BE ASSURED OF GOD'S GRACE

January, 200l

I could feel anxiety in the air until just after the New Year. Here in South Florida, we are incurring dryness, a "mandatory water conservation program," a time when all look to the heavens for those times of refreshing. Then, hope came. The skies are quite blue, the air crisp, the days those that tourists welcome and for which they gladly spend money.

Discerning the times is a difficult task, and so I turned to the Holy Spirit. This is what I received:

This will be a year of perfecting, stablishing, and strengthening, a year in which I will pour out My grace in order to raise up an army able to withstand the wiles of the enemy.

Worship Me, speaking to Me of the grace revealed in Christ Jesus. Remember Me as the God of all Grace.

Remind Me of the grace to be revealed in the bringing of many sons to glory. (Romans 8.18; Hebrews 2.10)

I the Lord am doing a mighty work in those whose hearts I am preparing. As these humble themselves before Me, as they desire Me, as they yearn to be holy as I am holy, as they seek Me with all their being, as they yield themselves to Me, as they trust Me and come to Me for grace, I will shed My love upon them and grant them great grace. So shall they walk in great power, working miracles of grace.

This will be a year of grace, for many have called to Me, and I have heard. As they shout, "Grace, grace to it," the mountains will turn to rubble as I, the Spirit of Grace, come upon the land and upon My people.

Do not fear in the coming days, for My grace is sufficient.

My grace will come to you as you come boldly to the Throne of Grace to obtain mercy and to find grace and favor in your times of need. This Throne of Grace has been established by My Son that you might come to receive. Come, therefore, knowing that the way is open to you.

Exalt Me for My grace, for you receive what you do not deserve. You receive because I AM. You receive because I am gracious to grant you what you need.

Be blessed this year with true riches. Glory in the grace revealed to you. Open your eyes to the grace all around you daily. Marvel at every act of grace, every kindness, every mercy. Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 5.10 says, "The God of all grace, who called you unto His eternal glory in Christ, shall Himself perfect, stablish, strengthen you, after you have suffered a little while." God is the God of all grace. As we think about our work, our various needs, our life, our hearts’ desires, we are to look to God daily as the Source of sufficient grace. Every day our lives are in His hands. We place them there, trusting to receive from Him the fulfillment of His promises in us.

Give God time to reveal Himself to you. Give Him your day. As you enter into God’s gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise, come boldly to the Throne of Grace to obtain mercy and to find grace and favor in your time of need (Hebrews 4.16). Jesus is Himself a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, the Son of God. He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4.14, 15)

Our most basic infirmity is that we shrink back from the call of the cross, that is, to be crucified with Christ, to lay down our lives for the brethren, to die to sin and self, to mortify the flesh with its passions and lusts. Nevertheless, Jesus understands and intercedes. Because of Him, because He took our sin and became sin for us, because He rose again from the dead and is alive forevermore, we can come to the Throne of Grace.

See Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For, Hebrews 4.10 declares, "it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings."

See the difference between the Throne of God as Creator and the Throne of Grace. In chapter four of the Revelation, John saw, "a Throne set in heaven, and One sitting upon the Throne; and He that sat was to look upon like a jasper stone and a sardius." There were the shining light of precious stones and four beasts who cried night and day, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." Twenty-four elders fall down before Him saying, "Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power; for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they are, and were created." (Revelation 4)

In Revelation 5 we read of a Lamb slain and a new song being sung, "Worthy art Thou, for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase unto God with Thy Blood men of every tribe, and tongue, and people." Thousands upon thousands of angels cry, "Worthy is the Lamb that has been slain to receive the power, and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honor, and glory, and blessing." To the One that sits on the Throne and unto the Lamb belong blessing, and honor, and glory, and dominion, forever and ever.

See here the Throne of Grace, the Throne of God and the Lamb. As you draw near to this Throne, remember the cost of the cross, the cost of your redemption, the work of Christ that assures you of finding grace. Worship the Lamb on the Throne of Grace.

Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 2.1) Paul charged Timothy, his son in the faith, to suffer for the gospel as a good soldier of Christ enduring hardship, as an athlete running and striving to please Jesus, and as a farmer working hard and waiting patiently. For Timothy to retain the standard of sound doctrine, for Timothy to guard the deposit of the gospel entrusted to him, for Timothy to faithfully pass on the gospel, he would need to appropriate God’s empowering grace.

The apostle Paul understood the secret of great ministry and overcoming in the Name of Jesus because he understood his need for grace. You also can likewise understand the secret of great ministry and overcoming as you receive the revelation of Christ’s empowering grace in four great truths.

1. Grace flows continually to meet our continual need. We are to keep on being strengthened in order to become strong. (Joshua 1.7, 9; Haggai 2.4; 1 Cor. 16.13, 14; Eph. 5.10; Hebrews 4.16)
2. Grace strengthens and empowers us to live the Christian life and to accomplish what God asks. (Phil. 4.13, 23; 1 Cor. 15.10; Hebrews 13.9)
3. Grace comes sufficiently to permit endurance. (Phil. 4.13; 2 Cor. 12.9, 10; Hebrews 4.16)
4. Grace is found in Christ Jesus, in union with Him. (1 Timothy 1.12; 2 Timothy 1.8, 9; Joshua 1.9; 1 Cor. 16.14; Matt. 28.30; Phil. 4.23; 2 Timothy 4.17, 18)

God offers us His grace. Do not resist Him, but humbly receive, for it is going to take His grace to withstand in the evil day. He assures us of the supply and of His willingness to grant grace.

Here at Craighouse we just finished a study in Ephesians, From Grave to Glory. Ephesians exalts the glories of God’s grace. This study is now available to you from MCM. It will enrich your life and strengthen your walk. [Editor's note: See the MCM catalog.]

On the home front we are singing that new song, glorying in the grace of Christ. I begin a new teaching series on worship, a teaching that will bring pastors and their congregations into the presence of God and into abiding in the glory.

Know that you are such a part of our life and victories. I thank God for each one of you. I enjoy hearing from you, and yes, I read your letters myself.

We began this ministry "in His Name, for His glory, and by His grace." We shall continue to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus!

Keeping in Step with the Spirit,

Mary Craig

P.S. Visit the catalog section for materials designed to help you find healing and restoration in Christ and to prepare you to be His bride.

The grace of our Lord abounded exceedingly with faith and love
Which is in Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 1.14)