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Wednesday, March 9, 2011

"He Giveth More Grace!"

I heard this old hymn this morning and rejoiced in the truth that God's Word promises us. "My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness," Paul tells us in 2 Cor., chapter 12. James writes in chapter 4 as he addressed conflicts in the assemblies which really are started because of conflicts in hearts, that the Holy Spirit is powerful to master and to the humble, God gives more and more grace.

Peter writes in 1 Peter 5:5 -"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." I read this definition in a study book this morning: "To be meek and humble is to accept what God commands and ordains and to seek help from God rather than trusting in one's own abilities."  I simply write today with the hope of encouraging all of us because all of us need and have God's grace today. I update my readers about my W.V. friend who has fought a good battle against melanoma and on Saturday morning, God said it was enough and called him from the pain of earth into the glories of Heaven. I like to think of saints who have made the crossing as soldiers who are finally Home. Brian O. Perry was a Marine so the analogy seems to be very appropriate for his homegoing.  will you join with me in prayer for his precious wife and children- Jennifer, Jason, and Jackson?Also, he leaves behind his mother, sister, and brothers. In the coming days, they will need God's grace, comfort, and strength and God is faithful to supply all and more!

In the same church where we met the Perry family several years ago was one of the most humble men I have ever met and on Sunday, the 27th of February, God also called him to his eternal reward. Bro. William (Bud) Boss, known to us as "Preacher Bud" was a soldier of the cross and our family joined under his ministry in 1986, less than a year after my precious Mother had left this earth and that faithful, Bible-saturated saint of God ministered healing and renewal for God's work in this writer's grieving heart. I will forever be grateful for the role that he played in our lives as he faithfully preached God's Word.  Both of these dear men suffered much before God called them, Brian, having only lived half the time that Preacher Bud had. We don't understand God's ways but we know that He is holy and just in all that He does. He always has the perfect plan. I read a verse in Psalms 77:19 that I have meditated on much lately."Thy way is in the sea, and Thy path in the great waters, and Thy footsteps are not known." (Maybe you who are wiser than me can tell me your thoughts on that verse.) We, like Job, don't always see Him and rarely understand all that He does but we trust Him. In fact, I first heard the phrase "when you can't see His hand, trust His heart" from Preacher Bud.

Preacher Bud leaves behind his precious wife of probably close to 60 years, their only child, Rick, dying of cancer while they served at Northside. She needs our prayers as she faces life without her beloved husband.  Maybe it sounds like I just ramble today but I simply write from my heart concerning the frailty of life, one of these men was 81 and the other was 41. I write because we don't know what the day holds but we do know and trust the One Who holds all of our days in His hand. I write to remind us that there are hurting hearts all around us and to encourage those who find themselves there that "The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit."  i share with you a song that Annie Johnson Flint wrote. She lived from 1866-1932, was a teacher until arthritis rendered her unable to walk. Then she turned to writing poetry and such beautiful and ministering  words that God put in her heart as she penned "He Giveth More Grace." Yes, He does- Praise His Name!
    
-Deborah
Joni Eareckson Tada writes- "Some of us suffer more than others but wherever God places you on the scale, He gives us accompanying grace to handle it."   Words with clout from someone who knows.

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