Ephesians 3:16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man
Joy in our relationship with God allows us to have peace even in the worst of times. He alone is able to take what we turn over to Him and make it work for our good and the good of others. Faith calls us and in it we live in His promises. He is a rewarder of us as believers when we place our trust in Him alone.
2 Corinthians 12:9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
When the world threatens to overwhelm us we need to hold fast to our faith and know that in our insufficiency the power of Holy Spirit can overcome our fears. In His power and not in ours we He can do everything that we cannot. Carla
When believers are without strength and look to the Lord (verse 8), He provides power by His grace. The NKJV Study Bible
In this context, the Greek word used here for grace, charis, refers to Christ’s power to help Paul endure hardship, be strengthened when struggling (physically, mentally, or spiritually), or experience forgiveness.
God’s grace enables Paul to participate in Christ’s sufferings for the gospel and the Church and to still demonstrate God’s power despite his weaknesses. Despite Paul’s troubles, God will help him. Paul does his work because God chose to empower Him. The super-apostles emphasize self-sufficiency (2 Corinthians 11:5).
Weakness provides the opportunity for God to show His power. For this reason, Paul can boast about his weaknesses even though others may mock him (10:10). Faithlife Study Bible
Philippians 4:13 | can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
1 Corinthians 2:5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
1 Corinthians 2:3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.
2 Corinthians 12:5 Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities.
This week, let us remember what anchors us. And let us listen to our heart. Let us be gentle with ourselves. Allow grace to ground us. And to our friends and family and the world we touch, may we let our light—and hope—spill, creating sanctuaries for those who are vulnerable around and among us.
“Discernment is the process of letting go of what we are not.” Fr. Thomas Keating reminds us.
Count me in. There are many things I can let go of… my need to be impervious. And my preoccupation with any compulsion to be in control.
In our world, do I feel vulnerable? Yes.
Fretful? A wee bit.
Still with the capacity to spill light, calm, consolation and hope where it is needed? Absolutely.
Remember that we are connected. Every single one of us.
“Whatever affects one directly,” Martin Luther King Jr. said, “affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.”
Bishop William Barber’s reminder that, “We is the most important word in the justice vocabulary.”
Yes. We were made for this, one soul helping another.
Know that life is precious. Savor your day. And let us not forget the power of a kind word. A gracious smile. A big hug. “Sabbath Moments” Terry Hershey
Ecclesiastes 12:13 (ESV) "The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man."
Of course, wisdom is a primary theme in many biblical books, but Ecclesiastes is specifically classified as wisdom literature in the tradition of ancient Hebrew writings about how to live a life aligned with God.
Along with the books of Proverbs and Job, Ecclesiastes is part of an Old Testament "wisdom trilogy" that helps God's people answer questions like:
What is the right way to live? How can we make good decisions according to God's design for the world and His desires for our lives?
The tone and teachings of Ecclesiastes are complex. The wisdom in this book focuses less on the blessings of righteousness and more on the imminence of death and the impotence of human "striving after wind" (Ecclesiastes 2:17).
As Jon Collins of BibleProject puts it, the writer of Ecclesiastes sometimes comes across as "the curmudgeon of the Hebrew Scripture." We can almost imagine him asking:
Is righteous living really worthwhile? If God has designs for the world and desires for our lives, why are they so hard to see?
Ecclesiastes is a lot like Job in this respect: It reveals the worth of godly wisdom largely in contrast to the worthlessness of what is unwise.
More than half of the book of Job consists of speeches from Job's friends, who were "miserable comforters" to him in a season of profound suffering. By and large, their speeches were actually foolish; as Job said, they spoke "empty words" with "no end" (Job 16:2-3, CSB). Similarly, Ecclesiastes 12:12 says, 'Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh."
But in contrast to this world-weary outlook, we find hope in Ecclesiastes 12:13: "The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man."
This grand finale is where we find wisdom! As Old Testament scholar Tremper Longman points out, "Nonorthodox speeches from the human participants of the book[s] ... are torn down and demolished in the end" of both Job and Ecclesiastes.
When we come across the many seeming contradictions in Ecclesiastes, we might feel some frustration, but even that frustration can teach us a valuable wisdom principle: Feeling difficult emotions and seeking godly wisdom can happen at the same time.
We live in a world where we all wrestle with unanswered questions and deep tensions. We make our own choices, yet we know God is in control. We long for justice, but we also need grace. We desire more while also trying to be grateful for what we have.
In the end, true wisdom isn't about having all the answers but seeking the Savior who meets us in these wrestling places. He is the grand finale of Ecclesiastes and all Scripture: "The words of the wise ... are given by one Shepherd" (Ecclesiastes 12:11). Let's trust our tensions to Him. First5
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