"God's Grace, is Enough"

2 Corinthians 12:7–10 ⁷So to keep me from being too elated by the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from being too elated.

         

God has a way of humbling us, and being humbled is not always so comfortable to go through.  Though God tells us that we should be humble sometimes that is hard to do.  Paul says he was given a thorn in the flesh.  We all have this thorn in the flesh, which is a metaphor that translates to desires that comes from our sinful nature.

          A messenger of Satan can come to us in many ways, however Satan does not have to work hard these days.  The world and our own sinful desires do all the work for Satan.  The world says it is all ok, and our own desires use the world for an excuse to fall to all that feels good.

          What becomes humbling is those who see their reflection through God's law.  We might boast in our accomplishments forgetting God gave us the gift to do all that we do that is good, but then there is the side of us that does not do good.  We have a thorn to let us know we are in need of God's mercy and grace.

2 Corinthians 12:1–10 ⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. ⁹But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

         

It is not that we should boast about our sins, but rather boast in God who because of our sins gives us grace.  If God gives us nothing more than His grace we have much to boast in our God about.  However our God does much more for us as He has gifted us with those effects we need to not only survive but also survive in a world who wants us to sin so they can feel good about themselves.

          I can thank God for my knowledge I need for my previous vocation, and surely I can thank God for my present vocation, and I do thank Him.  We certainly can now thank God that because of our weaknesses His power is made perfect as it shows us His grace is His perfect love for us.

          God's perfect love is that even though we fall prey to our flesh of thorns He still loves us greatly.  And, loving us greatly than greatly we should praise and thank Him, boasting that we have such a perfect God.

2 Corinthians 12:1–10 ¹⁰For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

         

So we can all now be content with our lives.  No matter what we suffer through our lives in this world, we know are not of this world, but we are of God and His love.  His love was made perfect through Christ who died and took the punishment for our sin so we did not have to. 

          Through God's loving mercy we are stayed from what we deserve.  Through God's grace we receive God's great and awesome love He has for us.  This grace we do not deserve by our works but through God's love we receive through the works of Christ.

          Stop to think of your life without hope, and think of Christ who gave us that hope as He suffered and died on the cross.  This is God's grace in action as it is poured out through the blood of our savior Jesus Christ. God's grace became even greater as Christ rose from the dead and ascended into heaven.  God's grace even became greater as He gave us the Holy Spirit to help us through this life along with the His word.  And are you ready for this?  God's grace becomes even greater when we not only realize that we are forgiven but also given an everlasting relationship with Christ that translates to an eternal life of joy.  Wow! When you look at it this way God’s grace is enough, and I can't wait to receive it in full.  Amen.