And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. – 2 Cor 9:8
It takes the grace of God to exceed in good works. God would often give you a desire that is beyond your reach so that he can use the process of attaining such desire to build you up in your most holy faith.
God is more interested in you, the vessel, than the most earnest desire of your heart. So you may be wondering why the sickness is prolonged, why the job is yet to come, why your spouse is yet to succumb or the child is still being delinquent, God is looking at the growth in the midst of it all, so that both you and your neighbour may profit from your blessedness.
Therefore, one needs the grace of God to be able to lay claim on the promise. This is why the man who came into the temple and prayed bragging about his works of righteousness in Jesus’ story was so wrong. (Luke 18:9-14)
Many of us still follow the approach laying claims on our good works and for that reason expect that we are entitled to God’s promises. But our righteousness is like a filthy rag before Him, only the work Jesus wrought on the cross qualifies us through grace. God expects us to demonstrate that same grace, hence the prayer “forgive us as we forgive those who trespass against us”.
When we demonstrate the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23), we are demonstrating the characteristics of God. And since God is interested in the process (where the fruits of the Spirit manifest in us and develop in us the characteristics of God), that means God will use the process to bring us into His fullness. (Rom 5: 3-5)
The greatest of the law is love. We are told in the book of Ephesians that it is love that brings us into God’s fullness (Eph 3:19), so if you want to have authority, you must have balanced it with the love of God as well. This is why God causes the same rain to fall on the good and bad (Matt 5:45). It is the same reason Jesus prayed for forgiveness for the people while He was on the cross of Calvary, when he could have prayed for a legion. It is the same reason Job saw manifestation after he prayed for his friends.
However, if you have ever been hurt, all you want to do is use your authority to cut the head of the person off and curse such a person into hades, but the test of the work of Faith is not physical activities, it is the work of love. Jesus showed this on the cross and if anyone would perfect his Faith, he too would have to submit his authority sometimes and show this character.
This is why we need ALL GRACE to abound towards us, because without grace we cannot demonstrate this kind of work. “ALL Grace” is not just about what benefits your flesh, it is actually demonstrating the character of God so as to release the power of God. Hence, the bible often describe patriarchs as “full of grace and power”. If we do not demonstrate this work, how do we come about the latter part of that scripture which says in all things, having all we need we would abound in every good works.
Trust me more than you need the grace for provision, healing, etc, you need it much more for the fruit of the Spirit. If you demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit, you have demonstrated the character of God, if you are like God, how would you not do the things God did?
Therefore what you really need is ALL GRACE for The fruit of the Spirit. If you read that verse, you will know that no one can demonstrate these fruits by willpower, so you need grace. If you get it right there, you will get ALL other aspects right!
– Written by Alex Amos