By Pastor Kemi Anjorin

“God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone” Titus 2:11

The gift of salvation is extended to everyone regardless of their race, culture, background etc. God’s love does not discriminate because He wants all of humanity to be drawn to Him. The mercy of God is for all men but we just have to be willing and ready (fully prepared) to receive it.

Salvation is not only about the forgiveness of sins but the mercy of God upon mankind. God saves us by grace when we believe. It’s not by works of righteousness but by the Grace of God. We do not have the power or ability to overcome the sinful nature we inherited from Adam, but by the grace of God, we are able to.

“And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for today I must abide in thy house. And he made haste and came down, and received him joyfully.”  Luke 19:1-10.

The gracious visitation of God can be traced to the story of Zacchaeus. He was described as a tax collector, who was sinful in his ways. He is a rich man whose riches were linked to extortion of money from the poor. Being a short man, when Jesus was passing through Jericho, he had to climb up a sycamore tree to see Jesus. Even in his sinful nature, he desired greatly to see Jesus. He did not hide his sinful face from Jesus, instead, he realized and believed that he needed to be saved.

God knows the intent of our hearts because He is our creator. Do not hide anything from God. Even without introduction, Jesus knew the kind of person Zacchaeus was and he did not look down on him as a sinner. He did not care about what the crowd said about Zacchaeus, instead, He showed him love and compassion. Jesus told Zacchaeus to come down from the tree and followed him home. Seeing how compassionate Jesus Christ was towards him, Zacchaeus also felt remorseful and he decided to give part of his riches to the poor.

An important lesson that can be drawn from the story of Zacchaeus is that we should desire strongly to be saved. Zacchaeus desired strongly to see Jesus. He was desperate for salvation and even as a sinner, he knew he could be saved by the grace Of God. He sought the wisdom of God, that is, he wanted to know God more and God changed his life. We should be willing and believe that we can be saved.

Another Gracious visitation in the bible is the woman with the issue of blood in the book of Luke. This woman suffered from hemorrhages for twelve years. She spent all she had on physicians, still no cure. She was seen and considered ‘unclean’. Then it happened that Jesus was passing through her city, and a great multitude followed him. She went behind Jesus and touched the hem of His garment and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. She was healed! Jesus felt power leave Him. She confessed that she was the one who touched Him, Jesus turned to her and told her that her faith had made her whole. An important lesson to note from this story is that she did not just touch his garment and then her hemorrhage stopped like magic, she had faith. She believed that touching Jesus’ garment would heal her, and it did.

One thing that is common with these stories is Faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Both Zacchaeus and the woman’s situation looked like all hope was lost, but they believed that they could be saved. Have faith in God and see Him do mighty things on your behalf.                 

Pastor Kemi Anjorin is an Associate Pastor at Fountain Of The Living Word Church, New Jersey.