2 corinthians 9.8 (niv), GOD is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
do you need GOD’s sustaining grace to relieve your hurt? you're in over your head and you're about to go under. you're ready to throw in the towel. you're ready to give up. you've given up on a relationship, a job, a dream, whatever. and you have physical pain, emotional pain, or a pain in a relationship. GOD wants to say to you HIS grace will sustain you and help you do the things that are right. let him have your pain.
some of you are thinking back to that person who has hurt you many years ago and saying, "i can't do it. i don't know how to forgive that person. they hurt me too bad. i don't have the power to forgive that person. i can't just let him go." you're exactly right! that's why you need GOD's grace to help you do what you cannot do on your own.
some of you parents have been hurt by your children, some of you children have been hurt by your parents. you can't forgive them but GOD's grace will give you that power. receive it and offer it to that person.
GOD's sustaining grace is available to you right here and right now.
would you pray a simple prayer in your heart? would you say "dear GOD, i know i need you. who am i kidding? LORD i need your sustaining grace. i need the power to keep on keeping on. i'm tired, frustrated. i know what's the right thing to do but i feel like giving up. i need your sustaining grace. with your grace remove and renew the hurt in my life, and relieve it. FATHER, if you see fit to leave it there a short time longer, however long, give me the sustaining grace to see it through, to handle it. i ask this not because i deserve it but because of YOUR grace and who YOU are."
FATHER, i want to thank you for the good news of your grace – the gospel. i pray that today many people here would experience it in their heart and in their lives. i pray that today many are opening their heart to JESUS CHRIST and inviting HIM in as they say yes to you. thank you. in JESUS' name. amen.
just a thought from the front porch…
Showing posts with label sustaining grace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sustaining grace. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
the only antidote for a hurtful memory...
what happens if i don't depend on GOD's grace when i’m in pain? what happens if i just rely on myself and try to work out the problem? "i can handle it on my own." what happens when i face a hurt or a problem, crisis or stress and i don't depend on GOD's grace?
hebrews 12.15 (phillips), be careful that none of you fails to respond to the grace of GOD for if he does there can spring up in him a bitter spirit which can poison the lives of many others.
when you try to handle a hurt on your own, you're going to get bitter. resentment is the result of trying to handle all of your problems in your own power. you become cynical, critical and you allow bitterness. you raise your hand to GOD in an angry fist and say, "why me?" you put on a black tie and have a pity party for yourself. "poor me! look at this problem in my life!" you're not relying on the grace of GOD.
before I retired as a pastor, i met hurting people all the time. you can take two people, put them in the same exact situation and one of them is devastated by it and they become resentful and poisoned by the attitude. the other has a sweet, sweet spirit.
how is it that you see some people that you know have problems that are overwhelming, are under increased pressure, unusual pain in their lives that is not even their own fault and they maintain a sweet, sweet spirit? how is that possible?
it's possible because those people are relying on the sustaining grace of GOD.
some of you have been hurt very deeply in the past and you still remember it and it hurts. just the very thought of that memory makes you tense. some of you ladies were hurt by your fathers or by a brother or a husband. some of you men have been hurt at work or in your home and when you think about that hurt it still kind of brings a tear to your eye.
how do you get rid of a hurtful memory like that? there is only one way. the only antidote to a painful memory is the grace of GOD. you receive GOD's grace into your life and then you offer it to that offending person and let them go. you don't hold on to hurt.
the person in your past that hurt you can no longer hurt you unless you let them. let them go! receive GOD's grace into your life and then be gracious and offer forgiveness to that person and let them go, for your own sake. it's the only antidote. grace can pull you through tough times.
just a thought from the front porch…
hebrews 12.15 (phillips), be careful that none of you fails to respond to the grace of GOD for if he does there can spring up in him a bitter spirit which can poison the lives of many others.
when you try to handle a hurt on your own, you're going to get bitter. resentment is the result of trying to handle all of your problems in your own power. you become cynical, critical and you allow bitterness. you raise your hand to GOD in an angry fist and say, "why me?" you put on a black tie and have a pity party for yourself. "poor me! look at this problem in my life!" you're not relying on the grace of GOD.
before I retired as a pastor, i met hurting people all the time. you can take two people, put them in the same exact situation and one of them is devastated by it and they become resentful and poisoned by the attitude. the other has a sweet, sweet spirit.
how is it that you see some people that you know have problems that are overwhelming, are under increased pressure, unusual pain in their lives that is not even their own fault and they maintain a sweet, sweet spirit? how is that possible?
it's possible because those people are relying on the sustaining grace of GOD.
some of you have been hurt very deeply in the past and you still remember it and it hurts. just the very thought of that memory makes you tense. some of you ladies were hurt by your fathers or by a brother or a husband. some of you men have been hurt at work or in your home and when you think about that hurt it still kind of brings a tear to your eye.
how do you get rid of a hurtful memory like that? there is only one way. the only antidote to a painful memory is the grace of GOD. you receive GOD's grace into your life and then you offer it to that offending person and let them go. you don't hold on to hurt.
the person in your past that hurt you can no longer hurt you unless you let them. let them go! receive GOD's grace into your life and then be gracious and offer forgiveness to that person and let them go, for your own sake. it's the only antidote. grace can pull you through tough times.
just a thought from the front porch…
Thursday, April 8, 2010
supplying or sustaining grace?...
GOD's sustaining grace removes my hurt. it relieves my hurt and helps me keep going when i'm in pain, when i want to give up.
paul, in corinthians, had a problem that was constant pain. three times he said, "LORD, take this pain out of my life" and GOD didn't do it. instead GOD said, 2 corinthians 12.9 (tev), MY grace is all you need, for MY power is strongest when you are weak.
GOD says, I'm going to give you grace. grace is what you need to keep on keeping on.
if paul prayed and didn't get an answer should i pray about my problem? of course. the bible tells us to pray about our problems. hebrews 4.16 (niv), let us approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive grace to help us in our time of need.
when you have a problem, a crisis, going through stress and tension and you pray for GOD's strength in your life, one of two things is going to happen. one, GOD may remove the pain. that's HIS supplying grace. but if HE doesn't, number two, HE may leave the pain in your life, in the situation, and HE gives you sustaining grace to handle it, to take you through the problem so you can learn something through the problem.
we'd never learn anything if all of our problems were instantly removed. we learn much more through pain than we do through pleasure. sometimes GOD has to leave the pain there. but whenever HE leaves the problem in our lives HE gives us the grace to see it through.
HE removes my guilt by saving grace, HE reshapes my life by strengthening grace, but HE relieves the hurt and helps me through the problem with HIS sustaining grace. HE's going to help you out.
when you get that down, nothing can devastate your life. no problem, no crisis, no hurt, no harm, no stress because you realize that GOD's grace is sufficient. i can handle it – not on my own – but i can handle it with GOD's grace.
just a thought from the front porch…
paul, in corinthians, had a problem that was constant pain. three times he said, "LORD, take this pain out of my life" and GOD didn't do it. instead GOD said, 2 corinthians 12.9 (tev), MY grace is all you need, for MY power is strongest when you are weak.
GOD says, I'm going to give you grace. grace is what you need to keep on keeping on.
if paul prayed and didn't get an answer should i pray about my problem? of course. the bible tells us to pray about our problems. hebrews 4.16 (niv), let us approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive grace to help us in our time of need.
when you have a problem, a crisis, going through stress and tension and you pray for GOD's strength in your life, one of two things is going to happen. one, GOD may remove the pain. that's HIS supplying grace. but if HE doesn't, number two, HE may leave the pain in your life, in the situation, and HE gives you sustaining grace to handle it, to take you through the problem so you can learn something through the problem.
we'd never learn anything if all of our problems were instantly removed. we learn much more through pain than we do through pleasure. sometimes GOD has to leave the pain there. but whenever HE leaves the problem in our lives HE gives us the grace to see it through.
HE removes my guilt by saving grace, HE reshapes my life by strengthening grace, but HE relieves the hurt and helps me through the problem with HIS sustaining grace. HE's going to help you out.
when you get that down, nothing can devastate your life. no problem, no crisis, no hurt, no harm, no stress because you realize that GOD's grace is sufficient. i can handle it – not on my own – but i can handle it with GOD's grace.
just a thought from the front porch…
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