My Grace Is Sufficient

 " And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness…" 2 Corinthians 12:9

      I have been so wrapped up in the stresses of life that I have been distracted, and with that distraction I couldn't find the words to encourage anyone. I had a conversation with a couple of people that (by the grace of God) gave me the inspiration I needed for myself but also for you. I come from a family of hard working, determined, perfectionists These are not bad qualities to have but if I am not careful they can hinder my walk with Christ. How? Because I begin to use these qualities to be a Christian and that is not how God works, it's how I work. I also grew up in a church environment that put pressure on me to pray until you get results, or "breakthrough" (as most people like to say), do this or do that in order to get your victory. However, victory doesn’t come by my efforts but through HIS. So with that environment mixed with my human nature creates a mess of chaos and confusion. It's difficult after living this way all of my life to just switch off my way of thinking. I find myself working and thinking overtime to change myself when it's not possible. LOL, I still haven't figured that out apparently. I would like to share with you some things that I have been reminded of by people close to my heart but most importantly through the Word of God.

     "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God" (2 Corinthians 3:5) I wanted to really understand this verse, so I looked up the definition of sufficient (even though I already know what it means) to see how it is used. Webster described the word the best,  it means "enough to meet the needs of a situation or proposed end." And it's just that, we alone are not sufficient. In John 15:5 Jesus says, "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing."  If you were to look at the anatomy of a tree and consider the roles each part had to play this verse would mean so much more to you. So that's what I did! To keep things simple in order to get my point across I will just skip to the basics. There are vines that grow on the outer part of a tree but there are also vines that grow underneath a tree called a root stock. The role of the root is an anchor of the plant and is there to support the vegetative growth. And the branches, well, they basically just bear fruit. These two verses go hand in hand. We are not sufficient by ourselves just like branches cannot bear fruit on their own (if there was no tree); but Jesus is just like the root is what brings life forth. He is our anchor and support and we bear the product of the life that is in the root. Again, WE CANNOT DO IT ON OUR OWN! Going back to what I explained about my nature is that I still try to do things on my own. I even think I can fix mine and other's problems when I cannot.

     So that is why I get frustrated. It's because I am too busy trying instead of just being (living). "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God. Not of works lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). I don't deserve the love of God. I am not worthy just like anyone else. I did nothing to obtain salvation. IT IS A GIFT THAT HE FREELY GAVE! Period. Sadly, the mentality of so many is that as long as you do good you will be in good standing with God. That is not the case. It's God's work not ours, but the question is have we yielded ourselves to Him?

     Someone explained to me that there are some things we can change and others that we cannot change. For example, you can make a conscious decision to stop smoking or drinking. You have that ability. The things we CANNOT change are things like anger problems, impatience, overthinking, worry, etc. The reason is because these characteristics are things we have inherited from our family. It's our human nature. You cannot make a decision to not be impatient anymore and then all of a sudden you are fine. No, it's impossible, but it's not hopeless. God is more than able to give us a new nature; His nature through His Holy Spirit. That's when we can have love that was not there before, we can be gentle when once we were hostile, and we can have patience when once we had none at all. All through the work of God and Him alone. We just simply ask, yield, and trust Him. I can and have wasted a lot of time worrying and overthinking. For what? It has brought me nothing but failure because I limited God and trusted in my own abilities. Our lives are meaning less without God. I want to encourage everyone, including myself to stop trying to do a work that only God can do. Just keep marching on. Keep marching on Christian soldier for the war is almost over. Be who God created you to be and stop trying to be something you are not. God Bless You!

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17