Philemon 25 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
At the first reading, this sounds like a really nice verse. But after meditating on it for a little while, I struggle to understand it.
grace - unmerited favor, benevolence, blessing
the Lord Jesus Christ - God and man, the Son of God, the Perfect Man, the Messiah, the Lamb Who was slain for the sins of the world, King of Kings and Lord of Lords
spirit - the core aspect of our being, co-residing with the Holy Spirit, filled with the Spirit of God
all together - To have all of who Jesus is and has accomplished inside the core of who we are
Heavenly Father, please fill me with the Lord Jesus Christ and His Grace! Lord, please set my mind on the Spirit and not on the flesh. I want to experience you and express you, for your glory and the advancement of your Kingdom. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
You are right that this verse is very sweet but not so easy to understand. Your comment reminded me of a very good hymn about what GRACE is to us in our Christian life:
ReplyDeleteGrace in its highest definition is
God in the Son to be enjoyed by us;
It is not only something done or giv'n,
But God Himself, our portion glorious.
God is incarnate in the flesh that we
Him may receive, experience ourself;
This is the grace which we receive of God,
which comes thru Christ and which is Christ Himself.
Paul the Apostle counted all as dung,
'Twas only God in Christ he counted grace;
'Tis by this grace-the Lord experienced-
That he surpassed the others in the race.
It is this grace-Christ as our inward strength-
which with His all-sufficiency doth fill;
It is this grace which in our spirit is,
There energizing, working out God's will.
This grace, which is the living Christ Himself,
Is what we need and must experience;
Lord, may we know this grace and by it live,
Thyself increasingly as grace to sense.