Grace

                                                             

Grace

 1 Corinthians 12:9

But 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 about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

I was deep in prayer, in gut-wrenching, crying, pouring your heart out kind of prayer when these words came to my head. “My grace is sufficient for you, my grace is sufficient for you”. Those powerful words played over and over in my mind.
What does that even mean I wondered? Why did those words come into my thoughts? I looked up the verse and found the next part of the verse – “for my power is made perfect in weakness”. I realized that was what God was trying to show me, trying to show that though I am weak, weak down to my very core, my weakness is overtaken by His strength. By His strength, I am able to get out of bed. By His strength, I am able to face the day.  I also began to wonder what “His grace is sufficient for me” means. I looked up the definition of grace - the free and unmerited favor of God. WOW, God’s favor is enough for me. God gives me favor and becomes my strength. I become less so He can become more.
I let these words sink slowly into my soul. Let them take root into my current reality. Enveloping me with the warmth of the meaning, the love that our Father has for us. In the storms of life, how do we apply these words? We can accept them or continue in our own strength. I have tried to do things in my own strength before and I was crushed by the weight, unable to breathe, unable to fulfill God’s purpose in my life.
When we really understand that we can rest, we can be still, we can let him fight our battles it is then that we enter into a place of peace, a place of true rest. God goes before us and fights our battles and at the same time is pouring grace over us like a cool waterfall reaching into the intricate places that no human could ever reach. His grace and power are unmatched by anyone or anything.
There are times I am overwhelmed by the seemingly impossible situations I am facing, but I am now more overwhelmed, more overtaken by the vastness of God’s love for me.  We are never alone. He holds our hands and our hearts and carries us through the valleys. In my weakness, He is strong. Today, tomorrow and through our storms, we can rest in this promise.

Locking Up Those Thoughts

Locking Up Those Thoughts

2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)

"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

What we focus on is a choice. I used to let my thoughts control me. My thoughts have always been my weakest point, the place where the enemy digs in so deep and so strongly that it used to debilitate me. One negative thought and my day would spiral downward. THAT was before I knew how to fight, that was before I realized that I control my thoughts, not my thoughts control me. That was before I learned what it really means to “take every thought captive to Christ”
Taking our thoughts captive isn’t just dismissing them. Think of what it means to take

something or someone captive. The definition of captive is “imprisoned or confined” SO think about this, if you were taking a thought captive would you just let it go? Would you just gently wave goodbye to it? NO, when you take a thought captive you imprison it, you confine it, you lock it up! You ask it where it came from and who sent it. You fight it with the word of God. Before I knew how to fight I would try in my own strength to rid myself of negative thoughts. I have now learned after taking it captive I say a verse that is the opposite of what I hear. For example, today during one of my lowest times I heard “Where is God now?” I took it captive and said, “God is for me and not against me, He works ALL things together for His good, He will never leave me or forsake me.”

Would you enter a battlefield without preparing? Would you walk into combat without your weapons? I used to try to battle my thoughts in my own strength, helpless without armor or weapons. I failed miserably every time. I now take time daily to prepare because I know that each day I enter a battlefield. I spend time with God and work on getting His words, His weapons in my mind so in times of battle He will bring them to me.

We are warriors. We are mighty. When we fight with God’s power, in His strength there is no battle that we cannot conquer. I am learning to embrace that there is nothing, absolutely nothing that He won’t be faithful to carry me through.

Be Still

Psalm 46:10

  Be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the Nations, I will be exalted in the earth.

Be still. 2 small words with a huge, powerful meaning. When the storms of life rage around you how do you remain still? When you feel like you could make things better when you feel like all you want to do is fix things, how do you remain still?

 For me remaining still is a matter of trusting God every day, every hour, every minute and every second. It means being still and not letting the worries of tomorrow fill my mind. It means training my mind to take every thought captive to Christ. This does not come naturally to me and it is something I work on every day. I have found recently that picking a few key verses to memorize in my time of stillness has been extremely helpful.

Being still means talking to God throughout the entire day, not just at meal times and bedtime. I have learned to talk to Him as a good friend, constantly sharing my struggles and triumphs. Many times a day I turn my storms back over to Him and trust Him that He will work ALL, not some but ALL things together for those that love him. (Romans 8:28)

 Being still is submitting to that still small voice that is asking you to wait, to trust, to wait on God’s perfect timing. Waiting is much easier said than done. Waiting can be one of the hardest things you have ever done. Waiting can drive you crazy, test you to your limits and at the same time mold you into the person that God is creating you to be.

 Do I like the waiting? Not at all, does the waiting create character? Yes. During the waiting, it is as if I am a caterpillar in the cocoon. I cannot see the changes happening to me, I do not know how long I will be in the dark, with no light in sight, but yet, I trust my creator for His timing. If I come out too early when I think I am ready, but my wings aren’t ready, I will fall to the ground and be unsuccessful in moving forward with my life. If I patiently wait until the creator has carefully crafted my wings, painting them in vibrant colors and building their strength I will come out of my cocoon with grace, strength, and beauty like I have never seen before. I will become what I was meant to be. I will know that because I have gone through trials, through storms that I thought I could never endure, the testing of my faith will produce perseverance. Perseverance will help me become complete and lack nothing. (James 1:3-4)

 The storms continue to rage all around me. Some days I feel as though I might drown, but I never do. Each time I begin to sink I see Jesus reaching out His hand to me, picking me up and He says to me “Trust me” I have 2 choices, I can continue flailing around in the water trying to do things in my own strength, gasping for air and nearly drowning or I can reach out my hand to Jesus and trust. Trust and be still. Trust that He knows with his infinite wisdom what is best for me. Be still as He goes behind the scenes and forms me into his beautiful creation

                               Be still, be still, be still.