Grace, Grace!

Release divine energy in your life.

By Larry Kreider

A zoo in Germany purchased a great brown bear from the traveling circus. Up until this point, this magnificent but abused creature had lived in misery. The bear had been locked up in a tiny circus cage about twelve feet long. Every waking hour of the day, with its massive head swaying back and forth in rhythm, he took twelve steps forward and twelve steps backward in his narrow prison.

Finally he was sold and transferred from his cage to the beautiful German Zoo. The zoo had a compound for bears consisting of acres of lush, green grass. There were trees to climb and sparkling pools of fresh drinking water. The bear would be fed three meals each day and have other bear companions.

The zoo-keepers wheeled the bear’s cage into the compound of the zoo and opened the door to freedom. The bear left the cage and walked onto the ground. The bear looked around, and to the zoo attendant’s amazement, he started pacing twelve feet forward and twelve feet backward—the exact dimensions of his cage!

The bear’s prison was not a metal one, but a mental, invisible one!

Some Christians find themselves in a similar dilemma. Having become so accustomed to certain thought patterns of defeat and failure, they convince themselves things will never change. They become locked up in an invisible, mental prison.

Precious, born again, Spirit-filled Christians who love Jesus with all of their hearts are susceptible to this kind of mental trap. Some, upon facing incredible obstacles in their lives, become weary and settle for far less than the Lord intended for them.

What is grace? Our first glimpse of grace occurs when God offers salvation to us even though we do not deserve it or work to earn it (Ephesians 2:8-9). This aspect of grace is sometimes defined as the free unmerited favor of God on the undeserving and ill-deserving.

But the aspect of grace we want to look at here could be defined as “the power and desire to do God’s will.” The grace of God is literally divine energy that the Holy Spirit releases in our lives.

Here is a clear example from Scripture. When Cyrus the king allowed the Jews to return to their own land, he appointed Zerubbabel to be the governor. One of Zerubbabel’s first responsibilities was to lay the foundation for the new temple. However, due to opposition from the enemies of the Jews, the work on this project soon ceased.

Doesn’t that sound familiar? We get a vision from the Lord or begin to take a direction in life and before long we receive opposition, become discouraged and quit. Or maybe we don’t quit, but we seem to find it impossible to complete the task that we believe the Lord has laid before us. This is where grace comes in!

One day an angel of the Lord gives Zechariah the prophet a message for Zerubbabel. “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,” says the Lord of Hosts. “Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of Grace, grace to it!” (Zechariah 4:6-7 NKJ)

The work on the temple was resumed and completed four years later. The Lord gave them divine energy, and the circumstances supernaturally changed for them to complete the entire project! That which seemed impossible literally took place before their very eyes. They no longer trusted in their own ability, but in the grace of God. As they released divine energy by shouting, “Grace, grace,” the mountain before them became a great plain. They were convinced that the temple was built not by military might nor by political power nor by human strength, but by the Spirit of the Lord. They had experienced the grace of God!

We can only do God’s work if we are enabled by the Holy Spirit. I dare you to apply this scriptural principle to your life. The next time a mountain of impossibility stares you in the face, shout “Grace, grace” to it. See the mountain leveled as you take an act of simple faith and speak “grace” in the face of the devil. You will find your focus changing from your ability (or lack of ability) to His ability.

As we proclaim “grace, grace” over our life situations, we receive divine energy to fulfill the purposes of God.