The Most Important Thing to Ask God For - Part 2
God’s Strength vs. Our Strength
Your greatest superpower is the grace of God. Grace gives us the desire (the motivation) and the ability to overcome the challenges of life, to do God’s will, and to fulfill our purposes in life.
Without God’s grace, we are left to struggle through life in our own strength, which is never enough. Our strength will never be enough to help us overcome all of life’s challenges and to reach our full potential.
With God’s grace, we are empowered with the supernatural strength of God to overcome any obstacles and to accomplish things that we could never hope to do in our own strength!
“So you, my son, be strong [constantly strengthened] and empowered in the grace that is [to be found only] in Christ Jesus.”— 2 Timothy 2:1 (AMP)
“Do not be carried away by diverse and strange teachings; for **it is good for the heart to be established and strengthened by grace **and not by foods [rules of diet and ritualistic meals], which bring no benefit or spiritual growth to those who observe them.”—Hebrews 13:9 (AMP)
“but he has told me, ‘My grace is all you need, because my power is perfected in weakness.’ Therefore, I will most happily boast about my weaknesses, so that the Messiah’s power may rest on me.”—2 Corinthians 12:9 (ISV)
“And I have written to speak the truth about the true grace of God. Remain strong in it.”—1 Peter 5:12 (NIRV)
The first experience we may have had with God’s grace brought us to salvation. It would be impossible for us to save ourselves. We can only experience eternal salvation by the grace of God.
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”—Ephesians 2:4-10 (NKJV)
We cannot even come to Jesus unless God draws us by His grace! It is God’s grace that gives us the desire (the motivation) to come to Jesus.
“No one is able to come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me attracts and draws him and gives him the desire to come to Me”—John 6:44 (AMPC)
“That is the way we should live, because God’s grace has come. That grace can save every person.”—Titus 2:11 (ICB)
God’s Overcoming Power
Grace from God gives us the power to overcome sin, bad habits, and addictions. When the grip of sin and addictions seems to be overwhelming, God’s gives more grace to enable us to conquer these things that oppress and enslave us.
“But when people had more sin, God gave them more of his grace.”—Romans 5:20 (ICB)
“Sin will not be your master, because you are not under law. You now live under God’s grace.”—Romans 6:14 (ERV)
“Doesn’t God long for our faithfulness in the life he has given to us? But he gives us more grace.”—James 4:5-6 (CEB)
Grace is Given to Meet Our Needs
We need God’s grace more than we need anything else! God’s grace has the power to meet all of our needs and to enable us also to meet the needs of others!
“God has the power to provide you with more than enough of every kind of grace. That way, you will have everything you need always and in everything to provide more than enough for every kind of good work.”—2 Corinthians 9:8 (CEB)
“May our Lord Jesus, the Messiah himself, and may God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good action and word.”—2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (ISV)
God’s Grace Can Be Frustrated
God does not make robots out of us. We always have a choice to either cooperate with the grace God gives us or to resist it. If we resist the grace that God gives us, we will prevent God’s purposes from being accomplished, and we may come under God’s judgment for rebelling against His will.
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God”—Galatians 2:20-21 (KJV)
“We are workers together with God. So we beg you: Do not let the grace that you received from God be for nothing.”—2 Corinthians 6:1 (ICB)
Here is how that same verse reads in the New International Reader’s Version:
“We work together with God. So we are asking you not to receive God’s grace and then do nothing with it.”—2 Corinthians 6:1 (NIRV)
“Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’”—Hebrews 10:28-30 (ESV)
“Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up and causes you trouble, or many of you will become defiled.”—Hebrews 12:14-15 (ISV)
How to Get the Grace We Need
If we need God’s help, all we need to do is simply ask Him for it.
“So let us keep on coming boldly to the throne of grace, so that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”—Hebrews 4:16 (ISV)
But God does not give His grace to people who are proud and arrogant. He resists those people, and He gives His grace to people who are humble.
“Though God scoffs at scoffers, he gives grace to the humble.”—Proverbs 3:34 (ISV)
“But He gives us more and more grace [through the power of the Holy Spirit to defy sin and live an obedient life that reflects both our faith and our gratitude for our salvation]. Therefore, it says, ‘God is opposed to the proud and haughty, but [continually] gives [the gift of] grace to the humble [who turn away from self-righteousness].’”—James 4:6 (AMP)
“Likewise, you younger men [of lesser rank and experience], be subject to your elders [seek their counsel]; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another [tie on the servant’s apron], for **God is opposed to the proud [the disdainful, the presumptuous, and He defeats them], but He gives grace to the humble.”—**1 Peter 5:5 (AMP)
As you respond in cooperation with God’s grace, you grow in *more *grace as God leads you into greater levels of spiritual maturity.
“But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”— 2 Peter 3:18 (KJV)
“I am convinced and confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will [continue to] perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus [the time of His return]. It is right for me to feel this way about you, because [you have me in your heart as] I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the good news [regarding salvation], all of you share in [His matchless] grace with me.”—Philippians 1:6-7 (AMP)
You Can Bless Others with God’s Grace
Just as the apostles imparted blessings of grace to the early believers through their letters, you can impart blessings of grace to everyone you encounter through your words to them.
“Let no filthy talk be heard from your mouths, but only what is good for building up people and meeting the need of the moment. This way you will administer grace to those who hear you.”—Ephesians 4:29 (ISV)
“Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”—Colossians 4:6 (NKJV)
**“**Wise people say gracious things. But foolish people are destroyed by what their own lips speak.”—Ecclesiastes 10:12 (NIRV)
May we all reach such a level of maturity in our speaking that our words have the same effects on people that Jesus’ words had on them.
“And all spoke well of Him and marveled at the words of grace that came forth from His mouth; and they said, Is not this Joseph’s Son?”—Luke 4:22 (AMPC)
Here is that same verse in the Common English Bible:
“Everyone was raving about Jesus, so impressed were they by the gracious words flowing from his lips. They said, ‘This is Joseph’s son, isn’t it?’”—Luke 4:22 (CEB)
