September 2011

II Corinthians 12:9  His Grace is Sufficient

                             vs.

Isaiah 53:5  He was pierced for my transgressions, He was crushed for my iniquities, punished for my peace and by His Wounds I AM HEALED.

I believe there are approximately seven billion people in the world.  If they will only trust Him, they can put all of their needs together and God’s grace is sufficient to supply every need.  The apostle Paul had a thorn in his flesh. No one knows what it was.  Some have thought it to be his temper, which hindered his work. Some say it was the people who fought his work and hindered him in his labors.  Some even believed it was a form of eye trouble.  What ever it was caused Paul to go to God and pray: “Oh dear Father, please remove this thorn, it is hurting me”.  God answered Paul with a “No”, but gave him the grace to bear it.  Paul’s reply was he would rather have the thorn and God’s added grace than to be rid of the thorn and have not the grace!!

I am recovering from what I believe to be my 15th operation.  Gout crystals, cyst and an abscess had to be removed from my right big toe. It required scraping of the bone. Now this was a piece of cake, until the anesthesia wore off !!  From 2002 through 2004 I had nine surgeries to include open heart by-pass.  This does not include root canals, recent aneurysm surgery, frequent gout episodes, depression and a “double dipped economic recession”.  The other day I was feeling sorry for myself, and then I remembered the scripture: “God chastises those He loves”. At this exact time, I suddenly remembered He left Heaven to come to this “sin-sick” world to die on a cross for me. I immediately remembered  with of my woes, the two scriptures: “By His stripes I have been healed", and “His grace is sufficient”. To tell you the truth, I am sixty-five years old and never felt better in my life.  Not only is this the truth, it is also exactly The Way I See It.  Praise God and I remain in His Service.

Griff

PS. GOD IS GREATER THAN ANY PROBLEM I HAVE