He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you [My lovingkindness and My mercy are more than enough—always available—regardless of the situation]; for [My] power is being perfected [and is completed and shows itself most effectively] in [your] weakness.”
2 Corinthians 12:9 (AMP)
On bended knee, we call Your name
In brokenness we plead
With just the right amount of grace
You help in time of need
Good will You have in store for us
Sweet favor undeserved
Not less, not more but just enough
So faithfully reserved
It’s when we see our need for help
You make Your power known
A privilege granted to Your flock
With access to Your throne
You are the very source of life
Good Shepherd of the soul
Still waters found, calm and serene
Your mercy makes us whole
Freed under Your authority
Great losses turned to gain
Your promises cannot be stopped
In everything You reign
Our fears are tamed, all doubts removed
We speak to You through prayer
Your love for us will never die
Our lives are in Your care
And through our weakness You are strong
Your perfect strength revealed
As we hold tight with feeble hand
Your grip on us is sealed
We shall not want, our needs are met
You call Your sheep by name
Green pastures found, rest for the soul
In us You’ve staked a claim
You may not take away our thorns
But You will sanctify
And even in the midst of pain
Your love’s in great supply
From transgression You protect us
Death lost it’s fatal sting
Security found through Your doors
Chief Shepherd, Savior, King
You love us so, You gave Your life
A gift to us unearned
By faith we build upon The Rock
All other works are burned
You willingly laid down Your life
And took it up again
To save Your sheep and keep us from
The hungry wolf of sin
As faith shines bright, the thief sets out
To search for unlocked doors
Seeking to devour the lost
That prowling lion roars
You free us from the devil’s snare
We hear our Shepherd’s voice
Casting our burdens upon You
The justified rejoice
Our risen Christ, we love you so
You’re eager to provide
Without You we can do no good
Redeemer, Trusted Guide
Faith comes by grace, of this be sure
All blessings glorious
Because of Your sustaining grace
We stand victorious!
Scripture: Psalm 23, John 10, 2 Corinthians 12:9
Poetry Type: Hymn in Common Meter
Have you ever pondered what the Lord means when he says “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”? I am so comforted by those words from our Lord and yet sometimes it is hard to fully grasp this promise from God. Grace is defined as unmerited favor, an unearned blessing, a love undeserved that never quits. Grace is a state of being protected or sanctified by the favor of God. Isn’t it a divinely beautiful thought that He gives us just as much of His grace as is needed to see us through our weakness? He is our daily bread just as He provided the right amount of bread (manna) for the Israelites to eat in the desert for 40 years. His Grace will get us through any trouble or danger and it will never deplete! God has an unending supply of grace! At the very moment we are failing and defective….flawed and broken as we are in this human condition…..His full strength and mighty power enables us to survive the trials and temptations of life when we put our faith in Him. I just want to praise God right now for the great and Chief Shepherd we have in Jesus Christ, our Jehovah-raah.
Morning Star Poetry 
5 responses to “The Shepherd’s Grace”
Praise the Lord Scotti for your amazing gift of writing! WOW! The Holy Spirit is speaking through your every word! I want to read all your poems. I know they are all for the glory of our omnipetent heavenly Father. How wonderful that the one true God, YAHWEH, hears our every prayer and gives all the love and grace that we need!
Keep writing these beautiful poems!
Scotti, I just have to ask, do you really believe that your free will is now no longer an issue? You are justified forever and cannot lose grace? That you are incapable of sin? That Jesus protects us from temptation? Because you have written this in this poem and I find this to be rather stunning. I really don’t know what to say…
That has never been taught by any of the Church Fathers and our Lord Himself taught us to pray, Our Father who art in heaven…and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. (original greek ending)
This poem has some theological issues and implications that don’t jibe with holy Scripture, even the Protestant view that I am familiar with, have things changed THAT much?
with love in Christ,
Squeaky
Nope. I have re-read this poem, all day, I keep coming back to it. As an Orthodox Christian; for us, Grace IS “God’s own life, which cannot be measured” as a priest friend of mine so beautifully states it, “His Grace makes all things possible!”
One of the Desert Fathers, in noting the abundance of God’s grace given to us, said that there is enough, such that if a man so willed it, he could be perfected in a day. This is theosis and our Lord’s graciousness to us, if we only had the “will” to be perfected by God’s grace. This, as the Saints and Scripture tell us takes action on our part; God doesn’t just create a Saint because he likes someone. They, if you will pardon the word that Protestants cannot stand- “work” at it and practice the virtues to attain the “fruits of the Holy Spirit”.
You write: “All other works are burned” Like I said, we are saved by the Grace of our Lord and Savior and we are commanded to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, this is like saying God doesn’t care what we do with our time as Christians and I don’t think you mean that.
“The hungry wolf of sin” even the great Desert Fathers were tempted, everyone is tempted, in fact our Lord tells us there will be a great falling away. I don’t think you mean this.
“The justified rejoice” I won’t know if I am justified until I prostrate before my Lord and Savior and hear, “Well done, good and faithful Servant enter into the reward of your Father.” And the sheep are separated from the goats. I pray for another day to repent, Lord, just another day, please, and this comment box is giving me another reason for that very prayer!
Forgive me, for any offense, dear cousin, I pray that I am not angering you, I truly believe that I must give an accounting of my faith (St. Peter says that I must) and since I opened my big mouth earlier, I might as well explain myself.
So there is my lame excuse what has bothered me all day with your poem (theologically speaking) In Orthodoxy a theologian is “one who prays” so I don’t qualify for that lofty term!
However, please know that I love you.
yours in Christ,
Squeaky
Hi scotti! I am new to this blog thing, my name is Sandi but you can find me as prayfirst or GraceOnTap. I just came from a very legalistic church, my family and I were hurt very bad by the nit-picky, or should I say “gnat-picky”, grace-stealers who remind me of the pharisees when they couldn’t quite grasp the beauty in what Jesus did when He healed the blind man on the Sabboth. Instead they focused on the fact that the Sabbath was broken. Your blog and your poem breathed such beauty to my spirit. Please continue to share what our Father has given you. I will be sharing your poem and blog with my husband and my children. Grace is to me (as I wrote in my blog) “that gray area that you find regarding a scripture, or interpretation, that would give you the choice to be either merciful, or judgmental, and then choosing mercy over judgment” This is a graceful thing to do. I can sense your merciful heart and I see that our Lord has given you “graceful eyes”. Blessings to you today. Sandi
God is great. Thanks for posting about the wonderful topic of his grace. Special thanks for this poem. May God bless you always.