TODAY’S SIGNATURE VERSE ••• 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. (2 Corinthians 12:9 NKJV)
PRAISE & PRAYER PROMPT ••• Last Sunday, I was doing my Bible study in 2 Corinthians when I realized something was missing… It took me a minute to figure it out because I’d only had one cup of coffee, but it finally hit me. I realized that a quote was missing — a pretty important one. If was in the passage about Paul’s thorn in the flesh, but Jesus’ response, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness,” wasn’t there.
My Bible unexpectedly became a fill-in-the-blank book.
My knee-jerk response was — this printer clearly likes to live dangerously. They didn’t take the warning from Deuteronomy 4:2, 12:32, and Revelation 22:18 seriously (the warnings not to add or take away from Scripture).
More seriously, the incident served as a spiritual reminder — this is why we need to know Scripture. It’s a reminder of the important words written by David in Psalm 119:11, “I will hide Your words in my heart.” While I stink at memorization, I know the Bible well enough to recall at least PART of verses, and because of that, even in my caffeine-deprived state, I knew something missing.
Of course, if I were reading that particular Bible for the first time as a new believer — that wouldn’t have been helpful… hopefully, the context of missing words and the gap on the page would have sent a new believer searching for the answer, but this was definitely not a normal circumstance when reading the Bible (or any book)!
Still, when I shared the picture of my fill-in-the-blank, a few friends chimed in that they thought it was cool — an opportunity to remember what Jesus said for myself. They had a point. But I laughed at what our friend Mike wrote: “The Printer Revised Version: Jesus just says nothing to our dumb questions.” Maybe Mike was on to something, haha! Personally — I think Jesus sighs and facepalms Himself a lot.
Today, let’s go to the missing verse and talk about it. The unabridged version of 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “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.”
Since I had an opportunity to reflect on Jesus’ Words more deeply, I couldn’t help but wonder… Am I content with the sufficiency of His grace? In my control-freak tendencies, I don’t like to acknowledge my weaknesses! But how much more could Christ be magnified in me if I would drop that self-reliant and prideful guard and allow His strength to be fully magnified in me?
Gulp.
Those are hard questions. And I want to happily say that I agree with Paul and can boast about my weaknesses.
But the world challenges me (not in the good way). The world contradicts what God says. The world tells me that my identity and value are wrapped up in what I can or cannot do. The world tells me to “fake it till you make it” and “never let ‘em see you sweat.” The world says I need to do it myself and “look out for number one.” The world defines me based on what I wear, what I drive, where I work, and where I live.
But God says none of that matters. He says He’s enough.
God says that my identity and value are priceless — worth dying for, in fact (John 3:16, Romans 5:8). God says He filled my lungs with His breath (Genesis 2:7), and He made me in His image (Genesis 1:27). Jesus said I’m not supposed to do this by myself (Matthew 11:28-30), and I’m supposed to abide in Him because I can’t do anything without Him (John 15:5). God’s Word tells me that it’s not just about me, but I need to care about others (Philippians 2:4). The Word of God tells me that all these things we hold valuable will rust, decay, and wear out — but the treasures I lay up in heaven will last forever (Matthew 6:19-20).
So who will I believe? The world? Or God?
Who will you believe?
When Jesus says, “My grace is sufficient,” will we take Him at His word?
Today, as you pray, thank Jesus for His grace. Thank Him that nothing the world says matters, but our value is wholly wrapped up in Him. Thank Him for giving you the opportunity to be His friend and for all He has done for you. Thank Him for being all that we need. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you be content in the sufficiency of God’s grace and less focused on what the world says.
*I notified the ministry where if bought the Bible and got a very kind response that they had corrected the issue.
SHARING ••• My Grace-Full Life is written by Denise Heidel. You are welcome to share anything I write, but please credit my writing and graphics accordingly. Visit www.MyGraceFullLife.com to read past blogs. Subscribe through my website to have My Grace-Full Life delivered to your email. You can unsubscribe at any time. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the NKJV translation.
