Manifesting Grace
When I think of manifesting grace, I think of what it means to be a partaker of kingdom life. The kingdom of God is about increasing and growing in many ways. It is multifaceted.
Sometimes, there can be a fixation on how many people are being added when thinking about grace and growth in kingdom life. But there is much more to grace and growth in kingdom life than just numbers. It was significant enough to motivate the prayer of a major apostle of the Lord in Scripture.
Colossians 1:9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
Being unaware of the will of God in one’s life leads to aimless living. It automatically evolves into a lack of purpose and focus. But there is wisdom and knowledge of God’s will given by the Holy Spirit to any who desire to know it.
The purpose for this generous offer of knowledge and wisdom from the Spirit is made clear. It is to equip us to live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way by bearing fruit in every good work and growing in our knowledge of Him.
Here, we have a promise from God to strengthen us and empower us according to His glorious might so that we might have endurance and patience and be equipped to give Him thanks. Not just any generic type of thanks but a joyful thanks. The motivation for this thanks is rooted in our qualification to share in the inheritance of His holy people in His kingdom of light. Our qualification was made possible when God rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son, whom the Father loves and who is light and life!
There’s more than enough done for us in Christ always to have something to be grateful for. There can be no room for debate concerning how it pleases God to find us being thankful towards Him. It also produces in us a desire to live for His glory.
Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
When we live according to faith in Him and His power to make us new creations in Christ, we find things to be different than before we knew Him. Our view of things changes dramatically. Nothing is forced or contrived, it is free-flowing due to who we have become in Him. To do something according to His name is to do it from the place of His authority and power. Live energized by the Holy Spirit to know His will and do it, and you will find His equipping empowerment flowing in and through you every time. This is what manifesting grace is all about.
