Daily Verse

Sufficient Grace

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  2 Corinthians 12:8-9a ESV

Ironically, while I was feeling terrific, heading into Easter weekend I wrote a post about God’s Selah and rest. That all sounded great to my ears when I clicked on publish, and we hurried on with our plans to celebrate Easter. It is amazing what a difference just a few days have made! On Monday evening Nancy and I both starting feeling poorly, but we shrugged it off as being just another virus. Though we didn’t have much of a fever we became incredibly weak, and Nancy almost took a tumble in the living room. (Fortunately, she only ended up sitting down suddenly on the couch!) So, by this morning we had the sneaking suspicion it might be Covid, and sure enough our test kits confirmed it (Not a yippee moment!) For those wondering about it, I of course immediately called our doctor. Our unrelenting weakness has driven us to ask for healing and strength, every time we pray, but so far it feels more like we are stuck in the La Brea Tar Pits than camping on a mountaintop with Jesus. This has given me new appreciation for Paul’s insistent triple prayer for his thorn to be removed. Yet in spite of Paul’s faithfulness, God not only did not remove the thorn, He also didn’t even give Paul an answer till HIs third prayer. The passage tells us that God did this to keep Paul humble, but I believe He also did it for the rest of us in our weaknesses. We learn here that Paul was not just some special Saint, with a halo hovering over his head, but he was also a perfect example of God’s grace in weakness and an encouragement to those of us who are walking the same path.

Gardening 101

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“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. John 15:1 NLT

Maybe because I have been a lifelong gardener, my favorite hymn has always been “In the Garden”. Though theologians say it sounds more like a love song than a hymn and teenagers just roll their eyes wondering when it will be over, I still love those words. “And He walks with me and He talks with me,” is an invitation Jesus makes every morning, for us to spend time with Him in the garden of prayer. If you tarry you can almost hear Him calling your name, just like He called His disciples to pray with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. Because we cannot see God now, except by faith, prayer is a blessing unique to our life on earth. In Heaven we will see Jesus face to face, but now we may only hear His voice from a distance, and yet even then, it is so sweet that the birds hush their singing at its sound. I hope you will be blessed listening to this song. I sense the presence of the Gardener of Heaven, almost every time I get to sing it!

An Unforgettable Prayer

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And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”  Matthew 26:39 ESV

This prayer of Jesus was etched into the minds of His disciples, like none other He had prayed. At an earlier time, when the disciples had seen Jesus praying, they asked, “Lord teach us to pray.” But this prayer was not like that one. This midnight prayer left them so overwhelmed by sorrow, that they fell asleep. They had never seen Jesus like this. They were used to Him commanding the wind and waves or casting out demons. But at this moment it almost seemed as if Jesus was afraid. His words were so unforgettable that three of the four gospels repeat them. His words seemed shocking, “If it is possible, let this cup pass.”  It sounded like such a hopeless prayer. They must have wondered how that could be? Didn’t Jesus have enough faith? Had He done something wrong? NO, not for a moment! But the answer to His cry lay hidden even from Him for that moment. Hidden behind the suffering, shame, betrayal, and mocking was the miracle of our redemption. The Father would remove the cup from His hand, but not until He after had drunk from it for us all. When Jesus accepted that cup in Gethsemane, and drained it of its poison, He made it possible for it to be filled it with the new wine of salvation that is still running over with eternal life for you and me!

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