The Grace Revolution: How I Found the Grace of God Again

A couple of years ago, I was praying about the upcoming year and the Holy Spirit gave me the word, “Revolution”—this led to a powerful insight into God’s grace!

I looked up the dictionary definition and read:

• “A forcible overthrow of a government or social order, in favor of a new system.” [1]

And my response was, “What—Lord, is this really You? Because I don’t get it!”

There are times when the Holy Spirit gives you a prophetic insight—such as a dream, vision, or word—and the meaning of that insight is not immediately clear.
For a time, it is in the realm of mystery.

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The Battle God Allowed

Around that time, I found myself unexpectedly going through one of the fiercest spiritual battles of my life.
The pressure and torment were immense.

Looking back, I can see that my Father was allowing this battle, to reveal an issue in my life that needed mending—and also, to set me up for a truth-encounter with His Word.

Around five weeks later, I heard a teacher say:

“In the natural, revolution is throwing off the old law. And embracing a new kingdom, a new law. That’s what we have to do as believers to walk in freedom.” (Gary Keesee) [2]

“A new law”.

And there it was.

That short phrase was like a beam of light, penetrating into a dark place.

At that moment, I realized that the Lord wanted to speak to me about the nature of His Kingdom.

And this single word, “revolution”, started me on my own revolution journey in the months ahead.

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From Burnout to a Grace Encounter

I want to take a few moments aside here, to share a piece of my history. Because I know that many of us, as prophetic Christians, have been on a parallel journey.

11 years ago, I went through burnout.
Exhausted and at my lowest point, I had a life-changing encounter with God as my loving Father.

• At that time, I realized that I’d unwittingly been driven by a deep inner need to work for God’s approval

Encountering the Father’s grace and favor changed both my life and message. [3]

Since then, I’ve often taught, “The Old Testament was an era of the law, but the NT is an era of grace.”

For a long period of time, I equated law with legalism and rules. And I equated rules, with performance—which was, of course, something I’d turned my back on.
Pursuing God’s favor in my own strength was a trap I never wanted to revisit.

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Seeing in a New Light

“For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ”. (John 1:17, NKJV)

Sometimes I walk into my kitchen in the morning, and the room is dark.
As I open the aluminum Venetian blinds, the light pours through, line by line.
Beyond it, I see outside, into another world.

Like the opening of my blinds in the morning, the word, “Revolution” opened the truth of Scripture straight into my heart.

It’s not that I hadn’t known it.
But now it was illuminated with a new light.

In my zeal to relegate everything to do with “law” back into the Old Testament, I had neglected the truth that the “New Testament” is based upon law.

Legal terminology and concepts are a crucial part of the Gospel and the New Testament message.
The phrase, “New Testament” is itself a legal term, describing the new covenant in Christ’s blood (Matt 26:28).

Oh, the glory of what Jesus has accomplished upon the cross, offering Himself as a perfect sacrifice!

“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.” (Rom 3:23-25a, NIV)

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“By Grace, You Have Been Saved”

Justification. And atonement.
As the light fell upon me, some other legal concepts that came to mind were:

• Asking in Jesus’ Name—a type of “power of attorney”.
• God’s Kingdom, His rule, authority, and government
• The Holy Spirit is the “Comforter” or “Helper”. The Greek word, parakletos, also means “Advocate”, “one who pleads another’s cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defense, legal assistant, an advocate”. [4] Jesus is also described as our Advocate (1 John 2:1).

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8, NKJV)

Yes, our right standing with God is a gift, and it is the gift of a legal settlement.
For God’s “new law” is now in operation, for all who take it by faith (Rom 8:2). [5]

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The Shield of Faith

A few weeks later, I again felt that demonic pressure coming against me, when at that moment, a vision suddenly came to mind.

In that moment, I saw myself bearing a large, white shield.

The shield was pure white, but emblazoned on it, was the blood-red image of a lion.

And I knew it represented the shield of faith! Faith in the blood of Christ to make me clean, pure, and whole.
Those fiery darts and torment of the enemy could not touch me.

Suddenly, there was an almighty snap! And that shield completely encircled me on every side. As I saw it in the Spirit, I felt that shield surround me.

Oh, we need again to recapture the power of the grace of this new covenant!
That enemy cannot touch you when you have faith in the blood, and rest secure in what Jesus has done.

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Grace Decides Your Present Battle

Today, my prayer is that, as I have done, you receive a fresh, life-altering revelation of the grace of God.

Grace. We know it as the “unmerited favor of God”, but it is more than a quality, a feeling, or a motive.

Grace is a Person.
You see Grace, when you look upon the face of Jesus Christ.
Grace is the heart of the Father, saying:
“The blood of My Son Jesus is enough!”

Grace is God’s gift to you.
The gift of a legal, right standing with God.
One that not only determines your eternal security—it decides your present battle.

Grace is the door to your freedom, swinging wide open.

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Postscript: Revolution and the Church

Revolution.
Another meaning of “revolution” is “turnaround”.

I believe a new era is ahead, in which we, the Church, take the love of the Father and the outpouring of the Spirit that we have received, and are tipped into His power.

And if the 1900s could be described as the Century of the Holy Spirit, then this one—the 2,000s—shall be described as the Century of the Son.

For we will delight in the righteous standard of the Bible, which is perfect in its perfection. We will not flinch at its call to holiness, for we will be secure in the Source of holiness.
We will know what it means to be “in Christ”.

And we will see multitudes come to King Jesus and His Kingdom.
For the Kingdom of God and His government is here—and each one of us is invited to participate in this revolution.

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Notes:

See the article, “Why Does the Holy Spirit Speak in Mysteries” here for 6 Biblical insights on why the Holy Spirit speaks in mysteries.

[1] https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/revolution
[2] Quote by Gary Keesee: I don’t have a record of the original podcast in which I heard this quote, but have since found it in a YouTube video entitled “Wealth by the Holy Spirit” by Gary Keesee, ePastorsNetwork.
[3] My testimony related to this is here:
1 Father, 2 Sons, 3 Positions: Which Describes You?
[4] John 14:16, Strong’s G3875  (See Thayer’s definition)
[5] On Romans 8 verse, 2, the Spirit Filled Life Bible notes:
“The law here does not refer to God’s written moral commands in the OT, but to the system of operation that the Spirit of Life, the Holy Spirit, carries out in our lives, breaking the dominions of the old law (principle) of sin and death.”

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© 2020 Helen Calder, Enliven Blog

Enliven Ministries: Prophetic ministry for a revival generation