JACKS DAILY DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS
(2nd Corinthians 12:9) “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.”
As humans being we all like to boast about our exploits or accomplishments.
Further to that, we love it when “others” boast about our accomplishments.
But we must ask our selves, are we really enough?
Did I really realize this accomplishment on my own?
In truth folks, when we look back over our accomplishments, can we really boast or take credit for it?
In short, No!
There is not one person in any one field of technology… or one area of the medical field or any other career that can fully rely on themselves… rather, we all need to fully rely on God and His use of others.
I recall a story I read about the great evangelist Billy Graham who was driving into the parking lot of the venue that He was about to preach in.
A parking attendant met him and recognizing him said to Billy Graham “there you go sir you go on in and save them, I’ll make sure they have a place to park”.
I’ve never forgotten that… because without each of us doing our part as a small cog in the wheel, as a member of the team, the whole will never get done.
Christians can often forget that the verse where this originates (2nd Corinthians 12:9) comes from a background of weakness and frailty.
God’s grace fills the holes that other things we try to rely on cannot.
It’s so true that we as Christians often don’t have a true grasp of God’s grace.
Biblical grace means “blessing or favor” from God… in terms of our sinful nature.
Yes it’s true that God chooses to offer salvation to us, despite our rebellious nature and disobedience to Him.
It’s Him withholding His wrath and offering a path to Heaven if we follow Him (John 3:16).
Grace saves us when we cannot (Ephesians 2:8-9).
The verse makes it clear that in our weakness and our failures… God’s grace alone saves us.
But there are other verses of scripture that bring life to this subject of Gods grace working in our lives as well.
They are (2nd Corinthians 9:8) “God makes His grace abound to us so we will be equipped for every good work.”
God’s grace gives us the tools we need to preach the Gospel and speak about the hope we have in Christ.
(2nd Corinthians 3:5) “Our adequacy or abilities come from God.”
“We cannot survive without the vine” (John 15:1-7)
A branch apart from a vine will bear no fruit.
Because of our weakness, we can only boast in Christ… because we know any good work we do comes from and by Him working through us.
These verses show us we need to rely on God.
Only when we cling to the vine can we see God’s grace abound.
In the context of (2nd Corinthians chapter 12) we learn about sufficient grace to succeed in life?
Paul is preaching to the Corinthian people.
Like many believers today, the Corinthians had a problem with self-reliance and boasting.
To go the extra mile and make a point, Paul is telling the Corinthians he has nothing to boast about except his weakness, because his weakness makes him realize how much he needs to rely on God.
He speaks about a thorn in his side that he’s asked God to remove, but God won’t take away the thing that makes him realize his weakness.
Paul had a number of revelations and visions, epiphanies or direct communication in the presence of God… that could cause some Christians to be jealous of him.
But his thorn in his side brings him back to earth
Paul tries to help the Corinthians to do the same, to realize that only God’s grace is sufficient for us, and we should boast in nothing else but God’s grace.
Because of our weakness, we can only boast in Christ… because we know any good work we do comes from and by Him working through us.
These verses show us we need to rely on God.
Only when we cling to the vine can we see God’s grace abound.
In the context of (2nd Corinthians chapter 12) we learn about sufficient grace to succeed in life?
Paul is preaching to the Corinthian people.
Like many believers today, the Corinthians had a problem with self-reliance and boasting.
To go the extra mile and make a point, Paul is telling the Corinthians he has nothing to boast about except his weakness, because his weakness makes him realize how much he needs to rely on God.
He speaks about a thorn in his side that he’s asked God to remove, but God won’t take away the thing that makes him realize his weakness.
Paul had a number of revelations and visions, epiphanies or direct communication in the presence of God… that could cause some Christians to be jealous of him.
But his thorn in his side brings him back to earth
Paul tries to help the Corinthians to do the same, to realize that only God’s grace is sufficient for us, and we should boast in nothing else but God’s grace.
What is this verse trying to teach Christians today about grace?
Similar to the Corinthian believers, we can sometimes get a little puffed up.
If we have a certain spiritual gift or a gift in a ministry that is making an impact in the lives of others, we might run the risk of getting prideful about that gift.
We could forget from whom that gift came (James 1:17) “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,”
Because of this tendency… God will allow a thorn in our side to remind us of our weakness and the need to rely on God’s grace.
Maybe you have a gift for music and sing on your church’s worship team… but the thorn in your side is that you often lose your voice or can’t sing for a few weeks.
This verse teaches us to rely on God’s grace and Gods abilities.
Although He may bring us amazing experiences, such as the visions Paul received… we can’t forget God during the good moments.
Never forget that the God on the mountain is still God in the valley.
We have to rely on Him at all times.
There are some who misinterpret this verse to say God’s grace will pull us out of the hard time into greener pastures… but we run the risk of preaching false doctrine when we say that.
God will not always remove the thorn in our side… but His grace will be all we need, thorn or no thorn.
If you’re dealing with a thorn in your side like Paul,
Consider saying this prayer below and realize to day that you are not an island unto yourself.
The world does not revolve around you and what you are doing alone.
But it is Gods grace working in all of our lives for the benefit of the whole, and He,
Only He deserves the praise the glory and the honor… and we as His servants, (as His children should be)… are constantly and eternally grateful for His intervention in our lives continuously.
“Dear Heavenly Father, I come to you now and acknowledge my weakness.
You are the vine, I am a branch, and apart from you, I can do nothing.
Please remind me to cling to you and to remember that your grace is all I need.
In the good times and bad, I need you.
Thank you for your overwhelming grace. Amen.
If you find yourself relying on yourself, remind yourself of Paul.
Even though many Christians talk about his accomplishments and how he shaped the faith and the history of the church, he always points back at God.
One of the most famous Christians of all time boasted in his weakness, because he knew he couldn’t take a step without God’s help.
(2nd Corinthians 13:5) tells us to examine our selves and see if there are areas where we may be relying on something else apart from God.
Even when God gives us a spiritual gift, we can end up worshipping it instead of Him.
Recognize those areas and ask God to help you remove those idols and turn to His grace alone.
Good Day!
In the good times and bad, I need you.
Thank you for your overwhelming grace. Amen.
If you find yourself relying on yourself, remind yourself of Paul.
Even though many Christians talk about his accomplishments and how he shaped the faith and the history of the church, he always points back at God.
One of the most famous Christians of all time boasted in his weakness, because he knew he couldn’t take a step without God’s help.
(2nd Corinthians 13:5) tells us to examine our selves and see if there are areas where we may be relying on something else apart from God.
Even when God gives us a spiritual gift, we can end up worshipping it instead of Him.
Recognize those areas and ask God to help you remove those idols and turn to His grace alone.
Good Day!
(2nd Corinthians 12:9) “My Grace is sufficient for you”
I wrote yesterday that, from the scriptures of old comes a word of advice and insight that reverberates thru out the corridors of time and down the hallways of history.
It’s a word that mankind has continually ignored and discounted because of his arrogance.
And that word is this.
For the Spirit of the Lord says “'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty” (Zechariah 4:6)
When we learn this and adapt and surrender our lives to it, we will begin to experience not only the salvation of the Lord, but the deliverance of the Lord as well.
No one will be boasting of their own strength in Heaven.
In Heaven I will not be boasting about how I did it my way or how great I was or how many people I preached or sang to or how much people loved my family and I.
No, I will be boasting about how God sustained me through depression and heartache and trials.
I will be boasting about how God answered my desperate prayers for my children.
And how He met my desperate need for finances and provision.
God’s power is made perfect in weakness because it ensures that He alone gets all the glory.
If God’s grace alone is sufficient to sustain me, I can’t take credit for sustaining myself.
God does it all, and we will boast only in Him.
One of the great lies we are all tempted to believe and that our world has certainly bought into, is that I’m sufficient for everything.
For life, for marriage, for parenting, for working… the whole ball of wax.
But the truth is, I have zero ounce of sufficiency in myself.
This reality is highlighted all the more when I’m in dire circumstances.
I simply don’t have the spiritual strength to keep going when the Red Sea is before me and the Egyptians are behind me.
However, God’s grace is sufficient.
God is Omni-sufficient.
Sufficiency and strength and power course through His being and He is able to keep me through the bleakest days with it’s darkest struggles.
When I’m up against the wall, it forces me to cry out, “God, only you’re grace is sufficient to sustain me!”
And when He delivers me, His power not mine, is put on full display.
God loves to deliver His people when the stakes are highest and the odds are the worst.
He loves to come through in a Hail Mary, do-or-die, 11th hour situation.
God wouldn’t let Gideon use 30,000 or 3,000 men.
He carved his army down to a measly 300 men, making the odds of victory so unfathomably small… that only God could bring deliverance.
Goliath was an executioner armed with a colossal sword and spear.
David was a shepherd boy defending Israel with a sling and a few rocks.
God told King Jehoshaphat to go into battle with the priests and the singers in front of the army praising Him and His glory.
“You will not need to fight in this battle” God said “for the battle is the Lords”.
Only God could snatch victory from the jaws of certain defeat.
God’s power is made perfect in weakness because it shows that God and only God can deliver.
We don’t have the power to rescue or deliver or save.
But “God’s grace is sufficient”, to do all those things.
In (2nd Corinthians 1:8-9) Paul recounts one of his darkest moments:
“For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.
Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death.
But that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead.”
God allowed Paul’s circumstances to become so bleak, so dire, so desperate, that he felt as if he had received a death sentence.
From Paul’s perspective, death appeared to be imminent.
Why would God let things get so horrifically bad?
Why would God let Daniel actually be thrown into the lion’s den rather than rescuing him beforehand?
Why would God allow the three Hebrew children Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, be thrown into the fire instead of delivering them by destroying the king and the vast army of Nebucadnezzer?
It’s because God wants you and I and His people to know that He alone is their hope.
God leads me “through” the Valley of the shadow of Death” (Psalm 23) so that I’ll trust in Him alone.
So that I’ll cling to His sufficient grace.
So that I’ll give up the ludicrous charade that I can go it alone with out Him.
When things get really bad, I tend to start playing out various scenarios in my head.
For example, if my finances are tight, I start doing all sorts of calculations about when this bill will go through and whether I can make some additional money doing this activity and how to make everything work out alright in the end.
While there’s nothing inherently wrong with planning for the future, it’s easy for me to fall into the temptation of trusting in my own devices and my own understanding rather than God’s sufficient grace.
I think this is why (Proverbs 3:5) exhorts us to “trust in the Lord with all our hearts and not to lean on our own understanding.”
When I lean on my own understanding, I’m failing to trust God, whose power and ability to deliver are far beyond my understanding.
When God does intervene and rescue me… it becomes abundantly clear to me that it was not due to my magnificent strategizing… but His glorious, sufficient grace.
I love this quote by one of histories profound preachers Charles Spurgeon who said…
"Let us lean on God with all our weight.
Let us throw ourselves on His faithfulness as we do on our beds, bringing all our weariness to His dear rest."
The solution to weakness is not a stiff upper lip.
It’s to lean on God with all our weight… to throw ourselves on the one whose power is made perfect in our weakness.
Jesus said “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28)
Then and only then, are we really strong.
Then and only then can we say “It is well with me soul”
Good Day!
(2nd Corinthians 12:9) “My Grace is sufficient for you”
I wrote yesterday that from the scriptures of old, comes a word of advice and insight that reverberates thru out the corridors of time and down the hallways of history.
It’s a word of advice that mankind has continually ignored and discounted because of our arrogance.
And that word/advice is this.
For the Spirit of the Lord says “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord Almighty”. (Zechariah 4:6)
When we learn this and adapt and surrender our lives to it, we will begin to experience not only the salvation of the Lord, but the deliverance of the Lord as well.
No one will be boasting of their own strength in Heaven.
In Heaven I will not be boasting about how I did it my way or how great I was or how many people I preached to or sang to or how much people loved my family and I.
No, I will be boasting about how God sustained me through depression and heartache and trials.
I will be boasting about how God answered my desperate prayers for my children.
And how He met my desperate need for finances and provision.
God’s power is made perfect in weakness because it ensures that He alone gets all the glory.
If God’s grace alone is sufficient to sustain me, I can’t take credit for sustaining myself.
God does it all, and we will boast only in Him.
One of the great lies we are all tempted to believe and that our world has certainly bought into, is that I’m sufficient for everything.
For life, for marriage, for parenting, for working… the whole ball of wax.
But the truth is, I have zero ounce of sufficiency in myself.
This reality is highlighted all the more when I’m in dire circumstances.
I simply don’t have the spiritual strength to keep going when the Red Sea is before me and the Egyptians are behind me.
However, God’s grace is sufficient.
God is Omni-sufficient.
Sufficiency and strength and power course through His being and He is able to keep me through the bleakest days with it’s darkest struggles.
When I’m up against the wall, it forces me to cry out, “God, only you’re grace is sufficient to sustain me!”
And when He delivers me, His power not mine, is put on full display.
God loves to deliver His people when the stakes are highest and the odds are the worst.
He loves to come through in a "Hail Mary, do-or-die", 11th hour situation.
God wouldn’t let Gideon use 30,000 or 3,000 men.
He carved his army down to a measly 300 men, making the odds of victory so unfathomably small… that only God could bring deliverance.
Goliath was a warrior giant... an executioner armed with a colossal sword and spear.
David was a shepherd boy defending Israel with a sling and a few rocks.
God told King Jehoshaphat to go into battle with the priests and the singers in front of the army praising Him and His glory.
“You will not need to fight in this battle” God said “for the battle is the Lords”.
Only God could snatch victory from the jaws of certain defeat.
God’s power is made perfect in weakness because it shows that God and only God can deliver.
We don’t have the power to rescue or deliver or save.
But “God’s grace is sufficient”, to do all those things.
In (2nd Corinthians 1:8-9) Paul recounts one of his darkest moments:
“For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.
Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death.
But that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead.”
God allowed Paul’s circumstances to become so bleak, so dire, so desperate, that he felt as if he had received a death sentence.
From Paul’s perspective, death appeared to be imminent.
Why would God let things get so horrifically bad?
Why would God let Daniel actually be thrown into the lion’s den rather than rescuing him beforehand?
Why would God allow the three Hebrew children Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, be thrown into the fire instead of delivering them by destroying the king and the vast army of Nebucadnezzer?
It’s because God wants you and I and His people to know that He alone is our hope.
God leads me “through” the Valley of the shadow of Death” (Psalm 23) so that I’ll trust in Him alone.
So that I’ll cling to His sufficient grace.
So that I’ll give up the ludicrous charade that I can go it alone with out Him.
When things get really bad, I tend to start playing out various scenarios in my head.
For example, if my finances are tight, I start doing all sorts of calculations about when this bill will go through and whether I can make some additional money doing this activity and how to make everything work out alright in the end.
While there’s nothing inherently wrong with planning for the future, it’s easy for me to fall into the temptation of trusting in my own devices and my own understanding rather than God’s sufficient grace.
I think this is why (Proverbs 3:5) exhorts us to “trust in the Lord with all our hearts and not to lean on our own understanding.”
When I lean on my own understanding, I’m failing to trust God, whose power and ability to deliver are far beyond my understanding.
When God does intervene and rescue me… it becomes abundantly clear to me that it was not due to my magnificent strategizing… but His glorious, sufficient grace.
I love this quote by one of histories profound preachers Charles Spurgeon who said…
"Let us lean on God with all our weight.
Why would God let Daniel actually be thrown into the lion’s den rather than rescuing him beforehand?
Why would God allow the three Hebrew children Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, be thrown into the fire instead of delivering them by destroying the king and the vast army of Nebucadnezzer?
It’s because God wants you and I and His people to know that He alone is our hope.
God leads me “through” the Valley of the shadow of Death” (Psalm 23) so that I’ll trust in Him alone.
So that I’ll cling to His sufficient grace.
So that I’ll give up the ludicrous charade that I can go it alone with out Him.
When things get really bad, I tend to start playing out various scenarios in my head.
For example, if my finances are tight, I start doing all sorts of calculations about when this bill will go through and whether I can make some additional money doing this activity and how to make everything work out alright in the end.
While there’s nothing inherently wrong with planning for the future, it’s easy for me to fall into the temptation of trusting in my own devices and my own understanding rather than God’s sufficient grace.
I think this is why (Proverbs 3:5) exhorts us to “trust in the Lord with all our hearts and not to lean on our own understanding.”
When I lean on my own understanding, I’m failing to trust God, whose power and ability to deliver are far beyond my understanding.
When God does intervene and rescue me… it becomes abundantly clear to me that it was not due to my magnificent strategizing… but His glorious, sufficient grace.
I love this quote by one of histories profound preachers Charles Spurgeon who said…
"Let us lean on God with all our weight.
Let us throw ourselves on His faithfulness as we do on our beds, bringing all our weariness to His dear rest."
The solution to weakness is not a stiff upper lip.
It’s to lean on God with all our weight… to throw ourselves on the one whose power is made perfect in our weakness.
Jesus said “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28)
Then and only then, are we really strong.
Then and only then can we say “It is well with me soul”
Good Day!
(2nd Corinthians 12:9) My Grace is sufficient for you
As I look out at this world with all of the conflict that it has to offer, along with all the cloudiness of our future… I am often overwhelmed with the enormity of the fact that I am not in control… and I don’t know about tomorrow or how I am going to deal with it.
I see so many whom are hurting and have been dealt a bad hand in life, and I pray and ask God on their behalf to help them… and why is it they have to deal with such sorrow confusion and even physical pain.
I read the word of God and search the scriptures for answers and then I run smack into this scripture from (2nd Corinthians 12:9) “My grace is sufficient for you for my power is perfected in weakness”.
These were words that the Apostle Paul heard from the God whom he loved and served and cried out to for help in the midst of his pain and sorrow, as he was beseeching God for deliverance from the pain of life that He was dealing with.
Why does God say, “My grace is sufficient for you?”
And what does it mean that God’s power is made perfect in weakness?
Ponder, for a moment, all the ways God could display His power.
He could control the raging, torrential storms and the crippling droughts.
He could take down the pompous, blustery self-interested leaders of government that seem to rule in total disdain and disregard for anything that is remotely connected to spiritual health in our country.
Occasionally, He puts the laws of nature in detention and does the miraculous, like when we hear of people healed of terminal Stage 4 cancers.
But friend the God we serve thru Jesus Christ isn’t like the insecure, overly pimpled high school bully who constantly feels like he needs to establish his dominance.
He’s quite confident in His power and has an infinite variety of ways He can flex His figurative biceps.
He is big enough and powerful enough and all knowing enough to intervene in the lives of His chosen people… but the question is… why doesn’t He?
Throughout scripture, God makes it clear that we should have a healthy fear of the Lord.
All of this makes God’s preferred method of showing off his power rather strange.
God’s grace is sufficient, and His is power is made perfect…
… in our weakness.
… in our brokenness.
… in our weariness.
When Paul begged God to take away his thorn (whatever it was), God said to Paul… “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
This is one of those scriptural double take, spew the water in surprise moments.
In the natural understanding of man, it doesn’t make sense on the surface.
God could have delivered Paul and said to him, “My power is made perfect in my deliverance.”
He could have said, “My mighty deliverance is sufficient for you.”
But he didn’t.
Instead, He left Paul in his crippled state and said that His grace is sufficient and His power is made perfect in weakness.
Weakness.
God’s power is greatest when we’re at our weakest.
And what we need most in our weakness is God’s sufficient grace, not more strength and not a dramatic deliverance.
This is so backward from how the world operates.
We like to show off our strength.
To act like we’ve got it all together.
But this is the opposite of God.
His power is made perfect in our weakness.
God wants us to rely and trust in Him completely, in every thing, and in every way
Why is this?
Why is God so doggedly insistent on using weaknesses… my weaknesses to show off his strength?
Why does God repeatedly say, “My grace is sufficient for you?”
Here’s why…
If I could sustain myself through trials by my own grit and moxie, then I could take some of the glory.
Imade it on my own…
I locked it and loaded it, I buckled it down, and I hacked and I whacked my way to the finish line…
I did it my way!
But the truth is, I can’t sustain myself in the slightest.
If God wasn’t behind me pushing… and before me making a way, and leading… I would head toward apostasy at the first sign of trials.
Jesus said In (John 14:6) “I am the way.”
Know this, “Gods ways are higher than ours. God’s ways are better than ours” (Isaiah 55:8-9)
Twice in his writings in the book of Proverbs, Solomon the wisest man in history says… “There is a way which seems right unto man, but it is the way of death. (Proverbs 14:12) – (Proverbs 16:25)
Listen friend… God created each of us individually, uniquely, and with a purpose in mind.
He knows what He designed us to do and He knows how to make it happen.
But it won’t happen with the might, or the wisdom of, or the ways of men.
From the scriptures of old comes a word of advice and insight that reverberates thru out the corridors of time and down the hallways of history… words of advice that man has continually ignored and discounted because of arrogance.
No one will be boasting of their own strength in Heaven.
For the Spirit of the Lord says… “'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty (Zechariah 4:6)
When we learn this and adapt and surrender our lives to it, we will begin to experience not only the salvation of the Lord, but the deliverance of the Lord as well….
And the amazing things is that there is great peace that comes to those whom surrender to will and the timing of God.
I am going to come back to this again tomorrow,
Good Day!
(Romans 5:1) ‘We are justified (acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith.’
To many people in this world are living below the "poverty line", in their understanding of how much God loves them and who they are in His eyes.
Until you understand how God views you, you’ll struggle for His approval and worry that you never measure up.
And thereby never become all that you can be in this life.
How about you?
Are you living with the knowledge and understanding that you are important in the eyes of God?
Or are you living with the thought that you are insignificant in HIs eyes?
Is that how you've been feeling today?
If so, meditate on the following Scriptures and let them remove your doubts.
1) ‘Through Him (Jesus) we become … acceptable and in right relationship with God (2nd Corinthians 5:21)
Unworthiness is one of the greatest weapons Satan uses against you, so take it out of his hands.
In a sense, God has put a screen between you and Himself… it’s the blood of Jesus.
And when He looks at you through that screen, He sees you as righteous and forgiven of all sins.
That’s why we call it “amazing grace”.
2) “Righteousness”, a standing acceptable to God is credited to us who believe in, trust in, adhere to, and rely on Jesus (Romans 4:24)
Did you get that?
All the righteousness needed to get into Heaven… is credited to your account the moment you put your trust in Jesus Christ.
As a Christian there’s a difference between your "position" and your "condition".
When you sin, it "affects" your condition.
But your "fixed position" is in Christ (Romans 8:1).
You say, “But what about my shortcomings?”
“What about my failures”?
That’s your condition, and the Holy Spirit is working on it every day!
The Bible teaches us in (2nd Corinthians 3:18) “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplatethe Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit”.
Transformation… which means “to change form”, is a daily process.
And while you’re in that process God views you as righteous!
In other words, righteousness isn’t a performance but a position, and God put you into that position the moment you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation.
Now you know where you stand with God.
So using the "measure of faith", (Romans 12:3) that God has given you… begin to take your stand today and declare to the world, Satan, and yourself… that you are valued and accepted and significant in the eyes of God!
No longer do you need to walk through this world with your head bowed low, thinking that you are but a worm in the eyes of God.
Know that you are loved and accepted, you are valuable in Gods eyes.
You have “great favor” with the Father! (Luke 4:18-19)
Not because of any thing you did or did not do, but because He loved you from the beginning of time, and He will for all eternity.
Why you ask?
Because that is His nature!
Good Day!
(Psalm 34:1) "His praise shall continually be in my mouth."
David wrote, “From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’s name is to be praised” (Psalm 113:3).
You can praise God too little, but you can never praise Him too much.
“Seven times a day do I praise thee” (Psalm 119:164). “His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
When you are overwhelmed by circumstances, the last thing you feel like doing is praising God.
But it’s the first thing you should do, because praise gets your attention off yourself and onto God’s miraculous power.
Jehoshaphat faced an army he had no hope of defeating.
But God told him to go out against the enemy any way.
God said to Jehoshaphat, “you will not need to fight in this battle for the battle is the Lords… then Jehoshaphat and all the people began to sing and praise the Lord”. (2nd Chronicles 20:17-22)
And when he and the people started to praise God a miracle began to manifest or unfold… his enemies destroyed each other while he looked on in amazement.
In (Acts 16:25-34) When Paul and Silas sang praises to God in prison, their chains broke and the doors were opened.
It’s normal to focus on the problem and forget to praise God… but praise releases the power of God and solves problems.
Praise puts the need into Gods hands for Gods answers.
(Zechariah 4:6) says “Not by might, nor by power… but by my Spirit say’s the Lord of hosts”
To many times we try to deal with issues and overwhelming odds ourselves when God says, “come unto me all ye that labor” (Matthew 11:28-29)
Peter writes, “The trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” (1st Peter 1:7)
Paul wrote in (Romans 5:4) that He took great joy in sufferings tribulations and trials.
Why do you suppose that He could do that?
It’s because it is in the midst of those sufferings tribulations and trials as we give them over to praising God despite the physical and emotional stress… that we can see the power of God and the presence of God unfold in response to our trust faith and praise of Him who is all powerful.
Instead of trying to overcome the “issues of life” that can and will tear you down… start to acknowledge God and His benevolence in your life.
Choose to use the power of praise and choose to exalt God regardless of how you feel.
Praise brings you into God’s presence and positions you for His favor and blessing.
Perhaps your thinking “But I don’t understand how just praising God can work.”
Think about it like this: you don’t have to understand aerodynamics in order to fly.
You just get on the plane and the pilot takes you where you need to go.
It’s the same when you praise God… just do it and the results will follow.
Good Day!
(Psalm 32:5) “You forgave me! All my guilt is gone."
Two types of forgiveness appear in the Bible… God's pardon of our sins… and our obligation to pardon others.
This subject is so important and our eternal destiny depends on it.
Humankind has a sinful nature.
We need to understand that God pardoned you and I and He forgave you of your sins…. Or the transgression of disobedience that is inherent in all of humanity.
God loves us too much to let us destroy ourselves in Hell… so He provided a way for us to be forgiven, and that way is through Jesus Christ.
Jesus confirmed that in no uncertain terms when he said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)
God's plan of salvation was to send Jesus, (His only Son), into the world as a sacrifice for our sins.
That sacrifice was necessary to satisfy the Holiness and purity of Gods justice.
Moreover, that sacrifice had to be perfect and spotless.
Because of our sinful nature, we cannot repair our broken relationship with God on our own, only Jesus was qualified to do that for us.
At the “Last Supper”, on the night before His crucifixion, He took a cup of wine and told his apostles, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." (Matthew 26:28)
The next day, Jesus died on the cross, taking the punishment due us, and atoning for our sins.
John the Baptist and Jesus both commanded that we repent, or turn away from our sins to receive God's forgiveness.
When we do, our sins are forgiven, and we are assured of eternal life in Heaven!
When God forgave David for adultery and murder, David wrote, “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!
I said…‘I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.’ And You forgave me! All my guilt is gone” (Psalm 32:1-5)
Un-confessed… un-forgiven sin will make you miserable.
The good news is, God’s forgiveness will set you free when you respond to His call of repentance.
The moment that brings conviction and confession of sin, also brings cleansing of sin and leads to restored confidence before God.
Today you are invited to say with the psalmist, “You forgave me! All my guilt is gone.”
As believers, our relationship with God is restored, but what about our relationship with our fellow human beings?
The Bible states that when someone hurts us, we are under an obligation before God… to forgive that person.
Jesus is very clear on this point: (Matthew 6:14-15) “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Refusing to forgive is a sin.
When we receive forgiveness from God, we must also give and transfer forgiveness to others who have hurt us.
We cannot hold grudges or seek revenge.
We are to trust God for justice and forgive the person who offended us.
Now we may not be able to forget the offense under our own power, but when you truly forgive your offender, you release God to work His works of healing in your life.
Forgiveness means releasing the other from blame, leaving the event in God's hands, and moving on.
Nothing compares to the freedom we feel when we learn to forgive others.
When we choose not to forgive, we become slaves to bitterness.
We are the ones most hurt by holding on to un-forgiveness.
In his book, "Forgive and Forget", Lewis Smedes wrote these profound words about forgiveness…
"When you release the wrong doer from the wrong, you cut a malignant tumor out of your inner life.
You set a prisoner free, but you discover that the real prisoner was yourself."
The entire Bible points to Jesus Christ and His divine mission to save us from our sins.
The Apostle Peter summed it up like this… (Acts 10:39-43) “All the prophets testify about Him… that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.”
Jesus proclaimed it in when He stood up on the temple to read from the scroll of Isaiah…
(Luke 4:18-19) “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor…
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind…
To set at liberty those who are oppressed; and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lords favor.”
So come on!
Set yourself free and forgive those whom have hurt you.
Jesus said “Him whom the Son sets free is free indeed” (John 8:36)
Forgiveness is the key!
Good Day!