Grace Revolution: Experience the Power to Live Above Defeat (3 page)
Read Grace Revolution: Experience the Power to Live Above Defeat Online
Authors: Joseph Prince
Tags: #Religion / Christian Life / Personal Growth, #RELIGION / Christian Life / Spiritual Growth, #Religion / Christian Life / Inspirational
Let me show you how being under grace enables you to overcome your challenges and live victoriously, with an amazing testimony from Anna of Iowa. Anna recounts how the Lord in His grace set her free from many painful years of addiction to cigarettes and marijuana:
For the better part of sixteen years, I have been addicted to cigarettes and marijuana, but because of the grace of my Father, I am now free!
Although I grew up in a godly environment, attended a charismatic church, spent daily time with God, and even taught in a Sunday school, I was an addict who knew how to hide my addictions well! While I have always been known to love people and be kind, I felt as if I was not being kind to God or myself—I was hurting the temple of God and being a hypocrite. I felt absolutely worthless and thoughts of suicide often raced through my mind.
Throughout the sixteen years of bondage, I attempted so many times to quit my addictions, including the time I was pregnant with my two beautiful boys! I did quit for a while but as soon as I gave birth, I quickly picked up the habits again because the desires had never left my heart.
While my prayers for others have always been powerful and effective, I was very mad at God because my prayers for my own freedom seemed to go unheard, or at least unanswered.
Then, about a year and a half ago, I began to watch Joseph Prince’s television program daily. Sometimes, I would watch a certain program multiple times. At one point in time, Joseph Prince almost completely filled the space available in my digital video recorder.
I also began ordering materials that the Holy Spirit led me to get, and I was in the word of grace for hours daily, even while under the influence of cigarettes and marijuana. Hope began to fill my heart—not hope that I would soon be free, but hope that no matter what my state was, my Father would NEVER be mad at me! His grace was enough for the apostle Paul, and His grace is enough for me!
For so long, I tried to earn the blessings of God. But after allowing the water of the Word to cleanse me daily, I was able to receive His love, grace, shalom, and all of His blessings, regardless of behavior. Every time I used cigarettes or marijuana, I would say, “Thank You, Father, that I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus!” I quit trying to quit and decided that His grace was enough for me!
One day, several months ago, I was set free from both addictions! I didn’t try to quit; it just happened. My heavenly Father has completely taken the desires away from me. Even
when I am in public and exposed to others who are smoking, I still have no desire to do the same! Even right now, thinking about this great freedom, I have to cry, and cry out, “My Father is SO faithful!”
Thank you so much for daring to speak the truth. I’m sure it’s not easy sometimes, but I am so grateful that Christ, through your ministry, has set me free! I now have my family, who are involved in prison ministry, listening to and reading your materials. I myself am now part of this prison ministry and write letters containing the truth to those behind bars. It’s time for the captives to be set free in the name of Jesus!
Wow, that is truly the grace revolution in action! I rejoice and celebrate with you, Anna, for being completely free from two sixteen-year addictions! Thank you for taking the time to write and testify about what Jesus has done in your life. I believe that many will be touched and inspired by your testimony.
What willpower and self-effort couldn’t do, God did by the power of His amazing grace. His living and eternal Word proclaims, “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (Rom. 6:14). Grace is the power over every addiction that is destroying you. Only grace can give you lasting freedom.
What willpower and self-effort cannot do, God will do by the power of His amazing grace.
Let the revolution begin!
INSIDE-OUT TRANSFORMATION
I
t had been one of those nights they dreaded. Famished and fatigued from working all night at sea and catching nothing, the fishermen carried their fishing nets to shore as the golden sun rose over the Galilean horizon. That morning the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee was bustling with unusual activity. Children fresh from a good night’s rest ran gleefully along the water’s edge in front of their parents. Large numbers of people began to throng the waterfront. The entire stretch was brimming with a festival-like atmosphere.
What are all these people doing here?
wondered Simon Peter, perplexed and mildly annoyed at the festivities and the din from the crowds of people pouring onto his beach. Sleep-deprived and frustrated that they had no catch to show for their arduous fishing expedition, he shook his head and began washing his fishing nets.
Then he saw the man everyone was crowding to see.
Before he knew it, this man headed in his direction and got into his boat! He then gestured to Peter, and Peter and his crew instinctively grabbed their nets and went back into the boat. The man smiled warmly at Peter, as if he knew Peter was the proprietor of the boat, and asked if Peter could push the boat out some distance from the shore.
By this time the waterfront was blanketed with people eager to hear this man speak.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Peter turned to his seasoned crew and instructed them to push the boat out. The crew responded swiftly to their captain and watched the stranger in their boat attentively. The man nodded in appreciation to the crew, sat down by the edge of the boat, and began teaching the multitudes gathered on the shore.
When he was done speaking, he turned to Peter and requested that Peter and his men launch out into the deep and let down their nets for a catch. The request stung Peter’s heart and he explained to the man that they had been fishing all night and had caught nothing. Nevertheless, he was willing to comply with the man’s request.
As they sailed out into deep waters, Peter was certain that they would catch nothing. After all, they had already tried all night. He had been fishing in these waters since he was a youth and knew the most opportune time to fish—definitely not this late in the morning!
Peter found himself wondering,
What would a carpenter from Nazareth know about fishing?
As the boat reached the deep waters, Peter just went through the motions and cast one net into the water. One net, he thought, was enough to prove his point that there simply weren’t any fish to be caught! Had it been anyone else—anyone but this man who carried himself with quiet authority and a warm friendliness—he would have scoffed at the request. But this man… something in his voice and carriage just made Peter acquiesce, despite every instinct telling him
nothing
was going to happen.
What happened next stunned Peter.
It was as if the net suddenly became a fish magnet! Massive schools of large tilapia began rushing into the net from every direction. Fish after fish that had eluded them all night started swimming into their net, straining its capacity until it began to tear as Peter and his men began to haul up this unprecedented load of fish. The amazed and frantic fishermen quickly hollered to their friends in another boat to come and help them. Now two boats were side by side, with both crews hauling fish into their boats. The men worked furiously, loading onto the boats the thrashing fish with their silver scales glistening in the sun… until
both
boats were so full of fish that they began to sink!
Blown away by what he was witnessing, Simon Peter knelt before Jesus and proclaimed, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (Luke 5:8).
Now, which came first: Peter’s repentance or God’s blessing? Under the new covenant of grace, God blesses you first, and His blessings, favor, and overflowing love lead you to repentance! Peter and his crew of mariners had toiled painstakingly all night and caught nothing. Then, when Jesus stepped for the first time into his boat, Peter’s business suddenly began to flourish and thrive beyond his wildest imagination.
God’s blessings, favor, and overflowing love will lead you to repentance!
Do you feel as if you have toiled all night and caught nothing? Perhaps you feel as though you are in a dead-end situation in your career. Or perhaps whatever you have been trying to do to save your marriage just isn’t working. Maybe your toil is in the area of your parenting—no matter how much effort you put into reaching out to your child, the relationship just seems to grow colder and more distant by the day.
Now is not the time to give up, but to listen to your wonderful Lord and Savior, Jesus. Hear Him. Rather than depend on your experience and expertise, lean in to Him. You are not alone in your boat. Listen to Him and do exactly what He tells you to do. Our Lord Jesus told Peter to let down “your
nets
”—plural. Peter said, “At your word I will let down the
net
”—singular (see Luke 5:4–5). It is no wonder the net began to break and Peter had to call for his friends to come and help him.
Jesus is your very present help in time of need. Whatever your struggle is today, you can know beyond the shadow of a doubt that He is with you and knows exactly how to help you.
Whatever your struggle is today, God is with you and knows exactly how to help you.
There are also people who have been toiling relentlessly, trying everything they know to get their lives right and win God’s approval. The more they try, the more distant they feel from Him. The harder they push, the more they feel that they consistently fail and disappoint Him. They are just as exasperated, fatigued, and frustrated as the fishermen who had labored all night and caught nothing.
My dear reader, if this describes you, I want you to know that God loves you even with all your imperfections. Yes, in all your failings, in all your mistakes, God still loves you! Come to Him just as you are.
God loves you, even with all your imperfections. Come to Him just as you are.
But Pastor Prince, you don’t understand. I have this horrible addiction.
Whatever that addiction is, my friend, come to Jesus. Let Jesus embrace you, hug you, and hold you. Don’t worry or be consumed by your weakness. Instead allow Him to love you into wholeness. Jesus will transform you with His perfect love.
Let me sort out my life first, then I will come.
No one tries to clean himself before he takes a bath. Jesus
is
the bath! Come to Him with all your inadequacies, all your addictions, all your habits, and all your hang-ups, and let Him do what He does best. Let Him save you and restore you to wholeness!
When you think of Joe Montana, what do you think of? Possibly one of the best quarterbacks to ever play football. When you think of Michael Jordan, you think,
One of the best basketball players ever
. Now, what do you think of when you think of our Lord Jesus? While it is great that you know what all these sports superstars do, the reality is that what they do on the fields and courts won’t change your life. It is much more important that you know our Lord Jesus as your
Savior
. Saving is His job description. Saving you is what He does best!
At this point you may be thinking,
Pastor Prince, I want to believe you and just come to Jesus as you say, but isn’t there a place for repentance when you have fallen short? I’ve been cautioned that grace preachers like you don’t teach repentance.
My dear friend, let me say this right from the start. I believe wholeheartedly in preaching repentance. Let me show you something beautiful about the word for repentance in the Hebrew language. The Hebrew alphabet is made up of twenty-two letters, from
aleph
to
tav
. And each Hebrew letter has a picture, numerical value, and meaning.
The Hebrew word for repentance is
teshuvah
,
1
which is made up of five Hebrew letters—
tav
,
shin
,
vav
,
bet
, and
hei
. The first letter,
tav
, has as its pictogram a cross.
2
The last letter,
hei
, is the fifth letter in the Hebrew alphabet,
3
and the number five in Bible numerics represents grace. Sandwiched between
tav
(cross) and
hei
(grace) are the letters
shin
,
vav
, and
bet
. These three letters form the word
shuv
, which means “to return.”
4
Putting it all together,
teshuvah
or repentance means this: “Because of the cross of Jesus, return to grace”!
Taking note that Hebrew reads from right to left, we see that
teshuvah
(repentance) means this: “Because of the cross of Jesus, return to grace.”
Isn’t it amazing that hidden in the Hebrew letters we just saw are God’s heart and explanation of what true repentance is? Repentance is all about returning to God’s grace because of His goodness demonstrated at the cross of Jesus. It is not about returning to the law of Moses. It is about turning to the cross and returning to His grace. His grace is your source of power and strength over every sin.
Repentance is all about returning to God’s grace because of His goodness demonstrated at the cross of Jesus.
So if you have made a mistake, or you are struggling with a sinful habit today, repent by turning to the cross—seeing that mistake punished in the body of Jesus—and receiving God’s unmerited favor to overcome this area of weakness. This is how you practice true repentance when you have failed. Don’t run away from Him. Run
to
Him! He is your solution. He is your answer. He loves you and longs for you to return to His loving embrace!