1314. News + Sufficient in Him

A New Beginning

As Christians begin a new year, I think the best way we can to get off on the right foot is to set our mind on our sufficiency in Christ. One of our greatest tragedies is the feeling of being deficient-never doing enough, not having what it takes, not being smart enough, always striving but never attaining, always the victim but never the victor. Yet God’s Word says that His divine power has already given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness (2 Peter 1:3).

What We Do

Here’s our normal response: If all these things have been given to us, where are they? God must have hidden them somewhere. We may not actually verbalize it this way, but isn’t this how we feel? Our problem is that we don’t know what we’re looking for. We see God’s gifts as things when they’re actually a person-the Holy Spirit. Everything we need to live a fulfilled and victorious life is found in Him, and these qualities (the fruit of the Spirit) listed in Galatians 5:22-23 become ours as we walk in the Spirit-love, joy, peace, etc. As we walk in the Spirit, we allow the resurrected Christ to live out His life through us He is our sufficiency.

Already Ours

Everything we desire is already ours, but we must claim it by faith, reckoning it to be true. This is a far cry from “name it and claim it.” We have no right to claim something just because we want it. We can claim something only if God has already given it to us. The truth is that God has already given to every born again believer everything he or she will ever need. We get it up front. It has to be this way since apart from God gives us, we’ve got nothing to offer (John 15:5). To our shame, many Christians live as though their old man, their old life was still in charge, when it has been put out of business at the cross. It’s no wonder they feel so deficient. The old man is completely deficient, incapable of accomplishing anything. Any believer feeling this way has chosen to walk in the flesh, the current dwelling place of the old man.

What We Should Do

So, what should the struggling Christian do? Walk by faith and not by sight (or feelings). God loves to grant prayers offered in faith. In the Gospels Jesus related to people according to their faith. He told the centurion, “Let it be done to you as you have believed” (Mt. 8:13). He touched the eyes of blind men who had believed He could heal them saying, “Be it done to you according to your faith” (Mt. 9:29). To the Canaanite woman with a demon-possessed daughter He said, “O woman, your faith is great; be it done for you as you wish” (Mt. 15:28).

What to Believe

In order to have faith, however, we must know what it is that we are to believe. First, we must believe that apart from Christ, we are deficient. Second, by walking in the Spirit, Jesus will live out His completely sufficient life through us. Those are the simple facts. Once we accept them as true, we must reckon them true for us. This includes the firm belief that our old deficient self no longer has any power over us. We are free to walk in the Spirit any time we choose. Once this is settled, the remaining issue is whether we know Jesus well enough to trust Him with our “lives.” This requires complete surrender to Him. We must give up all rights to ourselves. Isn’t it time to stop striving to become something God has already made you to be? Isn’t it time to accept the gift of sufficiency that has already been given to you?