything, we should ask God for the grace that gives us divine strength. We need grace to keep walking on the same path of wholeness and righteousness. Many people give up and some haven't been able to return to God. God's grace is what sustains us and keeps us in fellowship with Him.

God is so amazing. He knows how weak we are. I have come to accept my weaknesses as a believer. In our weaknesses, we can come to God and ask for help. Being strong is not always the thing we need to be. I know for men, there's this great need to be strong. And of course, we need to be strong in many situations.

Even at the highest level of our strength, there are just certain things that won't bow until we submit ourselves to the strength of God.

6 Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. – 1 Samuel 30:6 (NKJV)

Maybe David had other options. Maybe there was something he could have done. But he chose the throne of grace. Because, the throne of grace has sufficient help for our present needs. God can be as human as we would want Him to be even as divine as He is. If we cannot go to the throne of grace, we'll be left to our own capabilities. Even the strongest man that ever lived had a weakness. Samson was so strong that you'd think you were reading a super hero comic. But no! That was real. And yet, in all his strength and splendour, even he could be brought down.

This tells us that as great as we can be, there are still so many things we cannot do without that extra help from God. And His divine Grace gives us that empowerment. And God can help us.

Wrapped in the Father's arms

9 It troubled the Lord
to see them in trouble,
and his angel saved them.
The Lord was truly merciful,
so he rescued his people.
He took them in his arms
and carried them all those years. – Isaiah 63:9 (CEV)

I don't know how God does it, but He knows exactly what we need. It troubles God when we are troubled. It bothers God when we are stuck and cannot find help. That's why it's important to know just how much God is willing to help us. That's why we need His grace. Because, without His grace, there are certain attributes of God that we wouldn't know about.

There's so much to God that we do not know. And our knowledge of God grows as we fellowship with Him. We can boldly go to the throne of His grace. We have to go on our own. We have to learn to allow God in our lives and in our spaces. He already knows what we need. We have to allow Him to help us.

Some of us are so independent that we don't allow ourselves to be vulnerable before God. Asking for help requires a certain level of vulnerability on our part. When we learn to be ourselves before God, that's when we can find the grace to help us in times of need.

There will be times of need. And what we'll need in such times is that grace. We probably all have some stories that highlight how much we wouldn't have made it had it not been for God. And in such times, we can learn to count on the grace of God to work in our lives.