It's ONLY by God's Grace

1 Corinthians 15:10

“But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain…”

Welcome to the online sanctuary. I thank God for each and every one of you who has logged in today. I believe there is a Word from the Lord, and I need you to stay with me because somebody is getting ready to look at their life differently after today.

After everything you have been through, you are still here.

Still breathing.

Still believing.

Still praying.

Still pursuing God.

Still carrying purpose.

Still answering when God calls your name.

And before you give your strength too much credit for surviving what should have broken you, I came to remind somebody:

IT’S ONLY BY HIS GRACE.

Come on here.

We use the word grace so often that if we're not careful, we can reduce something supernatural to religious vocabulary.

But grace is powerful.

Grace is not merely something we say before we eat.

Grace is not simply God overlooking what we did wrong.

Grace is the unmerited favor of God, but grace is also divine enablement.

Grace empowers you to do what you could not do in your own strength.

Grace sustains you when your natural ability has reached its limit.

Grace steps into a life that cannot save itself, cannot fix itself, cannot deliver itself, and does what only God can do.

And if anybody understood the transforming power of grace, it was the Apostle Paul.

But before he was Paul the apostle, he was Saul the persecutor.

Before he strengthened the church, he persecuted the church.

Before he preached Christ, he opposed those who followed Christ.

Acts chapter 9 tells us that Saul was “breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord.” He was traveling toward Damascus with authority to arrest believers.

Saul thought he was going to Damascus to apprehend Christians.

He didn't know grace was about to apprehend him.

He thought he was going there to stop a movement.

He didn't know Jesus was about to stop him.

And suddenly a light from heaven shined around him. Saul fell to the ground, and Jesus called his name.

“Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?”

Listen.

Jesus could have left Saul exactly where Saul's choices had taken him.

But grace interrupted him.

And somebody needs to hear me today:

Grace will meet you while you're still headed in the wrong direction.

Grace will confront you.

Grace will interrupt you.

Grace will expose what needs to change.

Grace will bring you face-to-face with yourself.

And then grace will introduce you to the person God always knew you could become.

That's why when Paul later declares:

“But by the grace of God I am what I am,”

those words carry weight.

Because Paul remembered.

He remembered Saul.

He remembered Damascus.

He remembered what he had done.

He remembered where God found him.

Paul could never stand in his apostolic authority and pretend that he got there because he had a perfect history.

No.

His life preached grace before his mouth ever explained it.

His testimony wasn't that he had always been right.

His testimony was that grace wouldn't leave him wrong.

Come on.

The testimony isn't that you never fell.

It's that grace reached where you fell.

The testimony isn't that you never wandered.

It's that grace knew where to find you.

The testimony isn't that you deserved another chance.

It's that God gave you one anyway.

Don't you ever become so impressed with who you are today that you forget who picked you up yesterday.

Paul said:

“By the grace of God I am what I am.”

Not by my title.

Not by my education.

Not by my connections.

Not by my intelligence.

Not because I made every right decision.

Not because everybody believed in me.

By the grace of God.

There are some things you survived that your strength cannot take credit for.

There are some nights you made it through when you didn't know how you were going to face the morning.

There are some attacks that should have taken you out.

There are some mistakes that could have destroyed your future.

There were seasons when you couldn't see God, couldn't trace God, couldn't understand what God was doing, and yet here you are.

Maybe you didn't survive because you were holding everything together.

Maybe grace was holding you together.

Maybe you weren't holding onto God as tightly as you thought.

Maybe God was holding onto you.

And today I want to show you three things.

Grace found me.

Grace carried me.

And grace is still working on me.

Because when you understand those three things, you will stop looking at your life saying, “Look what I did,” and start looking at your life saying:

“Look what God did.”

Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank You today for Your grace.

Thank You for grace that found us when we were lost. Grace that kept us when we should have fallen apart. Grace that corrected us when we were wrong. Grace that carried us when we were weak. Grace that refused to leave us where it found us.

God, somebody listening today has been trying to understand how they survived what they survived. Somebody has been carrying shame from their past. Somebody has been questioning whether there can still be purpose after failure.

Let Your Word answer them today.

Open our ears to hear. Open our hearts to receive. Bring revelation where there has been confusion. Bring conviction where change is necessary. Bring healing where there has been hurt.

And don't allow us to log out the same way we logged in.

Let somebody leave this online sanctuary knowing, “If it had not been for the grace of God, I would not be here.”

We give You all the glory, all the honor, and all the praise.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Now stay with me here because this brings me to my first point:

GRACE FOUND ME

Ephesians 2:8 says:

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”

Pay close attention.

Grace did not wait until Saul became Paul.

Grace met Saul while he was still Saul.

Some of us think we have to fix ourselves before we can come to God.

But if you could fix yourself, you wouldn't need grace.

Grace doesn't stand at the finish line waiting for the cleaned-up version of you.

Grace comes looking for you in the mess.

Grace found you in your confusion.

Grace found you in your brokenness.

Grace found you in your rebellion.

Grace found you when you knew better and still did wrong.

Grace found you when you didn't even realize how far you had wandered.

And this is what gets me:

God saw beyond the condition He found you in.

When people saw Saul the persecutor, God knew there was an apostle in him.

God knew there were churches in him.

God knew there were epistles in him.

God knew there was revelation in him.

God knew there was purpose in him.

Let me ask you a question:

What did God see in you when you couldn't see anything worth saving in yourself?

Some of you are still judging yourself by a chapter God has already turned.

You're still calling yourself by a name grace has already changed.

You're still punishing yourself for something you've already repented of.

You're still standing at a place God already brought you through.

But grace says:

“That may be where I found you, but that's not where I'm leaving you.”

Grace found me.

But grace did not just find me.

Grace carried me.

GRACE CARRIED ME

Let's go deeper.

Because meeting Jesus did not mean Paul would never have another difficult day.

Paul was beaten.

Paul was imprisoned.

Paul was rejected.

Paul was shipwrecked.

Paul experienced opposition.

Paul knew what it meant to suffer while still being obedient to God.

So grace wasn't simply what brought Paul to Christ.

Grace sustained Paul while he followed Christ.

Second Corinthians 12:9 says:

“My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”

Don't miss that.

God did not tell Paul, “You will never be weak.”

He said:

“My grace is sufficient.”

We have spent so much time asking God to make us strong that sometimes we don't recognize that His grace is doing what our strength cannot do.

You thought you kept going because you were strong.

But what if what you called strength was actually grace?

You kept showing up.

Grace.

You kept praying when you didn't see an answer.

Grace.

You cried and still got up the next morning.

Grace.

Your heart was broken, but you kept functioning.

Grace.

You didn't know how provision was going to come, but somehow there was enough.

Grace.

You were tired.

You were frustrated.

You were disappointed.

You had questions.

But something kept pushing you forward.

Grace.

Somebody needs to stop saying, “I don't know how I made it.”

Yes, you do.

IT WAS ONLY BY HIS GRACE.

And here's the revelation:

You thought you were carrying everything.

Your family.

Your responsibilities.

Your assignment.

Your ministry.

Your job.

Your future.

Your pain.

Your expectations.

You thought you were carrying all of it.

But while you were carrying everything else, grace was carrying you.

Come on here.

You didn't hold yourself together.

Grace held you together.

And if grace carried you through what is behind you, why would you believe grace is going to abandon you in what is in front of you?

The same grace that carried you then is available now.

And the same grace carrying you now will meet you there.

But grace doesn't only find us.

Grace doesn't only carry us.

Grace changes us.

GRACE IS STILL WORKING ON ME

Now let's continue because Paul says something in our foundation Scripture that we cannot miss:

“His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain.”

That means grace produced something.

Grace changed something.

Grace developed something.

Grace transformed something.

And this is where we have to correct a misunderstanding about grace.

Grace is not permission to remain unchanged.

Titus 2:11–12 teaches us that the grace of God brings salvation, but that same grace teaches us how to live.

Grace doesn't just say:

“I forgive you.”

Grace says:

“Now get up. We're going somewhere.”

Grace corrects you because God loves you too much to let you remain immature.

Grace convicts you because God loves you too much to allow dysfunction to become your identity.

Grace stretches you because where God is taking you requires growth.

And hear me:

Don't fight the grace that's trying to grow you.

Everything uncomfortable is not the devil.

Everything God removes is not punishment.

Everything God corrects is not rejection.

Sometimes grace is doing surgery.

Cutting away pride.

Cutting away bitterness.

Cutting away unhealthy attachments.

Cutting away old habits.

Cutting away the need for everybody's approval.

Cutting away the version of you that cannot go where God is taking you.

Is this speaking to anybody?

Because some of us prayed, “God, use me,” and then got upset when God started changing us.

You asked Him to take you higher.

But higher requires transformation.

You asked Him for greater.

But greater requires maturity.

You asked Him for more.

But sometimes before God puts more in your hands, grace has to do more in your heart.

Look at Paul.

The man who persecuted the church became the man who suffered for the church.

The man traveling to Damascus to arrest believers eventually traveled from city to city preaching the Christ he once opposed.

That's grace.

That's not behavior modification.

That's transformation.

And if God could reach Saul and transform him into Paul, don't tell me your story is too complicated for grace.

Don't tell me you've gone too far.

Don't tell me you've made too many mistakes.

Don't tell me God cannot use what is left.

Because grace has a way of finding purpose underneath the rubble.

And when I look at my life, I have to declare:

Grace found me.

Grace carried me.

Grace is still working on me.

So no, I cannot take the credit.

I cannot take the glory.

I cannot pretend I did this by myself.

Because after everything I've been through, everything I've survived, everything God has delivered me from, everything He has corrected in me, and everything He is still developing in me, I have only one testimony:

IT'S ONLY BY HIS GRACE.

And we're getting ready to end, but I cannot preach about the grace that found Saul and not give somebody an opportunity to experience that same grace for yourself.

Maybe you're listening today and you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Maybe you've been around church, but you've never surrendered your life to Him.

Maybe you walked with God before, but somewhere along the way you wandered.

Hear me.

Grace knows where you are.

You don't have to get yourself together before you come.

You don't have to fix everything first.

You don't have to clean up your past.

You don't have to become worthy.

Ephesians 2:8 says:

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”

Salvation is a gift.

Jesus Christ died for your sins, He was buried, and He rose again. And Romans 10:9 tells us that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.

If that's you today, right where you are, surrender your heart to Him.

Father, I come to You recognizing that I need You. I repent of my sins. I believe that Jesus Christ died for me and that You raised Him from the dead. I receive Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Forgive me, change me, lead me, and teach me how to live for You. Thank You for saving me by Your grace. In Jesus' name, amen.

And if you prayed that prayer and meant it from your heart, welcome to the family of God. Get connected to a Bible-believing church, get into the Word of God, and begin growing in your relationship with Jesus Christ.

And before we leave the online sanctuary, we want to give you an opportunity to sow.

Giving is not how we purchase grace. Grace cannot be bought.

We give because God has already been good.

We give because we are grateful.

We give because we understand that everything we possess came from the hand of God in the first place.

So if this ministry has blessed you and you desire to sow, you may give through

PayPal, Cash App, or Tithely.

GIVE

Give as the Lord leads you, and we thank God for every person who continues to help us carry the Gospel through this online sanctuary.

Now before you log out, I want you to declare something over your life.

I am evidence that the grace of God works.

Grace found me when I was lost.

Grace reached me when I had gone too far.

Grace lifted me when I fell.

Grace carried me when I was weak.

Grace sustained me when I wanted to quit.

Grace corrected me when I was wrong.

Grace covered me while God was changing me.

And grace is still working on me.

I will not allow shame to make me forget what grace has forgiven.

I will not allow my past to speak louder than what God has declared over my future.

I will not take credit for what only God could have done.

And I will not become so impressed with where I am that I forget where God brought me from.

When I am weak, His grace is sufficient.

When I don't understand, His grace is sufficient.

When I don't know how I'm going to make it, His grace is sufficient.

When my strength runs out, His grace is sufficient.

And when I step into the next season of my life, I will not step into it afraid, because the grace that found me, the grace that carried me, and the grace that has been working on me is going with me.

Come on here.

Paul could look back at Saul and declare:

“By the grace of God I am what I am.”

And today I can look back over my own life and declare the same thing.

I shouldn't be here.

But grace.

I should have lost my mind.

But grace.

I should have stayed down.

But grace.

I should have given up.

But grace.

I should have been disqualified.

But grace.

I should have been counted out.

But grace.

Yet here I stand.

Still called.

Still chosen.

Still believing.

Still becoming.

Still moving.

Still walking with God.

Not because I did everything right.

Not because I never fell.

Not because I never became weary.

Not because I had enough strength.

But by the grace of God, I am what I am.

So when somebody asks you how you made it, don't give them a complicated answer.

When they ask how you survived it, don't give them a complicated answer.

When they ask how you got back up, don't give them a complicated answer.

When they ask how you're still standing after everything you've been through, look them in the eye and tell them:

IT'S ONLY BY HIS GRACE.

Father, we thank You for Your Word.

Thank You for reminding us that we are not self-made; we are grace-kept.

Thank You for every place You found us, every season You carried us, and every area where You are still changing us.

Keep working on us.

Keep correcting us.

Keep developing us.

Keep transforming us.

And when You bless us, keep us humble enough to remember where the blessing came from.

When You elevate us, keep us humble enough to remember who opened the door.

When You use us, keep us humble enough to remember that the glory belongs to You.

And when we become everything You have called us to become, may our testimony remain the same:

“By the grace of God I am what I am.”

We give You the glory.

We give You the honor.

We give You the praise.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Listen, I pray this Word has blessed you. Take it with you this week. Don't just remember the title. Remember the grace.

And as always, we don't log in one way and log out another.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ keep you, sustain you, strengthen you, and carry you through every place your own strength cannot. May His grace go before you, rest upon you, and remind you that whatever you face this week, His grace is still sufficient.

And until we meet again, may you never forget:

You are what you are by the grace of God.

God bless you, and I love you with the love of Christ.

Manifestation of His Glory Network, Inc.

†† Dr. G. Denise Gray

Lead Apostle & General Overseer