Friday – October 28, 2016
I don’t know but I would guess that Friday’s are probably the favorite day of the week for people with fulltime jobs. I know I always looked forward to Friday’s and the weekend. Greetings from The Three Minute Word publications at Eastern Gate Ministries International, Inc. Please be reminded to pray for the American Church and as God leads other Churches around the world. Pictured is Holy Resurrection Church located in Kodiak, Alaska.
2 Chronicles 7:14 (KJV)
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
When those who are called by the name of Jesus humble themselves, develop a personal relationship with the Heavenly Father, submitting to Him fully, abandoning wickedness there will be a healing of these United States. Since we remain in a mess headed deeper we know with certainty the people of God have not taken the healing of this land or themselves seriously. Now back to our study in Ephesians and “the exceeding riches of his grace”.
Ephesians 2:6-7 (KJV)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
The word exceeding here amplifies the word riches however when you are dealing with God and riches it is impossible with human language and concepts to fully appreciate the infinite nature of these riches. The riches themselves are “wealth (as fulness), i.e. (literal) money, possessions, or (figurative) abundance, richness, (special) valuable bestowment” according to Strong’s Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary. These riches are both physical and spiritual, they are possessed, controlled, created, and dispersed by Grace, the Holy Spirit, by the will of God.
Some of you may be confused with my referring to God the Holy Spirit, Grace being the Holy Spirit, the Glory of God being the Holy Spirit, the Anointing of God being the Holy Spirit, the Blessing being the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation being the Holy Spirit. Simply think about yourself and the various roles you might play like daughter, mother, aunt, and so on. In each of your roles people expect different behaviors and so it is with God but all One God.
Psalm 5:11-12 (KJV)
11 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
12 For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.
I covered Psalm 5:11 pretty well yesterday so today I will focus on the twelfth verse and on the work of Grace, the favour of God specifically. The word favor (old English – favour) conveys the idea that something was done for or given to a person ahead of someone else. In the world system we see this when a person meets certain criteria they go to the front of the line or receive some other benefit. Same thing in the Kingdom of God, which is where Satan got the idea. In our text from Psalm five we see at least in part the criteria to receive favor, the work of Grace, the Holy Spirit in our lives. Empowerment to accomplish the things assigned us in the Kingdom of God comes to the righteous, those in right standing. The righteous person then is compassed about or you might think of it as being placed in the cocoon of Grace. The word ‘shield’ in our Psalm text is not referring to some barrier that is partial in front of us, it is speaking of an encasement like the shell of an egg. This was the hedge about Job and can be our hedge. Job not God took down Job’s hedge with fear and judging. Job’s hedge was restored in repentance.
God is able to release Grace, the Holy Spirit, in our lives because we are in right standing, pleasing in His sight. This is the essence of this very familiar verse from Nehemiah. Because we are in right standing, we have repented and there is nothing separating us therefore God is free to show us favor, release His Grace to do what we cannot do. He becomes our supernatural strength.
Nehemiah 8:10 (KJV)
10 Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
The Hebrew word translated to English most commonly as grace has to do with a graciousness of the Lord or a gracious act of the Lord on our behalf. One might ask how that comes about. As we look at our primary text we find that this expression comes as “kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” Our position in Christ Jesus makes us an acceptable candidate and recipient of Grace, God’s kindness now and in the ages to come. His kindness, the expressions of His Grace are inexhaustible. Be fully aware that at least for now we are in full control of His expressions of Grace in our life by our faith, love, and responsiveness to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Don’t drop your hedge, keep it up by faith and love to show the goodness of our God.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
