After I spent more than two decades in the mental health field, God was able to show me, through the lives of hundreds of my counseling clients, that if a person continued to think, feel and behave like the world, they would experience unexplained suffering.
But when one can do as Scripture instructs—align their thinking with God’s spiritual perspective—suddenly so many issues of the mind and life in general are healed and resolved. Many times I would teach my clients what the Bible said about the mind and witness a healing miracle. But then, soon after they left my office, they would revert to their old ways of thinking and behaving, and literally walk out of their healing.
One day I asked the Lord if there was something I was missing, something that I was failing to teach people. He said, “My grace is sufficient.”
That seemed like a peculiar thing to hear in that moment. Did that mean that God’s grace was sufficient for me, as a teacher and a counselor, or was this the key to helping people to be steadfast in their freedom?
This God encounter led me to study 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. What I believe the Holy Spirit was trying to reveal to me in this passage was that even though myself, my clients and many believers of God’s Word can receive authentic revelation and begin to understand many different spiritual truths, God allows the evil and negative of this world to still affect us.
Why? As Paul explains, it’s to keep us humble and reliant on Him.
To appreciate grace in a way that would be honoring to God, we must meditate on God’s gracious and abundant mercy. We hear this word a lot in Scripture, from the Old Testament to the New, but do we really take time to contemplate its full meaning?
God’s mercy is a withholding of the punishment we truly deserve. The problem we have in the world today is a lack of reverential fear of God and a lack of self-awareness that would expose the severity of what sin truly does in our lives.
Worldly teaching projects consistently about what you deserve. You deserve to be happy; you deserve to be free to choose whatever you want; to act however you want and to believe that overall you are a good person; and to reward yourself often.
But in the kingdom of God, the greatest freedom and joy is birthed when you come to the revelation of just how great our Father’s affection is for us: that He would offer grace and mercy to a people who have rebelled against Him, disobeyed Him and dismissed Him over and over. An all-knowing, all-powerful God will not only overlook your sin and withhold all the punishment you deserve, but will offer you the same favor, grace and unconditional love that He had for His Son, Jesus.
When you deeply comprehend how much mercy you need, you will have a whole new appreciation for the priceless gift of grace. I would challenge you today to meditate often about the amount of mercy God has for you and to incorporate this reflection in your daily prayer life. I promise you this will be a convicting exercise, but it will also be liberating and very fulfilling.
My time of worship and the homage I choose to show my great, great God has forever been changed by understanding He gives me exceedingly more than I deserve. {eoa}
Dr. Jessica Rothmeyer was a professional counselor for 20 years before transitioning to her new ministry, Kingdom Mindset, which offers advisory services, training materials and seminars. It is her mission to establish kingdom mindset standards in all nations, releasing transformation through God’s Word to individuals, healing practitioners and influencers globally. Your kingdom destiny awaits and it all begins with a mindset. Visit Jessica’s website at kingdommindset.global and listen to her podcast Kingdom Mindset on the Charisma Podcast Network.
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