The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is defined as the unmerited favour God poured on humanity through the Sacrifice of our Saviour Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This grace has brought salvation from sin, sickness, disease, poverty, etc. We have a new identity, carry a new authority and expect a different outcome in our lives after we get born again! We also learn to cooperate with the Spirit of God who helps us to deal with our humanity. So we can learn and participate as well as enjoy what God has done for us in Christ; what the Holy Spirit is doing in us as believers; and what the Son is doing at the right hand of the Father on our behalf. He ever lives to intercede for us. Praise God for such a wonderful plan for us!

Grace however has dimensions. There is the teaching dimension, the enabling dimension as well as the favour dimension. As usual, teachings are usually restricted to one or more but real life application reveals the others. Do you know it is still the grace that will enable us to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus? See Mathew 16:18-25.

This study is about the teaching dimension of grace. I want us to see the gravity Apostle Paul wants to communicate to us through his letter to Titus, his protégé. A willingness to yield my opinion, my perspective or stance to another is a mark of humility and He gives grace to the humble. In 1 Peter 5:5-9 we are advised to submit and cast our cares on the Lord so that we are not taken as prey for satan. Satan uses anxiety and cares to take advantage of us. The cares could be a care of my opinion, stance or reputation. Anything can constitute a care and it can become an avenue for worry, for offence or for outright rebellion. When such things are in our hearts, we become easy prey for satan. We are admonished to cast our cares on the Lord so that we can be sober and vigilant to stand our grounds against the adversary.

Read 1 Peter 5:5-10 in the Amplified Bible.

Many battles are lost when we do not understand these verses. The steps are as follows: submit to God ordained authority; humble yourself under God"s mighty hand - that means your focus in humility is God. This is done by casting all your cares on God. Roll your concerns and burdens on Him in faith. This will help you to be sober and

prevent the entry of strife, offence and unforgiveness into your heart. The entrance of these, grants permission to Satan to devastate any life. He does this by stopping the flow of grace, hardening the heart and stopping the effectiveness of faith, since faith works by love. The believer is at the easy reach of Satan"s assignment against them. His assignment is simple: to steal, kill and destroy. He wants to destroy everything you have; from relationships to health, from finances to your future. Don"t let him! The next step is to resist the devil and he will flee from us. So let"s recap - submit, humble yourself, cast your cares, then resist the devil.

In the book of Titus we see the quality of life we should live - the gravity and sensitivity to grace and to one another. We should allow grace to teach us how to conduct our lives and be not only carriers of grace but

extenders of it to others. Read the whole of Titus 2 - the principle of submission is implied here.

Read Philippians 2:3-13 in the Amplified Bible. Let God exalt you, don"t exalt yourself. Yield to God, His processes, His Word and the leaders He put in your life. May the Lord grant you the grace to be a doer of these things. God bless.