Searching for the Perfect Gift 🎁 Strengthened by Grace

2 Timothy 2:1-2

“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, ² and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”

All of us who confess the name of Jesus are called to be faithful, and to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus… that is a fundamental principle of helping anybody.

You can only pass on to others what you yourself have received. Head knowledge isn’t going to help anybody. If we merely pass on a knowledge of the truth… teaching people the various doctrines of Christianity then we have done nothing to help them at all.

Today’s scripture verses explain that only the Lord’s Grace can enable us to be faithful.

Grace not only initiates salvation, it is the arena where the entire Christian life is lived and were told in John 1:16, “For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”

You see, unless people can see that Christ and gospel of His truth has changed us and that we speak from the experience of having been altered by the truth we believe… we will never do anything to help anyone else. If we want to help others, Paul's advice is to start with ourselves.

It’s grace that gives us our strength. And the peculiar thing about grace is it is never available to strong people.

That is what makes it difficult for us to get hold of it sometimes.

In today’s world we are continually told that the way to be strong is to develop some quality about ourselves, or some right that we should demand… But the Bible, teaches the way is to be weak.

That God's grace and His grace alone is strong enough to handle the pressures of this fallen world. However, the only way we can lay hold of the grace of God is to acknowledge that we are so weak, we do not have anything else that will hold us.

Far too many Christians have bought the lie of the world that if they just make up their mind… that through their own will or their own effort… or through their own natural gifts, they will be able stand… they will be able to overcome.

But Paul's word is that the way to strength is to discover "the grace that is in Christ Jesus."

We must recognize our own weakness and then accept God's promise to work with us and through us and in our weakness, be made strong. That is how it works.

Christians should continually be learning to say, "I can't live up to this demand. I can't do this thing that is asked of me… But He can, therefore, I can!

God will enable us to do what we otherwise cannot do.

That is authentic Christianity. It is supernatural. And natural strength is its greatest enemy.

It’s when we learn that… that we can be "strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus."

I want to share something I recently read that helps put this into perspective…

And this reveals how trying to earn merit, is an insult to the Giver.

“It would be like being invited by the President of the United States to a banquet in the White House, and after enjoying the state dinner, as the President stood at the door to say good-bye, you tried to press a ten dollar bill into his hand, saying, “Thank you very much, here’s a little something to help pay for the food.” Of course, that would be a rude, insulting gesture and trying to earn or merit God’s grace would be the same.

Attempting to earn a gift is always an insult; therefore, the only other option possible is to simply be grateful and live our lives in thanksgiving.