You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 2:1 (NKJV)

When we received Christ, we received the content of Christ; Christ is full of grace and truth (John 1:12, 14). From this fullness, we have received grace upon grace but we did not automatically receive the truth part (John 1:16). It was the grace combined with the truth that made up the glorious Jesus in his world.

The grace upon grace we have received is favor upon favor, spiritual blessings upon spiritual blessings and gifts upon gifts (John 1:16 AMP). Thus at new birth, we have all received as many and as diverse spiritual virtues. However, these might be passive and not manifest as they need be activated with the truth.

The grace we have is as the eggs domiciled in a female but requires fertilization by a male to give it life. It is the truth that fertilizes the grace in us to give it life.

Jesus challenged those who believe in him to become true disciples (John 8:31). This implies that being a believer and a true disciple are not the same. The latter is like an advanced stage of the former. The believer has already received grace upon grace but the true disciple is one that resembles the master.

Meanwhile, the master manifested the glory of those grace embedded in (Acts 10:38). Thus, a true disciple is one who manifests those graces in him or her. Crossing this gap requires one to remain, abide and continue in the word of Christ. Christ is the truth; hence, his word is also truth (John 14:6). Abiding in the words of Christ leads to a knowing; knowing as in intercourse with the truth. (John 8:32, Genesis 4:1). That is fertilizing the grace inherent in us.

We need to move from a casual interaction with the word to a deliberate encountering of the word. The former is like embracing while the latter is intercourse. Embraces does not lead to fertilization.

Intercourse requires privacy and quality time. It requires deep intimacy. We need to develop deep intimacy with the word of truth.

The words of truth are spirit words and life giving (John 6:63). The graces we have received from his fullness are also spiritual blessings, thus spirit. It takes the spirit to fertilize the spirit and give it life. We need to be absorbed in the word of truth continuously to secure a continuous manifestation of all the grace we have received.

You are as strong in grace as much as the grace you have fertilized.

You become strong in grace by exercising in grace. Exercising is not convenient but makes you stronger over time. You exercise when you yield to the teachings of grace.

Grace is a teacher (Titus 2:11-13), speaking quietly within us and all believers have the teacher inside them (1 John 2:27). The teachings of grace might not be our preference per time but yielding makes us stronger in grace.

Saying ‘no’ is not easy when the natural tide is to say ‘yes’. Likewise, saying ‘yes’ is not easy when the natural tide is to say ‘no’. Acting contrary to the natural tide makes one look foolish and stupid before men, but the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men. These teachings make us to shun ungodliness and embrace godliness. The outcome of such teachings of grace is the cultivation of the fruit of the spirit, which is a tremendous spiritual blessing (Galatians 5:16, 22, 25).

Yielding today makes it easier to yield tomorrow and not yielding today makes it more difficult to yield tomorrow. A continuous yielded life to grace via her teachings could be viewed as being strong in grace.

Yielding cultivates humility. True humility is not about outward appearance and dispositions; it starts with your relationship towards God. Humility is depending on God! Depending on God is a lifestyle that opens you up to the grace of God (James 4:6).

Dependence on God is seen in praying about everything. Praying put you in a position to receive grace from God. Show humility by praying concerning everything. It takes humility to listen for God’s voice in everything we do. Almost in all we do, we know what to do by instincts and experience. It takes humility to depend on God for everything.

Mind you, the grace being mentioned here is the total package you have received from the fullness of Christ. This comprise of every God input in you, from the ‘saving grace’, which takes you from ungodliness to godliness, to the ‘favor grace’, to the ‘spiritual blessings grace’ and to the ‘gifts grace’ with which you minister to others.

You also become strong when you express grace. Grace is expressed in service, through service and for service.

The grace in us should be of benefit to others (1 Corinthians 12:7). In addition, usage brings out the finesse of that which you have and open the flow for more expression. You only need to start expressing a grace; you will never know the end of its expression. Each act of expression opens up another face of this multidimensional grace, which you would soon want to explore.

You serve by being available, bendable, send-able and usable. In the course of services that push your graces, you will be spent. In fact, you will sweat! The sweat of your sacrifices has a way of oiling the channel of grace flow. People who stay away from serving would not bring forth much of the grace in them.

Grace can also be stirred.

There is a company that stirs grace. Often, being in the circle of people using their graces stir up your own grace. It is a case of deep things calling unto deep things. As they use theirs, yours is pulled to the surface. That is the danger of being surrounded with people whose graces are perpetually in the passive state. They have nothing on the surface that could pull yours to the surface. However, as you relate with those whose graces are active, they pull yours to the surface and in turn, you pull theirs more. This cycle continues, making all who intentionally and sincerely belong and participate in such company to be strong in grace (2 Timothy 2:22).

In stirring graces, companies often stir up like or complementary graces. Thus, when someone strong in a grace comes around, all the similar graces in the people around seem to be stirred up. However, these ‘visits’ do not often last long enough to bring such graces to a level where they can float on their own. Thus, the departure of such a fellow might be a ‘back to the norm’ for those with the complementary graces.

Conversely, little or no stirring around such might not necessarily mean there is no grace to be stirred, but most likely not complementary or the individual is not receptive enough.

There is also an environment that stirs grace. A Holy Ghost saturated atmosphere provokes the grace of God in lives. Little wonder a sense of being superhuman when attending/ministering in some meetings. Such environment are at times a function of the prayers that have gone ahead behind the scenes and going on, on the scene or/and the music. It is then you know that there are songs and there are spiritual songs. These atmospheres are not restricted to ‘church’ as such music could ‘hit’ you anywhere.

Talking of spiritual songs, the truth is that it is beyond the lyrics. While at times the lyrics and the beats tune the environment whenever it is sang, the spirituality of the vessel singing also determines a lot. That is why a regular, casual song in the mouth of some vessels can become something else; tuning the environment to stir up the graces in the lives of the hearers.

Nurture the grace of God in your life by fertilizing it, exercising in it, expressing it and stirring it.