God wants us to grow in grace and advance in spiritual knowledge. Therefore, along with His Word, He gives us Christian leaders who, because of their maturity, can act as ministers and teachers to edify us (Eph. 4:11), give us a broader insight into the deeper life of consecration, and instill in our hearts a better understanding of the true wisdom which is from above. As we thus mellow and mature through grace we shall grow "until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."

Peloubet's Notes relates in substance the following incident: It is said that those who wished to qualify for positions in the elite guard of King Frederick of Prussia were required to measure up to a certain commanding stature. A Christian lady thought so much about this annual "Measuring Day" ceremony that when she went to bed one evening she had a dream in which she imagined there was a day when everyone's growth in grace was similarly measured. An angel stood with a tall, golden rod in his hand over which was fastened a scroll on which appeared these words: "The measure of the stature of the perfect man." The angel inscribed in a large book all the important statistics as the people came up one at a time in response to the calling of their names. The instant anyone touched the rod an astounding thing happened - each shrank or increased in size to his or her true spiritual dimensions! Everyone, including the recording angel, could thus miraculously see what otherwise would have been perceived only by the eye of God.

If today were the "Measuring Day" (and it may well be if Jesus suddenly returns), would you be ashamed of your spiritual stature? Take inventory; is your soul shrinking from "malnutrition," or are you feeding on the Living Bread, and thus daily attaining a little more of the "stature of the fullness of Christ"? This is why some said, "Live now as you shall wish you had lived when you stand at the judgment seat of Christ."

We sing;

"Amazing grace how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind, but now I see."

Another song goes like this,
"Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt
Yonder on Calvary's mount out-poured
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt."

Grace is one of the outstanding themes of Scripture. Last week I turned your attention to 2 Cor 12:8-9 "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Earlier in this chapter (2 Cor. 12) Paul said that he had a thorn in the flesh. He wasn't alone in this, was he? There is a thorn of one kind or another in everyone's life. There is even a cross in the heart of god. The Savior wore a crown of thorns which symbolized those jagged thorns which tore His own soul.

Paul doesn't tell us what his torn was, and thank God he didn't. This way we can all identify with him. As someone wrote, "The Scriptures are as wise in their reservations as in their revelations." Enough is revealed to make faith intelligent and enough is reserved to give faith room for development.

Paul prayed to have this thorn removed. "Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me"(2 Cor 12:8). If we prayed more before we complained we would bless more than blame. And just as definite as Paul's pray was God's answer, in 2 Cor 12:9 we read "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

Yes, His grace is sufficient. And why should it not be, it is from Him Who is all-sufficient.

But what is grace? Grace is God-given ability. It is the God-given ability to be forgiven, to see our way through life's fog, to stand up under life's burdens, to feel when the soul goes numb from despair. What is your need today? Remember God said, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."