Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube version with song and lyrics from Phillips, Craig, and Dean singing … Your Grace Still Amazes Me … poignantly singing of how God’s grace can - and will - amaze us when we’re willing to surrender to it, … even in the midst of pain or trial.
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Highlight Verse[s]: 2 Corinthians 1:4-5 [NLT] … 4 He [God] comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 5 For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ.
… God often imparts His grace to others thru the empathy we have when others suffer similar pain or anguish.
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Highlight Passage [context]: 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… God, thru Paul, shows us that God can use our pain/suffering to be a comfort for others who encounter similar pain.
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Reference Passage : … John 16:33 [NLT] … 33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
… Jesus promises that He has overcome the trials of this world/life; and that we can find peace in our relationship with Him.
Reference Passage : … 1 Corinthians 10:13 [NLT] … 13 The temptations [also “tests trials, or troubles”] in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation [test or trial] to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.
… God always provides His grace so that we can deal with the temptations/trials of this life.
Reference Passage : … 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… God, thru Paul, show us that His grace is ALWAYS sufficient, and often offered to others thru us, to give us/others strength in the midst of our weakness.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Leslie Koh, uses a personal reflection to illustrate how God often imparts His grace to others thru our empathy, having endured hardships or pain in our lives. … When Siu Fen discovered she had kidney failure and would need dialysis for the rest of her life [see photo], she wanted to give up. Retired and single, the longtime believer in Jesus saw no point in prolonging her life. But friends convinced her to persevere and go for dialysis and trust in God to help her.
Two years later, she found her experience coming into play when she visited a friend from church with a debilitating disease. The woman felt alone, as few could truly understand what she was going through. But Siu Fen was able to identify with her physical and emotional pain and could connect with her in a personal way. Her own journey enabled her to walk alongside the woman, giving her a special measure of comfort others couldn’t. “Now I see how God can still use me,” she said.
WE ALL have temptations, trials, or troubles in life that we must deal with (see 1Cor. 10:13), don’t we? But God provides His grace for to us to deal with those trials (2Cor. 12:9-10). And having gone thru such pain or anguish, we can have the empathy for God to impart His grace and comfort to others in similar circumstances [see highlight passage].
Perhaps some reading here are going thru a painful trial in life right now. Or maybe we’ll face one tomorrow. But, … take heart from the linked song and God’s word above. He will give us the strength, thru His grace, to deal with our trials; … and then He will give us the opportunity to help others, down the road of life, who need God’s grace and His love imparted to others thru our empathy.
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for always giving us Your amazing grace to deal with our trials.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all reading here can, and will, join me to thankfully praise our God for His amazing grace. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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