March 6 – He Will Help Us

“Like a swallow, like a crane, so I twitter; I moan like a dove; My eyes look wistfully to the heights; O Lord, I am oppressed, be my security.”  Isaiah 38:14 (NASB)

There are times in our lives that our hearts ache for many reasons. The words in this verse were recorded by the prophet Isaiah but were the words of the King of Judah, King Hezekiah. The King Hezekiah had been told to set his house in order because he was about to die. But he knew he could appeal to God. God heard and added fifteen years after he recovered from a very serious illness. There are times in our lives when our hearts are troubled by our circumstances. Our problems may not be as serious as King Hezekiah who had expected to die from his illness but sometimes they actually are that heavy on our hearts. However that might be we can turn to God. We can say and cry out as the King did, “I am being threatened; Lord, come to my aid.” Yes, friends, whatever it is that might cause turmoil of our minds and our hearts, we can turn to God for help. And as He helped the King of Judah, he will help us too according to His will as we rely on Him.

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November 22 – With Us When We Pray

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” Romans 8:26 (ESV) 

Our verse is in a context that makes known the creation* and believers* both groan for ultimate restoration, the Holy Spirit does as well. One of the last promises Jesus made to His disciples was that he would send a helper and fulfilled it through the Holy Spirit sent from God our Father. The groanings too deep for words is communication within the Trinity that cannot be expressed in words. It is the Holy Spirit that works with our Lord Jesus in His high priestly work of intercession. All on our behalf for all who have believed in Jesus as their Savior, have the Holy Spirit in their lives. The Holy Spirit is helping us to pray by praying with us to our Heavenly Father. To start with, we really don't know in ourselves how we should pray. God promises that if we ask the Holy Spirit to guide us He will impress on our hearts what things to pray for and even how to pray. As we pray we can trust the Spirit to pray with us and we can depend on Him. We can also trust that God will hear and answer our prayer.

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* For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. Romans 8:22-23

May 17 – Power to Perfect the Weakness

“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.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

Weakness is bad, right? None of us seek to be seen as weak even if we are weak. Yet, these words were written as a testimony by the Apostle Paul. Paul tells of a prayer he had earnestly prayed three times asking God to remove a problem that he called “a thorn in the flesh.” We do not know just what it was while many who also do not know speculate with assumptions. What we do know is that God knows what is best for us and everything that He does for us is for our best even when it's not what we asked for. God knew what was best for the Apostle Paul. God also knew the perfect solution for his problem.  Paul acknowledged his weakness; it had a purpose – to glorify God.  Paul learned to even boast of his weaknesses. If we are true children of God we will want more than anything else, that God's name will be glorified. We want to realize His power is perfect and all he does is perfect. When God does not do just what we ask of Him, He always gives us the grace and power to overcome.

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November 22 – Perfect and Satisfactory

“For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin."   Hebrews 4:15 (NASB)

We believe Christ’s ministry as our eternal high priest is worth understanding. The first time in the Bible that we read about the function of a priest is Genesis 14.  He was a priest of God Most High and he went out to meet Abraham. This was the priest Melchizedek, King of Salem. His name means “king of righteousness” which suggest that he was a righteous ruler who was God’s representative. Melchizedek was the only one of two kings meeting Abraham that Abraham accepted as his spiritual superior and he was a prototypical for Christ Himself, Melchizedek was both a king and a priest blessing and receiving tithes from Abraham. His priesthood, like Christ’s is uninterrupted by succession. There are no successors to Christ to be our high priest. Knowing this, we can trust His ministry to be genuine and eternal. As our High Priest, Jesus was His own perfect sinless sacrifice to God the Father on our behalf and His sacrifice made propitiation for our sins and satisfied the debt. Jesus knows what temptation is by His own experience because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted (Hebrews 2:18).

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November 11 – Beneficial Sufficiency

“And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NASB)

Context is important all the time and especially for our verse today. It comes in the midst of Paul’s defense of his apostleship to the believers in Corinth. Such is our promise today. This is God’s universal purpose for all the suffering Christians have in life. Suffering develops our trust and contentment in God as we learn to have less dependence on ourselves and the ways of this world. Paul stresses for us, that in our sufferings we find the glory of Christ’s all-sufficient grace magnified. God repeats for us each time, what He said to Paul in answer to the request to remove the thorn of suffering he was experiencing, “My grace is sufficient for you.”  It is sufficient and beneficial because the power of Christ is given to us to overcome suffering. And that power is made perfect when we need it most – when our weaknesses are most exposed. So suffering is intended by God not only as a way to wean us off of self and onto grace, but also as a way to spotlight that grace and make it shine. That is exactly what faith does: it magnifies Christ’s grace in the future.

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February 7 – Worried About Being Weak

“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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”  -  2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV)

When we face times of testing our faith, we might experience doubt in our endurance or strength under trial in the same way the Apostle Paul did.  He had a persistent troubling condition he called ‘a thorn in his flesh.’  Asking God to remove it did not bring about Paul’s desired result. A condition exposed weaknesses in Paul.  We too have conditions which magnify our weaknesses, especially those which are pestered by the enemy in his efforts to destroy us. No matter whatever conditions we face as challenges to our desire and effort to obey God’s Word, even if our weaknesses are exposed, we do not have to worry over them as if being weak is a deficiency. Trusting in God’s word and His promise to provide the grace we need, we can be strengthened by God’s power.  Nothing demonstrates power more than situations that need it.  Our weakness too is an opportunity to avail ourselves of God’s promised power.  In fact, instead of worry about our weaknesses, we can boldly proclaim how Christ helps us overcome them. Paul bravely boasted about his weaknesses because of what God had promised him. Let’s do so too.

Next: Worrying About Decisions

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January 12 – Weakness to Boast About

“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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”  - 2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV)

Today, we consider a different kind of promise and one we probably need to remember more often.  What is challenging our faith today? What do we find overwhelming and seeking relief from God?  If we find ourselves in that kind of predicament, we can understand that the Apostle Paul faced difficult conditions.  Paul asked God three times to relieve him of this specific painful condition.  We don’t know what it was even though Paul writes that its purpose was to keep him humble.  But we do know that God did not relieve Paul of his 'thorn' but promised to provide the apostle sufficient grace needed to endure it. And God also promises us enough grace to overcome our challenges.  Not just enough grace but grace that excels in helping us to be strong when we are very weak.  Weakness actually brings the supply of grace and strength from God and demonstrates God’s power in our lives.  It led Paul to boast about his weaknesses.  Can we do the same?  When we are weak, we can know that God’s grace is strong and sufficient for us to endure.

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May 21 – Praying Right

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Romans 8:26-27 (ESV)

Because God knows we are His, as we read yesterday, He makes wonderful provision in many ways for us, His children. He even provides help for us  in our praying.  Maybe we think that we must pray right to get what we need and that it all depends on us. But our verse today reminds us that by ourselves we don't really know how we should pray or what to pray for. That's why God has given us His Holy Spirit to teach us how to pray and even to step up, on our behalf, and help our prayers. So, not only does the Holy Spirit give us guidance about what to pray for, He also prays for us. In our verses we read that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us in a way that is according to God's will. Yes, the Holy Spirit knows what God wants us to pray for and He makes certain that our prayers are given in the way that is God's will.  Now, that is a promise that fills us with encouragement and joy. 

November 22 – With Us When We Pray

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” Romans 8:26 (NIV) 

One of the last promises Jesus made to His disciples was that he would send a helper. That promise is fulfilled through the Holy Spirit sent from God our Father. All who have believed in Jesus as their Savior, and we hope that this is true of you, have the Holy Spirit in their lives. In this verse today, God explains what is going on while we are praying. The Holy Spirit is helping us to pray by praying with us to our Heavenly Father. To start with, we really don't know in ourselves how we should pray. We do know that if we ask the Holy Spirit to guide us He will impress on our hearts things to pray for and even how to pray. As we pray we can trust the Spirit to pray with us and we can depend on Him. We can also trust that God will hear and answer our prayer. 

May 13 – His Power Is Perfect

“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.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

Is this a familiar verse to you, or is it new? These words were written as a testimony by the Apostle Paul in his second letter to the church at Corinth. Paul tells of a prayer he had earnestly prayed three times asking God to remove a physical problem. God knows what is best for us and everything that He does for us is for our best even when it is not what we asked for. God knew what was best for the Apostle Paul. God also knew the perfect solution for his problem.  Paul knew that his weakness had a purpose – to glorify God.  If we are true children of God we will want more than anything else, that God's name will be glorified. We want to realize that His power is perfect and all that he does is perfect. We also want to trust that God is doing what is best for us and even when He does not do just what we ask of Him, He gives us the grace and power to overcome.

March 5 – He Will Help Us

“I cried like a swift or thrush, I moaned like a mourning dove. My eyes grew weak as I looked to the heavens. I am being threatened; Lord, come to my aid!”  Isaiah 38:14 (NIV)

The words in this verse were recorded by the prophet Isaiah but were not his words. These are the words written by the King of Judah, King Hezekiah after he recovered from a very serious illness. We read these words today because there are times in our lives when our hearts are troubled by our circumstances. Our problems may not be as serious as King Hezekiah who had expected to die from his illness but sometimes they actually are that heavy on our hearts. However that might be we can turn to God. We can say and cry out as the Kind did, “I am being threatened; Lord, come to my aid.” Yes, my friend, whatever it is that might cause our minds and our hearts to be troubled and broken, we can turn to God for help. And as He helped the King of Judah, he will help us too according to His will as we rely on Him.

September 1

“You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.” Ezekiel 34:31 (NIV)

We realize that God loves us even though He knows that we are not perfect. He knows us just as He knew His people in Old Testament days. What the Lord told His followers in Ezekiel’s day can be applied to us today. He knows who we are. He knows where we came from. He says we are his people and what he means is that we are human. Just as sheep left on their own will wander off and get lost or even killed by wild animals, God knows we make mistakes and sometimes fail Him. But in spite of our weaknesses or failings, He is patient with us and loves us. He still wants us to remember that He is our God. He is not ashamed to be known as our God.

May 22

“As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.” Psalm 103:13-14 (NIV)

These words remind us of one reason why God has a special feeling for us who have become His children by faith. It is because He knows where we are coming from. He has been watching us since the very beginning just like an earthly father watches his child from the day of its birth. Yes, our Lord knows each of us and has been watching us since before we were born. He knows we are human with human weaknesses. Still He loves us and is patient with us when we make mistakes and when we fail to grow. “The Lord has compassion.”

April 20

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26 (NIV)

I believe that most of us, perhaps all of us, have sometimes felt the need of special strength from God. The psalmist speaks of physical weakness and also of emotional and spiritual weakness. Sometimes, when our bodies are tired, or when we are ill it affects our inner feelings, our emotions, and our outlook on life. We may lose courage, or, as the psalmist said, our hearts might fail. In such cases what do we need? We need encouragement from God. He can strengthen our hearts and He gives us just what we need, our portion. Then we can cope with other weaknesses as the psalmist testified. 

January 28

“But He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:19 (NIV)

Paul writes about his experiences with a physical problem about which he prayed to the Lord three times. Look at the verse. Isn’t that the way it works with us too? When we think we’re doing alright on our own, God doesn’t have a chance to show us what He can do for us. We need to get to the point where we realize that we can’t make it on our own. We have to realize our weakness and lack of ability. Then God can show us His ability and His power. Paul wasn’t ashamed to admit his weakness. He goes on to say, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” He believed what God had told him was true.