- Joined
- Apr 25, 2006
- Messages
- 18,404
Secret history
But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say.
2 Corinthians 12:6
When Paul finally abandons the device of talking about his experiences in the third person, he says simply that what he’s saying is true. If he hadn’t been driven to share it, he would have taken the secret of those encounters with God with him to the grave. Whether he told anyone or not couldn’t take away the power of what they had done in his life.
These verses remind me that we all need a secret history with God. We need encounters, conversations, answers to prayer and vows of the heart that are between us and God alone. That’s what having an intimate, personal relationship with Him means. In the honesty of that relationship, we come to see how great Jesus is and how needy we are. That’s why Paul says in these verses that we should form our opinion of others and, indeed, of him, not by how they boast but by what they say and do in God’s service.
In the same way we ought to form our opinion of ourselves in the growing knowledge of our need of Jesus’ love, mercy and grace. The true saint doesn’t think of himself as an all-conquering hero, looking down on others, but rather thinks, “There, but for the grace of God, go I”. Christian confidence isn’t self-confidence; it’s a confidence in the grace of Jesus.
As I face the truth about myself in the confidence of Your love, make me evermore aware of your all-sufficient grace. Amen.
The part I have made bold is something which was a wow revelation :lightbulb to me when I read it, as I always thought answered prayers were a way of giving the Glory to God for what He does for us. Therefore sharing with others how Jesus has healed or done a miracle.
Maybe others too have thought the same way.
God bless you all :rose: :rainbow:
But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say.
2 Corinthians 12:6
When Paul finally abandons the device of talking about his experiences in the third person, he says simply that what he’s saying is true. If he hadn’t been driven to share it, he would have taken the secret of those encounters with God with him to the grave. Whether he told anyone or not couldn’t take away the power of what they had done in his life.
These verses remind me that we all need a secret history with God. We need encounters, conversations, answers to prayer and vows of the heart that are between us and God alone. That’s what having an intimate, personal relationship with Him means. In the honesty of that relationship, we come to see how great Jesus is and how needy we are. That’s why Paul says in these verses that we should form our opinion of others and, indeed, of him, not by how they boast but by what they say and do in God’s service.
In the same way we ought to form our opinion of ourselves in the growing knowledge of our need of Jesus’ love, mercy and grace. The true saint doesn’t think of himself as an all-conquering hero, looking down on others, but rather thinks, “There, but for the grace of God, go I”. Christian confidence isn’t self-confidence; it’s a confidence in the grace of Jesus.
As I face the truth about myself in the confidence of Your love, make me evermore aware of your all-sufficient grace. Amen.
The part I have made bold is something which was a wow revelation :lightbulb to me when I read it, as I always thought answered prayers were a way of giving the Glory to God for what He does for us. Therefore sharing with others how Jesus has healed or done a miracle.
Maybe others too have thought the same way.
God bless you all :rose: :rainbow:
