One of my greatest joys in life is to be able to use the gift of writing to share lessons from God’s Word. I love to spend time hearing what it is God is saying in His Word & writing to relay to you, the reader, what His message is in this particular moment. Isn’t it telling of the God we serve, to position men and women who’ve been so gifted to be used to share knowledge we need to be victorious and free? We serve a God who loves us completely and provides His road map of life in the Bible. Here’s what I believe He is teaching us today through the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV):
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
What an amazing God we have! He is God and He is the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; our Creator God by whom we were designed and fashioned, uniquely made–no two people are alike. We are allowed to know Him as all powerful and wise but also as our Father who knows our frame and wills for our lives to be victorious. We live this life because of Him. We can praise Him!
He is the God of compassion which means He comes to me in my need. God sees me as someone who needs help and He bends in mercy to meet me in my hour of need. This is not pity. It is love, wanting the best for your child who was conceived and nurtured in love. And we do need His mercy every moment of everyday!
He is all comfort. Divine comfort is ours, even in the midst of great sorrow and pain. Consolation. Relief. Rest. Assurance. The calm in the storm. God comforts us in ALL our troubles. What troubles do you have right now? Meditate on who He is and what He has done for you. This will build faith which leads to living in the knowledge of His comfort. As you do this, moment by moment, day to day, year to year, you will build the faith ‘muscle,’ once weak, but now strengthened to resist the lies of the devil.
As we receive that comfort, we are transformed. Lives once consumed with fear and anxiety are now at peace and full of faith. The Spirit has taught us to replace and renew our minds with God’s truths. Why does this matter? It matters because God’s will for us is to comfort others. What a miraculous gift. We are not left as orphans but as God’s own to be used for the help of those like us who were lost and without hope. Think for a moment how amazing it feels when we bless another person in need.
Matthew Henry said this:
All comforts come from God, and our sweetest comforts are in him. He speaks peace to souls by granting the free remission of sins; and he comforts them by the enlivening influences of the Holy Spirit, and by the rich mercies of his grace. He is able to bind up the broken-hearted, to heal the most painful wounds, and also to give hope and joy under the heaviest sorrows. The favours God bestows on us, are not only to make us cheerful, but also that we may be useful to others.
Never has there been a greater need in our world to comfort others. Most people are desperately seeking comfort and in Christ we have what they need. More than ever, let us seek God in order to be ready to be used to comfort those who are troubled. Let us say “YES” to God as He positions us to be useful to others. My heart’s desire is for others to know God’s comfort and peace.
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