08/05/2022
Truth is always truth. I was reading a devotional message this morning on the subject of grace. The key verse it used was one that I thought I knew perfectly, and one that I had quoted many times, but as I read it anew this morning I suddenly realized that over the years I had stopped hearing it as a Word from God, and started saying it as though it was my statement of truth. I was claiming something for myself that belonged to God alone. I was boldly saying that God’s grace was sufficient for me, as if I controlled it, and I could make it so, when in fact this scripture is God telling us directly, and unequivocally, that it is so. Have you ever found yourself claiming that you own the truth in God’s Word? That by saying, or believing it, that you have somehow moved it from the realm of fiction, or literature, into one of fact and truth?
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” …”
2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV
It shocked me when I realized that I had taken these words and turned them into my own. It is true that His grace is sufficient for me, but not because I had anything to do with it, or that I said it. God’s grace has been true, and powerful, always; it was, and is, and will always be, sufficient for me… not because I now believe it, or say it is so, but because He said it. Read this verse again and think about the fact that it isn’t something we are saying about our own condition, but a divine, and unchanging, truth that is being pronounced over us.
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” …”
2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV
Every Word of God, and every promise He makes, is like this. They are true, they are absolute truth, and whether we choose to believe them or not they remain true, and at the risk of sounding repetitive, they have always been true, they are now, and will always be so. Newton did not create gravity, or make it true, he merely realized it was a truth, and yet we call the truth of gravity “Newton’s Law”. Such a misnomer that is, and when we realize a truth in God’s Word it is just like that… we haven’t added an iota to its truth, we give no credence that would make it true, or false… it exists as truth regardless of our desire, or our admission.
So when I make God’s Word my own by saying “God’s grace is sufficient for me!” I am adding nothing to His truth, I am merely stating the obvious, and claiming something personally over which I have no ownership, or ability to change. Think of all the times we do this. Take the Peace of Christ for instance…
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
John 14:27 ESV
When we are distraught, sad, or heartbroken, we might feel like there is no peace, or that it is for someone else and not for us, but the Peace of Christ is true, and has always been… we need only open our eyes and realize that it surrounds us. Peace is truth because Jesus said it was so, not because we pronounce it, accept it, or feel it, but simply, like Newton and gravity, because Jesus said it was so. We can choose, or not choose, to open our eyes to it, but Christ’s Peace is truth nonetheless.
“The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.”
Psalm 119:160 ESV
In this way, when we say God’s grace is sufficient for us let’s do so in remembrance of the truth that God spoke, and when we cry out for the Peace of Christ, remember that it is already ours if we will only open the eyes of our heart, because this is the word of Christ. Let’s read the Word, and internalize it, but always with the understanding that it is not true because we believe it, or by our grasping it, no, it is true because our Father, and Jesus Christ have spoken it to be eternal truth.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Word, and the absolute truth it conveys to us. Thank you for your Son Jesus, our redeemer, and the understanding that He said, and did nothing that wasn’t of you. Help us Father as we hear your Word, and then wrestle with it because your truth is often inconvenient in the world we live in. Help us to separate our desire from your will that consists, and is bound by, your eternal and Holy Word… your truth. Remove our hip from its joint, or give us other reminders of your infallible nature, so that we will always see the power in your True Word. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God whose truth is not dependent on us, but we on it. Praised be your name for every glimpse we receive into the truths you have revealed to us. Merciful and full of grace are you, not because we say so, but because you are… because this is the truth regarding your true nature. Wash us clean of sin in the precious blood of Jesus, and transform us from those who wrestle with our understanding of your truth into firm believers of your every Word. On the day of our judgement we pray that you will be pleased with us, and see us cloaked in the righteousness of Jesus, and walking upright in your truth. Usher us into your presence where we can worship you forevermore, having clung to the great truth that is Jesus Christ your Son.
““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
John 3:16-17 ESV
Truth!
Rich Forbes