* You can now watch a video of this message at: https://new.livestream.com/rickpina/live.
This morning we continue our series, “Grace that is Simply Amazing” by continuing with our new mini-series entitled, “Grace Based Success (Prosperity).” I have been teaching this series for over 22 months now, so we have covered a lot of ground. Along the way I have done my best to highlight some of the overarching themes I see when I study the grace of God. One of those themes is the difference between striving to achieve something by human effort alone and accepting God’s assignment to do something, knowing that His grace will always accompany His assignment. I spent weeks teaching on the difference between grace vs. works, and the Apostle Paul did an excellent job laying that out for us in both Romans and Galatians.
My message yesterday was about hard work and you could think that I was hypocritically emphasizing human effort and not God’s grace. I will admit that many of the lessons I learned from my family about hard work had nothing to do with God. They had more do with the types of lessons you would learn from the world; lessons about doing your best every time, working hard to get everything you want, and pulling yourself up by your proverbial bootstraps. Without question my family helped ingrain in me a strong work ethic, but that does not exclude God. While it is true that early in my life I worked hard and I did not acknowledge God in my work, I acknowledge God now and I still work hard; it’s just that I get to work even harder by God’s empowering grace.
The Apostle Paul was, without question, the most impactful human on the first century church (outside of Jesus, of course). Paul accomplished much more than any of the other Apostles and he had to overcome seemingly insurmountable opposition. Paul was beaten with whips, rods and stones, but he kept going. Paul was shipwrecked, imprisoned and betrayed, but he kept going. Paul had to overcome things that would have crippled the average man. And how did Paul do it? Paul said, “But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his grace on me — and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace” (1 Cor 15:10).
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. You can attempt to achieve success in life by human effort alone, but you will never be able to accomplish God’s assignment for your life by your own strength.
2. God’s dream for your life is so big that it will require His involvement and His empowerment. He gives you both by His grace.
3. God will give you the grace to work hard in order to accomplish all He has called you to do, and when you perform hard work by His grace, you will not get overwhelmed, overloaded or stressed out.
4. Instead of working hard to achieve success in life on your own, the Lord wants you to rely on Him and His grace. God will give you the grace to work and when you are doing what you are called to do, His grace will empower you to accomplish more than you ever dreamed of accomplishing, and it will be much more than anything you could have ever done on your own.
5. Dream the BIG dreams God gives you and work hard to pursue those dreams. Just make sure you are working with God’s grace and not human effort alone. When you acknowledge the grace of God you will be able to say what Paul said, “For I have worked harder than the others; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace.“
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You for teaching me the value of hard work and the difference between working hard on my own and working hard by Your grace. I know what it is to work hard without Your grace. I have worked hard and I have pursued things with my own blood, sweat and tears. I have been able to get many things done by my own strength, with my own power, through grit, determination and tireless effort. While that was good, the message of Your grace is much better. The more You teach me about Your amazing grace and the plans You made for me before the world began, the more I realize that I could never accomplish Your assignment for my life without Your involvement. Your dreams for me are TOO BIG for me to realize on my own. Your plans for me are SO BIG that they force me to rely on You and Your grace. Now that I pursue Your dreams for my life by Your grace, You are teaching me that I still need to work hard. The difference is that I am now working by Your grace, with the knowledge that You are actually working through me. As I live this way I know I will work harder, accomplish more, and make a greater impact in this world than I could have ever made on my own, because it’s not me, but You working through me, by Your grace. So I enter this day determined to maximize every meeting, conversation and activity that I engage in today, knowing that You are working through me, by Your grace, to leave a mark in this world that will never be erased. I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
