We…plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. —2 Corinthians 6:1
“The grace you had yesterday will not be sufficient for
today. Grace is the overflowing favor of God, and you can always count on it
being available to draw upon as needed. “…in much patience, in tribulations, in
needs, in distresses”— that is where our patience is tested (2 Corinthians
6:4). Are you failing to rely on the grace of God there [..] Prayer is the
practice of drawing on the grace of God. Don’t say, “I will endure this until I
can get away and pray.” Pray now — draw on the grace of God in your moment of
need. Prayer is the most normal and useful thing; it is not simply a reflex
action of your devotion to God. We are very slow to learn to draw on God’s
grace through prayer. […] Let circumstances take you where they will, but keep
drawing on the grace of God in whatever condition you may find yourself. One of
the greatest proofs that you are drawing on the grace of God is that you can be
totally humiliated before others without displaying even the slightest trace of
anything but His grace.” CHAMBERS
I have heard Grace defined as “getting what you don’t
deserve” and Mercy as “not getting what you do deserve”. Would you agree that we need Grace in our
lives? God is the source of Grace … It
starts and ends with Jesus. Jesus is the
means by which we have access to God’s grace.
His grace is supernatural … I have been using that word a lot, I think because
we tend not to think of God in those terms, but in the natural. Grace is having the wherewithal (love that
word) to endure whatever we might face … humiliation before others .. sickness
.. loss … death of a loved one … whatever it might be … God’s grace is
sufficient
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
“Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in
my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the
Lord to take it away from me. But he [Jesus]
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. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I
delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.
For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Does that sound like crazy talk to you? Paul had a problem .. God did not remove the
problem, but used it as a reminder to Paul to trust Him and not think more of himself
than he should. So let’s get this right,
God let Paul struggle with something so Paul would not forget that he needed
God. You don’t think He would do that to
us do you? Maybe to someone else, but
not me! I don’t know if I would like God
if He did that to me! I thought He loved me!
My thorn was a pulmonary embolism and DVT (you can GOOGLE those) which has limited me .. but.. every time I
take a pill .. every time I feel my leg swelling in my sock .. every time that
I am winded when I climb a steep hill … I am reminded that I need God’s
strength and His grace is sufficient. How
about you? ELGIN
“Amazing grace how
sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I
have already come. It’s grace has
brought me safe thus far .. and grace will lead me home.” AMEN
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)
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