Grace & Truth

 "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

— John 1:14

Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King,

As you made yourself human and took on flesh, coming to this earth and making it your "tabernacle," you came full of grace and truth. Of all the qualities and characteristics John could have highlighted, he chose these two: grace and truth. Importantly, he wrote grace first, followed by truth. Grace is getting what we do not deserve. We, as fallen humanity, did not deserve you. For we weren't just stuck in our sin, we were firmly entrenched in it. You came from the Father and brought undeserved favor—grace—to all of humanity.

Lord, you came to this world and you came full of truth. In you there is no falsehood or deceit. You are entirely true. You came in truth, bringing Truth to a world stuck in the Lie. The Lie that we have believed was presented to us in the Garden when the serpent told Eve we could be like God (Genesis 3:5). We have believed the Lie, and in fact have loved the Lie, choosing to be our own god, resisting the One True God's persistent call to return home to Him. You came full of truth to shatter the Lie once and for all.

Lord, you came full of grace and truth. Both qualities are at the full. And God is both grace and truth. Not one without the other. One hundred percent grace. One hundred percent truth. At no point in your ministry on this earth was that formula tilted or leaning in one direction more than the other.

Gracious Lord, as I minister to others, may I be one who is full of grace and truth. As You live within me, may I live embodied with all of your grace and all of your truth. May I not tilt toward truth and forget to live with grace. May I not lean toward grace and not give others the Truth. May I bring FULLY both your grace and your truth to others today.

In Jesus' Name I pray, Amen!

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