{"id":3513,"date":"2015-09-11T00:02:33","date_gmt":"2015-09-11T07:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hoc6.org\/global\/?p=3513"},"modified":"2015-09-11T00:02:33","modified_gmt":"2015-09-11T07:02:33","slug":"911-his-grace-is-enough-for-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hoc6.org\/global\/2015\/09\/11\/911-his-grace-is-enough-for-you\/","title":{"rendered":"9\/11: His Grace is Enough for You (\u8bd7106:40-48 \u6797\u540e12:1-10 \u8d5b27:1-28:29)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u8bfb\u7ecf\uff1a\u8bd7106:40-48 \u6797\u540e12:1-10 \u8d5b27:1-28:29<\/h2>\n

His Grace is Enough for You<\/h2>\n
\n

In 2011, Nick Vujicic came to speak at Focus, our church holiday. Nick is a remarkable man. I think that all of us who met him were inspired and challenged by his life.<\/p>\n

Nick was born without arms or legs, yet he can write, \u2018I am truly blessed. I am ridiculously<\/em>happy.\u2019 Many times as a child he prayed for arms and legs. He would have settled for getting one arm or leg.<\/p>\n

God did not answer his prayer in the way that he had hoped. Yet he writes, \u2018God used me to reach people in countless schools, churches, prisons, orphanages, hospitals, stadiums and meeting halls. Even better, I\u2019ve hugged thousands of people in face-to-face encounters that allow me to tell them how very precious they are… God took my unusual body and invested me with the ability to uplift hearts and encourage spirits.\u2019<\/p>\n

The people of God depend on the grace of God. Mother Teresa wrote, \u2018I don\u2019t think there is anyone who needs God\u2019s help and grace as much as I do. Sometimes I feel so helpless and weak. I think that is why God uses me. Because I cannot depend on my own strength, I rely on Him twenty-four hours a day. If the day had even more hours, then I would need His help and grace during those as well.\u2019<\/p>\n

Paul expresses this dependence when he writes about the thorn in his flesh. Three times he pleaded with the Lord to take it away. But God said to him, \u2018My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness\u2019 (2 Corinthians 12:9). His grace is not only amazing, it is \u2018sufficient\u2019. It is enough.<\/p>\n

This is one of my favourite verses in the entire Bible. It\u2019s a verse I often quote to God and remind him of his promise that his power is made perfect in my weakness.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

1. His grace comes from his great love<\/h2>\n

Psalm 106:40-48<\/a>\u2018But<\/em>\u2019 is a key word in this passage.<\/p>\n

The people were \u2018bent on rebellion\u2019 and \u2018wasted away in their sin\u2019 (v.43). \u2018But<\/em>,\u2019 says the psalmist, \u2018he took note of their distress when he heard their cry… out of his great love<\/em>\u2019 (vv.44\u201345).<\/p>\n

The source of the sufficiency of God\u2019s grace is \u2018his great love<\/em>\u2019 (v.45). Because God loves his people so much, \u2018many times he delivered them\u2019 (v.43). He \u2018heard their cry\u2019 (v.44).<\/p>\n

Some years ago, I wrote in the margin alongside this psalm summing up all the blessings the psalm speaks about: \u2018While I disbelieve, grumble, disobey, worship the world\u2019s idols, sin, do wrong, act wickedly \u2013 what does God do? He shows me favour, he comes to my aid, he gives me joy, he is kind, he saves me. He leads me, he redeems me, he answers my prayers, he delivers me, he notes my distress and hears my cry, he shows me his great love.\u2019<\/p>\n

No wonder the psalmist ends by saying, \u2018Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, \u201cAmen!\u201d Praise the Lord\u2019 (v.48).<\/p>\n

Lord, I praise and thank you for your great love for me. Thank you for delivering me over and over again. Thank you for hearing my cry. Thank you for the sufficiency of your grace.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

2. His grace is what you need<\/h2>\n

2 Corinthians 12:1-10<\/a>Most of us want other people to see our strength and are nervous about anyone discovering our weaknesses. We do not advertise our limitations. However, Paul was not afraid of being vulnerable about his frailties.<\/p>\n

Paul had some amazing spiritual experiences. He had \u2018visions and revelations from the Lord\u2019 (v.1). He had been \u2018caught up to the third heaven\u2019 (v.2). He had \u2018heard inexpressible things, things that human beings are not permitted to tell\u2019 (v.4). He had \u2018surpassingly great revelations\u2019 (v.7).<\/p>\n

Yet Paul did not boast about these things. The false teachers in Corinth boasted about their spiritual experiences, but Paul did not. He would not even say what they were. He did not go around speaking about his great spiritual triumphs. Rather, he told stories against himself. Heboasted <\/em>about his weaknesses <\/em>(vv.5,9).<\/p>\n

He told the Corinthians how God gave him \u2018a thorn in [his] flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment [him]\u2019 (v.7b). He made this confession in very general terms. Dr Paula Gooder, who wrote her PhD thesis on these verses, says that there are at least thirty-six theories about what the thorn in Paul\u2019s flesh could be. The fact that we do not know what it is enables us all to identify with Paul.<\/p>\n

I remember our good friend, evangelist J. John, saying in a talk that he had not just one, but three thorns in the flesh! I do not think he told us what they all were but it was encouraging for the rest of us to know that, like all of us, he had his struggles.<\/p>\n

Whatever Paul\u2019s thorn was, three times Paul pleaded with the Lord to take it away. But God said to him, \u2018My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness\u2019 (v.9). Were it not for the thorn in his flesh, Paul might have become conceited because of the \u2018surpassingly great revelations\u2019 (v.7).<\/p>\n

As it was, Paul knew he was totally dependent on the Lord. When things go well, we are tempted to be proud and self-reliant. When we are struggling and know our weaknesses, we become utterly dependent on the Lord. Christ\u2019s power rests on us (v.9). His power is made perfect in our weakness.<\/p>\n

Paul has written something absolutely remarkable. He says, \u2018It was a case of Christ\u2019s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size \u2013 abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become\u2019 (vv.7\u201310, MSG).<\/p>\n

Lord, thank you that your power is made perfect in weakness. Help me, like Paul, to delight in my weaknesses. Thank you that hardships, persecutions and difficulties are actually a source of strength because your power is made perfect in weakness. Thank you that your grace is sufficient.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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3. His grace comes through Jesus<\/h2>\n

Isaiah 27:1-28:29<\/a>God loves you. He speaks of his people being like a vine. God tends it, waters it, watches over it and cares for it (27:3\u20134, MSG).<\/p>\n

God in his love, judges. He pulls out the thistles and thorn bushes and burns them up (v.4, MSG). There is much here about God\u2019s judgment. Yet this is described as \u2018his strange work\u2019 (28:21). Martin Luther, the great reformer, made the point that while judgment is Christ\u2019s \u2018strange work<\/em>\u2019, salvation is his \u2018proper work<\/em>\u2019.<\/p>\n

Isaiah continues to announce judgment on those whose attitude is the very opposite of the apostle Paul. Paul had reason enough for his pride (his \u2018surpassingly great revelations\u2019, 2 Corinthians 12:7) but he was, in fact, humble. Ephraim was proud whereas it had no reason for pride.<\/p>\n

Isaiah speaks of \u2018the pride<\/em> of Ephraim\u2019s drunkards\u2026 the pride<\/em> of those laid low by wine!\u2019 (Isaiah 28:1). And \u2018the pride<\/em> of Ephraim\u2019s drunkards, will be trampled underfoot\u2019 (v.3). Although the Bible tells us that God gives wine to gladden our hearts (Psalm 104:15), this is one of the passages in the Bible that warn of the dangers of excess.<\/p>\n

He describes \u2018the pretentious drunks\u2026 shabby and washed out and seedy \u2013 tipsy, sloppy-fat, beer-bellied\u2026 besotted with wine and whiskey, can\u2019t see straight, can\u2019t talk sense. Every table is covered with vomit. They live <\/em>in vomit\u2019 (Isaiah 28:1,7\u20138, MSG). He also speaks against the \u2018scoffers\u2019 (v.14, MSG) \u2013 in other words the sceptics and cynics.<\/p>\n

In the middle of these prophecies of judgment, Isaiah foresees the one who will be the cornerstone of grace: \u2018Watch closely. I\u2019m laying a foundation in Zion, a solid granite foundation, squared and true. And this is the meaning of the stone: A TRUSTING LIFE WON\u2019T TOPPLE\u2019 (v.16, MSG).<\/p>\n

Jesus is the cornerstone. He is the \u2018solid granite foundation\u2019 (v.16, MSG). The apostles Paul (Romans 9:33) and Peter (1 Peter 2:4\u20136) see these verses as referring to Jesus. He is the one on whom the church of living stones is built. He is the one chosen by God but rejected by human beings. Whoever turns to Jesus will never be put to shame (1 Peter 2:4\u20136).<\/p>\n

Jesus is the source of the grace we need in our weakness. In the same chapter, Peter explains how Jesus became the source of all grace: \u2018He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed\u2019 (1 Peter 2:24).<\/p>\n

Jesus is your sure foundation. The one who trusts in him will never be dismayed (Isaiah 28:16). He is the source of all grace \u2013 the one who died so that you can be forgiven and experience his great love, grace and power for you.<\/p>\n

Lord, thank you that I am utterly dependent on you and that as I boast of my weaknesses, your power rests on me. Thank you that \u2018a trusting life won\u2019t topple\u2019. Your grace is enough.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Pippa Adds<\/h2>\n
\n

2 Corinthians 12:9<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.\u2019<\/p>\n

This is another of my favourite verses. It is one I have hung on to time and time again when I have not known quite how I was going to get through a situation. God has been gracious and helped me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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