Peanuts

As I was studying yet another translation of 2 Corinthians 12:9 this morning, the Lord quickened my remembrance to a scripture that He had popped into my head at breakfast earlier in the week.  I quickly turned back through my daily study notes and found the notation from Hebrews 4:16.  The King James Version reads “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  Ah–Ha!  So I thought, then His grace is found at His throne.

While I meditated on this, 2 Timothy 2:1 came to mind saying “You then, my son, be strong in the Grace that is in Christ Jesus.” (NIV)  Well that put it all together.  Our Father’s Grace, His unmerited favor, was given to us through the actions of Jesus by His death, burial, resurrection and assumption into heaven where He presented His unstained blood as the perfect sacrifice to permanently free us from the dictates of “the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:2 KJV)

Once again, it all points back to Jesus!  The closer we stay in contact and intimate fellowship with Him, the more readily is His grace available to us “to find help in time of need.”  (Hebrews 4:12 NIV)  Once I saw that this morning I understood why the Lord had clearly instructed me to keep the Word ever before my wife during this time of need in her life.  Not only would it keep directing her faith to the throne of grace, but it serves as the means to bring her back to the knowledge of the personal love for Jesus that she has always held closely throughout her life.

I know that I have probably shared this before, but it was her example of living with a close and personal relationship with Jesus that brought me to Him.  When we started dating as teenagers, I was amazed, intrigued and frustrated all at the same time with the way she talked about Him, as if He were as close as a brother.  As a strong Catholic I believed in Him, thought that I loved Him, but had no conception of the possibility of knowing Him as my PERSONAL Savior and Lord.  I can vividly recall wearing out the hall carpet in my parent’s home, walking back and forth, as we would talk for hours every night (after spending all day together at school!).  It seemed that those conversations always ended up discussing the realities of our religious beliefs.  In the end I could not disagree with her.  While she never pushed the issue of me receiving Jesus personally, I eventually realized that I desperately wanted it.

That intimate relationship with Him was simply a regular part of my wife’s life throughout the years.  It didn’t matter to her where she was, who she met or the time of day or night.  Jesus just sort of came out of her!  Just like the time quite a few years ago, when we ran into Charles Shultz, the creator of the Peanuts comic strip, in a take and bake pizza shop near where we used to live north of our home town.  She went right up to him and started a conversation and then let him know as we turned to leave that Jesus loved him!

That active relationship with Him is the key to her faith for her healing.  That intimately active relationship with Him is also your key to having His grace operating in and through your life.  His grace is the difference between just making it through life and victoriously succeeding in the divine story that He has personally penned for you alone to complete.  Do you think that you’ve got what it takes to consummate your intended purpose?  It’s really not as hard as you may think.  Remember, His desires for you are the same as they were for the Apostle Paul when He told him that… “My grace is sufficient for you!”  (2 Corinthians 12:9 MKJV)  Stay tuned and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”