I have heard certain people say  I need grace to do certain things. They will say something like 'you know, if the grace is released or if the grace is made available for me, I should be able to do this and that'. But the truth is the grace of God is always available. The grace of God is inexhaustible, it cannot finish. Just like His mercy and His love, we cannot finish it and it cannot be exhausted. There is nothing like the grace of God is finished and o come tomorrow, it is not a commodity that we buy in the market, it is always available.

And the truth about grace is, it is accessible to every man. The grace of God can be accessed by any man, whether such a man is born again or not, irrespective of the person's gender, either a man or a woman, it is always available. And how do I know this truth? Let us open our Bible to the book of Titus 2:11 and see what it says about God's grace. It says:  "For the [remarkable, undeserved] grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men." Now can we imagine how many number of men or people that are on the face of the earth today? Roughly, about 7billion peoples. This Scripture says that the grace of God is available to all men.

If all the 7.2 billion people or thereabout upon the face of the earth today will lay hold on the grace of God at the same time, the Bible says that grace is available. Nobody will be short-changed. How do we know it? Even the worst of sinners today, if he or she will confess his or her sins and accept Jesus, the Bible says such sinner would be saved right there and then. That is how easily accessible the grace of God is. So, grace as we have it, is not something that we need to struggle to access. The reason why a lot of people are not accessing grace is because they have not found out how to connect with it yet. and that is what this message will be focusing on.

The problem is not the availability of the grace. The problem is how you can connect with it. If you want to speak to someone in the United States of America right now for example, the problem is not how to speak with the person, but the medium of connection. For example, do you want to connect with the person via the internet through chatting or do you want to make a phone call? Once you have the means of connecting then accessing the person becomes very easy.

So, grace is not scarce! The challenge is how it can be accessed. and very briefly I will be sharing with us certain things that you can do to access grace and connect with the grace of God. I will start with John 1:1 and then we would read verse 14 as well. But let us read John 1:1 first.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Now if we look at those Scriptures we read, beginning from, verse one. It says in the beginning was the, and the word was with God and the word was God and verse fourteen says that word that was from the beginning became flesh and He was full of grace and truth. the point is the first thing that can connect you to grace is the word. Not just 'a word' because there are many words that are connecting. But there is a particular word that can give you that frequency of connecting to God's grace, and the Bible says 'It is the Word'.

Now who is this word? This word we are talking about is a person. If you read that John 1:1 in the Amplified version, it clearly shows that the word we are talking about is a person, a personality. And in verse fourteen the Bible says this person is full of grace and is full of truth. Now that tells us that accessing God is impossible without Jesus, accessing grace that comes from God is impossible without Jesus. You must the person of Jesus, because the Bible says He is full of grace and He is full of truth. No wonder in Acts 20:32, Apostle Paul also said something very profound.

³² “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

Did we see that point? He said I commend you unto God and to 'The word' of His grace. Now if we examine the choice of words of Apostle Paul, he didn't say 'I commend you unto God and to a word of His grace'. You see, there could be so many words, there are words that are edifying and there are words that are not edifying, even this is written in the Bible.  But he said I commend you to a particular one which can build you up and it is 'The word of His grace'. So, the word of God, the revelation of who the person of Jesus is the first thing that can connect you with grace. Jesus Himself said no man can come to God except by me, and through me.

You see, a lot of things can bring you to God, but it has to be through me. If you cannot go through me, you cannot access grace and you can't access the father. No wonder it says it is the word, it is the person of the word, He is the one that can bring us to the revelation of who the father is and then we begin to enjoy grace. Haven said all that, the first network you need to accessing God's grace is the word, not just a word, but the word and it is a person, the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I want us to consider another thing that can connect you to grace as documented in the Scripture. It is the right companionship. If you want to connect to certain graces upon certain people, you see, when you move with them, that grace can drop upon you. How many of us agree with that, before we see from the Scripture? There is a popular speaker in the US, his name is Jim Rohn. He said "you become like the five people that you move with." For example if you are moving with five people, before you know it, certain things that happen in the life of those people will start rubbing off on you.

Let us use simple examples, if you move with rich people, let us assume a person is very poor and he has friends that are very rich, if you move with those people and you are friends with them, it will take you few years before you also become rich like those people. And then if you move with foolish people, even if you are wise before you start moving with foolish people, just not long from that time, you will also become foolish. I will share with us life examples but I want us to see an example from the Scriptures first. Proverbs 13:20. Let us read it so that if we are going to access the grace of God, it is important that we access it through the right people and the right company.

He who walks with wise men will be wise,
But the companion of fools will be destroyed.

It says he who walk with wise men will be wise, even if that person is foolish before that time, the moment he or she starts walking with wise people, that grace of wisdom upon those people will rub off on the person. And if a wise person starts walking with foolish persons, before you know it that person also becomes foolish. That is the way it works and there is a Scripture that talks about that, that companionship can attracts certain graces upon your life.

Let me share with you this life example. I had never dreamt at any point in time, like three or four years ago, that I was going to write a book. Although before now, I always have this inclination that I can write, but I don't write. But in less than one year that I relocated to Abuja, I wrote a book. How was that possible eventually? Because I started moving with someone who has written seventeen books or more at the time. How can you move with somebody who have written seventeen books and you will not write a book? That is a life example. If a wise man walks with foolish people, before you know it the person becomes foolish; and the same thing goes for a foolish person walking with wise people, he or she becomes wise after some time.

So, there are certain graces that you can connect with or to with the right companionship. That is the point. If there are certain things that you want to experience in your life, most of the times, you may not pray too hard. Just look for certain persons that carry that grace. I am not talking about men of God that will ask you to come and sow money so that they can release certain grace into your life, No! I am talking about things that fall on you naturally even when you don't pray. It is not until you use money. As a matter of fact, you cannot buy the grace of God with money anyway. It is just companionship, by virtue of you moving or walking with that person.

Let us look at the story of Saul of Kish as another example. 1 Samuel 10:5-6

⁵ After that you shall come to the hill of God where the Philistine garrison is. And it will happen, when you have come there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with a stringed instrument, a tambourine, a flute, and a harp before them; and they will be prophesying. ⁶ Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.

Did we see that? Now before that time, was Saul a Prophet? No! But by virtue of the fact that he came to the company of Prophets or people that were prophesying, he prophesied. What made it possible? The aurora, the grace upon those people rubbed off on him and he was able to prophesy even though he had never prophesied before. And that is the importance of right companionship. You see, maybe there are certain things has been happening in your life and you want a change, just look around at your environment, examine your immediate circle, if there are certain people you need to cut away from, do it. If there are certain people you think should be in your circle, you bring them close and before you know it, you will start seen changes. So right companionship can connect you with God's grace.

Let us look at another thing that can connect you to God's grace. it is Faith. Faith can connect you to God's grace. Romans 5:2. It says:

² through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Did we see that? It says through whom, through whom was he talking about? Through Jesus we have access into what, this grace. Now how do we have access by Jesus into grace, is it not through faith? Ephesians chapter two verse eight says for by grace are you saved through faith. Now faith in who? In the person of Jesus. Faith can bring you into God's grace, and what is faith? It is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.

Let us look at a story; a biblical story in the Book of Matthew 9:20. Because we don't know who this is going to help, how you can release your faith; because a lot of people will say they have released their faith on certain issues and matters, and it is not working. How can my faith work? How can I access grace by my faith? Let us read Matthew 9:20-21.

²⁰ And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. ²¹ For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.”

Now, I want to dwell on that verse twenty one to talk about how faith works. The challenge many people have with faith and why it is not working for them is because a lot of people release their faith when challenges arises. Do you get what I am trying to say? Many people don't release their faith before challenges arises, they release their faith when they are confronted with the issues.

For example, you are looking for the fruit of the womb after marriage, and they started praying that God, open my womb. But a wise person who knows how faith works would have released her faith for fruit of the womb even before she enters into that marriage. This woman in Matthew 9:20-21 is an example of what I am trying to say. She said within herself, notice she didn't say what she said at the time she went to touch the helm of Jesus' garment. She released her faith before she even got to Jesus. Effective faith don't work at the point of the issue, effective faith works even before the challenge comes. Don't forget that Jesus said in this world, you will face tribulation.

The fact that you are a Christian does not mean you are exempted from tribulations and certain challenges in life. That is the first understanding that we must have. As a believer you will face challenges. But will carry you through those challenges is faith, and you don't release that faith when the challenges jump at you. You must have released your faith before the challenges come. Faith is a vital tool. Another mistake that people make about faith is that they make it to be the final resort. It is also very wrong. People would have tried all manner of things, it is like after using the whole original tyres in your car, and then one now busted, and you now remembers that there is a spare tyres somewhere.

People make faith their spare tyre, that is another reason faith don't work. The woman with the issue of blood had exhausted all the alternatives, she must have even gone to the best medical doctors in the world, but at that point she came to the conclusions that it is either this faith works or not, then she got her healing. You see, there are healing grace in God but your faith will give you access into them. So faith can connect us to God's grace.

Let us look at another thing. Prayer! Prayer can connect you to God's grace. Let us look at Hebrews 4:16 and then we will look at Acts 4:24.

¹⁶ Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

It says let us come boldly to the throne of grace. What did you come to do at the throne? You come to pray and to access grace. Whenever we are in God's presence, what we are doing is that we are accessing grace. And the Bible says we can obtain mercy and find grace to help in times of need. I want us to read Acts 4:24-33 and see how prayers can make the grace of God available.

²⁴ So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, ²⁵ who ^[a]by the mouth of Your servant David have said:

‘Why did the nations rage,
And the people plot vain things?
²⁶ The kings of the earth took their stand,
And the rulers were gathered together
Against the Lord and against His Christ.’

²⁷ “For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together ²⁸ to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. ²⁹ Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, ³⁰ by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”

³¹ And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. ³² Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. ³³ And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.

Did we see that story? Did we follow it? The Bible says when they prayed, grace was made available unto them, even though there were challenges that they were confronting, great grace was made available unto them, when they prayed. So when you pray to God in the name of Jesus, it makes grace available for you. What is prayer? It is communicating with God. Look at what they said in that story, they made known unto what they were going through, and they prayed and the Bible says the place where they were was shaking, it was vibrating. John 16:23 says "And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give it to you." So you can access grace and anything from the Father when you pray. Prayer is very fundamental. You see, as believers you cannot do without it except if you think you don't need grace.

So 'The word' is very key in accessing grace, and we say the word is a person, is not just a word, it is the word of God, the person of Jesus. He is the embodiment of grace and truth. The Bible says He is full of grace and truth. So when you need grace, all you need is Jesus. No wonder the Bible says now is the acceptable time of salvation. Salvation isn't farfetched. the grace that brings people to God is readily available. So if you are yet to give your life to Christ, you can do it now. Don't say your sins are too much, No. There is grace available for your salvation and the person is Jesus. He says now is the acceptable time of salvation. Faith also can connect you to grace, prayer and the right companionship.

 I believe you have been blessed.

Source: [CentreNDL]