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grace

Shopping for Hope

December 7, 2017 by BJU Press Writer

Shopping for Hope
Ever gone to the grocery store when snow is predicted? Not sure how it is in your neighborhood, but in the South you’ll likely find empty shelves—especially in the dairy aisle.

It doesn’t take an impending storm for my internal shelves to get depleted. Just the day-to-day interactions with fallen people on a fallen planet will clean me out of all reserves of hope, confidence, and energy.

Some days I feel the need for a semitruck to pull up to my backdoor and unload, among other things, a whole case of Reason-To-Go-On. I could also use an Expert to stock all the shelves of my heart so that each product is on just the right level for me to give to those in need.

But in reality, I don’t need a semi to pull up to my loading dock. My “store” is actually in the middle of the most complete warehouse anywhere because “in Him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). And He has provided me with an intercom that works perfectly without disturbing any of the shoppers who come to me for help. “Delivery needed, Father. Please send a fresh supply for the Hope Department.”

Even before we ask, the God of hope stands ready to fill us “with all joy and peace in believing, that [we] may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost” (Romans 15:13).

Need more than hope? “God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

Feeling depleted in all areas? “My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

Never hesitate to use your intercom. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

When your students, coworkers, family, and friends all seem needy; when everyone seems to want a piece of you, remember what Jesus told His followers: “Freely ye have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8).

Today—and every day—God’s warehouse is always open. And the intercom always works.

Filed Under: Simplified Homeschool Tagged With: grace, hope, prayer, supply

Sustaining Grace

May 26, 2015 by Cosette

In my determination to sort out and simplify my life, I decided to have a yard sale. While excavating through my mounds of boxed treasures, I found a plaque that had been a gift from a woman whom my children lovingly call “Grandma Mary.” The words once again challenged my heart.

The will of God will never lead you
where the grace of God cannot keep you.

book cover of A Life Exalted: A Women's Bible Study by June KimmelI have desired to walk in God’s will since I was a little girl. Being saved at a very early age, I grew up wanting to know and obey God’s will for my life. But there have been times that in spite of my confidence that I was in His will, I felt the burdens seemingly overwhelm me. During a particularly difficult time, I was unable to define God’s grace. Yet this grace of God was what I heard would carry me through whatever I faced. I began a study—a searching—to understand what the sustaining grace of God really meant. I found many—sixty-three definitions—all of which described this commonly used biblical term. But my inquiring heart was settled when I put the various definitions into a nutshell: God’s grace is His enabling power that is given to me, His undeserving child.

Now as I read the words on this forgotten little plaque, the meaning is deeper. I realize that He’s proven it again and again in my life. I may not think He’s keeping me in the midst of the trial, but never has He forsaken me, never allowed me to be crushed by the burden He has permitted. He is there moment by moment—guiding me. Keeping me. Sustaining me. In spite of my resistance and fear. The words on this plaque are unchanged as they hang on the wall of my office. But the meaning is clearer to me now than ever before.

The will of God will never lead me
where the . . . [power] of God cannot keep me.

[Excerpt adapted from A Life Exalted by June Kimmel (Lesson 8, pp. 62–63). A free study guide can be downloaded from bjupress.com.]

Filed Under: JourneyForth Tagged With: bible study, excerpt, family, God's will, grace, June Kimmel, women

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