Creflo Dollar - Grace For Daily Living - Part 2
What's been bothering you, God is ready to act in grace. God's ready. Are you ready? I am. Somebody say... amuse me. Say, "I am". It's breaking up the fallow ground of religion. We've been in church so much that our tradition is going to try its best to stop the Word of grace from having effect. Somebody say, "Not here". How quickly we go back to tradition that we heard grandmamma say, mama say, and then you heard it when you went to church. And I know what I'm saying is contradicting your traditional religious life that really hadn't given you anything. You had to lie most of the time to make it seem like it was working, and now you have this privilege to walk like this and to be this way.
Now go to Hebrews... excuse me. 1 Corinthians 15 and 10 in the NLT, 1 Corinthians 15:10. I could spend all day on all these scriptures because it's just hearing it and accessing this thing over and over again. 15:10, and I believe what Paul said here concerning himself should be the realization of every believer. So check out what Paul said. I think what Paul said should be the realization for every believer, and it's really bringing grace to a place where it's real to you. Paul said, "But," he said, "whatever I am", oh, my God. Paul said, "Whatever I am, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me".
All right, stop right there. I can't even go no further. Whatever good you are, don't be trying to give yourself credit. Whatever good you are, whatever I am, it's 'cause God poured his favor out on me. Stop giving results of that favor to yourself. "Whatever I am, God poured his special favor on me," he says, "and it was not without results". In other words, because of the favor that's on you, it will have results. Say out loud, "The favor of God's on me". Now, that will have results. You ain't got to help it. It will have results. Don't you want something that authentically came from God? Don't you want something where you can really say, "I didn't have nothing to do with this but the favor of God came over my life"?
Listen, if you got promotion, "Whatever I am, it's because of what God poured on me. It's because God poured out his favor on me". Glory to God. So whatever special thing happened, whatever job you got, whatever promotion you got, whatever house came into your... whatever you are, whoever you are, it's because God poured his special favor on you. Paul said, he said, "For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles". Watch out 'cause you'll think, "Uh-oh, that was, Paul did that. He wanted to make sure we understand". "Yet it was not I", so what is it that you're still giving yourself credit for? "Yet it was not I", we have to catch ourselves. "Yet it was not I", I don't know how you can talk about your victory with Jesus not being in the sentence.
How do you do that? He says, "But God who was working through me," how? "By his grace". By his grace. It's a recognition, it's a realization that whoever I am or whatever God made me, it's 'cause he poured his favor out on me, giving him the credit. He says, "I'm saved by grace; not of myself, lest any man should boast". Everything. "I'm saved". This is so awesome right here. So let's put it in real strong, awesome context. "I am saved because he poured his favor on me. I am redeemed because he poured his favor on me. I am healed because he poured his favor on me. I have wisdom because he poured his favor on me. I stand blameless because he poured his favor on me. I'm heaven-bound because he poured his favor on me".
You can't take no credit for none of that, and I made my mind up in teaching this series of grace I ain't rushing to try to get what some people call the big deep stuff. We fail in the elementary areas of our Christian life. We fail in those small areas like, you know, be love and be kind. Bishop Fuller was talking about that this morning. He said it's real simple. You want a good marriage? Show love and be kind. "How simple is that? But no, that ain't deep enough for us. We want something", you know, if you want to have a victorious marriage, you must groan in the spirit of the third level. What? And hey, those very complications is the reason why your life is complicated. You're having to pretend that you got deep relationship with God. But Jesus said, "My yoke is easy". And you're making it difficult.
We're doing two things in church. Either we're playing church, or we're trying to be deep with these sayings to get a ooh and a ah. I call it the ooh-ah doctrine. You understand? I say something, "Ooh, ah". We ain't got time for no ooh-ah doctrine. You got to understand this. You got to understand this, and I'm the one. I can be as repetitive as I need to be. I hear several things when I preach. I see several things when I preach. Some of y'all are knocked out while I'm preaching, and I'm thinking maybe while you sleep, it might be good for you to sleep. This might go in better while you sleep, and hopefully I'm the narrator of the dream you having while you sleep. I want to wake some of y'all up, but you look so peaceful while you're just, you're knocked out.
Mouth opened and everything, you... that used to bother me, but I'm thinking, you know, God can get a lot done when we sleep and maybe what he couldn't get done last night while you were asleep he getting it done right now. I am just, I am going to be repetitive as I have to, illustrate as I have to 'cause when this stuff gets in you and, you're like a cake when you put all the ingredients in that bowl and then you take that mixer and then that thing, I mean, I saw my mama put all that stuff in there and she mix that thing up. She say, "Baby, you want to lick the spoon"? I'm telling you, some of y'all are going to want to lick the spoon when this stuff gets mixed up on the inside of you, wow. "But God who was working through me," he said, "by grace", he says, "By grace I am who I am because God was working through me".
So what Paul said concerning himself should be the realization of every believer. You got to realize that it's 'cause of God's grace. You've got to come to the realization. Okay, so when is that going to become real to you? It's because of God's grace. And then you pause and then you have a flashback and you're like, "It was because of God's grace for that. It was because of God's grace for that. It's 'cause of God's grace for that". Now, you can't talk about God's grace that way and give God glory. See, don't ever separate grace from God. I'm going to show you in a moment the throne of grace. Somebody say, "Where is that"? It's the same place where God is. And you just got to understand is, you got to, I want you to start practicing the realization that, "I am who I am because of the grace of God. I'm alive today because of the grace of God. I'm well today because of the grace of God. I'm being restored today because of the grace of God. My prosperity is not because of the will of society, my prosperity is because of the grace of God".
Some of the jobs and businesses you have started, you got to give God grace for that. You got to give God praise for that. You got to thank him for his favor. I don't believe you can praise God for favor and not see it increase, not that you start doing it to try to get an increase. See, your motives have changed. "I am grateful and so thankful I can't help but to praise him for the favor that he's poured over my life". I don't believe there's nowhere in this relationship of praising and thanking God that it doesn't increase. It just has to. It's like nourishment to a flower. It's just going to grow better and bigger than all of it. And some of you are just too quiet to where God has already done things and made you who you are and you won't even say thank you.
"Thank you for this food that we're about to eat, for the nourishment of our body. It's by your grace that I got this food in front of me. Not everybody has it. Thank you for the roof over my head. Thank you for the clothes I have. Thank you that I can turn my water on and it works. Thank you, Lord. It's by your grace". Practice it. Practice it. You understand what I'm saying? You're not here to be entertained or just encouraged with a sermon. I'm giving you practical tools to implement and to see these things happen, and as the world gets darker and darker and we get lighter and lighter, it doesn't take too much light to overcome darkness.
Somebody say, "What are we doing, pastor, in the", and this is another thing. Not intending to make nobody mad or anything like that, but we're not satisfied with the stuff we're supposed to do so we keep creating stuff that we need to do looking good in the eyes of the world 'cause the world starts telling you what you ought to be doing. God's already told you what you ought to be doing, and what we ought to be doing right now is preparing ourselves in grace. "Well, you know, this going on, that, y'all need to be doing that. Y'all need to be doing that. Y'all need to be doing that". Yeah, we feed people all the time, but that still doesn't satisfy God's curriculum for what you need to be doing, and what you need to be doing is what you're doing right now, being fed and then going home and practice it, and coming back being fed and going home and practice it. And the Holy Spirit's going to start working in you and then now you're going to be qualified and mature enough.
And I use that word qualify very carefully. You're going to be qualified in grace. In other words, faith in the grace of God can now instruct you, but we keep trying to let the world tell us what to do and be who the world, "Y'all the church. Y'all supposed to be doing that". You, too. You, too. Don't come telling me what I'm supposed to be doing. You, too. You, too. "You're the church". We're not a church just to be used. I know a con artist when I see it. I know a con artist when I hear it. And besides that, the Holy Spirit will tell you before they show up. "A con artist is getting ready to come up, and he's going to say this, this, this. Don't you touch it. It ain't none of your business". "You're supposed to be a preacher". And they'll make you feel bad by the prosperity that God gave you.
"You ought to be ashamed of yourself living in this kind of house when people living the way they living". "Well, they all have access to the way I'm living, but they've obviously chosen another way. So don't try to shame me and make me feel bad 'cause I took advantage of the access". Telling me what I ought to be doing for the poor. You, too. I guess I've been holding that for a minute too, huh? We all have access to the same thing and the difference is some take advantage of it, some don't. Some of them join the church and say they were saved and their growth stop right there. They don't know nothing about grace. They're stuck there. They have access to much more than what they have right now but they won't take it, or they just choose to try to believe God for access for stuff and they're not accessing what Jesus died and they're righteous and they're redeemed.
"You in there now. Oh, we're talking prosperity. I'm going to do this so I can access my car". No, no, no, you don't understand. See, because you're putting more value on the things that God made and not value on God. You're putting more value on the results of what he gave you and not value on him, and so that makes you a person that's participating in idolatry because idolatry is about what you put value in more than God. Oh, man, I made my mind up. I said, "Jesus is coming real quick". I thought he was going to come this past Saturday. Woke up. "Is that Jesus, Jesus"? "No, not yet, son. Go back to sleep". "Oh, okay". My lights were going on and off. I'm like, "Oh, Jesus came in the house and landed on the roof. My God, I'm ready". What a great feeling. It wasn't no "Oh, Jesus. Going to hell. Oh, hell. Forgive me, Lord". I ain't got to do that. "Forgive me, Jesus".
You know, trying to be, you know, let's say he coming back in just like that, and if you don't say, "Forgive me," real quick, you know, "Forgive me. Forgive me. I said it, I said it". It just feels so good to say, "I'm good. We ready? We ready, Lord"? Aren't you tired of walking around being afraid 'cause of all this stuff happening on the earth and, "You know, look at what's happening there with Russia now, and look at what happening there? And the Bible say something about... oh, I need to get myself ready to go". Are you serious? So you enter into heaven motivated by fear? Greatest day of my life, greatest day of all of our lives is when that trump sounds and in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye the dead in Christ shall rise first. I simply believe God is this good, we may encounter some of that through transgression. All of that's by grace. Everybody that wake up from the grave, somebody say, "That ain't in the Bible".
Do you know everything that's getting ready to happen is not his first time? This is not the first rapture. I think it's what, six of them or something like that? I know he raptured Enoch, and he was alive. Oh, he raptured Elijah, and he was alive. Oh, Lord. Come on, Jesus. Who else was raptured? He raptured Jesus, and he was alive. And when he rapture us, we're going to be alive. He ain't no rookie at this. He know what he doing. But in one of those situations, people recorded in scripture that they saw their dead relatives. They saw their dead relatives in the city. That's enough to get you saved. When you all pass somebody and they say, "How are you doing"?
I can imagine somebody walking by Sister Sanders, "Hey, how are you doing? Hallelujah". You say, "Wait a minute. But you're supposed to be dead". "But I'm up. Listen my story". Do you understand the realization of what I'm talking about here? This is not fable. This is not the first time. It's already been done, four raptures. And then there'll be the rapture of the 144,000, and then there'll be the rapture of the prophets who some think will be Elijah and Enoch. You walking around letting the world tell you what's real or what ain't real. They don't know. They are utterly confused. They wouldn't know the truth if it walked up to them and slapped them in the face, why? 'Cause we're inundated. We're churches who don't know the truth because we're willing to compromise and do anything to get people in the seats. I ain't even there, man. I'm good.
I want you to come 'cause I want to be able to teach you. That between you and God. All I know is when I'm seeing, I say, "I did what you told me to do". Amen. 'Cause you ain't cussing me out when I get to heaven, amen. Are you ready? Let's go to the next scripture. If you have that, say, "I got that". All right, now, according to this, what we just read, all that a believer is and every labor of love by him is a result of God's grace.
Now look at 2 Corinthians 12:6 through 9. Apart from his grace, nothing can be accomplished for God. Apart from his grace, nothing can be accomplished for God. You remember in John 8 and 28, Jesus said, "I can do nothing aside from God". Take note, Jesus says, "I do nothing", he say, in fact, further he say, "I say nothing unless God tell me what to say". We cannot practice being like God without him. You can't do that. You can't say, "I'm a Christian," and there's no day-to-day dependence on God. You got to understand that. You can't say that. "I'm a Christian, I know the scripture, but I don't have a day-to-day dependence on God". I'm not even talking about you knowing God.
Is there a daily dependence on God? Look what he says here, 2 Corinthians 12:6. He says, "If I wanted to boast," Paul speaking here, "I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling you the truth". And a lot of people add credibility to our boasting by saying, "Well, it's the truth". He says, "Because I'd be telling you the truth. But I won't do it". Why? "Because I don't want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message". His message was grace. "I don't want nobody to give me credit". "Even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God", one translation says more revelation than any man had ever received.
Now, how many of you know there's a potential for pride here? There's a potential for you to say, "It's me. It's me, it's me, oh Lord". Probably appropriate. "Standing in the need of prayer 'cause you're prideful it's me". He said, "So to keep me from becoming proud", now, what's pride? It's an over exaggeration of one's importance. It's you submitting to your plan and refusing to submit to God's plan, an over exaggeration of your plan and an over exaggeration of your self-importance. "So to keep me from becoming prideful," he said, "I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and to keep me from becoming proud".
Now, I asked the Lord, I said now, "All right, now let me get this straight. You did not give a devil to him to keep him from being prideful"? He says no. He said, "But you remember when focus is on self, then there's always a challenge or a trial that comes to deliver you from self-dependence. I allow this to happen for that one reason; but then for another reason, so that I can be glorified". Now look at the next verse. So he says this messenger of Satan, which was the devil, it wasn't sickness or disease, it was the devil. He said, "Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away".
So three different times he didn't get what God was trying to show him. "Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said", and this is the callousness of our hearing that I'm trying to address this morning. Three times God said, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness. My grace is all you need. My grace is all you need". Another translation says that "My grace is enough. My grace is an adequate privilege that you have. It's enough. It is adequate privilege". And three times. So what should have happened, he was saying, "All right, Father, I release my faith and the grace of God over this thorn in my flesh". And would not continue to go to God to ask him to do something that he was already sufficient in seeing done in his life, but he wouldn't receive it.
And so you think, "Well, let me go make some noise and beg God to do something. Oh, Lord. Help me, Jesus. Oh, Jesus, right now, oh, God", and then part two is later on when you get home, "Oh, Jesus, help me now," and then you go around saying, "Yes, but your grace is sufficient". Well, it don't seem like it is to you because somewhere there ought to be some confidence in this sufficient grace to deliver you from this thing. The issue was, you know, you had a trial to show up to try to keep you out of pride. More than that, a trial is there to try to get you delivered from self-dependence. But when the trial came, he said the way out came at the same time the trial came. "My grace is adequate provision for you".