Tuesday, February 21, 2012

1 Peter: Our God is able!

It's been a very tiring time over the past week with illness, not enough sleep, disturbed sleep, work and other projects all thrown into the mix. I looked up 1 Peter 5:7,10 to remind myself that I need to cast all my anxieties on Him, because He cares for me. And after I have suffered a little while, the God of all grace will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish me.

My cross-refs pointed me to Psalm 55:22- 'Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.'

And Psalm 40:17- 'I am poor and needy but the LORD takes thought for me.'

But the best verse of all was Rom 16:25 - 'To Him who is able to strengthen you...'

Our God is able to strengthen us through all the tiring times we face. And not only is He able, but He is willing too. Check out these other verses which tell us what He is able to do:

Ephesians 3:20- 'to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us'

2 Timothy 1:12- 'That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet ...I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.'

Hebrews 2:18- 'Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.'

Hebrews 5:2- 'He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness.'

Hebrews 7:25- 'Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.'

Jude 1:24- 'To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy'

What a God of love, kindness and mercy we serve! These verses just paint such a picture of His tenderness and care for us, in all our weakness and suffering. This gives us hope and reason to rejoice even when things are hard. Be encouraged: our God is able!