COMPARING, GRADING, AND COMPETING
If you are comparing, grading, and competing (II Cor 10:12), you miss the point. "What we are hoping for is that as your lives grow in faith, you'll play a part within our expanding work." No comparing and competing anymore for Paul...now he tells of being at death's door time after time II Cor 11:23-27. Jailed. Beaten. Dying. Flogged. Shipwrecked. Immersed. Robbed. Betrayed. Endangered. Used. Sleepless. Hungry. Blasted. And carrying the burdens of others. No competing here.
CHRIST'S STRENGTH COMING INTO ITS OWN IN OUR WEAKNESS
Paul goes on to say: II Cor 12:7-10 I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.
CELEBRATE EVERY TRIUMPH OF TRUTH IN YOU
We don't just put up with our limitations; we celebrate them, and then go on to celebrate every strength, every triumph of the truth in you. II Cor 13:9-11. We pray hard that it will all come together in your lives. Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure. The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you. And so ends II Corinthians. What lingers with you? For me, it's the words: "relational sin" "relational comfort."
"Live for your relational comfort, and your joy will be shallow and temporary. It will not free you to love. Live to know the truth of My Story of forgiving love, and you will be deeply unsettled by how profoundly you need forgiveness. You will then suffer the slow death of your entitled demand that you be treated well. But you will discover, slowly but surely, the power of My ongoing forgiveness and Presence to change you into a person who loves."
I posted last night in freezing Fort Worth. Don't quite know where it went cause it didn't save either. Having a few technical issues over here.
ReplyDeleteI got a new phone on Saturday cause my battery was shot and the new phone was free. I think I need a course in how to use it! Last night I received over 100 text messages all night long from Verizon Wireless saying that my e-mail app was not applicable to the new cell---aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh! 100 texts and I didn't know how to turn them off. Then, I came here and saw that my post was missing. What's up with electronics and The Brandons?? Plus, I can't turn Pandora off on my cell! It's playing Christmas music. Celebrating my limitations...
My husband said if Pandora was what he thought it was and it made his phone freeze.he suggests that you get it off asap The learning curve on the droid is a doozy. he does love it now that he has got the hang of it....it's like a small computer. Stay warm and let us know what the doctors say. love you...
ReplyDelete2 Cor. 10:4-6 ~ “The tools of our trade aren't for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.”
ReplyDeleteUsing God-powered tools last night to diffuse a situation, and He softened hearts to Himself. It went against every self-entitled bone inside me, yet God helped me to keep my lips closed, and within hours, a soft thank you was spoken. Not for manipulation or self but to His glory, a moment held in silence gave way to a small victory. His ways are not our ways, but His ways lead to truth and obedience and, God, let it be so, maturity.
2 Cor. 12: 7-10 “Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn't get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,
My grace is enough; it's all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness.”
It’s a difficult thing to imagine that God would gives us a handicap, yet He uses it so magnificently to keep us connected with our limitations and take us to our knees in prayer. I have a thorn, a handicap that can take me down at times with anxiety. Yet I find when I step out in faith, His Grace is all I need. I have victory with His Strength. Lord, help me to remember I only need You.
2 Cor. 12:5-7 ~ “Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don't drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it.”
2 Cor. 12:12 ~ “Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure.”
As we close Corinthians, 66 LL p. 252 says “the inclination to twist my story into a tale of relief and recovery rather than redemption and restoration is strong in everyone. The corruption within you evidenced in your ongoing failure to love that needs ongoing forgiveness, can be and will be used by My Spirit, to draw you closer to Me.
He puts a little heaven in our hearts so that we’ll never settle for less! (2 Cor. 5:4-5)
I just love Paul! Can't even imagine him mumbling. He comes across in the written word with power and clarity.
ReplyDeleteAll the things he endured for the cause of Christ...so easy to read...but each one of those acts of suffering would have defeated a lesser man. He was a MIGHTY WARRIOR of the faith.
Beautiful words from the end of today's reading:
"Be cheerful.
Keep things in good repair.
Keep your spirits up.
Think in harmony.
Be agreeable.
Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure.
Greet one another with a holy embrace.
All the brothers and sisters here say hello.
The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ,
the extravagant love of God,
the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you."
May these words fall on each of us, too.