Jesus Christ's Grace Is Sufficient

2nd Corinthians 12:9-10, “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

We have a wonderful PROMISE from God in the Bible that His grace will always be enough to match our burdens, hardships and suffering in life. As a Bible preacher with a social media ministry (since April of 2002), I have received tens of thousands of emails over the past 21 years. I love helping people. God knows that I am not a respecter of persons, I treat everyone the same. It matters not if you are a successful pastor, or a poor person living in Africa, I view everybody as someone for whom Jesus Christ died.

Our dear risen Savior told the Apostle Paul that His grace is all we need. Christ is all I need! The Lord wants us to know that His strength is perfected through our weakness. This is totally contrary to the heathen world's way of thinking. The theme song of the 1976 movie, Rocky: “Gonna Fly Now” contains the lyrics, “Getting strong now.” That's fine for Rocky, but in the spiritual realm we win by Jesus' strength through human weakness, not our human strength. The famous soulwinning preacher, Dwight Lyman Moody (1837-1899) said:

“God had no children too weak, but many too strong to make use of.” —Pastor Dwight Moody

2nd Corinthians 12:9-10, “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

Pastor Moody rightly understood that it is not our human strength that accomplishes the work of God; but rather, Christ's strength which is attained through childlike faith in God. Matthew 17:20, “And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” Faith can move mountains! ...

“The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to him. By God’s help, I aim to be that man.” —Pastor Dwight Moody

Dear reader, you will never know that Christ is all you need, until Christ is all you have left. Unshakable faith comes from having our faith shaken. Faith is like film, it develops in the dark. 

The Charismatic lying health, wealth and prosperity movement has corrupted American's thinking. It is because of ungodly Charismatic false prophets like Pat Robertson and his 'The 700 Club' clown circus, that millions of Americans now foolishly associate financial prosperity with being right with God, but this is a deception of the Devil. ...

1st Timothy 6:5-12, “Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.”

BEWARE of Satan's Charismatics; namely, Benny Hinn, Peter Popoff, Pat Robertson, John Hagee, Jimmy Swaggart, Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), Kerney Thomas, Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), Paula White, Paul and Jan Crouch, Robert Tilton, Bill Hamon, Oral Roberts, Joyce Meyer, Joseph Prince, Beth Moore, Jim Bakker, Mike Murdock and countless other damnable false prophets (Matthew 7:13-15).

By the way, GodTube banned my Jesus-is-Savior.com ministry. What wicked apostasy! GodTube is okay with hellbound Lordship Salvation occultists like Ray Comfort, John Piper, Kirk Cameron and John MacArthur, but they rejected me as a Bible preacher because I am a truth-teller. SHAME on GodTube!!! The time of reckoning is soon coming for all humanity, when every human being will stand before God and be held accountable for every word (Matthew 12:36), every thought (Proverbs 24:12) and every deed (Ecclesiastes 12:14). If it weren't for God's mercy we'd all immediately plunge into the fires, torments and depths of Hell below. Lamentations 3:22, “It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.” We are all so blessed by God our Creator.

God's wondrous grace is sufficient for you and me dear reader. Someone has rightly said that G.R.A.C.E. can be expressed in acrostic form as GOD'S RICHES AT CHRIST'S EXPENSE. I like that. And also, G.O.S.S.I.P. can be acrostically expressed as: GOING OVER SOMEONE SINS IN PULIC. That is so true!

Some critic's of a free grace Gospel wrongly accuse us of preaching “Greasy Grace” or “Cheap Grace.” Dear friend, God's grace is not cheap, it is totally free. As we know, there are no free meals in life. That is, everything must be paid for by someone. Bleeding heart Democrats are often accused of giving away a bunch of freebies to the poor, but dear friend, none of those social giveaway programs are “free.” Someone has to pay for all that! Yes, you and I as taxpayers have to fund the Democrat's reckless philandering. Likewise, God's gift of forgiveness of sins and eternal life cost the broken body and shed blood of His only begotten Son.

And by the way, while I'm on the subject of the blood of Jesus, I'm sure you've heard some preachers use the phrase: “Jesus' spilt His blood on Calvary's cross.” No dear reader, to “spill” something implies that it was an accident. Jesus did not spill His blood, He knowingly and intentionally shed His blood on Calvary's cross, to pay down our massive debt of sins, because He loves us. Romans 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Knowing how rotten and wicked you and I would be, Jesus gladly laid down His life to pay for our sins, so that we could live with Him in eternity.

Look what the Bible says in Hebrews 12:2, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jesus had JOY the Bible says, knowing what it meant by sacrificing Himself as a Lamb on the cross for everyone's sins. John 1:29, “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”

We serve such a wonderful and faithful Savior, Lord and God.

Salvation = Jesus died on your behalf

Service = Holy Spirit works on your behalf

Keywords: on your behalf.

The flesh profits nothing

All by faith alone ❤️ amen

Literally, “My grace is sufficient for thee” (2nd Corinthians 12:9b), means that you and I can make it day-by-day through life. And that is a very important truth to learn friend—that we must take life in 24 hour segments, which is how God distributes it. Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever wondered why God made a day 24 hours long? There are 86,400 seconds in one day. There are 10,080 minutes in one week. Interestingly, the human heart on average beats once a second. Wow! Yes, our heart beats approximately 86,000 beats a day! Oh reader, have you thanked God with just one of those seconds today?

During my first year as a student at Hyles-Anderson College (HAC) in 1985-1986, I became discouraged one day. I opened my inspired King James Bible randomly to Hebrews 4:13-16, “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Oh how the Holy Spirit comforted my aching heart that day in 1986. Unto this day I still feel peace and joy in my soul when I read this Scripture passage. What a precious PROMISE from God!!!

As we just read in Hebrews 4:14, Jesus is our heavenly High Priest. Christ died on the cross as our sacrificial LAMB, but He raised up three days later as our HIGH PRIEST. Romans 8:34, “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” Jesus is in Heaven now, seated on the right-hand of the Father, interceding for every saint. ...

1st Timothy 2:3-6, “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”

I love this truth-packed passage of Scripture! The phrase in verse 4, “Who will have all men to be saved,” refutes the Calvinist heresy of Limited Atonement (the heresy that Christ only died for the saints, not all humanity). If God wants “all men” to be saved, then logically ALL MEN CAN BE SAVED!!! The “knowledge of the truth” is THE GOSPEL.

Since God is 100% holy, but humanity is 100% sinful, we cannot fellowship together. That is why the Godhead needed to become incarnate (i.e., become flesh), in the form of the only begotten Son of God. ...

John 1:1-3 and 14, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. ...And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

Jesus Christ is the Word of God incarnate. Dr. John R. Rice calls Jesus and the Holy Bible “twins.” Jesus is the Living Word, and the Holy Bible is the Written Word. John 6:63, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” This is a good verse to evidence that our beloved King James Bible today is still inspired, for if it is not then the words cannot be Spirit and life as Jesus said. The Bible is a Living Book!!! Napoleon understood this fact...

“The Bible is no mere book, but a Living Creature, with a power that conquers all who oppose it.” —Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)

I hope the truths I have shared with you in this blog are edifying friend. The Bible says that as humans we all share the same temptations (1st Corinthians 10:13) and same afflictions (1st Peter 5:8-9). More times than I can remember in life, I felt like I couldn't face another day. I felt like dying, dreading to face today, let alone tomorrow. Life has a way of knocking you to your knees, and it will keep you there if you let it. The world doesn't care about you. Nobody is coming to rescue you (and if someone does you should love them with all your lucky stars).

When I was at the lowest point in my life, nobody cared about me! Psalms:142:4, “I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.” Of the churches I attended, nobody befriended me at the Bayview Baptist Church on Guam, so I left; and the ungodly senior pastor at the Agana Heights Baptist Church on Guam mistreated me on purpose so that I would leave and never return, and so I did. I handed him my phone number and home address, but he never contacted me. And then I was forced out of the ungodly Harvest Baptist Church on Guam by their wicked senior pastor, Marty Herron. They all threw me under the bus and left me for dead! God will be their Judge!!!

Dear reader, I have been to the bottom of life. My former wife cruelly abandoned and divorced me in 2006. We've never as much as held hands since. I cannot put into words the inexplicable emotional pain of soul and overwhelming trauma that I endured during and after the divorce, and the hell on earth that ensued for the next several years. You wouldn't believe the things that I have suffered through, which I don't even want to talk or write about. I have been in painful loneliness all these many years since 2006, without a wife or girlfriend.

I lost my home in the divorce, and my retirement at work, and my pets and possessions. If you've never been the victim of betrayal from a divorce, you cannot possible even imagine what it feels like. If you have seen a friend or family member suffer through a divorce, you still haven't a clue. It's like seeing someone get hit by a speeding truck, versus you personally getting hit by a truck and then left on the road dying as roadkill.

And then when I moved from Guam to Pensacola in 2021, I poured out my broken and hurting heart with senior pastor Jeff Redlin at Pensacola Christian College's (PCC) Campus Church. To my shock and horror, Pastor Redlin belittled me as a divorced person, caring not that I told him I am very lonely, and he was insensitive and cruel when I mentioned that I hoped to find a wife. The problem is that Jeff Redlin (and all of PCC leadership) have never suffered through the inexplicable pain of betrayal, abandonment and divorce, so they couldn't care less. There is no sympathy or empathy in the PCC camp, only self-righteous religious hypocrites who fall all over each other with self praises and glorification. There is no love or compassion at PCC, only a cult system that always comes first, but individual people don't matter at all.

I felt like taking my own life in 2021 (after all the suffering that I've been through), because of Pastor Jeff Redlin's cruel hatred, insensitive rude remarks, woeful lack of consideration or love, and that he has literally banned me in writing from even attending Campus Church. It hurts much more when professed men of God, self-ordained pastors, crap on hurting people like Redlin has done to me again and again. I pray for God to avenge me of his hatred. If I had my way, Jeff Redlin would be stripped of everything near and dear to him, which misfortune has happened to me, and only then would he know and understand what I have been through. 

Instead, he is cocky, arrogant, filled with hubris and self-righteous hypocrisy, having no regard for his Christian brother in need. The PCC camp are pulling on the same rope as the Devil, by throwing divorced and hurting sinners under the bus, and leaving them there. I only shared these painful things in my life with you, so you can see that I need God's sufficient grace to keep my sanity day-by-day. If I didn't claim God's PROMISE of sufficient grace (the same free sufficient grace that saved me at age 13 in 1980), I wouldn't have made it this far.

If it were not for God's blessed indwelling Holy Spirit, and the grace He has bestowed upon me in my life and soul over the years, I would have taken my own life, or started drinking booze and become a drunk, or sought relief in others sinful vices. If it weren't for God's sufficient grace, I would have quit church and never donned the doorsteps of any church again, because of ungodly abusive religious leaders like Marty Herron, Jeff Redlin and Sean Quinlan (the shameful pastor of the Lighthouse Baptist Church on Guam who belittled me for exposing the Devil's bibles, and the Lordship Salvation preaching Calvinist Bob Jones University camp).

“The world will go to Hell unless somebody is authoritative!”

—Pastor Jack Hyles, “I Shall Not Be Moved”

I heard Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) say in a sermon toward the end of his life, that as he grows older he runs to the inspired Holy Bible like a starving man. I couldn't agree more with Brother Hyles!!! Dear reader, Jesus Christ is the answer to ALL our problems!!! I challenge you to not just read the Bible, but LIVE IT! As you read, hear and study the Bible, ask God to give you the wisdom to see how you can apply the Scriptures to your life.

Without faith the Bible won't work for you or anybody else. Why is it that two men can read and study the same inspired King James Bible, but only one believes, while the other disbelieves. To him that believes no explanation is necessary, but to him that believes not no explanation is possible. Faith is the candle that lights our way in this dreary dark world of sin. Mark 11:22, “And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.”

 

Jesus Is Still Working On Me

Philippians 1:6-7, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.”

What a short, simple, yet incredibly powerful truth in Matthew 14:30 that perfectly summarizes the Christian life. There is no secret to living the Christian life. The Bible plainly teaches that we live by faith, the same exact way that we are saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have Christ's promise that He will always be with us, and never forsake us. Hebrews 13:5-6, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” We all feel down at times, but dear reader, BE OF GOOD CHEER, for Jesus is risen from the dead!!!

The Holy Spirit reminded me today about Peter, who obeyed the Lord and had the courage to literally get out of a perfectly good boat and walk on water. That took a lot of faith. Peter did walk on the water, not sinking an inch. But when Peter took His eyes off Jesus and began to focus on the stormy sea of Galilee and the rushing winds, he sunk. It's not a mere coincidence that God put this incredible event in the inspired Scriptures for us to read. God wants every Christian to learn the importance of keeping our mind and heart focused upon the Lord Jesus Christ. KEEP YOUR EYES UPON JESUS! If there is a secret to living the Christian life, it is to continually stay focused on Jesus.

When Peter began to sink into the murky depths of the raging sea, he cried out in desperation, “Lord, save me!” The story of Peter walking on the water, sinking, and then crying out to the Lord to be saved is a beautiful truth that even a young child can completely grasp... KEEP YOUR EYES UPON JESUS!!!

We Are Saved and Live the Christian Life by Christ's Righteousness
Peter was already saved in Matthew 14:30. So as a Christian Peter walked on the water by Christ's strength, not his own. As Christians we have nothing to offer God that can please Him, except our faith. Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God.

So often when a person comes to Christ and gets saved, they then go down a wrong path of self-righteousness as a believer. That is to say, they know that they were saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone; but they now have the wrong mindset that God is somehow pleased by their own efforts. The truth is that no matter how hard we may try as Christians to live for God, we will fail every day, one way or another, whether in deed or thought. If our best efforts couldn't impress God to get saved, then why should our best impress God now that we are saved? Isaiah 64:6 teaches that even our best self-righteousness is as filth in God's eyes. The same holds true even if a person has been saved for 50-years.

The ONLY thing that has ever pleased God the Father is the righteousness of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, which is imputed (attributed) to every believer the moment they believe the gospel (death, burial and resurrection) of Jesus Christ and are saved. This is why we are taught in the Bible that Christ lives through us as Christian believers. ...

Galatians 2:20-21, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”

I love this Bible verse... CHRIST LIVETH IN ME!!! Romans 8:9 teaches that a person is not saved who doesn't have the Spirit of Christ (i.e., the Holy Spirit). We are saved by Christ's righteousness and we continue to live the Christian life by Christ's righteousness. You cannot impress God any more in your own strength as a believer, than you could as an unsaved person who tries to impress God with keeping the Law. The Lord is our strength as His children. I cannot live the Christian life any more than I could save myself from sin and Hell. I live in Christ's righteousness, that is, Christ saved me and lives through me as I yield to the Spirit's leading by the Word of God!

That's not to say that being born-again is a process. The new birth is instant, immediate and undoable. Yet, salvation is more than being saved. Indeed, the salvation of a believer begins the day we are saved and continues to conform us into the image of God's Son each and every day. Through the hardships, sufferings and afflictions of this life we are changed into the image of Christ. Romans 12:2 tells us, “be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

The Bible Never Tells Us to Seek God's Hidden Will
The Holy Bible never tells us to SEEK God's will; but rather, TO SEEK GOD Himself! The Bible never tells us to seek the will of God; but rather, to obey the revealed will of God in His Word, and then God will direct our paths. Proverbs 3:5-7, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.” So don't worry over what God's secret (or hidden) will is for your life. God has PROMISED to direct our steps if we'll acknowledge God in all our ways. We do this by studying the Bible to know how God wants us to live. Jesus commanded in John 5:39 to SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES!!!

If we do that which we know in the Bible, then God has PROMISED to guide our ways. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Our hope as believers is that Jesus Christ has raised up from the dead and is alive forevermore (John 16:33). Christ is our hope! Titus 1:2, “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.” We don't hope in the sense of optimism as do Muslims and the Amish (who do their best and hope it works out in eternity); but rather, we have a blessed hope in full confidence based upon the PROMISES of God.

To Understand the Times in Which We Live, Keep Your Eyes On Jesus
There are many people who attempt to figure out what's really going on in the world, but they are going in circles, “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2nd Timothy 3:7). Without the Word of God you'll never understand the truth, the world nor anything concerning spiritual things.

Did you know that one-third of the Bible is composed of prophecy! It's true! We learn in Revelation 19:13 that “JESUS IS THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY!” ...

Revelation 19:10, “And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

In fact, Jesus is the spirit behind all of the Scriptures! That is, all of the Bible centers around Jesus Christ!!! When you read and study the Bible, always look for Jesus in the passage context (how it relates to Him) for the truth.

Kindly said, unbelieving religious Jews have interpreted the Bible all wrong for thousands of years, rejecting the cornerstone of their Messiah. 1st Peter 2:7, “Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner.” Some people only read the Bible to fit their religious agenda, but without the Messiah they are barking up an empty tree. Others search the Bible for hidden numeric codes, which is a waste of time. The Bible says in Hebrews 1:2 that God speaks to us in these last days through His Son. John 5:39, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” Always look for Jesus in the Scriptures, for His name is THE WORD OF GOD (Revelation 19:13; John 1:1-3,14). Jesus is the living Word, and the Bible is the written Word. KEEP YOUR EYES UPON JESUS!!!

The heart of the Bible is the blood of the Lamb of God, Who was slain for the sins of the world (John 1:29). The way to make it through the Christian life is to keep our eyes on Jesus. If we take our eyes off the Lord and focus on the problems of this world, then we will begin to sink into an ocean of doubt and despair. When we find ourselves sinking low, we need to cry out to the Lord, putting our eyes back on Jesus and trusting Him at His Word. KEEP YOUR EYES UPON JESUS!!!

In youth I'm too happy to think, I've got plenty of time left.
In manhood I'm too busy to think, I'm trying to make a lot of money.
In the prime of life I'm too anxious to think, worry has taken over.
When I start getting old, I'm too old to think—life's wasted, heart's got harder.
Dying in bed—I'm too sick to think, I'm weak and suffering.
Death is too late to think—time's over and opportunity is lost.
In eternity—forever to think, I'm in Hell now with no mercy, and lost forever.

“Too long I've laid me down to sleep, and prayed the Lord my soul to keep.
I should awake before I die, and realize time is passing by;
And rise and go and tell the lost, despite my plans despite the cost.
Too long I've laid me down to sleep, while multitudes about me weep;
And other cries of dark despair, for no one ever seems to care.
My life is short, and soon I'll stand, with sinner's bloods upon my hand;
Unless I wake before I die, and realize time is passing me by.”

“The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power,
to tell just when the hands will stop, at late or early hour;
To lose one's wealth is sad indeed, to lose one's health is more,
to lose your soul is such a loss, that no one can restore.”