Sufficient Grace

My grace is sufficient for you...
--2 Corinthians 12:9

Do you need grace today? I'll ask another way: Do you need power? We tend to think of grace in terms of covering our inadequacies, a balm applied to our failures. But grace is and does much more.

It is by grace that we are not given what we deserve. It is by grace that we are given what we do not deserve.

As James puts it:

Every good and perfect gift comes from above, coming down from the Father of lights 

with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 

--James 1:17

Q: How powerful is grace?
A: It is sufficient.

Wait, shouldn't this covering and empowering grace be overwhelmingly abundant? Shouldn't God cover a "3" on the need-grace scale with a "10" measure of grace? Shouldn't there be puddles of grace everywhere around after the grace shower rains down; so we can scoop a little extra up and store it away for use later?

Grace doesn't work like that. (Think manna from heaven; Exodus 16 - it's worth a read). New grace is given each day; actually moment by moment. Leftover grace - if there were such a thing - would spoil. And future grace, though promised, cannot be utilized. Today's grace... this moment's grace is sufficient for you. It is sufficient to completely cover, completely forgive, completely empower.

And how strong must we be? Well, our part is to rely on God's grace. To lean on and into his power. Our job is to embrace weakness and trust his strength. God says:

...my power is made perfect in weakness. 

--2 Corinthians 12:9

It would be easy to write of God's sufficient grace at certain times. This is not one of those times. It is a time when the preacher (or blogger, as the case may be) must hear and apply what he is writing. (Actually, every time is that time.)

God, I am weak, but you are strong. I need your sufficient grace.

For now...
D

FLAWED...

I will boast of the things that show my weakness. --2 Corinthians 11:30

Thankfully the writers of the various narratives, histories, poems, and letters that make up the Bible never attempted to cover up the flaws of faith's heroes.

David's murderous lust. Peter's tempestuousness. Sarah's lack of faith. James' and John's ambition. Real people with real strengths and real weaknesses; real faith and real doubts. Much like us.

Paul is one of those super-saints with whom we feel we cannot relate. His shadow is cast over much New Testament and the formation of the early church. He authored one half of the New Testament. Yet Paul is flawed. His story is not a simple one. It is not fairy-tale clean.

Paul was a man of incredible faith; a picture of passion and mission. But I think Paul was at times a lonely man. You can hear it in his voice when he gets personal in his writings. Groups of people, both within and outside the church, continually attacked Paul's credibility and motives. He was mocked, ridiculed and worse. He was also, on a few occasions, abandoned.

Paul was a man of strengths. His greatest? Intimacy with his weakness. It is in this understanding of his own inability that he was enabled to completely rely on God's power within; God's power to transform.

And the same is true for us. There is a swelling confidence that comes when we choose not to hide our weaknesses from God. Instead, when we reveal ourselves completely to him, his grace will do in and through us what only he can do. And the results are beyond our wildest imaginations.

What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, 

what God has prepared for those who love him...

--1 Corinthians 2:9

(More on this grace/weakness connection next time.)

God, your grace overwhelms my weakness.

For now...

D

Look... See!

Look at what is right before your eyes...
--2 Corinthians 10:7

There is a vast difference between a casual glance and really seeing. We look at many things, people, events, etc.; but we are often guilty of seeing very little.

The Greek sentence that makes up verse seven is a little difficult. The heart of meaning however, is clear: we tend to make judgements based on a casual glance. We categorize people, based on a surface look. And as people of faith, we must look deeper. We must see beyond what is merely external and temporary.

To put it Paul's language, actually the opposite of, we tend to walk by sight and not by faith (see 2 Corinthians 5:7). We must learn to continually rely on Christ's work within us to flip this script. Again Paul: So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view (2 Corinthians 5:16). 

In the movie Avatar Neytiri says to Sully, "I see you." The meaning of the statement is that she sees beyond the external, much deeper into who he really is. She sees his heart, his soul. (God is amazing, that he can plant such truth even in a pantheistic fantasy movie.)

Look at me...

People all around us are crying out to be seen. Really seen. As are we. We each have a great need and desire to be seen and known. We are uniquely created by God. And our uniqueness, our giftedness, our specialness should be noticed and celebrated. We are reflections of the creative God who takes pleasure in his children. 

We must open our eyes and see - truly see- what is right before us: beauty, need, ability, brokeness, and on. All of this lies behind what is external and temporary in the faces and lives of others. (And by the way, we must look in the mirror with the same intense focus.) 

God, open my eyes that I may see.

For now...
D

GIVE YOURSELF...

For God loves a cheerful giver.
-- 2 Corinthians 9:7

We all know someone with a particular unique quality. They give. And for the rest of this post, let's not think money. Let's not think stuff. Because after all, more importantly than giving our stuff, is the sacrificial attitude and act of giving ourselves.

We all know someone like that. They give... themselves. They usually do it with a smile. Sometimes with a hug. Often anonymously. Always seeking no credit. (Stuff, we can give while seeking notoriety. Ourselves, we cannot.)

Love gives. God loved... God gave. And we are most like Christ when we love, and give.

Paul was an incredible example of giving of one's self.

I am poured out like a drink offering.

(From Philippians 2:17 and 2 Timothy 4:6)

There is a unique joy in giving. Through the act of giving we prove that nothing holds power over us. And the truest expression of Christian freedom is found in the giving of ourselves. This freedom, this joy is addictive. And God loves it. 

I think God smiles on the person who gives himself/herself away with a giggle.

God, help me to be a sacrifice.

For now...

D

GIVE!

But they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. 
-- 2 Corinthians 8:5

Giving is at the heart of the gospel. The good news is after all, the story of God's giving to mankind.

For God so loved the world the world 
that he GAVE...

-- John 3:16

For the Son of Man came not to be served, 

but to serve, and to GIVE his life...

-- Jesus, Mark 10:45

Love gives. It is the DNA of God. It is in the DNA of his redeemed.

When we think of giving, we tend to picture money dropped in a basket at church. It is much more. We may even have the image of a puffy-haired, overly made-up man or women - tear in eye - making an emotional plea through the TV screen. The first is short-sighted; the second is sad.

God doesn't need our stuff. In reality, we have no stuff anyway. We are stewards of stuff; not stuff owners.

And let's take that a little further. This God who doesn't need our stuff, desires our lives. Again, however, our lives are not even our own. As Paul writes:

You are not your own, for you were bought with a price...

-- 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Any true giving begins with the giving of self; first to God, then to others. When we give ourselves, our stuff - our time, talents and treasures - always follows. There has always been and will always be a heart-treasure connection (Matthew 6:21). 

Growing up in church, I can't count the number of times I heard the hymn at the close of service:

All to Jesus I surrender,

All to him I freely give...

I surrender all,

I surrender all...

Through all the years and repetition of the chorus, the meaning has not diminished and the power never dulled. (Some of you reading this are humming the melody and have been transported into a joyful place in the past.)

We do not surrender out of selfishness. We do not give TO receive. But when we give, we DO receive. 

Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, 

running over... for with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.

--Luke 6:38

God, I surrender all; and where I'm holding too tightly, help me to give.

For now...

D

(NOT) GUILTY!

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. 
-- 2 Corinthians 7:10

There is a difference between feeling guilty and being guilty. A murderer may be completely pathological, and have absolutely no remorse for his crimes. He IS guilty. But he does not FEEL guilty.

The opposite is often true in our Christianity - in our spiritual lives. We tend to feel guilty. But in (theological) fact, because of Christ's work, we are not guilty.

Paul wrote it this way:

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ.

-- Romans 8:1

And:

For our sake he (the Father) made him (Christ) to be sin who knew no sin, 

so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

-- 2 Corinthians 5:21

The work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer is not to haunt us with guilty feelings. That is never the result of his presence. Yes, he convicts; but conviction turns us to the Father - and to the redemptive forgiveness he has already offered (again, in Christ). It is not an ugly thing, but instead is a freeing process.

A foreboding sense of guilt (guiltiness) drains us of vitality. Jesus did not say, "I came to shut down your hopes and dreams and joy." He said, "I came that you might have life, truly abundant life." On the other hand, we do face an enemy of the soul who desires to steal away our life, peace and joy. He brings death through condemnation. (All referencing John 10:10.) And sadly, he often uses the tool of religion(s) to do this.

Guilt binds... God's conviction frees. 

Condemnation kills... Restoration brings life. 

Do you struggle with guilt(y feelings)? This does not come from God. We often try to live up to a set of rules we cannot uphold. These become burdens; weights around our necks that drag us into depths that make it hard to breathe and function. It is not how we were designed to live. God intends so much more. And he stands ready to deliver. He offers freedom instead of bondage... joy over remorse... life that overpowers death.

Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, 

and I will give you rest.

-- Jesus, Matthew 11:28

God, give me your joy and freedom in place of my sorrow and bondage.

For now,
D

THIS DAY...

Behold, now is the day of salvation. 
-- 2 Corinthians 6:2

Today - this day, however much remains of it - is an important day. It is the most important day; because it is the day, the time, we are given.

And in this day, however much remains of it, God wants to do something in our lives, and through our lives.

Spiritual procrastination is an infection. It is ailment from which we all suffer at times and to various degrees. Prolonged periods of the affliction dull us to the presence and purpose of God in our lives. (That last sentence may be worth a re-read.) I do not have a guilt-goal here, but our misunderstanding of this day's importance (however much remains of it) affects not only us, but others.

Look carefully then how you walk (live), not as unwise but as wise, 

making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

-- Ephesians 5:15-16. 

We have best intentions about what we will do, or begin, tomorrow. But tomorrows become todays, and before we know it, yesterdays.

Now is the day of salvation. 

It is always in the present that God works in our lives. We can reminisce about what he did in the yesterdays; and that is a good thing. But we cannot live there. As one preacher put it: We can no more operate today on the grace God gave for yesterday than we can drive our car on the gas that we burned to get around yesterday. 

We also trust him with our tomorrows. And that is a good thing. But we cannot live there. To stay with the metaphor, our grace tank is only large enough to hold what is required for today.

God gives GRACE-GAS for this day, for now. 

Today - however much remains of it - matters. It is the NOW that God is at work in us and around us. Jesus said to Zacchaeus, "Today salvation has come to this house," (Luke 19:9). Why? How? Because Jesus had come to the house. And that moment was the moment; the Now is the day of salvation moment. 

Jesus has come to our house. And because he is present, this day - however much remains of it - matters. 

God, help me to make the most of the time.

For now,

D