“And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:33).
Most of us don’t have any idea what grace really is. Oh, we know some basic facts about it. We know we were saved by it (Eph. 2:8). But, we don’t even begin to understand the real power it can release in our lives now, today!
If you want to get a picture of what grace can really do, look at what happened to the early Christians in Acts 4. They’d been threatened by the religious leaders of Jerusalem and commanded not to speak or teach anymore in Jesus’ Name. So they were praying about the situation.
Roughly, what they said was this, “Now Lord, we’ve been threatened, but we aren’t about to quit preaching and go hide out under some religious rug. Just turn the power up, give us boldness and we’ll go on.”
Do you know what happened as a result of that prayer? Verse 33 tells us, “Great grace was upon them all.”
Great grace. Grace so powerful that when those believers received it, the whole building shook. Grace so great it enabled the apostles to work “many signs and wonders…among the people” (Acts 5:12).
That one story alone should be enough to convince you that grace is not just some abstract spiritual state of mind. Grace is real. It’s powerful. It provides the supernatural power to make things happen!
Now do you want to know something really exciting? The Bible says that same grace that was available to that early Church in Jerusalem is available to anybody who’s ever sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Thank God, that means you and I qualify!
If the devil’s been threatening you lately, follow the example of those early Christians. Get in prayer and say, “Lord, I don’t care what the devil and his bunch say, I’m not going to back down. I’m going to keep on talking and living by faith-and I’m going to do it boldly. So, just turn up the power!”
I guarantee you, if you’re sincere about it, He’ll do it; and you’ll begin to discover what grace is really all about.
Scripture Reading: Acts 4:8-33
Excerpt permission granted by
Eagle Mountain International Church, Inc.
aka: Kenneth Copeland Ministries
For the last 50 years Kenneth and Gloria Copeland have been passionately teaching Christians all over the world how to apply the principles of faith found in God's WORD to their lives.
They have seven ministry offices around the world: United States, Canada, Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Ukraine and Latin America. Their God-given directive is to preach and teach the uncompromised WORD of God on every available voice, which is being accomplished through a variety of channels, including our Believer's Voice of Victory TV and radio broadcasts, podcast and magazine; Believers' Conventions, Victory Campaigns and Living Victory meetings; published books, website, and social media channels, to name a few.
With the expansion of technology, they have more work to do now than ever. They are determined to let the world know Jesus is LORD, and they are not slowing down anytime soon!