Yes, You Can

You can be like the prophetess Anna, or the prophet Simeon, who prayed day and night in the Temple and were rewarded by the sight of the Messiah. You can be like the disciples and Mary who prayed in the Upper Room until the Holy Spirit descended. You can be like the Ethiopian eunuch, who tried to read the Scriptures. Even though he failed to understand them, God rewarded him by sending him Philip, and salvation.

Yes, there are things you can do to prepare yourself for the coming of Grace. Seek, and ye shall find. Ask, and it shall be given you. Knock, and it shall be opened to you.

Does this mean Grace wasn't already with these people, or with you, if you tried to pray or struggled with the Scriptures or sought and found or asked and received? Certainly Grace was already there, prompting all these things.

The trouble with, "I believe that I cannot, by my own strength..." is that it assumes there is such a thing as our own strength apart from God and unaided by Him. There isn't. Nobody even draws a single breath except by Grace. God never abandoned mankind because of sin. Our God's love never wavered nor changed. Only the strategies it employed varied according to the situation. God Himself remained faithful, true, constant, and unvarying in His love for us. His love is infinite; there are no boundaries on it. His love is unconditional. Grace was always with us, leading us every single step.

So use the grace given you to seek "more", for although it is not given by measure, it is indeed by measure received. Invest it like the talent in the Parable; use it as Pentecost approaches to prepare yourself for the Holy Spirit's coming. That's the only way to acquire the fulness of the Him, the only way to arrive at the ultimate goal.

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