“I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken.” – Psalms 62:1-2
An intimate relationship God will have you making some very bold statements that may very easily be misconstrued as arrogant. When David uttered these words, however, it was not from a place of arrogance or pride, but from a revelation of God’s unshakable nature, and his utter dependence upon Him. David was not bragging of his own strength, but rather in the strength of the one in Whom he had entrusted his life.
As new covenant believers, we have so many wonderful promises from God, all cocooned in our new identity as we are positioned “IN” Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 1:3-7 beautifully articulates this truth: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace”
Blessed with every spiritual blessing – chosen in Christ – holy and without blame – adopted as sons and daughters – accepted – redeemed – forgiven… these are just some of the wonderful realities that belong to those who are IN Christ. The astonishing thing about all of this is that Christ has paid the price so that you and I can live in the fullness of this kind of life, deriving great security and courage from what He has accomplished on our behalf.
Knowing – truly embracing and believing this truth – will set you free from every thought of failure, insecurity, inferiority, guilt and shame. In addition to all of this, we have also been given the GRACE OF GOD, to work in and through us that which is pleasing to the Father.
We need to understand that we don’t need anything else besides the GRACE OF GOD! The Bible says that His grace is sufficient. When Paul asked the Lord three times to remove the thorn (or tormenting spirit) assigned to him, the Lord said to him that His grace was enough and sufficient for Paul to overcome.
We find this recorded in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10: “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.””
When Paul was surrounded with insults, distresses, persecutions, and difficulties, he cried out to God to remove this thorn in his flesh. The Father pointed Paul to His grace that was more than enough to overcome whatever the messenger of Satan threw at him.
Like David, Paul experienced the wonder of God’s strength in the midst of a time of immense personal weakness and difficulty. Yet this is exactly the place where God’s unshakable grace abounds…
Evil Stays But Grace Abounds
We need to understand that God has not removed evil from the world, but He did give us His grace to overcome it. Christ, through His sacrifice on the cross, defeated Satan and all his cohorts. The power of evil was broken but was not removed from the world.
Evil is still present, manifesting itself in different forms and shapes, but we have been given His grace to enforce its defeat and overcome it in the sphere of our influence. God does not remove the tests and trials we may face from time to time but He does give us grace to overcome and triumph in them.
John 16:33 says, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
We can excel in every place the Lord has placed us and overcome whatever the devil or this world throws at us. Learning to co operate with His grace is the key to a fruitful and overcoming life.
A good example of this is Joseph. Everything that could have been thrown against Joseph was thrown at him. Over and over again we read in Joseph’s testimony:
“The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.” Genesis 39:2 NKJV
“But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.” Genesis 39:21 NKJV
Paul was another example. Listen to how he describes our victory over all of the things the enemy throws at us: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” Romans 8:35-37 NKJV
I reiterate – knowing who we are in Christ and what we have been given in Him is the key to living by faith in His grace. Then, the things we are hearing and learning need to be exercised and practiced in our day to day living.
We need to constantly remind ourselves who we are and what we have in Christ Jesus by confessing His word over our lives:
- God’s grace empowers me and provides for all my needs.
- His grace protects me from all evil and surrounds me with favor like a shield.
- I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
- If God is for me who can be against me?
- I am of God and I have overcome the world because the greater one lives within me.
- I am a believer and not a doubter, and because I believe these signs follow me…
- In the name of Jesus I cast out demons
- I speak with new tongues
- I lay my hands on the sick and they recover
- I am born again, born of God, and I have the life and the nature of God in my spirit.
- I have been made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
- Because I am in Christ and Christ is in me, I have the wisdom of God.
- I am led and guided by His Spirit, therefore I am not unwise but understanding what the will of God is.
Faith in God’s grace requires you to believe and declare boldly who you are, what you have, and what you can do in Christ Jesus….
When you catch hold of that truth like David did, you too will be able to say, “I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken!” – Psalms 62:1-2
God bless you!
Andreas.