Ed Corley

paul was a bond-servant in the House of God. He ministered the grace of God like those who were sent out in the streets in the Luke 14 parable. After ministering in Macedonia, Paul made an unusual statement about the grace of God released in the churches there. It had delivered the people out of their poverty.

1 Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia;
2 How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. II Corinthians 8:1,2  

The grace of God bestowed on those Macedonian people released joy and liberality in them. Out of their poverty they began giving. Even in their trial of affliction, grace worked to bring them joy. Instead of being bound by their affliction, they were released to consider the needs of others and give to them. Mingled with the bitterness of their deep poverty, grace then released the miracle of liberality. Thus, they cleared the way for a continuing flow of grace—both into them and through them to others.

Absolutely nothing heals the blight of poverty—both material and spiritual—like giving to others, whether their need be financial, spiritual, emotional, or mental. When we share what we have, we can only be enriched. When we teach what we know, we can only grow in knowledge. When we open ourselves to the emotional need of another and care, we can only find strength in our own emotions—provided we are partaking of the feast of grace offered us in Christ Jesus.
there is another beautiful story that shows the power of God's grace to deliver from poverty. There is much instruction in it regarding the last hour feast from the Lord and the grace of God that will be released in it. In I Kings 17 Elijah is like the bond servant of Luke 14. They were both commissioned by their Master to go into the streets. Elijah ministered to a destitute widow, one of the poor, and opened the way for her to partake of the abundance of God's grace.

I Kings 17
8 And the Word of the LORD came unto him (Elijah), saying, 9Arise, get thee to Zarephath (a hot burning desert place), which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there (where your creature comforts will be tested and only grace can enable you to stand): behold, I have commanded a widow woman (the least likely prospect) there to sustain thee.
10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks (a sign of her poverty): and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that l may drink.
11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. (The first step toward releasing the woman from her poverty was the Prophet's call for her to become taken with the need of another.)
12 And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. (The condition of herself and her household was hopeless. Her confession was negative. She saw nothing ahead but death, which she would welcome for it would release her from her poverty.)
13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. (What seemed the height of selfishness on the part of the Prophet, actually drew her out of her self-centeredness, one of the blights of poverty. The Prophet released in her one of the principles of God's Kingdom, that of seeing to the needs of others. This opens a soul to abounding grace.)
14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. (We see here the power of God's Word as it was released through the Prophet. It took on creative proportions as it entered the dire circumstance of the widow. A feast is available to those who will hear the Word of the Lord and submit to its creative power.)
15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. (The Word of the Lord released out of the heavens, submission to that Word—and the grace that comes with it—will remove the blight both of spiritual and material poverty. These are components for the last days, served up in the most generous feast ever set out on the earth.)

when the Day of the Lord bursts bright over the end-time darkness, an applause will come from all who have discovered the riches of God's grace. Its sound will reach through the universe. It will silence the song of the morning stars, bring to shame the noise of thunder, and bring to stillness the anthem of the angels. That noise will thrill the heart of every ransomed soul who knows that God's work of salvation has found its completion.

Sin remains a problem in the lives of many believers. Does this mean some will fail to pass in the day of Christ’s judgment? How far will His grace reach to make us ready for the day of Christ? The answer is this… Lest we know God’s grace in ALL its power, we will be hopeless in the day of judgment!

  Now continue on to the "prayer-starters"...
Free of Offense in the Day of Judgment

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