New Dimensions Of Grace by Rev Christie Bature: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Grace written 24 years ago

I read Zechariah 4:5-7

Zerubbabel had a task, an assignment. He was face to face with difficulty, facing the mountain of opposition. Opposition to dreams and visions, opposition to hope and aspirations

A mountain standing in the path of progress, intended to keep one localized. The only answer to making that mountain a plain was grace. God's own solution to that mountain

Grace is the ark God provides before the flood comes. It was in the same day that Noah entered the ark that the floodgates of heaven opened

We never seem to locate the ark in a flood because we keep our eyes on the waters.

While the enemy points to the flood, God lovingly and patiently points to the ark, the place of security and protection, of deliverance and peace that passes all understanding

The ark is the demonstration of grace present to deal with the problem. Mountains must be faced, but grace cannot be exhausted

Who art thou, O mountain, before Christ? I shout grace, I call grace, and as I focus on that mountain right before my eyes, it becomes a plain

Grace is the strength for the race Hebrews 12:1-3

God's business is to make me whole, W-H-O-L-E. Satan is in the ball hole business. He tries to strike out the W and leave a whole H-O-L-E of emptiness behind

The race has to be run. Add G to race and you have grace

A 100 meter dash requires only speed. This race is a marathon, requiring both speed and stamina Ecclesiastes 9:11

You get to the point where you wonder, can I make the next lap? Muscles, eyes, legs and head all protest, yelling at you to give up, give in, let go.

Your mind brings suggestions of a false finish line

When you feel your heart will burst with the next step, grace picks up the fight and reinjects vigor, life and strength for the race. You become like a car refueled for a long journey

Admitting tiredness is not doubt or unbelief. Even Jesus, who calmly declared his death on the cross, had a change of countenance when the hour drew near Matthew 26:36-46

He went to a secluded corner and asked to escape the ordeal: Lord, if possible, take this cup from me. Sweat dropped from him like blood.

Twice he chided his disciples for sleeping, then the third time he said, Sleep on

The situation had not changed on the outside, but something had changed on the inside. He had made contact with grace

Paul in Acts 26 had a vibrancy that came from receiving grace from God to carry on

Grace is the secret code for distinction, excellence and outstanding performance in any calling 1 Corinthians 15:1-10

Paul, the last and the least of the apostles, was catapulted to the top by grace. Grace is the conveyor belt to distinction

Ecclesiastes 9:11, Proverbs 21:31

When grace is upon a man, it can be mistaken for expertise. The world calls him an expert, a guru. But there are no experts in the kingdom, only carriers of grace

Wherever grace is operating, performance is cheap. Grace is the oil that removes friction from the engine of our enterprise. It does not eliminate labor, it simplifies it and delivers results at alarming rates

Most physical frames do not portray the amount of grace in the vessel. It is not in looks or stature. It's a pure gift from God

May grace in you become like the fire shut up in Jeremiah's bones, that will take you to places you never thought you would get to.

May grace be activated in you by a shout of grace.

Jeremiah 20:9

We stand in grace

Romans 5:2

Where do we stand? In grace. The moment you give your life to Christ, you are standing inside a room called grace, a space called grace, an opportunity and a privilege called grace

In the Passion translation, the word for grace is kindness

In the New Living Translation, it is undeserved privilege

Where God told me to go: how is your grace tank?

Colossians 4:6

I am concerned with only the first part of the verse, not the second

How is your grace tank? What is in it? Is it grace or something else? Do you even have a grace tank?

Conversation here is not just the words of your mouth. It is your conduct, the way you live your life

I always define words, because definitions can give you a sucker punch in the belly

Grace is favor, goodwill

Synonyms: kindness, kindliness, love

This day and age, what has taken over our world is self-centeredness, self-focus, self-absorption, selfishness. Everything is me, me, me

Illustration: the rehab

I run a rehab center. The oldest person we have had was 72, and had lived the last 45 years in addiction

The families are in turmoil emotionally, mentally and physically, and there is shame. They spend money and time visiting, bringing what the person wants

Some have contracted diseases that need specialists, so we take them for appointments. Some dropped out of school and the families pay to take them back, so they can find something to do after rehab

And all you keep hearing from the addict is, nobody cares about me. Nobody understands

Ingratitude is the first doorway that leads us into struggles and addictions Romans 1:21

The moment ingratitude entered the picture, degeneration began.

Read to the end of that chapter and you find seven levels of degeneration because of ingratitude

One of the most heartbreaking things is when someone in a system is named a Christian and they say, who? This one? If this one is a Christian, then I'm the Pope. Something is wrong

John 13:35

Grace is unmerited favor

Lazarus John 11

Lazarus was sick and dying. They sent word to Jesus, and Jesus did not go while he was sick. He waited until Lazarus had been in the grave for days, then showed up

Lazarus did not ask to be brought back. He made no contribution whatsoever. It was his sisters who were crying

Most people I have heard of who died and came back are angry when they return. Why did you call me back? Lazarus too could have been angry.

After he came back, more people were coming to Christ, and the Pharisees decided to kill him

Jesus bestowed favor and said, Lazarus, come forth. Grace is when nobody merits it and you give it. It doesn't make sense

Grace is a manifestation of favor, especially by a superior

Synonyms in this context: forgiveness, charity, mercifulness

Forgiveness

There are one or two who have decided that what somebody did to them is unforgivable. People carrying a load of unforgiveness in their hearts.

How is your grace tank?

I watch crime and investigation channels. Family members of someone killed say to the one who did it, I will never forgive you

The person is already dealing with the guilt of what he did, but you are carrying a load that is wounding you, not the person who hurt you

Charity

Everybody is in a competition to be the richest man in the world, to heap and heap. We are concerned about where we are on the social ladder. Charity has gone out of the window

One day I looked at my wardrobe and said, what is this? There are people who don't even have a second set to change into.

There are things in my wardrobe I haven't worn for five years

When people give you, you give away, because it is too much. Most of what I have, I didn't buy. I was given

Mercifulness

Some of us have no mercy. They have to pay for what they did. Do you have mercy for people?

We always think of grace as something God is bringing to us. Today God is asking, what are you giving from the much you have received?

Some of us have become reservoirs. After a while reservoirs stink, because mold, mildew, algae and germs grow in what just keeps everything in

When God has given to you, he calls you to be a conduit, a pipe. It is very difficult for flowing pipes to gather mildew. Nothing stays long enough to gather germs

Antonyms of grace: animosity, enmity, disfavor

We have many people in church with a chip on their shoulder

Mephibosheth

2 Samuel 9

The house of Saul fought David so he would not become king, because they wanted the royalty to remain in their family

One day David asked, is there anybody left of the house of Saul that I may show kindness?

Illustration: the taxi driver

One day in the city of Port Harcourt, I was still single. I got into a taxi and asked the driver to take me around by the hour for my errands

We got talking and found he used to live in Kano, where I grew up. I mentioned my father's name and the man screamed, that's the man that is the reason I have a job

My father was a vehicle inspection officer. He said, he gave me my driver's license when I didn't deserve it.

I shouldn't have passed my test, but he saw I was nervous and still gave me the license

He said, ma, anywhere you are going today is free. I was with him about five hours and he took not a dime.

That was favor I didn't deserve, because my father put a seed in the ground

Mephibosheth was in Lo-debar. Everything there was low: depression, reduction, demeaning. He was hiding because both his legs were lame

No one with a defect or infirmity could appear before the king.

So when David asked, they said, the one who is alive is disqualified from coming into your presence. He is lame in both feet.

That was the first thing they told David

David never addressed the disability. He said, bring him. And when Mephibosheth came and said, I am a dead dog, David never addressed dead dog.

He said, from today, with your two lame legs, you sit at my table

Aren't we going around thinking some people do not belong to our class? I may help them, but they shouldn't be seen around me

Grace is mercy, clemency, pardon

Pardon means: I know what you did, it hurt me, I am offended, but I release you. You don't deserve it, but I release you

Synonyms: leniency, reprieve. Antonym: harshness

Harshness

Where I live in Nigeria we have house helps, housekeepers, drivers, cooks, security men. Somebody's driver is driving while the owner sleeps, and yet he treats him like trash

You leave your six month old baby with somebody you treat harshly. How is your grace tank?

Illustration: the house girl

A widow in the village asked me to send her child to school.

I said, I am bringing her to take care of my baby. She said, ma, I want my child to go to school

We got her into a school with evening sessions. When I was at work, she was home with the baby. When I came back, I took her to school and stayed with the baby.

I had to be willing to do that

The first name my baby knew, before mama or dada, was her name. The toddler would run out and stand at the door because she knew when she was turning the corner from school

I dressed her in the clothes I bought for my own children. You can't take the village out of the child

Illustration: two nannies

When my sixth child was born I had a nanny, a widow, who was so harsh and wicked. I did not understand how hard her heart was.

After a year she was stealing, and when I caught her she insulted me and left

God brought me another woman, hardly able to see, with very thick glasses. She stayed with me 16 years. She taught my children to pray and how to brush their teeth.

She spoke their identities into them because she was a believer

She called my son King, and when he misbehaved she said, this is not how a king behaves. He started calling himself King and corrected himself.

When my children fell sick at night she prayed them through

My last baby started calling her mommy. She told me, even when my husband was alive I never saw this kind of money or was treated this way. I will stay here till I die.

And she did

I couldn't tell my baby she had died. She was nine when mama died and did not know until she was 17

Harshness in families

Sarah and Hagar Genesis 16

We always look at the bond woman and Ishmael. But Hagar did not ask to be put in the equation. Abraham went down to Egypt Genesis 12:10 and acquired her as a slave

Every time a person backslid, the Bible says he went down. When speaking of Deborah as judge, they came up to her for judgment under the palm tree Judges 4:5

So Abraham descended below the standard of God and acquired Hagar from Egypt. She was just serving as a slave. Sarah said, take my servant Hagar

The slave girl started sleeping with the master and got pregnant, what her madam could not do. Was she wrong to misbehave towards Sarah? Yes

But Sarah dealt with her so harshly that the girl decided the desert was better than the house of Abraham. For some of us that is what is happening in our house

Illustration: the young girl in rehab

They brought a young girl to the rehab. When I found out her family, I was shocked. A very wealthy family, her siblings living abroad.

They had picked her up from an uncompleted building, on crack cocaine with a group of young men, while their home was a mansion

Her mother, in her 70s, came every day crying and pleading, please fight for your life. In a therapy session we said, for your mother's sake, fight

She exploded: don't talk to me about mother. Is that one a mother? We knew we had touched a sore nerve

For the first time she opened up. From ages seven to 15, her mother had a group of women friends who put her into lesbian orgies in the house.

That uncompleted building was safer for her than the mansion. The trauma that drove her to drugs was what her mother did to her

Children come to the rehab and say, don't tell my parents. If your children can't come to you, who will they go to? Outside there are dogs waiting to devour them

Some of us are the way we are because we have not let go of what happened to us, and we project it on the next generation. We haven't processed our pains.

We project trauma onto our children and perpetuate cycles that should end

Illustration: my own family

We were eight children with two parents. A family of 10 is now a family of two. My parents are dead, one brother is dead, all five of my sisters are dead.

What killed most of them was addiction

I saw the pattern transferring to their children. I took 14 of them. Two refused every help and stayed in the cycle, and two have died.

The same thing that killed my dad killed my brother and two of his children

Rebekah and Esau Genesis 27

Romans 9:13

It did not say Rebekah should hate Esau

Rebekah decided to defraud her own son. She thought she was protecting Jacob and never considered what her actions meant to Esau.

Imagine knowing it was your mother who planned for you not to get the blessing. She had no grace in her tank for her son

Joseph Genesis 45, Genesis 50

You can be like Sarah or Rebekah, or like Joseph. His brothers sold him into slavery and deceived their father that he was dead. Joseph became prime minister

Instead of punishing them or exacting revenge, Joseph wept. He forgave them, provided for their entire families, and comforted them by explaining that God used their evil for a greater good

Sister Stacy said some people she had done a lot for did not come to look for her. The temptation to be angry and offended is high because we have expectations.

She said God showed her what was going on with them. That's grace

Even if they had no explanation, even if God didn't show her what was going on, God is calling us to the place where we give grace

Forgive is two words: for and give. For means ahead. Ahead of their offense, give grace

We know the arm of flesh will fail. We know people will make mistakes and some will intentionally hurt us. But ahead of their foolishness, give grace. Joseph did that

Grace is favor shown in granting a delay or temporary immunity

When I was a child, my mother would say nothing about what you did.

You forget, relax, and then she corners you when you least expect it. You wish she had punished you at the time

This is not that kind of grace. You delay and give temporary immunity, waiting for the person to make a different choice

Some of us must punish people immediately, in the heat of anger. We go overboard, because anger is very controlling. It pushes you beyond limits you didn't know you could cross

Abigail and David 1 Samuel 25

Hosea and Gomer

Prophet Hosea took his wife back every time she went out to commit adultery. They sell us the idea that once that happens, it is a deal breaker

Illustration: my marriage

There was adultery in my marriage and I was ready to leave. It was my deal breaker. I was getting my things together

It was not a prophet or apostle talking. It was Jesus who said adultery is grounds for ending a marriage Matthew 19:9.

So the Lord of lords had given me the license to pack my bags

God said to me, can we talk? Leaving is justice, but I show you a higher way. Forgive. Leaving is justice, you are justified to leave, but forgive

Don't hear me say what I didn't say. What is God saying to you?

Sister Latasha said, if you haven't formed a relationship with God before your crisis comes, it's difficult to hear him in the midst of it. The voice of pain is loud, compelling, controlling.

Pain lies most of the time. His voice is a still small voice

God said stay. A few years down the line, it was not just adultery. A child was born, and God told me to take the child. I took her. She met her mother at 20

Later I noticed shady moves again. I said, Lord, is this the foolishness you asked me to stay for? God said, leave. I packed and left. Same God, same me.

He had weighed my life and my obedience up to that point and said, girl, step. So I stepped

I left my husband with our one year old baby. I said, you are the daddy, take care of your baby. I'm not carrying the pain of your nonsense and the burden of the baby.

Nobody could touch her afterwards, daddy, daddy

Those of you who want to run and run with the children are punishing yourselves. Husband, you too: if you have to run, leave her with the children. It works both ways

Esau proved you don't have to repeat the cycle Genesis 33

Esau never received grace, but he proved you don't have to repeat the cycle

Jacob stole the birthright and the blessing. Decades later he returned expecting war and an angry, murderous brother coming with 400 men. He sent servants ahead with animals, saying, a gift for you, sir.

He divided his family into three groups so that if one was killed the other would survive

In the time Jacob was gone, God had worked on Esau. Instead of attacking, Esau ran and embraced him

Illustration: the slap

They brought a boy from America to our rehab. His parents were tired. He had been in rehab two or three times and still fell back.

He locked them out of their house and broke all the bottles in the bar to threaten them. They landed at the airport and brought him straight to us

He said, f you, who the f are you? I said, we don't use that language here. He said it again. I said, you are 19, my first five children are older than you.

None of them can use such language with me. Right now I'm not a therapist, I'm mom

I'm left-handed, so the slap comes from the side they don't expect. He ran upstairs and shut the door.

I had the other boys push it open, and by then my hand was pinning me, so I removed my shoe. He said, please stop.

That was the last day that word came out of his mouth

The graceless drummer

Last weekend I was ministering in Delaware. In one part of the service there was no drummer, so I went to the drums and played. That clip has over 700,000 views

People commented funny things. One person, a musician in Canada whom I have never met, said: too noisy, go complete your lesson at music school, you drum with your wrists, not your hands, poor technique

This is a person with no grace. You don't know me, and even if you did, this is a graceless way to talk

What he didn't know: the high hat had no adjuster, so it kept making noise. One of the sticks was broken, so I had to hold it carefully so it wouldn't split.

I'm left-handed, but I was forced to learn drums like a right-handed person, which confuses my brain

I saw a female drummer whose whole set was positioned the opposite way, because she is left-handed. This person doesn't know any of that. All he has is criticism

That's what Sister Stacy was talking about. I didn't know what they were going through. One of the people I felt didn't check on me is going through chemo

That's the new dimension of grace God is calling you to. How is your tank?

If it's empty, make up your mind today to fill it. If you filled it with the wrong substance, empty it and put grace

Break out of abject selfishness and self-focus and become somebody's hope

Becoming somebody's hope

My father's father had six wives and 36 children. Many have died, including my dad. My mother's siblings have nearly all died

God said to me, place all of them on an allowance. They have children. No matter how small. It's amazing what that little gesture has become. They just pray and pray for me

Then he asked me to add a group of missionaries, in the north, south and west. Every month he says, send something to them.

Of about 21 of them only two know me, and I send through them. I don't want any phone calls

A few months back I was sent a picture of a missionary attacked on his bike while returning from evangelism. They stabbed him, clubbed him, took his bike and phone.

God said to me, buy the bike back. I said, Lord, the bike is not cheap. He said, buy it back

I took time to save the money. Three days ago we bought it back. He thanked us in Hausa on video, standing with a brand new bike.

He said God did not just give back my bike, he gave me a brand new one, so I can reach more people because it won't break down like the old one

God can speak to you to be gracious to somebody, especially when they don't deserve it. I'm not blowing my trumpet. I'm showing you God can speak to you about the most minuscule things

Grace will demand the breaking of your pride

Sometimes grace demands a humility you don't have

Illustration: my sister-in-law

My sister-in-law felt I had offended her and summoned me to her place. I said, I'm not coming. Who are you to summon me? She kept malice with me

We were traveling to Benin with the whole family. In the car the Holy Spirit said, when you get there, don't say anything to anybody. Go to your sister-in-law's house.

I protested and defended myself, explaining why she was the one who was wrong. He said, I'm not talking about right or wrong. Go and see her

I got on a bike, because I didn't want to take the car. She had sprained her ankle and people were massaging it. I greeted, good evening, ma. She said, who are you greeting standing?

Am I your mate? Kneel down

The Holy Spirit said, you will not protest. You will not explain. You will just be silent. So I knelt for more than 10 minutes while she said things I cannot repeat

When she finished I said, thank you, ma. God said, not a word more. I left.

Before I got home she had called my husband, who was also vexed that his sister sent for me and I didn't go. He just started smiling

I told him, I did not go because of you. I have a relationship with your siblings separate from you. The outcome? Nothing. God just broke my pride

Walking with Christ is not easy. Most of the time he won't explain why he is doing what he is doing. He doesn't owe you an explanation. This is accepting the sovereignty of God

Romans 9:20-21

Sometimes the new dimension of grace is God pulling out of you the places where you are self-sufficient and in control

Relinquishing control

There was a season of turmoil in my life, no peace, angst inside. God said, Christie, do you know why you do not experience my peace like you should? I said no.

He said, because you are trying to control outcomes

He is the only one with the privilege, the authority and the prerogative to control outcomes. The day you relinquish the desire to control outcomes, you will be at peace.

I grew up in a setting with no peace. There was internal chaos, and I became a control freak, though you could not recognize it from afar

Illustration: the airport

If I got to the airport and was told I was late to board, I would throw a tantrum. One day in Ontario airport in California I threw my bag on the ground in anger.

I had come early, but the TSA queue was long and the gate closed

God said, sit down, shut up and sit down. He asked, why are you angry? I said, I came here early. Can you get them to open that door? No. Is this the only airline?

I asked, and found another flight that would get me in at 1:00 a.m. for a 10:00 a.m. program

He said, do you have money for another ticket? Yes. Then why were you spoiling your Christian testimony? Who would believe Reverend Christie by what you just did?

I realized God still has some work to do. This was not 20 years ago. It was the year before last, when my daughter was doing her bone marrow transplant in California

For some of us, new dimensions of grace will be relinquishing control to the one who owns control

Charge

God is calling us out of intense selfishness into selflessness. Take it seriously

I told you the stories of the people I take care of to show by example that all of us are called to do his work, not to speak to you like a phony on a pedestal.

I live what I preach

We always talk about Sarah, Deborah and Esther, and people say those were those days.

I am not afraid to tell you there are living examples of those professing Christ and living like Christ on the earth.

Am I perfect? No. Am I pushing to be like Christ every day? Yes

Let your conversation always be seasoned with grace Colossians 4:6

Illustration: the homeless outreach

I got my permanent residency in America and did not want to sit doing nothing. I still want to reach the addicted.

My vision is a truck rigged with showers and toilets, driving downtown once a week to offer homeless addicts a shower, a meal and brief counseling. Brief counseling is evangelism

I don't have the truck yet. Before my birthday on September 1, the Lord said, you don't need a truck to give them food or counseling.

So we had an outreach and fed 104 homeless addicts downtown Houston

I asked a group of seven, six guys and a girl, filthy and obviously high, if I could pray for them. All seven stood and put their heads down.

One went into his tattered bag, and I saw he was still staying connected with God

God said, people will donate clothes, barbers will volunteer, makeup artists and photographers will volunteer. They will wear clean clothes and have their picture taken.

When they see what they could be like, some will go to rehab and clean up. A photographer already followed us without being asked

I went to the car to cry. When you see how horribly the devil can twist a human life, you break down. You don't let them see you crying. Then you come back and continue

Jesus and the leper Matthew 8:3

Lepers shouted, unclean, unclean, and people ran away so they would not be contaminated. Jesus did not run from the leper. He walked to the leper and touched him

What Jesus was saying: what you have cannot contaminate me. What I carry cleanses you

• Lord, my grace tank is not okay. Fix it. Help me empty it of whatever it shouldn't be and fill it with what it should be.
• My grace tank is small. Help me make it bigger.
• My grace tank is polluted. Clean it up. It is full of junk. Help me clean out the junk.
• My grace tank is full of pride. Break it, Lord. It is full of selfishness. Empty me of me.
• Fill me up, O God, with the grace that flows from you. It first flowed from you to me. Help me become a conduit of grace.
• My grace tank is leaking. Lord, plug the holes.
• My grace tank does not look like grace. Polish it up. Give it the right outlook, the right face.
• We are your people, the sheep of your pasture. More and more we want to be like you, look like you, act like you, have compassion like you.