Walking in Grace
Palm Sunday marks the day when Jesus entered Jerusalem as a king. As He entered the city, the people shouted, “Hosanna!” proclaiming Him victorious.
April 13, 2025
The Humble King
Palm Sunday marks the day when Jesus entered Jerusalem as a king. As He entered the city, the people shouted, “Hosanna!” proclaiming Him victorious. But interestingly, Jesus did not enter riding a majestic horse. Instead, He chose a humble donkey. The donkey here symbolizes humility, revealing how Jesus displayed His power and might through meekness.
Anyone in the Kingdom who humbles themselves will always find favor.
James 4:6 – “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
May the favor of the Lord rest upon those who walk in humility.
The Story of Provision and Favor
Before stepping into full-time ministry, I never prayed for finances. In the early days, my needs were few. But soon, God brought a man into my life who became a close friend and supporter of my ministry. In an extraordinary gesture, he gave me full access to his bank account — complete with internet banking and ATM cards. The balance in this account was always in seven figures. He told me I could use whatever I needed for personal or ministry use, without question. The only condition was to inform him when the balance dropped below a certain point so he could replenish it. I rarely made use of it, though the access was always mine. I was too ashamed, too hesitant to receive.
Looking back, if I had such access today, I would use it differently. And yet, this story is a picture of the favor we have in Christ. We have shared access to the unlimited account of heaven — a limitless inheritance through Jesus. It isn’t a seven-figure account, it’s an account with infinite resources. And no matter how much is drawn, it remains undiminished. If we aren’t living in the fullness of blessing, it’s not because the account lacks — it’s because we haven’t accessed it.
Called to Live a Blessed Life
We are called to live blessed lives. Jesus died and was raised so that we could enter into this life of grace and favor. We don’t each have separate accounts in heaven; we are shareholders in the same account. What hinders us from accessing it is often ignorance, pride, and spiritual familiarity.
As Paul said,
1 Corinthians 8:2 – “If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.”
I realized my ministry would often be for those raised in the church — third, fourth-generation believers — who knew much in theory but little in fruit. It’s not theology alone that matters. Theology without fruit is empty.
Psalm 1:2-3 – “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season.”
Faith is always evidenced by fruit.
Walking in Grace
Now, let’s learn how to walk in Grace, using Abraham as our example. Abraham is called the father of faith, but his story is far from flawless. If you’ve ever felt like you’ve made too many mistakes, wasted too much time, or missed your chance, take heart — Abraham failed again and again and was still chosen. His story is not about a perfect man finding a perfect God. It’s about a perfect God pursuing a flawed man. And just like Abraham found grace, so can you.
Abraham’s Defining Test
Why is Abraham remembered as the father of faith? Because he did something no one else would dare to do.
Genesis 22:2 – “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
Abraham waited 25 years for Isaac. God had called him at age 75, promising him a son. After decades of waiting, that son was born. And now, God asked Abraham to lay down what he loved most. Notice how specific God is: “Your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love.” If God had simply said, “your son,” Abraham might have taken Ishmael. But God made it unmistakably clear.
What’s more astonishing — Mount Moriah, where Abraham was to offer Isaac, is the same location as Mount Calvary, where Jesus was crucified. This was a prophetic foreshadowing of Christ’s sacrifice.
Isaac’s Willingness and the Picture of Christ
Genesis 22:6 – “And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son.”
Isaac, carrying the wood up the mountain, reflects Jesus carrying His cross. Abraham, over a hundred years old, could not have forced a teenage Isaac onto the altar. Isaac willingly submitted, just as Jesus would.
John 10:18 records Jesus saying,
John 10:18 – “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
Isaac’s submission foreshadowed Christ’s sacrifice. It wasn’t the nails or the cross that took Jesus’ life — it was His willing surrender.
Divine Direction and the Ram Caught in Thorns
At the last moment, as Abraham prepared to slay Isaac, the angel intervened.
Genesis 22:12 – “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son from me.”
Then something remarkable happened:
Genesis 22:13 – “And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns.”
How could Abraham look up and see behind him? There was divine direction at that moment. The ram, caught by its horns — not its body — preserved its perfection as a substitute sacrifice. The ram caught in a thicket of thorns points to Jesus, who wore a crown of thorns. It also reminds us that only a spotless, unblemished sacrifice would suffice.
God’s Grace Even in Our Imperfect Theology
You might wonder how Abraham was so willing to sacrifice his son. In his cultural and theological understanding, perhaps Abraham believed God might require a human sacrifice. Yet God, full of grace, met Abraham in his limited perspective. Though none of us have perfect theology, God graciously meets us where we are and walks with us toward the truth. He speaks to us in ways we can grasp, slowly correcting our direction. Through this event, God demonstrated to Abraham — and to us — that He would one day offer His own Son as the perfect, once-for-all sacrifice.
The Promise That Started It All
The story of Abraham begins with a promise:
Genesis 12:1-3 – “Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
For a man who was 75 years old, with no children and no inheritance, this was an astonishing promise. Yet God, who cannot lie, fulfilled every word. Abraham’s journey is a testimony that grace is not about perfection — it’s about trusting the God who keeps His promises.
The Failures and Faith of Abraham
Abraham is known as the father of faith, but his story is not one of flawless belief. In fact, multiple times throughout his life, Abraham failed to fully trust in the promise God gave him. If you have ever doubted, struggled, or failed in believing God’s promises, take heart. The life of Abraham is a testament that if he could make it, so can you.
Let’s look at four moments when Abraham failed miserably—and how God responded each time.
Failure 1: Fear in Egypt
The first failure came during a famine, when Abraham had to leave the land and go to Egypt. Fearing for his life, Abraham told his wife Sarah to lie.
“Say you are my sister,” he instructed. In doing so, Abraham lied, motivated by fear rather than trust in God’s promise. But despite his fear and deception, God intervened, redeemed him, and delivered them from that situation. God restored Abraham even though he had failed.
Failure 2: Doubting the Promise
The second failure occurs in Genesis 15. God reassures Abraham:
Genesis 15:1 – “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward”
Yet Abraham responds,
“What will you give me, since I remain childless?”
At this point, Abraham doubted God’s ability to fulfill the promise. He was over 75 years old, and the situation seemed impossible. His body and his wife’s body were as good as dead. He assumed maybe his servant would inherit everything.
But God, instead of rebuking him, gave Abraham a new image:
Genesis 15:5 – “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them. So shall your descendants be”
God replaced Abraham’s hopeless imagination with a vision filled with promise. By day, when he looked at the sand, and by night, when he saw the stars, Abraham would be reminded of God’s word. We too must choose to be conditioned either by the fear-filled voices of the world or by the life-giving promises of God. If God has made a promise to you, until you possess it in your imagination, you won’t possess it in your hands. Every architect creates a blueprint before a building rises. In the same way, you must first see it within before it manifests without.
Failure 3: Impatience with the Promise
The third failure came when Abraham grew impatient. How many times have we become restless waiting for a promise and tried to help God fulfill it ourselves?
In Genesis 16, Sarah told Abraham:
Genesis 16:2 – “The Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her”
Abraham agreed and had a child with Hagar. The child was named Ishmael. Even though this was not God’s plan, God still did not abandon Abraham.
In Genesis 17:21, God declares:
Genesis 17:21 – “My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.”
Even though Isaac had not yet been born, God prophetically reaffirmed the promise. From Genesis 12 to Genesis 22, if you count the number of times Abraham failed and the number of times God renewed His promise, you will find that God’s renewals far outnumber Abraham’s failures.
As Romans 5:20 says, “Where sin abounds, grace abounds much more.”
Failure 4: Repeating the Same Mistake
The fourth failure was a repeat of the first. Abraham once again lied about Sarah, claiming she was his sister. The same fear resurfaced, and the same deception took place.
In Genesis 20, the king of Gerar took Sarah into his palace, believing she was unmarried. But God intervened in a dream, saying:
Genesis 20:3 – “Indeed, you are a dead man because of the woman you have taken, for she is a man’s wife”
God still protected Abraham and even called him a prophet:
Genesis 20:7 – “Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours”
Even though Abraham was a liar in that moment, God still referred to him by his divine identity.
This reveals something extraordinary: favor is not fair. If you demand fairness in life, you cannot fully access the favor of God. Favor defies logic, rights, and equality. In God’s economy, when the world calls you a liar, God calls you a prophet. When people call you a sinner, God declares you righteous.
How God Renews His Promise
Grace means God doesn’t give up on you. Every time Abraham failed, God came renewing His promise. The problem isn’t falling—it’s staying down and inviting others to join a pity party.
Proverbs 24:16 – “For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again.”
Every time you fall, God renews His promise to you. How do you walk in grace? By placing your faith in that renewed promise.
Three Things Abraham Believed
What made Abraham the father of faith? Here are three essential things he believed.
1. Abraham Believed in the Covenant
In Genesis 15:6, it is written:
Genesis 15:6 – “And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.”
Abraham did not earn his righteousness; he believed. In those times, covenants were sealed through a ritual. Abraham cut animals in two and laid them opposite each other. The blood formed a pathway between them. Normally, both parties would walk through this, symbolizing that if either failed to keep the covenant, their fate would be like the animals.
But in Abraham’s case, when it was his turn, he fell asleep.
Genesis 15:17 records:
Genesis 15:17 – “When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.”
Both the smoke and the fire represent God. When Abraham could not walk the path, God walked it twice—once for Himself, and once on behalf of Abraham. The New Covenant works the same way. It is not between you and God; it is between Jesus and God.
Hebrews 8:6 calls Jesus “the Mediator of a better covenant.” You can rest in the assurance that this covenant can never be broken, because Jesus represents you.
2. Abraham Believed in His New Identity
When God made the promise, He changed Abraham’s name:
Genesis 17:5 – “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations”
Likewise, Sarah’s name was changed from Sarai to Sarah (Genesis 17:15). In Hebrew, God added the letter “hey”, which represents breath, favor, and grace. Their new names carried a prophetic identity. Imagine how strange it sounded for a childless couple to call each other “father of many nations” and “princess of nations.” But they believed God’s word over their circumstances.
In the same way, God has given you a new name—you are righteous, chosen, and anointed. The question is, will you believe in your new identity?
3. Abraham Believed in the Resurrection Power
Hebrews 11:17-19 explains:
Hebrews 11:17-19 – By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
Abraham believed that if God had to raise Isaac from ashes, He would do it to keep His promise. How could Abraham have this kind of faith? Because he had seen resurrection in his own body.
Romans 4:19 says:
Romans 4:19 – “And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.”
He witnessed the power of resurrection in his life and thus believed God could do it again.
If you feel like you’ve gone too far, that something is beyond repair—remember, resurrection power can restore anything.
Faith in God’s Faithfulness
This was never a test of Abraham’s faith. It was a test of God’s faithfulness. When you see how good and faithful God is, faith rises naturally.
Faith is not a mental exercise, nor just a doctrine. It’s a spirit that is caught, not taught. You can study all the principles of faith, but until you encounter God’s goodness and faithfulness, faith will not take root in you.
Notice how complaints and grumbling drain faith, while gratitude stirs it. As you reflect on God’s faithfulness, faith rises within you.
Even when we are faithless, God remains faithful. The Holy Spirit is continually rerouting your life back to God’s intended destiny, just like a GPS recalculates your route after a wrong turn.
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