The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel, Express Version, 2022Mfano

His Grace is Enough for You
I first met Nick Vujicic when he 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. Nick was born without arms or legs, yet he can say, âI am truly blessed. I am *ridiculously* happy.â Many times as a child he prayed for arms and legs. He would have settled for getting one arm or leg. God did not answer his prayer in the way that he had hoped. Yet he writes, âGod used me to reach people in countless schools, churches, prisons, orphanages, hospitals, stadiums and meeting halls. Even better, Iâve 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.â The people of God depend on the grace of God. Mother Teresa wrote, âI donât think there is anyone who needs Godâs 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.â Paul expresses this dependence when he writes about the âthorn in his fleshâ. Three times he pleaded with the Lord to take it away. But God said to him, âMy grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weaknessâ (2 Corinthians 12:9). His grace is not only amazing; it is âsufficientâ. It is enough. This is one of my favourite verses in the entire Bible. I often quote this verse to God and remind him of his promise that his power is made perfect in my weakness.Psalm 106:43â45
His grace comes from his great love
âButâ is a key word in this passage.
The people were âbent on rebellionâ and âwasted away in their sinâ (v.43). âBut,â says the psalmist, âhe took note of their distress when he heard their cry... out of his great loveâ (vv.44â45).
The source of the sufficiency of Godâs grace is âhis great loveâ (v.45). Because God loves his people so much, âmany times he delivered themâ (v.43). He âheard their cryâ (v.44).
Some years ago, I wrote in the margin alongside this psalm summing up all the blessings the psalm speaks about. When I âdisbelieve, grumble, disobey, worship the worldâs idols, sin, do wrong â 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.â
No wonder the psalmist ends by saying, âPraise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, âAmen!â Praise the Lordâ (v.48).
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.
2 Corinthians 12:1â10
His grace is what you need
We think we will impress people with our strengths, but we connect with people through our vulnerabilities. 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.
Paul had some amazing spiritual experiences. He had âvisions and revelations from the Lordâ (v.1). He had been âcaught up to the third heavenâ (v.2). He had âheard inexpressible things, things that human beings are not permitted to tellâ (v.4). He had âsurpassingly great revelationsâ (v.7).
Yet Paul did not boast about these things. The false teachers in Corinth boasted about their spiritual experiences, but Paul did not. Rather, he told stories against himself. He boasted about his weaknesses (vv.5,9).
He told the Corinthians how God gave him âa thorn in [his] flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment [him]â (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 Paulâs flesh could be. The fact that we do not know what it is enables us all to identify with Paul.
I remember our good friend, the evangelist J. John, saying that he had not just one, but three thorns in the flesh! I donât 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.
Whatever Paulâs thorn was, three times he pleaded with the Lord to take it away. But God said to him, âMy grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weaknessâ (v.9). Were it not for the thorn in his flesh, Paul might have become conceited because of the âsurpassingly great revelationsâ (v.7).
As it was, Paul knew he was totally dependent on the Lord. When things are going well, I am tempted to be proud and self-reliant. When I am struggling and know my weaknesses, I become utterly dependent on the Lord. Christâs power rests on us (v.9). His power is made perfect in our weakness.
Paul has written something absolutely remarkable. He says, âIt was a case of Christâs strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size â abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I becomeâ (vv.7â10, MSG).
Lord, help me, like Paul, to delight in my weaknesses because your power is made perfect in weakness. Thank you that your grace is enough for me.
Isaiah 28:16
His grace comes through Jesus
God loves you. He speaks of his people being like a vine. God tends it, waters it, watches over it and cares for it (27:3â4, MSG).
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 Godâs judgment. Yet this is described as âhis strange workâ (28:21). Martin Luther, the great reformer, made the point that while judgment is Christâs âstrange workâ, salvation is his âproper workâ.
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 âsurpassingly great revelationsâ, 2 Corinthians 12:7) but he was, in fact, humble. Ephraim was proud whereas it had no reason for pride.
Isaiah speaks of âthe pride of Ephraimâs drunkards⊠the pride of those laid low by wine!â (Isaiah 28:1). And âthe pride of Ephraimâs drunkards, will be trampled underfootâ (v.3). Although the Bible tells us that God gives wine to gladden our hearts (Psalm 104:15), it warns of the dangers of excess.
Here Isaiah describes âthe pretentious drunks⊠shabby and washed out and seedy â besotted with wine and whiskey, canât see straight, canât talk sense. Every table is covered with vomit. They live in vomitâ (Isaiah 28:1,7â8, MSG). He also speaks against the âscoffersâ (v.14, MSG) â in other words the sceptics and cynics.
In the middle of these prophecies of judgment, Isaiah foresees the one who will be the cornerstone of grace: âWatch closely. Iâm laying a foundation in Zion, a solid granite foundation, squared and true. And this is the meaning of the stone: A TRUSTING LIFE WONâT TOPPLEâ (v.16, MSG).
Jesus is the cornerstone. He is the âsolid granite foundationâ (v.16, MSG). The apostles Paul (Romans 9:33) and Peter (1 Peter 2:4â6) 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 2:4â6). âHe himself bore our sins in his body on the tree⊠by his wounds you have been healedâ (1 Peter 2:24).
Jesus is your sure foundation. The one who trusts in him will never be stricken with panic (Isaiah 28:16). This doesnât mean that you and I will never experience fear, worry or even panic attacks, but it is a reminder, when we are tempted to fear, that Jesus, your sure foundation, is the source of all grace and strength â the one who died so that you can be forgiven and experience his great love, grace and power for you. Whatever weaknesses and difficulties you may be struggling with today, his grace is enough for you.
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 âa trusting life wonât toppleâ. Your grace is enough.
Pippa Adds
2 Corinthians 12:9
âMy grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.â
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 and I have known his mighty power helping me in my life.
References
The One YearÂź is a registered trademark of Tyndale House Publishers used by permission Mother Teresa quoted in *The Power of Prayer* (MJF Books, 1998) p.3, taken from *United States Catholic Catechism for Adults* (USCCB, 2006) p.479â80 Nick Vujicic, *Life Without Limits* (Waterbrook, 2012) p.viii, 21. Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. âNIVâ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790. Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the AmplifiedÂź Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org) Scripture marked (MSG) taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.Kuhusu Mpango huu

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