2 Corinthians 12:9. And he said unto me, ‘My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.’
And finally, it’s that long awaited day called Friday! So, we offer up our Friday Mantra: ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday and the weekend is here at long last!’ It’s pretty cold, but it’s not snowing, and the sun is predominant over the clouds, though it’s not shining as brightly as we would like. (smile) But we’re still grateful for whatever little sunshine we can get to drive away the darkness of these dreary winter months.
And as we promised yesterday, let’s continue with some scriptures that highlight God’s promises from the poem ‘The Promises and Non-Promises of God, which reads: “But God hath promised strength for the day, rest amid labour, light for the way; grace for trials, help from above, unfailing sympathy, undying LOVE.’ Yesterday we looked at the first two promises, let’s see how many we can get through today. (smile)
Now, the first one up is ‘light for the way.’ And Jesus Himself declared: ‘I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.’ (John 8:12) And what does that mean. Hear this commentary explain it. ‘Jesus is signifying that He is the divine source of spiritual truth, guidance, and life, offering to lead people out of spiritual darkness and sin into salvation and eternal life if they follow Him. This metaphor highlights Jesus as the exclusive provider of spiritual understanding, dispelling ignorance and revealing God’s path.’
And the scriptures offer up several other verses that agree with Jesus’ declaration, like this well-known one from Psalm 119: ‘Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.’ (Ps. 119:105) Yes friends, God’s Word shed’s light along the path He desires us to walk. As Cousin Sol so readily agrees with this verse from Proverbs. ‘For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:’ (Prov. 6:23) And as Bruh David tells us in Psalm 19: ‘The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.’
So however you take it, between a personal relationship with Jesus and God’s Word, we are indeed able to get the spiritual light we need to help us through each day. Now, what about ‘grace for trials.’ Oh brother, there are so many scriptures that I don’t know which ones to choose. And they all ‘highlight that God’s grace during trials provides strength, restoration, and endurance, often working through weakness to refine faith and offer comfort.’
But we’ll begin with this one that seems most important. It’s from Bruh Paul’s second letter to the Corinthains, where, after beseeching the Lord three times to remove a thorn from his side, the Lord eventually declares. ‘My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.’ (2 Cor. 12:9) In other words, when we’re weak, God’s grace comes in to strengthen us. That means we are never far from His grace in our everyday lives. As one commentary calls this verse: ‘The definitive promise that God’s grace is sufficient, with His power perfected in human weakness.’
Then James, Jesus’ brother, in his famous discourse encourages us to consider trials as joy, knowing they produce endurance and maturity. ‘My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations (various trials); Knowing this, that the trying (testing) of your faith worketh (produces) patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire (complete), wanting (lacking) nothing.’ (James 1:2-4) Now that’s a tough row to hoe, but hoe it we must if we desire to grow in faith and spiritual maturity.
Then there’s this most encouraging scripture from Hebrews that offers this wonderful invitation. ‘Let us therefore come boldly (confidently) to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.’ (Heb. 4:16) Wow mih people! Nothing can be better than going to the throne of grace to receive grace as we need it! Meanwhile, here is one of my favourite scriptures. This from Bruh Paul’s opening remarks in his second letter to the Corinthians.
‘Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort: Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble (tribulation), by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation (comfort) also aboundeth in Christ.’ (2 Cor. 1:3-5) What beautiful assurance and comfort that is my fellow believers! Yes, God is the “Father of mercies and God of all comfort” who comforts believers in tribulation, which then allows believers to comfort others who need comfort! For as we suffer with Christ, we are also comforted through Him.
And I’m chuckling here friends, because I’m now discovering that I can’t finish all the parts of the poem today either. So, we’ll end with this other interesting verse from 1 Corinthians, where Bruh Paul declares: ‘There hath no temptation taken (overtaken) you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear (endure) it.’ (1 Cor. 10:13)
Now please note that the Lord won’t always allow you to escape temptations, but will rather find a way for you to endure them, for temptations are a part of the testing of our faith, through which we grow in spiritual maturity and become more like Jesus. So, let’s go confidently now, but humbly, to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant, that we can receive divine aid to help in these crucial times.
Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help. Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times.
We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
And what we supposed believers need to realize is that so far our Christian witness has been no good, otherwise the world would not have fallen so deeply into evil and ungodly ways. Therefore, to receive divine aid, we need to up the ante; to improve our Christin walk, and we have enough God-given tools to do it. So, let’s get together and do it nuh! Remember it’s all for our benefit, not God’s! Much LOVE!
…God’s grace and mercy are constantly available…if we walk in obedience to His desires…
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