MONDAY January 22nd
2 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.’
It reaches me! It reaches me!
Wondrous grace! It reaches me!
Pure, exhaustless, ever flowing,
Wondrous grace! It reaches me!
Mary D. James RH 339 MM 323
We commence with both the Scripture and the chorus that I concluded the previous devotion with, because I want to emphasize or remind us that the same grace that was sufficient for Paul is also sufficient for each one of us as we have come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And additionally I want us to understand that it matters not where we are, nor even how low we may feel we have gone, his grace can reach us.
The hymn writer was writing her own personal testimony, Paul was writing his own personal testimony and it has become the testimony of each one of us, firstly, in that it didn’t matter how low we had stooped in sin, his grace reached down to save us and in the present his grace is still reaching out to each one of us.
I don’t know what your personal circumstances are today, but the One who is full of grace and truth does, and he is willing to pour out from his abundant supply of grace into your life today.
I partly quoted a few days ago from Hebrews 4:16, here it is in full, ‘Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.’ How did Paul know that God’s grace was sufficient for him, he went to the throne of grace, for he says that three times he pleaded with the Lord! It was then that the One who was his and who is also our great high priest said to him ‘My grace is sufficient for you’.
Here is another verse to encourage ‘When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.’ Isaiah 43:2