Tapping Into the Power of Grace to Move Your Mountains
by Marnie L. Pehrson
Accompanying Lesson in Audio
Length: 23 minutes

Chat Transcript from October 20, 2005

17:00:10 [marnie] Hi Deeva! Thanks for coming

17:01:20 [deeva] I've been really tuned in to your conference this week, and when I saw "chat" I was there!

17:01:23 [marnie] Did you happen to listen to the audio Deeva?

17:01:36 [marnie] Great! Glad you're here.

17:02:00 [marnie] So have you had any aha moments this week, Deeva that you'd like to share while we wait a few minutes to see who else may come?

17:03:04 [deeva] No, I only heard one audio so far...

17:03:11 [marnie] which one?

17:03:33 [deeva] I think her name is Tina

17:03:39 [deeva] It was about the Genesis moment...

17:03:43 [marnie] Ah, did you like that one?

17:04:22 [deeva] Yes! I'm still chewing on the insights from scripture

17:04:28 [marnie] i thought she had some powerful insights that I'd never thought about in quite that way before.

17:04:36 [deeva] And wil have to listen to it again when I'm not as distracted...

17:04:48 [deeva] "In the beginning"

17:05:00 [deeva] I like how she said that in the beginning was God...nothing else

17:05:06 [deeva] No worries, no concerns,

17:05:19 [deeva] no Lexus

17:05:24 [deeva] big house...etc.

17:05:21 [marnie] right.. very good point

17:05:54 [deeva] and that we should keep this attitude in our lives today.

17:05:52 [marnie] Well, let's get started here with the subject of tapping into the power of grace.

17:05:59 [deeva] ok

17:06:22 [marnie] Most of the time when we think of grace we think of "saved by grace"

17:06:39 [marnie] And that's a marvelous gift... but there's more to grace than I realized for many years.

17:06:52 [marnie] Grace is an enabling power that comes from Jesus Christ

17:07:02 [marnie] It's God's Riches At Christ's Expense

17:07:12 [marnie] And we can (and should) tap into that power on a day-to-day basis.

17:07:29 [marnie] The formula for tapping into this enabling power is also the formula for overcoming the world and its challenges

17:07:44 [marnie] It's the formula for success, for happiness, and for conquering our weaknesses

17:08:00 [marnie] There are 4 steps to this formula

17:08:12 [marnie] 1. Come unto Christ.

17:08:32 [marnie] Matthew 11:28-30 says, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.

17:08:51 [marnie] Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest to your souls.

17:08:57 [marnie] For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

17:09:27 [marnie] So we might ask ourselves... am I heavy laden? am I laboring?

17:09:41 [marnie] most of us could probably answer yes to that questions a good deal of the time

17:10:19 [marnie] He says that the solution... the way to find rest and peace is to take his yoke upon us by learning of him.

17:10:25 [marnie] Does anyone know what a yoke is?

17:10:47 [deeva] a heavy rock or chain..something that holds someone back?

17:11:12 [marnie] It is associated with a burden, but actually, it's a means of carrying a heavy burden.

17:11:26 [Kelly] The wooden thing that links up a couple of ox

17:11:40 [marnie] there you go

17:11:36 [marnie] People used to use a yoke to hitch up a team of oxen to a wagon so the team could carry the load

17:11:56 [marnie] And in some counties still use yokes on their own backs.

17:12:09 [marnie] It's a bar that goes across the shoulders and carries a weight attached to each end.

17:12:33 [marnie] If a yoke is not fitted properly, it can chafe, wear you out or knock you off balance.

17:12:49 [marnie] If it's not properly fitted, you can't carry very much and the load will be heavier.

17:13:11 [marnie] But if it's tailor made for you... to fit your body then you can carry an immense amount of weight without feeling it on your back.

17:13:33 [marnie] Christ is saying that his yoke is easy and light.. you still have burdens... but his yoke is going to make them easy to carry

17:13:53 [marnie] The thing is.. that most of us try to keep our own yoke (which is ill fitted and cumbersome) and tack his on on top of it

17:14:31 [marnie] We have our own ways of dealing with problems... some people turn to alcohol or drugs or forms of escape or getting angry or getting depressed or whatever

17:14:46 [marnie] For me.. I'm a workaholic... I dig in and start trying to work to fix it.

17:15:11 [marnie] But in order to take Christ's yoke upon us, we have to lay ours down... it does no good to keep our own ill-fitted yoke and take his upon us on top of it

17:15:27 [marnie] When we come to Christ, he shows us our yoke (our weaknesses) and teaches us a better way.

17:15:41 [marnie] any questions/comments so far?

17:16:40 [marnie] then lets continue...

17:16:43 [marnie] Ephesians 2:8-10 is commonly quoted. "For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast."

17:16:43 [deeva] I never quite thought of it that way...about

17:16:53 [marnie] oh... go ahead deeva... sorry

17:17:22 [deeva] placing the yoke of Christ on top of our own...

17:17:32 [deeva] but it's a good way to mentally picture it

17:18:15 [marnie] you've probably heard that Ephesians verse before, I'd say

17:18:45 [marnie] and most of us stop there with verse 9, but there's an important thing to realize about grace... it's not the "end", it's the means.

17:19:06 [marnie] V10 says "For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

17:19:22 [marnie] The byproduct of grace is good works... it enables us to do great things

17:19:42 [marnie] It enables to be a city set on a hill that cannot be hid... it enables us to do the impossible.

17:20:56 [marnie] So Christ's yoke makes our burden lighter and His grace enables us to do great things. With God nothing is impossible.

17:21:05 [marnie] The trick is staying connected to Christ.

17:21:46 [marnie] In John 15:5,7-8 Jesus says, "I am the vine, ye are the brances, He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing..."

17:22:09 [marnie] "If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."

17:22:23 [marnie] "Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples."

17:22:34 [marnie] so what is "fruit"?

17:22:43 [marnie] how do we bear fruit?

17:25:56 [thevision] I see we are talking about grace... praise God..

17:26:13 [marnie] yes

17:27:31 [marnie] In the context of John 15:5-8, if Christ is the vine and we are the branches, He's saying that the only way we can bear fruit... produce good works... is to stay connected to Him

17:27:51 [marnie] It is as if the "nutrients" flowing through the vine to us is this enabling power of grace

17:28:04 [thevision] yes amen

17:28:17 [marnie] If we disconnect ourselves from Him, we disconnect ourselves from His grace and our ability to produce fruit dies

17:28:51 [thevision] true.. the great thing about that is..

17:28:55 [marnie] But if we stay connected to Him... he says that whatever we ask which is his will, shall be done unto us.

17:29:43 [marnie] go ahead Tina...

17:29:45 [thevision] we only really see the vine .. and the leaves, but did you know plants receive all of its food source from the roots.. we don't see that part. It is buried.

17:30:39 [marnie] and that's where faith comes in. 

17:31:02 [thevision] so if we disconnect - we can't tap into the unseen - or hidden resources of Faith - That's right! amen

17:32:25 [marnie] So, we've established that just because we follow Christ, it doesn't mean that life will be burdenless, it simply means that if we follow him that our burdens we will become such that we won't feel them upon our backs

17:32:40 [marnie] And at this point, when we are tapping into His grace, we can do amazing things.

17:32:52 [marnie] So that's Step 1 to the formula, Come Unto Christ

17:33:41 [marnie] Step 2 is to Humble Ourselves and acknowledge our weaknesses before God and our own ability to properly solve or deal with the situation.

17:33:59 [marnie] James 4:6 says "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble."

17:34:08 [marnie] Anybody know a good definition for humility?

17:35:28 [thevision] grace-ful?

17:36:06 [marnie] good one Tina

17:36:13 [marnie] another one would be

17:36:17 [marnie] teachable

17:36:31 [Shelley] spiritual strength

17:36:33 [marnie] we don't think we know it all... we can take direction... we understand that the Lord knows more than we do

17:36:58 [marnie] even if you're good at something, you can remain humble by realizing that any gift you have comes from God

17:37:23 [marnie] And that whatever you're called upon to do will be done infinitely better with His aid.

17:37:40 [marnie] Gratitude is a key ingredient in humility... it keeps you connected to the vine

17:38:05 [marnie] You can't be grateful to God for something and proud at the same time... because you know it's not you... and as Tina said the other day in her class "it's not about you"

17:38:23 [thevision] LOL

17:39:19 [marnie] Paul talked about this principle in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

17:39:29 [marnie] And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

17:39:38 [marnie] For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me

17:39:38 [Rachael] but you can be proud of yourself for recognizing that it was from God and knowing that he allowed you to do this, through Him

17:40:32 [marnie] Rachael, that's a good point... but it won't be long before you disconnect yourself from the vine if you get self-righteous. :)

17:41:03 [deeva] Marnie...sorry I've got to go. Will you please send me a transcript at: demetria@christianladies.net ? Thanks so much for this chat!

17:41:57 [marnie] back to Paul ...."And he said unto me My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness"

17:42:32 [marnie] Why would Christ's strength be made perfect in weakness?

17:42:36 [marnie] any ideas?

17:44:03 [marnie] Paul said, "Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then am I strong."

17:44:42 [marnie] It's because until and unless we acknowledge our weaknesses, and unless we become sufficiently humble, we cannot activate Christ's grace.

17:45:15 [marnie] it's a necessary step... Humility has to be there ... and you can either a) choose to be humble or b) be compelled to be humble.

17:45:32 [marnie] I'd rather choose it. It's the easier route. :)

17:45:56 [marnie] So that's step 2: Humility. Step 3 is Ask

17:46:08 [marnie] Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened to you.

17:46:40 [marnie] I could do a whole class on asking... getting specific, asking rather than just whining or complaining. I have some info on that in the audios from "You Can't Fly If You're Still Clutching the Dirt"

17:46:46 [marnie] listen to the chapter on What and Why

17:47:07 [marnie] Step 4 is Have Faith in Christ - center your faith and trust in Him... not your outcome.

17:47:33 [marnie] As Tina said in her class the other day... in the beginning God... not in the beginning the new house, the new car, the financial freedom or the thin attractive body

17:48:06 [marnie] Center your faith in Christ... ask Him for what you want, but be willing to have the desires of your heart met in His way, in His time... His way is always best and He loves to pleasantly surprise us.

17:48:36 [thevision] amen

17:48:40 [marnie] Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and he shall direct thy paths."

17:49:05 [marnie] So there's the 4 steps to activating grace, ... the formula for happiness and success.

17:49:14 [marnie] anyone like to add to that or have questions?

17:49:49 [marnie] I do a better job of explaining this on the audio at http://www.shelovesgod.com/conference  :)

17:50:05 [thevision] LOL

17:51:44 [thevision] Very clear...

17:52:01 [marnie] Did you have any insights to add, Tina?

17:52:35 [thevision] It will come from processes

17:52:50 [thevision] you know..

17:53:23 [thevision] After activating the grace of God... you have to remember to activate it everyday..

17:53:45 [marnie] good point

17:53:48 [thevision] sustainability of grace...

17:54:09 [marnie] right... it has to become habit

17:54:24 [thevision] it's all about humility - to me that is the definition of meekness..

17:54:46 [marnie] true

17:55:30 [marnie] it's definitely not something you can "store up"

17:55:44 [thevision] like you sighted earlier.. and humility and grace, released day by day - is true power

17:55:54 [marnie] like those 5 foolish virgins tried to do... you can't live on last month's enlightenment

17:56:20 [marnie] I've tried to do that... doesn't work. :)

17:57:55 [marnie] another thing about grace is that often it kicks in after all we can do... we have to put forth an effort. We can't sit back and dream and not act when we feel prompted.

17:58:16 [marnie] learning to listen to the Spirit is critical

17:58:54 [thevision] but most of the time that is our last resort. "Well, all we can do is pray."

17:59:26 [thevision] Prayer and waiting on God to speak and activate grace in our lives should be what we do first..

17:59:51 [marnie] definitely

17:59:43 [thevision] Do you remember the song "What a friend We have in Jesus?"

18:00:06 [marnie] yes

18:00:11 [marnie] sing it for us, Tina. :)

18:00:17 [thevision] "o what peace we often forfiet

18:00:28 [thevision] or what NEEDLESS pain we bear

18:00:54 [thevision] all because we do not carry

18:01:11 [thevision] everything to God in Prayer.. how simple