2 Corinthians 12:9 - His Grace Sufficient, Perfect in Weakness

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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."  (NIV)

Often I have read the above verse and thought to myself, poor Paul. It appears he is at the end. Instead of receiving the answer of healing he longed for (so I thought), he must now rely on God's grace to see him through every affliction.   Paul had been rendered an invalid.  

It was the same feelings of defeat that I had when a crisis arose in my life and I did everything I knew to prevail only to come to the end of my self efforts and finally exclaim with flailing hands, "Well, all we can do now is to pray!"

The Holy Spirit challenged me to a deeper revelation. I sought 2 Corinthians 12:9 through the Greek translation.  Sometimes true meanings can be lost in translation from one language to another.   Here is the treasure the Holy Spirit revealed to me.

I first looked up the Greek word for "grace", charis.  The Greek translation of grace tells us it is God's unmerited, unearned, bountiful favor that swallows up and much more abounds over the prison of sin we are all born into (Romans 5:20 & Galatians 3:22).  Charis is also the root of the English word "charisma" which means a compelling attractiveness that can inspire.

Grace from God abounds to, through, and in us and is triumphant!  It is the very essence and character of God's nature.  Grace is the compelling attractiveness of Jesus Christ.   Jesus was filled with charisma.

Then I looked up the Greek word for "sufficient".   The English translated word "sufficient" fails to do justice to the Greek word it was translated from, which is arkeo.   Arkeo means to be possessed of unfailing strength.  

From this simple true and deeper revelation, I could easily see that Jesus is Grace personified and He is our unfailing strength.

What appeared in 2 Corinthians 12:9 to be a response from God to Paul of "You will just have to get by on My grace" was the farthest interpretation from the truth of what God was saying.   God was telling Paul, "My Jesus is unfailing strength for you!"

I then understood.   His Grace was not for the end of our self efforts, but for the beginning of every trial, tribulation and persecution that attacks us.  We are to look to Jesus as our strength and it will be supplied mightily from the hand of God.

Today, with this new revelation, I find myself saying again and again as I walk through the valleys of life, "My Jesus is unfailing strength for me!"

It is also no longer astonishing to me that Paul after receiving this celestial answer gladly gloried in his weaknesses.  He saw the power that rested upon him while in his weaknesses.  It was Jesus' strength, His dynamite power (the Greek word for "power" is dunamis - where we get our word dynamite from) that was now resting upon him.   What other power could ever triumph over that?   Could any sickness, disease, weakness or affliction and ailment? 

What mountain of affliction are you facing?  A broken relationship?   Jesus is unfailing strength for you!

Your child has chosen the wrong path and told you they no longer want you in their life? Jesus is unfailing strength for you! 

Your company has decided to let you go?   Jesus is unfailing strength for you! 

Your dearest and closest friend has betrayed you?   Jesus is unfailing strength for you! 

You received a bad report from the doctor?   Jesus is unfailing strength for you!

Your family and friends do not understand your hunger and thirst for more of Him?   Jesus is unfailing strength for you!

Jesus is unfailing strength for you and me!  

His Grace is sufficient for you and me!

Romans 8:11 - Power of Life by the Spirit

Romans 8:11 "But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you." (KJV)

Sometimes I have to read a scripture over and over and meditate upon it before I begin to understand the full impact of it.  Romans 8:11 is one of those scriptures. It's a powerful verse and easy to camp out on for a long time. Think about how much power is needed to raise someone from the dead.  How about doing that after they have been dead for three days?  I don't know of anyone with the ability to do that in their own human strength, no matter how physically fit or intellectually savvy they are. Raising a dead person after three days goes against the order of all that is natural. Only God can do that!  But look, the above scripture states that we have that very same Spirit living on the inside of us!  What power, what might!  It truly brings to light and better interprets what Apostle Paul meant when he later wrote in Romans 8:31, "What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?"  Oh why, oh why do we fear when greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4)?

Now the Lord could have stopped there just letting us know that His great power resides in our very beings because that is glorious news alone, but He didn't.  He continued on in the same thought, same sentence, to bring our cup to overflowing, immersing us in His super-abundance.  He said through the Apostle Paul that the Holy Spirit will also give life to our mortal bodies.  Isn't that wonderful news?  God deliberately used the word "mortal" because He wanted us to know that this promise was indeed for our physical bodies today on this earth, here and now.  Our Heavenly bodies will no longer be mortal, but eternal.  (A quick note: the Greek word for "quicken" is zōopoieō (zō-o-poi-e'-ō) which means to restore to life; endued with new and greater powers of life; to give increase of life: thus of physical life.)

God is forever looking out for us to bless and increase us.  He cares about every detail of our life.  I ask again, what is there to fear with so great a power as the Holy Spirit dwelling on the inside of us?

Luke 10:41-42 "Martha, Martha..."

Luke 10:41-42, "And Jesus answered and said unto her, 'Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.'"  (KJV)

It's very easy to be worried and troubled about many things today. From the scripture above, we can see that not much has changed since Jesus' time. There is always so much to be concerned about. Sometimes it can feel like there are not enough hours in the day to be concerned about everything that needs to be taken care of. Many have demanding jobs while trying to have a quality home life spending time with the family and meeting their needs. Then there are the tasks of grocery shopping, cleaning house, doing laundry, yard-work...  The list can go on and on.  It was the same for Martha.  Jesus had come to her house and she wanted to fix a great meal for Him.  Who wouldn't?  Any born-again believer wants to do their best to please Jesus.  The problem was that Martha was trying to please Jesus in her way.  The fruit of her labor resulted in her becoming angry and resentful toward Jesus and her sister Mary (Luke 10:40).  She even accused Jesus of not caring!

Jesus knows we have a lot on our plates.  He knows there is much to be concerned about and He was fully aware of all that Martha was doing, and He did care.  He cared so much that He gave her (and us) the answer to triumphing victoriously in her (our) busy schedule.  It was only one instruction.  God's ways are so simple.  Jesus said in Luke 10:42 that only ONE thing was needful, and that was what Mary had chosen to do, which was to sit at Jesus' feet and hear Him speak the Word.  Mary wasn't worried about the meal and preparations.  After all, Jesus had fed 4,000 and 5,000 people with a few fish and loaves of bread (Mark 8; Luke 9)!  She wanted to bask in His presence and not miss a morsel of what He had to say.  She knew everything would work out just fine.  This pleased Jesus greatly.  He told Martha that He would not take that away from Mary.

Jesus is pleased by the same actions today for He does not change (Hebrews 13:8).  It pleases Him when we put Him first and feed upon His Word.  He knows how important it is for us to hear His Word.  Jesus told the devil in Matthew 4:4 that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.  Jesus even said His body was like bread and told us to take and eat (Matthew 26:26).  It pleases Him when we do so. 

I can attest by my own experiences that when we do that one thing that is needful, putting God and His Word first, everything else, no matter how busy just falls into place and God works it out.  God really does care about us so much so that He even knows the number of hairs on our head (Matthew 10:30)!  Amen!