Grace Strength

“You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 2:1

We can lift weights to get strong.

Lord, help me lay aside the weight of my pride and self-righteousness so that I can be strong in the ways You desire me to be. And here’s a simple poem . . .

Heavily Coated

source – blogs.longwood.edu

It flies in the face
of our flesh, this thing
called grace

taking away the sting
of us living as
human beings

coating us so heavily
undeservedly, unexpectedly
that we stagger

under the freedom
of learning to walk
bowed down.

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on August 24, 2012 at 7:25 am Comments (24)
Tags: Christian, devotions, grace, Jesus, poetry, prayer, strong

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24 Comments

On August 24, 2012 at 12:05 pm terry1954 said:

there is a lot of power in those words Debbie……
On August 24, 2012 at 12:47 pm Pats Devotions said:

Thank you Debbie; for those very encouraging words .. Great Blessings to you .. Bro Pat. 🙂
On August 24, 2012 at 1:36 pm Tammy said:

Beautiful!
On August 24, 2012 at 1:40 pm Heather said:

What a concept! –Staggering under the freedom of learning to walk…
But this is also an accurate description of what it is like to have the yoke of bondage to sin removed and replaced with one of humility.

Thank you, Debbie!
On August 24, 2012 at 3:38 pm Debbie said:

God bless you, as you walk with His grace strength each day, Angel Terry!
On August 24, 2012 at 3:39 pm Debbie said:

God bless you, Bro Pat, and thank you for encouraging me! Your posts show the strength of grace at work!
On August 24, 2012 at 3:40 pm Debbie said:

Thanks Tammy! God bless you as you display His grace today , beautifully!
On August 24, 2012 at 3:42 pm Debbie said:

Thank you for sharing about our yoke of sin being replaced with one of humility! I loved the visual that adds! God bless you, sweet Heather, as He strengthens you with grace!
On August 24, 2012 at 4:10 pm tedgriffith said:

Wow!! Learing to walk bowed down, how marvelous!
On August 24, 2012 at 4:11 pm Caddo Veil said:

WOW, Sis Deb–that’s “heavy”! You packed a lot into your simple poem! And I love what your readers picked up on–exchanging the yoke of sin for the one of humility. I’ll ponder this more throughout the day. Praying for you to be blessed as you start the weekend–much love, sis Caddo
On August 24, 2012 at 4:17 pm Debbie said:

It sounds more painful than I know He makes it be! 🙂 God bless you as you walk in His grace today, Ted!
On August 24, 2012 at 4:20 pm Debbie said:

I love what you and others always add in the comments! Helps me sooo much and teaches me and shows me things about what I wrote that I didn’t even realize. haha! Talk about His grace! Love you, Sis Caddo Delight and praying for His special blessings on your weekend too!
On August 25, 2012 at 1:46 am meetingintheclouds said:

Wow Deb – deep! – so many thoughts and visual concepts wrapped up in your ‘simple poem’ – all all directly from the Lord.

I praise God for you and for your willingness to be used of the Lord in such a way.
On August 25, 2012 at 2:07 am festivalking said:

Its a blessing as always to click on your link Debbie. God bless you for blessing others.

Bear Hug!
On August 25, 2012 at 2:50 am justifiedfreely said:

Great poem and great thought, Deb! Pride is so deceptive and I am so thankful for grace every day of my life! Thanks!
On August 25, 2012 at 5:26 pm Rob Barkman said:

Pride and a stubborn will are two of the most harmful attitudes that a Christian can harbor in their desire for spiritual growth and strength. Thanks for the great reminder and all your faithful service to Him.
On August 25, 2012 at 11:32 pm Debbie said:

Love you, Mentor Angela! And so glad that the poem was able to give visual concepts as well. Those always help me! God bless you and the strength you show through His grace in you!
On August 25, 2012 at 11:33 pm Debbie said:

Oh thank you for the bear hug blessings! 🙂 God bless you, beautiful one, and all the grace strength you show us each day!!!
On August 25, 2012 at 11:35 pm Debbie said:

I am thankful right along with you, Ben, for all that grace. Praying that knowing how much grace He shows me, helps me grow in grace towards others. God bless you and so good to see you here!
On August 25, 2012 at 11:39 pm Debbie said:

Pride and a stubborn will are totally against grace, I’m thinking! Thank you so much for showing us that! His grace is so amazing . ..that is the way I want to go! God bless you, Pastor Rob!
On August 26, 2012 at 2:06 am Ann said:

God bless you, Dearest Deb

I am still wrapping my head around the concept of Grace, but your ‘simple words’ brought much illumination.

“Lord, help me lay aside the weight of my pride and self-righteousness so that I can be strong in the ways You desire me to be”
Amen. 🙂
There is a song called Grace Poured Out that I heard once. I’ve been checking youtube to find it but nothing so far … The song speaks of Jesus being grace poured out to cover us. When I pray your prayer in the context of being covered by His grace after laying aside the things that would hinder me, I get a goosebump moment. I lay myself bare before Him, exposing my weakness and my struggles, and He pours grace all over me!

“coating (me) so heavily
undeservedly, unexpectedly
that (I) stagger

under the freedom
of learning to walk
bowed down.”
I cannot describe what this makes me feel. In moments like this, I wish I knew how to paint 🙂

Blessings, Gracious One
ann
On August 27, 2012 at 2:26 am Debbie said:

Wow Ann full of grace and song . ..the way you describe being bare and weak before, then Him pouring grace on us .. that gives me a moment too. I keep wanting to do something creative for Him, for moments like this too . ..but don’t paint or photograph. We’ll just keep this desire before Him! 🙂 Several years ago, I wrote a grace poem using snow as the grace. Something about your comment reflects that!
God bless you and all the ways you carry and share His grace! love and prayers!
On August 27, 2012 at 5:54 am Moore to ponder said:

There is so much profound wisdom in your post! At first glance, the words that you chose express the meaning of both grace received, and grace extended seem to contradict each other. However, if we pause to consider them more fully we will be able to see that they agree! 🙂

Thank you so much for sharing this.

Love,
Theresa
On August 27, 2012 at 6:35 am Debbie said:

Thank you for always encouraging me, sweet woman of the Word and understanding Him and the scripture . . .and me! God bless you as you give and receive His grace today! Love you and am thinking of you!