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THE MESSAGE NOW

Vol 2. No. 6, Monday, 6th February, 2017

(Gen.48:5-20 esp., 10 and 14, Rom.5:20, 1 Chron.26:10, Mic.7:11)

THE POWER AND MYSTERY OF GRACE

Any attempt to define grace is an attempt to define the undefinable. Such attempt is akin to the yearly fruitless search for the Holy Grail (the cup used by the Lord Jesus Christ and His Apostles during the last supper).

Periodically, eager souls set out, full of purpose, energy and self-confidence, to succeed where so many others before have tried and failed. But none has recorded that feat of success till this day in locating the much desired and revered Holy Grail or Cup.

Likewise the attempt to define grace remains practically improbable and impossible. In my view, the improbability and impossibility of the definition of grace is informed by two key factors. First is the vastness of the influence of grace on and to mankind. Second is the inexhaustible benefits derivable from and through grace.

Can any one number the atoms of hydrogen and the atoms of oxygen divinity lumped together to found the smallest ocean? Can the width and length of atmospheric air universally be measured? So is the mightiness of the power of grace. So deep that the unraveling the mystery about grace is an exercise for eternity.

What my small brain can offer by way of description (not definition) of grace is: grace is simply Christ in practical display in the life of man. Apostle (Baba) William F. Kumuyi (a man with a huge brain and ultra-cognitive perception) in an African Christian summit at about 1978 defined grace using the five letters that make up the word grace. Baba intelligently opined: ‘grace is God’s riches or righteousness at Christ’s expense’. Wow! Isn’t that most scintillating and most captivating?

Out of the myriads of benefit derivable from grace, the Lord’s mystery-revealing-search-light is beaming today at an often common incident in the Bible: the story of Jacob and Joseph and Joseph’s two sons: Manasseh and Ephraim in Gen.48.

In order to tread the path of brevity, let our most spiritual and spirited attention be drawn to to the entire verses from 1 to 20 but especially verses 10 and 14. In verse 10, the Bible clearly indicated that the eyes of Jacob were dim.

In verse 14, it informed us in a somewhat pictorial and dramatic manner how Jacob crossed his right hand (the hand of blessing) away from the first-child, Manasseh to the head of the second-child, Ephraim.

Hmmm! do you not sense some mystery about grace here? If nothing, be rest assured that whatever you have become and will become in life answers only to the election by grace, not your effort. But more than this, there is a further mystery about grace.

Permit me to reiterate here that the Bible is the true word of God. In fact, the Bible is God in book form. However, a close study of the Bible reveals that the Bible has been written from four different perspectives: (the literal (clear), (2) the spiritual, (3) the prophetic, and (4) the symbolic perspective.

So, symbolically and spiritually speaking, Jacob here represents the Almighty God in the spiritual sense. The question then is: can the eyes of God Almighty be ever dim? The clear answer is YES. At whatever grace shows up for a man, the eyes of the Most High are turned away from all that can disqualify that man.

Permit me to be clearer here. I suppose that it is common knowledge that the greatest enemies of man are himself, sin, satan and household forces. As powerful as these enemies are, they can’t stand when grace comes to play.

Is this then a license to commit sin and then count on grace? Far from it. He that committeth sin, the Bible says is of the devil for the devil sinneth from the beginning (1 Jn.3:8). Rather, grace is the most potent tool available to destroy the power of sin, self, satan and household forces. Those experiences of rising and falling, anger, envy, lust, covetousness, pride, oppression, blockage, hinderances, fornication, adultery, stagnation, witchcraft attacks, hatred, etc, are yet persisting because you have not employed the services of grace through prayer.

At least five generations before mine never knew formal education nor saw the four walls of the university until Grace showed up for me. From my father, I was the tenth out of twelve children, and indeed the only one with physical challenge.

But one evening of grace in 1997, as I approached my uncle’s first sitting-room, I heard the voice of the Lord say to me: ‘there is a yoke of not entrying university on your family’. Undoubtedly, that was a voice triggered by grace.

Subsequently, grace flowed into me and strengthened me to pray fervently. Not long afterwards, a release from the qualifying Board (JAMB) approved my name as a qualified candidate to read law in one of the Federal universities (UniLag) in my home country.

It was the voice of the Lord triggered by grace which spoke to me whilst carrying out my national service (NYSC) in 2004 that ‘I will take you abroad for your Masters’. By the following year, grace made sure that I was enrolled and indeed completed Masters programme and later proceeded onto Ph.D level in the same University of Aberdeen in the years that followed.

The same voice of the Lord by grace returned to me in 2011 with the clear statement: ‘your ministry will start next year’, and so it did even though I was not praying to have a ministry but just wanted to keep evangelizing.

In the name of the Lord Jesus, the grace of God will trigger the voice of the Lord in your mind’ ears this day, this new month and year. I decree, let the river of grace flow into you today to repair every damage in your spiritual lives, in Jesus name.

In the name of the Lord Jesus,I ask that the ever faithful God cause grace to single you out of the crowd this year. It is written: ‘God confirms the words of His servants, and performs the counsel of His messengers’, by the strength of Him who called me, the mighty God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, I decree, let the hand of God Most High, anoint you with uncommon grace to succeed and be prosperous in all things of life and godliness in Jesus name, Amen.

Listen dearly beloved, keep all godly principles like hardwork, fasting, righteous living, prayer and the likes in view and at work this year. But count more on God’s grace. Grace is no respecter of age, qualification or standard of men.

Grace makes you and me to be preferred ahead and above all others. Grace causes a man to be accepted where he has once been rejected. The greatest spiritual eraser for erasing witchcraft attacks of rejection by means of cobwebs is grace.

Grace brings back thoughts about you to the memory of them who are your destiny helpers. Or what do you think? If any one is to be remembered by David the King, should it have been poor, lame and wretched Mephibosheth in 2 Sam.9? And from the house of Saul, after all that Saul his grandfather did to David?

Agreed, Mephibosheth was David’s best friend’s son. But why didn’t David remember Jonathan his friend or Jonathan offsprings for so long? Grace made the connection.

In the end, despite everything, one faithful day, grace journeyed out of heaven, beamed down His search-helping-light on Lodebar where Mephibosheth lived. Subsequently, grace travelled from Lodebar to Jerusalem where He spoke to David’s spiritual ears.

I decree today, in the name of the Lord Jesus, let grace erase all the sins of your and mine grand and great grandparents that are speaking against us and antagonising our breakthroughs. You voices from the grave, I silence you permanently by the power of grace. Your man-child shall be born, in Jesus name.

Your daughter shall be married by grace this year, in Jesus name. You are waiting on God! Aha, grace has finally found you as it found Noah. I decree, this year, your wedding bell shall not only ring, you shall be blessed with a specially uncommon child.

That angel spoke to Blessed Virgin Mary: ‘hail Mary, full of grace’. Today, by the anointing of the Blessed Holy Ghost, I send the grace of God into your womb to cause you to conceive and beget a prophet by grace. The Lord just showed me letter of employment. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I decree that letter of employment into reality by grace.

Hear me, even as you are reading this article, let the personality of grace go forth and speak for you where you desire, in Jesus name. Do you believe that grace can appear on your behalf where you and your CV cannot enter nor appear?

If yes, then rise up. It is time to sing and pray.

Hymn: Grace Greater Than Our Sin

Pray now:

1. O thou rain of God’s grace, fall upon me.

2. O thou personality of grace, trigger the voice of the Lord afresh in me.

3. It is time to journey to the next level. Read Ps.30 and pray.

4. O thou grace of God, give me the true vision of my life.

5. O God, anoint me with fresh grace to know and to remain within the tracks of my divine vision.

6. Read Micah 7:11, ask the power of grace in the name of the Lord Jesus to remove badluck, deadlock, hardluck and all obstacles on the day and at every point where you need help.

Pastor Mike