It came with a thrill like the gushing of water from a fountain that had been held in check until it could no longer sustain itself, and it gushed forth with utter abandonment.
John 3:16 — we have sung it, we have known it for years. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him might not perish, but have Eternal Life.”
He gave that Son to the world. He was love’s gift to a broken, bondaged human race.
God so loved, that that love had to find expression. The thrilling part of it to me was that the gift has never been taken back.
He still belongs to the world. All the world needs to do is to look up and say, “Thank you, God, for Jesus,” and the gift becomes theirs.
I saw it. Then I said, “He is mine; I am His, eternally His.” The thrill of the thing! Now I can understand that with Christ came my perfect Redemption from the dominion of sin of want, of fear. With that New Creation came the ability of God to put things over.
God’s nature coming into my spirit gave me enabling ability to accomplish things I had never been able to accomplish. I found that He was made unto me wisdom from God. Wisdom is the ability to use knowledge. I had much knowledge, but I could not utilize it. I knew He was the strength of my life, but I had never taken advantage of it.
I didn’t seem to know how. I knew that “greater was He that was in me, than he that was in the world,” but I did not know how to make it function.
I knew that “my God shall supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” I knew it because He had said it Himself, and yet there was want confronting me.
Now I saw the secret. I saw how that had become a reality, a fact. I had had a sense of weakness, of inability to put things over; but Philippians 4:13 told me I could do all things in Him who strengthens me, who is my enabling ability.
Right there I stepped out of inefficiency, out of weakness, into a new sense of efficiency. I knew now that I had the efficiency of God, the ability of God, the strength of God. It was mine.
It had never been mine before, yet it had been given to me when Christ sat down at the right hand of the Father.
Now, after all these many years of almost fruitless efforts, I was entering into the conscious strength and ability of Him who has come to make His home in my body.
It was a gift. It is still a gift. It is all of grace.
“By Grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God: Not of works lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus.”
What can’t that mean when once it is understood — that right now all the wealth and riches of the Grace of God are mine.
I saw that if I had Christ, I had everything. I remember when I said that. It came back mockingly. It mocked me. It said, “You have Christ, but you are a failure. You are sick. Your faith life is full of moth holes. You don’t seem to be able to enter into your inheritance. Yet you say you have Him, and with Him you have all things.”
But today I have arrived. I see it now. He is the strength of my life. By His stripes I am healed. His Grace is all that I need.
I have entered into my rights. I am enjoying the sense of His lordship of love. I can whisper it to my heart, “Jesus is my shepherd; I do not want. He is making me in these days, to lie down in green pastures. When others are living in desert places, I am living in the realm of plenty.”
My fears are gone. My heart rests quietly in Him.
This page Copyright © 2000 Peter Wade. The Bible text in this publication, except where otherwise indicated, is from the King James Version. This article appears on the site: http://peterwade.com/. Check out our Bookstore.
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