Thursday, September 20, 2012

Grace...A Most Usable Gift

You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 2:1)


I love to get gifts that I need or am going to need. Timothy is told by Paul that since he has received a gift from God…the Holy Spirit…then he will be able to use what he has received…the grace of God. We often don’t know all that there is to know about the gift of God’s grace. We may not understand what God has in store. But be assured that whatever life with God brings into our lives, His grace is enough. Timothy is exhorted to be strong…in the grace…that is in Christ Jesus. He will need grace to teach what Paul set forth. He will need grace to entrust these things to faithful teachers. He will need the grace of someone who suffers hardship and presses onward, looking upward. He will need grace to serve as a soldier of Christ…fighting battles that often look like lost causes. He will need grace to stay out of the everyday traps that would distract his ministry at the least and entrap and destroy his ministry at the worst. Timothy will need grace to compete as an athlete, training for the contest. He will need the grace that a farmer receives when a harvest has been yielded from his labor…the farmer knows he didn’t make it grow. Finally he needs the grace of remembering the Lord Jesus, risen from the dead, a descendant of David. We need the grace to remember these things about Jesus…and to be strong in it. For our king died for us…raised to glory…and reigns as King. Be strong today. Remember how much you need the grace of God. And be strong in it when you see your weakness. Jesus is Lord. I need His grace today to give me strength.

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