Experiencing Jesus

“No power in the sky above or in the earth below – indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” Rom.8:39.

When you experience Jesus, you experience a full dose of grace and a full dose of truth. He came with a full measure. The challenge with the folks that have a problem with truth is that truth has finality to it. Truth has absoluteness to it; truth is either white or black. But a lot of us enjoy living in the grey area. We really don’t like white or black so we say things like, “I made a mistake”, instead of “I have sinned”. You say I am human and we humans are not perfect. We are not “mistakers” in need of correction; we are sinners in need of a Savior. Truth calls a spade a spade and that makes a lot of people uncomfortable. We need more than a second chance; we need a second birth. Some people say God is a God of second chances but you are on the fifteenth chance and to you it is the second chance every time. What we really need is a second birth.

For those that have a problem with grace, the problem they have largely is because grace sort of gives you a blank cheque. Some people are comfortable receiving a blank cheque but they are uncomfortable with another person receiving the same. They try to stop you from preaching grace because they believe others will abuse it. My response usually is- but you received grace? So some pastors struggle to say to people, there’s nothing you can do to make God love you less. That is grace but that is the truth. Try very hard; God loves you and He will still love you. Some people say don’t tell your teenage children that, because they will go haywire. But I believe that it is because you have not given them the full dose of grace and truth. So we put preconditions on grace. Jesus never put a precondition on grace. In fact, many times Jesus will offer grace before He exposes people to truth. I know that after you have repented a time of refreshing will come from the presence of the Lord. I know that sometimes truth needs to be in place for you to really experience grace. But many times Jesus will offer grace before exposing the recipients to truth. A classic case is the case of this woman caught in adultery. Jesus offered her grace. Jesus did not say, ‘Repent and then…’ Jesus said, ‘You are free but don’t sin anymore.’ He offered grace before He offered truth. For the man that was lame for thirty-eight years in John 5 [please read], Jesus came and healed the man – no questions asked. The Bible says Jesus found this man and said to him see that you don’t go back to sin, otherwise a worse thing will come upon you. Jesus offered grace before he exposed the recipient to truth.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, let Your grace make a way for me and let Your truth position me for even more grace, in Jesus Name.