Given August 14, 2008
Promises of God – Part 4
Given August 7, 2008
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
The grace of God. God himself told the apostle Paul, “My grace is sufficient…” Paul had a problem that Satan put on him and he had asked God three times to get rid of it. God’s answer was the verse above. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, (Hebrews 13:8), so His grace is enough for us today too. But what does that mean?
Grace goes together with mercy. Mercy is when you’re guilty and the judge lets you off or has someone else take your punishment; when you don’t get what you deserve. We are all in that predicament. On the other side of the coin is grace. Grace is when we’ve done nothing and we’re called up front and given a reward; when we get what we don’t deserve. God, our father, is both merciful and full of grace.
Now, in some situations, God will deliver us from attacks of the enemy. He knows the situation and can see into the future. Whatever God does for us is right; He knows. But sometimes, He has a purpose in not delivering us or waiting awhile. He told Paul, “my power is made perfect in weakness”. Paul was very willing for God’s power to be displayed in his problem. Can we admit Paul is pretty well known? Does that have anything to do with God’s grace? Paul didn’t want any of the credit; he gave it all to God.
Whatever situation we find ourselves in, if we’ve prayed and haven’t received the answer we expected, God knows best. Look for the way for God to receive glory in our weakness. Just give in and let God have His way. His grace is sufficient. God promised!
Promises Of God – Part 3
Given August 2, 2008
“I will supply all your need…” Philippians 4:19a
God promises to give us everything we need. Do we have all we need? Before answering, think about the difference between what you need and what you want. When taken in that context, our needs are really pretty basic; food, shelter, clothing. We all have those things and in abundant supply compared to most of the rest of the world. Most of the “things” we think we need are actually wants. God is supplying all we need.
According to psychologist Abraham Maslow, two of the most important needs are love and the need for self actualization; to discover our purpose and live it out. God is love, (1 John 4:16), and sheds His love abroad to all, (Romans 5:5), so that need is readily available. God has created each of us with unique talents and abilities which, joined together with the rest of the body of Christ, makes a complete and powerful “body” to take care of His business here on earth. God provided for that need when we were created so we must seek out what our God-given abilities are and use them to His glory.
God is not limited in supplying our need either. He is not dipping out of our small pots but He supplies our need, “according to My riches in glory”, Philippians 4:19b. God has a big pot of riches and that’s what His distribution is based on. Then who delivers our needs? “..by Christ Jesus.”, Philippians 4:19c. Jesus is the key; we must accept Jesus in order to have our needs supplied.
And what about our wants? How about this, “Seek ye first the
Promises Of God – Part 1
Given July 26, 2008
As we read the Bible, we see many statements made by God the Father and Jesus the Son pertaining to our lives. Some of them, we have no problem readily believing such as, “God is love.” 1 John 4:8 and we all know John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” But there are some promises that are a little harder to believe, ones where we might say, “Yeah, I know it says that, but….”. In this series, we will look at some of the Promises of God, what they mean to us, and be enlightened to 2 Corinthians 1:20 which says, “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”
The first promise we will look at is a foundation of all others: “I am the Lord, and I do not change. Malachi 3:6”. The way God was in the beginning, the things He said in the Old Testament, the words of Jesus in the New Testament, none of it has changed. What He said then can be real to us now. We must believe it, not doubt it, and act on it. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8”. He promised!
In preceeding posts, we will look at several other Promises of God.
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