| Good Morning Everyone, Our theme for this month: “Fresh wind, fresh fire” Our Bible verse for today: “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.’ Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (CSB) Our thought for today: “God does His best work through our weaknesses.” “Weakness” is not a virtue we tend to admire in our culture. At least, we don’t admire our understanding of weakness. When we think of weakness, we think of a Pee Wee Herman kind of guy getting sand kicked in his face at the beach by some big bully and not being able to do anything about it. But that’s not the picture Paul is painting for us in this passage. Paul was anything but a Pee Wee Herman. He was tough and resilient. He was fearless and he willingly endured tremendous hardships for the cause of Christ. Paul persevered and kept going long after the point when lesser men would have given up and quit. The “weakness” that Paul was referring to was an inability to do the things God wanted to accomplish through him. In his flesh Paul could not keep going; he could not deal effectively with all the problems; he could not endure the hardships and the disappointments and the persecution. Taken together, it was more than he could handle by himself. But he could do it in the power of Christ. This is what he meant in Philippians 4:13 when he wrote, “I can do all things, through Christ who strengthens me.” If Paul was going to be able to deal with it all, it would only be because Jesus enabled him to, and that then would bring honor and glory to God. It has been said that “When we come to the end of ourselves, we come to the beginning of God.” I think that’s true. In his book, “Fresh wind, Fresh Fire”, Pastor Jim Cymbala wrote, “I discovered an astonishing truth: God is attracted to weakness. He can’t resist those who humbly and honestly admit their need for him.” Yes. It’s when we humbly and honestly admit how much we need him that God’s power can really kick in and take over. In fact, our weaknesses make room for His power. Our limitations bring us to the point of handing the situation over to Him and then relying on Him to enable us to deal with it and to keep going. If you’re feeling as if you have reached the end of yourself and you’re not sure how you’re going to keep going, congratulations! You’ve come to the point when God can now do His best work in you! Turn your situation over to Him, rely on Him, trust Him, stay close to Him, and then lean into it and keep going. It really is true that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. God Bless, Pastor Jim |
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