09-09-2014 The woman came and knelt before him [Jesus]. Lord, help me! she said. He replied, It is not right to take the childrens bread and toss it to their dogs. Yes, Lord, she said, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters table. Then Jesus answered, Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted. And her daughter was healed from that very hour. Matthew 15:25-28 A Crumb of Grace My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). The apostle Paul heard and accepted the Lords, no to his prayer. Still he rejoiced in what the Lord did for him. Even though Paul retained his thorn in the flesh, he was content with the knowledge that Gods undeserved love was his. It is a lesson worth remembering and which is repeated in Jesus answer to the Canaanite woman. She came to him and pleaded for his help. Even though Jesus seemed distant, she remained undaunted in her request. She was so confident that Jesus would help her, she believed even a crumb of grace would be sufficient for her. As I consider the womans persistence, as well as her unshakable faith, I need to ask myself, What are my expectations when I pray? With what would I be content? Although I am invited to pray with boldness, confidence and without ceasing, am I always ready to accept the Lords answer with contentment? Here is where the devil tries to trap me. He wants me to ignore Jesus answer. He feeds my pride to think I deserve better. He even tries to fill me with discontent when the Lord does not do what I want. When I see these temptations gaining control, I need to remember the faith of the Canaanite woman. She believed a crumb of grace would be more than enough. It is faith which leads me to see that Gods grace is all about his undeserved love for me. This love proclaims I am forgiven and my guilt is removed. This love assures me I am rescued from my just punishment. This love even provides me with the certainty that I have a place in heaven. When I recognize the greatness of Gods love for me in Jesus, I begin to realize what may seem like a crumb is actually a feast. Prayer: O gracious Lord and Savior, pour out your grace and answer all my prayers according to your good will. Bless me with an unshakable faith which rejoices in every gift you give, and receives every one with contentment. Amen. Todays Devotion is brought to you by WELS and WhatAboutJesus This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Devotion - September 8, 2014 --Daily Devotion
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 10:40:59 +0000
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