The main content
Hooked on Grace
“But the grace of our Lord was fully given to me, and with that grace came the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus”(I Timothy 1:14 NCV).
Preface
The purpose of this booklet is simply to illustrate the strength and power of the working of grace in our lives. It does not touch the depth of all that grace encompasses.
A study on grace would show that the work of grace is a work of beauty in our lives. It is a precious gift from our God. With grace comes faith and love.
Grace in our lives indicates God’s presence; His presence unfolds His glory; His glory produces marvels—hence the world sees the hand of the Lord.
We see in Proverbs that grace is worn as a garment. Grace brings rest. We must walk in the Spirit (fruit of the Spirit) to activate grace to its fullest potential, yet... grace is what enables us to walk in the Spirit.
As grace increases in our lives, we become more aware of its power. Do not frustrate grace. Allow it to increase by giving yourself to God. Your Father God will delight in causing grace to abound to you.
Get hooked on grace!
October 1992.
“There is nothing we can do to help you. Surgery will kill you.”
“And my body... what will happen to it?”
“Premature death.”
Silence—it lasts a moment, but seems forever.
“How long do I have from a medical standpoint? I want you to tell me what you would dictate into my records.”
“You could live a couple years if you don’t get sick, but a respiratory infection or problem with allergies will kill you.”
The air is charged with emotion.
“I wanted to be able to help you, Joanie.”
“I know. There are no words to carry my appreciation for what you have done to try to help me.
“You take care of yourself, Doctor...”
“I will.”
“...so you can keep this from happening to people,” I finish... ending the long awaited telephone call.
My heart is heavy with concern for those with medical skill, who now have emotional pain because they had stepped into my world to try to save my physical life... and couldn’t.
“For the first time, Father God, I want to see Your healing power manifested in my behalf for THEM. To take away their pain. To show them how real You are, so they can enjoy life with the freedom I possess even in the midst of a death sentence.”
The doctors and nurses walk away with heavy hearts, for in their minds I have no hope.
And my heart soars with the strength of an eagle, happy as a lark, because I’m hooked on grace... the strength of Jesus Christ enveloping my heart in the very midst of what should be great sorrow.
Grace... not seen. But so tangible. It causes impossible life situations to become exciting adventures.
October 1967.
High blood pressure and only sixteen.
Stomach spasms.
I cannot get away.
The mirror reveals the hard facts.
The sun casts the shadow of reality.
Clothes don’t fit properly... they serve only to enhance the deformity.
And then there are the wagging tongues and the whispering voices of others.
Sixteen years old. How will I ever live with this?
I ran. I didn’t walk. I ran to Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of the Almighty, Holy God... whoever He was. I would learn who He is. And I would cope.
He met me where I was. And He shed his love abroad in my heart and enveloped me with His grace... and I didn’t even know it.
But He did.
In the midst of my turmoil, deep sorrow, and emotional pain, He strengthened me with Himself. And I didn’t realize what He was doing. I didn’t realize it was unusual to live a socially normal life under such conditions, and to be able to do the things I did.
I was hooked on grace and didn’t know it.
And now, the reality is before me. Premature death... a working of the deformity... is my lot in this natural, physical order of life.
This knowledge causes a greater reality—the strength of grace—to overwhelm me. Now I see the hand of God on my life, all the days of my life, since I ran to Jesus at sixteen. Grace was alive and well... my knowing that it was present wasn’t necessary for it to operate.
And operate it does.
Knowledge of the need for grace only causes it to increase. I’m hooked. And I don't want to unhook.
Excitement prevails. Grace holds promise of adventure.
Unknown to me, grace had created in my heart a desire for more. Like an addiction. That is how real this strength of Jesus Christ is to the inner person. What is next? Let it come. Grace will rise up to meet it!!
The Apostle Paul was shipwrecked... again. As he laid a bundle of sticks on the fire, a snake came out of the heat and bit him. He shook the snake off into the fire and felt no harm. But tongues began to wag as onlookers waited for him to die. (See Acts 28:1-6.)
Paul ignored the whispering voice just as he ignored the snake. He was enveloped in the strength of Jesus Christ.
He was secure. He had learned well. He had become hooked on grace.
Paul says of his life situations...
“I’ve often been faced with death, prison, beatings...
Three times I’ve been beaten with rods,
once I was stoned,
three times I suffered shipwreck,
I spent a night and a day in the open sea,
I have been constantly on the move.
I have been in danger from rivers,
in danger from bandits,
in danger from Gentiles [unbelievers];
in danger in the city,
in danger in the country,
in danger at sea, and
in danger from false brothers [in the church].
I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep;
I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food;
I have been cold and naked.
Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches” (II Corinthians 11:25-28 NIV).
All these things Paul suffered and endured... yet he says in the midst of them...“I am filled with comfort, I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation” (II Corinthians 7:4b). How can he say this?
And he goes on... “I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distress for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities [my trials and tribulations] that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (II Corinthians 12:10,9b).
It wasn’t always easy for Paul to make such a statement. At one time he tried to get away from his troubles. But he learned. He stopped trying to get out of everything which came against him, and began to enjoy the strength of Christ—grace—which had enabled him to endure. The end result in his life? He could easily say to the church... “I will gladly spend and be spent for you...” (II Corinthians 12:15a).
Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, was about to accomplish the purpose of His and our Father’s heart... the sacrifice of His life so we could know God, so our hearts could be knit to His.
Jesus said to Peter, John and James... “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry here and watch with Me” (Matthew 26:38). It wasn’t easy for Jesus in His flesh, as He walked in His human body. He experienced the same anguish we experience when faced with hard circumstances... but more intense than we could ever imagine, because it was also our every anguish He was taking upon Himself.
He fell on His face and prayed, “O Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39).
“Being in anguish, Jesus prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground” (Luke 22:44 NIV). What kind of strength enveloped Jesus as He pressed in to do His Father’s will—to purchase life and freedom for you and me?
Our Father God met Jesus as He poured out His heart, enduring our grief. He imparted and infused into Jesus a mighty strength which would benefit every person who ultimately comes to Him to partake of His life. That strength is the grace of Jesus Christ.
When Jesus got up from His knees, knowing all that was going to happen to Him, He went to meet the soldiers and officials who had come out against Him with weapons in their hands. He had prepared, and He was ready.
“Who is it that you want?” He asked them.
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.
“I am He,” Jesus said. And when Jesus said, “I am He,” the soldiers and religious leaders fell to the ground. They could not stand in the presence of the strength which now enveloped Jesus. Jesus earned that strength as He submitted Himself to the will of His Father while in His humanity.
And Jesus gave it to Paul. And Paul learned to walk in it and to increase in it. Paul got hooked on it... addicted, if you will.
And Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, gives this strength to each of us if we will but take it and walk in it. Like Paul, we can become hooked on grace... addicted to the strength of Jesus Christ, which will carry us, with joy and excitement, through whatever is ours to endure.
Walking in the grace of Jesus Christ—His strength—is basic to our redemption and to our walk with God. We cannot learn to walk in the fullness of grace without spending time before our Father God in the Name of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ. Abide in Jesus... and His grace will envelop you, and it will increase as you need it.
“Grace be with you, mercy, and peace from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love” (2 John 3). Grace is the strength of Christ, which will enable you not only to function in whatever comes your way, but to meet it with peace and joy of heart.
“Father God, let all those that seek You rejoice and be glad in You: and let such as love Your salvation say continually, Let God be magnified” (Psalm 70:4).
Grace be with you.
© 1992 by RANAN! Publishers of Gospel Literature, a Ministry of New Life Church in Thayer, Missouri | Written by Joan M. Williams