2 Corinthians 12:9-10
And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
God said, “My Grace is Sufficient for you!”
In other words, in all situations, regardless of circumstances, my grace will be enough to sustain you and see you through.
No matter the trial or opposition facing the Apostle Paul, God’s Grace was enough to see him through, yet Paul still had to choose to keep on pressing on by God’s Grace. Had he decided at anytime to accept defeat and throw in the towel on what God had called him to do, it would not have negated God’s Grace and favor upon him, it would have simply meant that Paul gave up and quit, not God. God’s Grace was enough… His Grace was sufficient, but Paul had to keep walking in it no matter what the circumstance was.
It’s the same in your life today. God’s Grace is enough to see you through any circumstance or trial of life, but it’s up to you as to whether or not you choose to walk in it. God has a plan and a purpose and a work for each of us and He will supply all the Grace necessary to fulfill that purpose completely, but that does not mean that you will not face opposition… That does not mean that you’re not going to possibly fall at times… That does not mean that you’re never going to suffer set-backs… That does not mean that you’re not going to have some serious disappointments and struggles along the way… But it does mean that He will give you all the Grace, Favor and Strength to make it through whatever comes your way, yet you’ve still got to make up your mind to walk in that Grace and trust Him completely and should you fall along the way, get up again and press on! His Grace is sufficient for you, but you’ve got to have your mind made up to keep on pressing forward no matter what may try to stand between you and what God has called you to!
If you ever get around people who have accomplished great things within the Kingdom of God, you will find that those accomplishments and those achievements did not come without a price. If you look at the great men of God in the Bible, it’s easy to see that those men did not just haphazardly achieve what they achieved in their ministries, but they persevered and they fought and they were persistent and they lost some things along the way in order to fulfill the call of God upon their lives.
If God has called you to do a work, you can sit around and speak words of faith about it all day long and you can speak all the positive words of affirmation that you want to and you can even believe in your heart that it’s going to be great and yet not achieve one solitary thing for the Kingdom of God.
You can pray, “Father, I know that you’ve got a work for me to do. Lord, I know it’s gonna be miraculous! I believe with all of my heart that lives are gonna be touched and souls are gonna be saved through this anointed ministry that you’ve called me to! By faith I proclaim it all right now! LORD MAKE IT HAPPEN!”
And don’t that little prayer sound so nice and sincere!
But the truth is, you can pray prayers of faith about what God’s called you to do all day long, but if your faith does not produce some works, then the Bible declares in the book of James that your faith is Dead and there’s not one thing that’s going to happen. You might as well be playing tidily-winks somewhere, because the Bible says that “Faith without works is dead.” In other words, Faith that does not produce works is Dead Faith!
It not only takes real faith to be successful in the Kingdom, but it also takes real work. And real living faith will always produce proper corresponding works! I’ve never seen a farmer harvest a crop without first working and preparing the field and sowing the seed.
Some people would say, “Well, now I just don’t know Preacher. That would be a farmer of great faith to just pray and believe God for a bumper crop without ever working in his field. He’d really have to trust God to do that!”
No! That’s not trusting God! That’s just being lazy and foolish! There’s still a law of the harvest! There’s still a law of sowing and reaping! If you don’t sow anything, I don’t care how great your faith is, you’re not going to reap anything. God will provide us with everything that we need in order to do what He’s called us to do, but He expects us to stand up and utilize the tools and gifts and opportunities that He’s given us to work with in order to bring that to fruition.
I remember some 27 years or so ago, after I got out of my last full body cast, I was sent to physical rehab for sometime in order to learn to walk again. And it was painful and it seemed like an eternity before I was even able to take little baby steps. And it was so frustrating, because walking, which I had once taken for granted now seemed like a nearly impossible feat. But I remember attempting to walk between the parallel bars and doing the strengthening exercises and I remember falling many, many times. And it would be so frustrating and discouraging to find myself on the ground at 15 years old simply because I’d lost my balance or I’d stumbled on something, but the key was to always get back up and try again. If I would have given up after the fall, I wouldn’t be able to walk today.
And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
God said, “My Grace is Sufficient for you!”
In other words, in all situations, regardless of circumstances, my grace will be enough to sustain you and see you through.
No matter the trial or opposition facing the Apostle Paul, God’s Grace was enough to see him through, yet Paul still had to choose to keep on pressing on by God’s Grace. Had he decided at anytime to accept defeat and throw in the towel on what God had called him to do, it would not have negated God’s Grace and favor upon him, it would have simply meant that Paul gave up and quit, not God. God’s Grace was enough… His Grace was sufficient, but Paul had to keep walking in it no matter what the circumstance was.
It’s the same in your life today. God’s Grace is enough to see you through any circumstance or trial of life, but it’s up to you as to whether or not you choose to walk in it. God has a plan and a purpose and a work for each of us and He will supply all the Grace necessary to fulfill that purpose completely, but that does not mean that you will not face opposition… That does not mean that you’re not going to possibly fall at times… That does not mean that you’re never going to suffer set-backs… That does not mean that you’re not going to have some serious disappointments and struggles along the way… But it does mean that He will give you all the Grace, Favor and Strength to make it through whatever comes your way, yet you’ve still got to make up your mind to walk in that Grace and trust Him completely and should you fall along the way, get up again and press on! His Grace is sufficient for you, but you’ve got to have your mind made up to keep on pressing forward no matter what may try to stand between you and what God has called you to!
If you ever get around people who have accomplished great things within the Kingdom of God, you will find that those accomplishments and those achievements did not come without a price. If you look at the great men of God in the Bible, it’s easy to see that those men did not just haphazardly achieve what they achieved in their ministries, but they persevered and they fought and they were persistent and they lost some things along the way in order to fulfill the call of God upon their lives.
If God has called you to do a work, you can sit around and speak words of faith about it all day long and you can speak all the positive words of affirmation that you want to and you can even believe in your heart that it’s going to be great and yet not achieve one solitary thing for the Kingdom of God.
You can pray, “Father, I know that you’ve got a work for me to do. Lord, I know it’s gonna be miraculous! I believe with all of my heart that lives are gonna be touched and souls are gonna be saved through this anointed ministry that you’ve called me to! By faith I proclaim it all right now! LORD MAKE IT HAPPEN!”
And don’t that little prayer sound so nice and sincere!
But the truth is, you can pray prayers of faith about what God’s called you to do all day long, but if your faith does not produce some works, then the Bible declares in the book of James that your faith is Dead and there’s not one thing that’s going to happen. You might as well be playing tidily-winks somewhere, because the Bible says that “Faith without works is dead.” In other words, Faith that does not produce works is Dead Faith!
It not only takes real faith to be successful in the Kingdom, but it also takes real work. And real living faith will always produce proper corresponding works! I’ve never seen a farmer harvest a crop without first working and preparing the field and sowing the seed.
Some people would say, “Well, now I just don’t know Preacher. That would be a farmer of great faith to just pray and believe God for a bumper crop without ever working in his field. He’d really have to trust God to do that!”
No! That’s not trusting God! That’s just being lazy and foolish! There’s still a law of the harvest! There’s still a law of sowing and reaping! If you don’t sow anything, I don’t care how great your faith is, you’re not going to reap anything. God will provide us with everything that we need in order to do what He’s called us to do, but He expects us to stand up and utilize the tools and gifts and opportunities that He’s given us to work with in order to bring that to fruition.
I remember some 27 years or so ago, after I got out of my last full body cast, I was sent to physical rehab for sometime in order to learn to walk again. And it was painful and it seemed like an eternity before I was even able to take little baby steps. And it was so frustrating, because walking, which I had once taken for granted now seemed like a nearly impossible feat. But I remember attempting to walk between the parallel bars and doing the strengthening exercises and I remember falling many, many times. And it would be so frustrating and discouraging to find myself on the ground at 15 years old simply because I’d lost my balance or I’d stumbled on something, but the key was to always get back up and try again. If I would have given up after the fall, I wouldn’t be able to walk today.
And it’s the same exact principle in our Christian walk. The whole theme of Christianity is about rising again.
Micah 7:8 says, “Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; For when I fall, I will arise!”
And the fall can be painful and the fall can be frustrating. And the fact today is that somewhere in your Christian walk you will find that you have fallen, whether it be into sin, or discouragement or apathy or fear or whatever. You will fall somewhere along the way. But it really matters not what has tripped you and caused you to fall. The only thing that’s going to really count is that when you fall, you don’t stay down, but you rise up again and you press on. Because you will never live a life of victory if you don’t learn to get up and go again! God will grant you the Grace and Strength, if you’ll but trust Him and walk therein!
Now, there are some people who take pride in never struggling. They take pride in the fact that they never seem to fall. They brag about the fact that they never run across a stumbling block. And it is true that there are some people who just don’t seem to have very many major situations in their walk with God, but the reason is usually because they are not walking. They’re just standing around in one spot and watching everybody else, never moving forward into the dimension that God is wanting to use them in.
And there’s no question about it… There is some level of safety in standing still… In standing dormant… In never taking a step of faith… There’s nothing gained, but there’s nothing seemingly lost.
It’s sort of like when I was learning to walk again. I could have chosen to just stay in my wheel chair or on crutches, because when I was there, I felt safe. I never fell when I was in the chair. But my desire to walk again was far greater than my fear of falling.
And thus it is today in my walk with God. Yes, I could become a recluse and not be involved in the work of God… I could retire into a safe place where I do not run the risk of failure or opposition or tremendous struggle… But my desire to fulfill the call and purpose of God on my life far exceeds my fear of failure.
Christianity is not a call to be a spectator. The Bible plainly says, to not just be hearers of the Word, but Doers. That implies action. God has not called us into His marvelous Light and into His Grace just stand around and be spectators. But we are to be workers for in the Kingdom of God. I want to be busy working for my Lord, even if it comes with the risk of struggle. I know that I’ll be alright, because if God be for me, who can be against me!
Every successful person that we read of in the Bible, had failures, some to greater degrees than others.
David in the Old Testament was a scoundrel. He was a lying, cheating, adulterous, murderer! David failed God miserably, many times over, yet the Bible called him a man after God’s own heart. He had God’s favor on him in spite of his failures. And one of the key to David’s success was his willingness to repent and to rise up again when he fell.
The great Apostle Paul, had more struggles, hardships and setbacks put in his way than many of us combined. I mean, this guy had all sorts of excuses and many, many opportunities to just accept defeat and throw in the towel and quit, but He had a relentless tenacity and he refused to give up. He knew that God’s Grace was sufficient and even though he had failures and obstacles in his way, he said in Philippians 3:14, “I press on toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Sometimes we do not understand why things go certain ways in our lives, but we must learn to trust God in spite of circumstance and press on regardless and we can make it, because His Grace will be sufficient!
I want to encourage you to keep your eyes upon Jesus and trust Him in all things. Regardless of your situations, His Grace will be enough to see you through, just don’t give up! My very favorite scripture in all of the Bible is Proverbs 3:5 & 6, “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not to your own understanding; but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”
Trust Him completely, without wavering and without reservation! His Grace will enable you and you will make it through any situation that life may send your way.
Just Thinkin’ Out Loud
Pastor Robbie
Micah 7:8 says, “Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; For when I fall, I will arise!”
And the fall can be painful and the fall can be frustrating. And the fact today is that somewhere in your Christian walk you will find that you have fallen, whether it be into sin, or discouragement or apathy or fear or whatever. You will fall somewhere along the way. But it really matters not what has tripped you and caused you to fall. The only thing that’s going to really count is that when you fall, you don’t stay down, but you rise up again and you press on. Because you will never live a life of victory if you don’t learn to get up and go again! God will grant you the Grace and Strength, if you’ll but trust Him and walk therein!
Now, there are some people who take pride in never struggling. They take pride in the fact that they never seem to fall. They brag about the fact that they never run across a stumbling block. And it is true that there are some people who just don’t seem to have very many major situations in their walk with God, but the reason is usually because they are not walking. They’re just standing around in one spot and watching everybody else, never moving forward into the dimension that God is wanting to use them in.
And there’s no question about it… There is some level of safety in standing still… In standing dormant… In never taking a step of faith… There’s nothing gained, but there’s nothing seemingly lost.
It’s sort of like when I was learning to walk again. I could have chosen to just stay in my wheel chair or on crutches, because when I was there, I felt safe. I never fell when I was in the chair. But my desire to walk again was far greater than my fear of falling.
And thus it is today in my walk with God. Yes, I could become a recluse and not be involved in the work of God… I could retire into a safe place where I do not run the risk of failure or opposition or tremendous struggle… But my desire to fulfill the call and purpose of God on my life far exceeds my fear of failure.
Christianity is not a call to be a spectator. The Bible plainly says, to not just be hearers of the Word, but Doers. That implies action. God has not called us into His marvelous Light and into His Grace just stand around and be spectators. But we are to be workers for in the Kingdom of God. I want to be busy working for my Lord, even if it comes with the risk of struggle. I know that I’ll be alright, because if God be for me, who can be against me!
Every successful person that we read of in the Bible, had failures, some to greater degrees than others.
David in the Old Testament was a scoundrel. He was a lying, cheating, adulterous, murderer! David failed God miserably, many times over, yet the Bible called him a man after God’s own heart. He had God’s favor on him in spite of his failures. And one of the key to David’s success was his willingness to repent and to rise up again when he fell.
The great Apostle Paul, had more struggles, hardships and setbacks put in his way than many of us combined. I mean, this guy had all sorts of excuses and many, many opportunities to just accept defeat and throw in the towel and quit, but He had a relentless tenacity and he refused to give up. He knew that God’s Grace was sufficient and even though he had failures and obstacles in his way, he said in Philippians 3:14, “I press on toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Sometimes we do not understand why things go certain ways in our lives, but we must learn to trust God in spite of circumstance and press on regardless and we can make it, because His Grace will be sufficient!
I want to encourage you to keep your eyes upon Jesus and trust Him in all things. Regardless of your situations, His Grace will be enough to see you through, just don’t give up! My very favorite scripture in all of the Bible is Proverbs 3:5 & 6, “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not to your own understanding; but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”
Trust Him completely, without wavering and without reservation! His Grace will enable you and you will make it through any situation that life may send your way.
Just Thinkin’ Out Loud
Pastor Robbie
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