Promises: Volume 1

Yes, this is me.  On top of a volcano!

You may remember me mentioning that I was taking a class called "New Testament."  One day my professor talked about the major promises of the bible and I took note intending to dig more deeply into these promises and what they mean for me.  I am just now getting around to it, but it has been so good I thought I would share what God has been teaching me with all of you.  The first promise I want to share with you is sustaining grace.  My professor sited this passage from 2 Corinthians 12:9 as primary evidence of this promise: 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.

When I dive into these promises I like to break it down and search microscopically for significance in each word.  So, I first searched "sustaining."  I found Psalm 55:22 which says, "Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.  In these two passages I was struck with how easy it is to be sustained by the Lord.  He says that his grace is sufficient and that if we simply cast our burdens onto him he will take care of us.  Do you feel lighter after reading that?  I certainly feel a weight off my chest just writing it.  He doesn't tell us to go through a 12 step process to contentment, he tells us to just give up our worries and troubles to him.  He doesn't expect strength, he reveals himself in weakness.  In continuing my search of "sustaining" I came across 1 Corinthians 1:8.  "[Jesus Christ] who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, (emphasis added)."  I love this passage because it combines the idea of sustaining and grace.  The idea of being guiltless to the end is amazing!  Do you live in this freedom?  Do you know that you have permission to?

After doing all of this searching I came across a verse in Romans 5, but then I kept reading Romans 5, then 6, and then 7.  If you have not ever read Romans, or maybe just not in a long time please go read it again.  If not the whole book, I would highly recommend chapters 5-8.  I felt as though I was highlighting every verse of chapter 5.  So good!  Here is one of those gems:

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God (vv. 1,2).

 If you have placed your faith in Christ you have a right to this joy and peace and hope.  God offers it freely.  You no longer have to prove your worth or be anything your not.  God wants you in your broken state so that he can fill in the gaps and reveal his love and strength.

If we look back to 2 Corinthians 12, verse 10, Paul says, "For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.

May you be weak today.

Standing in awe of sustaining grace,

Sigourney