Pleasure in our weakness

When I was playing the trombone I noticed that I am only hearing well from one ear, and yet God gives me grace to play in my older years and I truly enjoy it. My eyes are dim now, but using glasses I can see God's creation and marvel at all he has done. By faith I can marvel at his promises and all he will do, not by my power but by his grace through faith.

2 Cor 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

When we are weak and trust in God, then we are truly strong, under the anointing of the spirit, by the grace of God. We prepare by filling our hearts with God's word and promises. 

Heb 13:5... for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

infirmities...weaknesses, distresses, As a dear friend says: short is the suffering, eternal the joy.

reproaches, insults,

Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

necessities, needs, and we know that God meets all our needs.

persecutions,

Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

distresses, calamities and difficulties

1 Pet 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

When we are at our weakest, we acknowledge we are only strong in the Lord. We give up our flesh strength and give in to God. Only in Him can we truly be strong. Flesh can not even be accounted for when one walks in the Spirit. When we are sick we cry out to the Lord, when we are distressed we cry out to the Lord, when life becomes difficult, we cry out to the Lord, when calamity hits home, we cry out to the Lord. It is in the suffering for Christ we are able to submit and draw on His strength to sustain us in our weak moments. (Camille)

We are not alone, Jesus is with us in the Spirit that dwells within. Living by faith is trusting in God's strength in us to enable us to be triumphant Christians. Thank you Jesus.

Three things that are needed

2Ti 2:1  Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2Ti 2:2  And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
2Ti 2:3  Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
2Ti 2:4  No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

I started the day playing trombone duets with Bob. He brought some music with extremely high notes to be  played in harmony. He said in order to play this music it requires three things: practice, practice and practice. I quipped to him, "what about chance"? He laughed. But, how many of us lack the discipline to do what is required of us? Instead of study and practice, we leave it to chance and call it spiritual.  Now I am in dangerous territory. The truth is  if we are in Christ we can do nothing apart from God's spirit. We receive a lot of grace, yes and even grace when we fail. In an earlier testimony I mentioned wasting a lot of time seeking the wrong goals. When we are on the right path, then it is a joy. We should not be slack and lazy in our walk with the LORD. The apostle Paul put all of his effort into bringing the gospel to the Gentiles. He had much success but also much pain and persecution. Can we stand the pain? the persecution? We must, if we are to stand for Jesus. Our pastor has related a message from Billy Graham on being successful as a Christian; pray, pray and pray. Then we can put to practice what we learn from God's word.

Rom 5:1  Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 
Rom 5:2  By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 
Rom 5:3  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 
Rom 5:4  And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 
Rom 5:5  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 

We ought to obey God

There is always resistance to the move of God. But, if God wants to be heard, he will even send his angels to help us. 

Act 5:17  Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation,
Act 5:18  And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison.
Act 5:19  But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said,
Act 5:20  Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.

 

Act 5:26  Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned.
Act 5:27  And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them,
Act 5:28  Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us.
Act 5:29  Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
Act 5:30  The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
Act 5:31  Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
Act 5:32  And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.
Act 5:33  When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.

The unsaved  and the ungodly fear the people more than God. They want to appear as something they are not, before the people. To assure that they stay in charge they will try to destroy anyone who gets in the way. The Apostles were not afraid of the godless Saducees. "We ought to obey God rather than men." They had Holy Ghost boldness to witness the gospel. Sometimes, and even with Peter, we know that in our natural ability we will fail. This is why we must have faith in God and allow the Holy Spirit to speak through you. They even witnessed to those who tried to stop them.

 

1Peter 4:11  If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

A final note about angels. They are sent to minister to the saints of God. It is rare that they tell us what to do. Do not seek guidance from angel's, nor are we to pray to them. Satan has his angels too and many are deceived by them in the occult practices. Angels will come to our aid, but God usually leads by His Holy Spirit.

 

Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Gal 5:26  Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

 

Remember the power is of God, not of our doing. Give him the glory and put away your envy and self glory. 

Armed and Ready

Ezek 22:30  And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

Neh 4:7  But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth,
Neh 4:8  And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.
Neh 4:9  Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.

The workers had to be on the alert because the enemies of God's work had come together to try to stop them.

 

Many thoughts come to my mind about this. Always we look to God when the enemy plans his attack. We must realize that we are in a spiritual war. First we are to pray and to seek his word. If we read the Bible through and read the Bible every day then the Holy Spirit will bring scriptures to us that we can use in the problems we will face.

 

Isa 54:17  No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

 

We are to stay in God's armor day and night. The enemy attacks in the night time as well, usually in our thoughts and dreams.

 

Neh 4:17  They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Remember that if we are in Christ we are not alone. God has our front, sides and back. His arm is our weapon as we do the work of God. I have heard of the power of the press to form public opinion. The powers that be may control the press, the news broadcasts and they may search all ways of expression to shape things their way. In Christ Jesus we are free. We use our freedom to pray for those in power that God would bless and that peace may prevail. We speak the message of hope and redemption for those who are bound by sin. Jesus will make you free. Put away your anger and malice and put on the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The world needs truth and mercy and God's love.

 

John 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Psa 89:2  For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.

Strength through faith

My folks retired and moved from the suburbs in Southern California to a 10 acre farm in Northern California. I remember how fearful my mom was of this move, but my dad was right at home. He was forced to leave a farm in Arkansas during the depression. He and his brother ran the farm that included a herd of  prize Jersey cattle. They had to quit school when their father died. My father only went through the fifth grade. His sister lived in Lancaster, a hot area in Southern California and she assured my dad that there was plenty of work out there. He loaded up his belongings with his wife and two kids and made the move. When he  arrived in a hot area of California where his sister lived, there was nothing but hard labor. He bucked hay and my mom cooked for 20 ranch hands and they lived in a chicken coup.  He found a job in a better climate in Ventura County as a nursery tree pruner and caregiver. The Bible calls this in the KJV, a husbandman. My father was a very hard worker and a good husband. I was born about this time. My father had various jobs but worked and saved money owned a home and when he retired he left all to move north. It was like returning home to my father. He raised cattle and had many fruit trees and a large garden. My mother was always cooking good things. They would come to visit and bring all kinds of produce to their children who had also moved north. My mom was not very big, but a hard worker. My dad was a big strong man and she always depended on him who could do anything. Old age came and my father was the first to get dementia, he no longer recognized his family, but he remembered some of his past. Mom cared for him, was given strength that she never had before. Strength in her and wisdom from God. The LORD was with them and they survived another five years until she died. Even though my dad did not know us, he had a smile and when we would take him to church and he heard the hymns , tears would come from his heart. They are both with the Lord now and we have lots of good memories of them.  Changes will come to us all, but God will be our strength so do not fear. He promises to be with us always.

2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2Co 12:10  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

This part I wrote last night... When I see preachers on the TV using their talents to convince others to give money, using smooth words and deception I see that they have stepped out of God's anointing. Some anointed men of God are following the Spirit, powered by God to do his work. But there is a danger with success and prominence to step away from God and to do a ministry in the "self" abilities. This happened to Moses, a servant who was known by God and who spoke face to face with him . In a moment of anger he disobeyed God's will by striking the rock twice, instead of speaking to it. God still honored Moses by sending forth water to feed his people, but this kept Moses from entering into the promise land.

Two men of faith believed God and obeyed him; Joshua and Caleb. These two went into the promise land. The promise land is a picture of God's coming kingdom. You can only get there through faith. Faith in Jesus, the rock that was stricken once for our sins.

In my personal life I sometimes feel fear when new challenges come my way. God knows our circumstances and he will give us his strength and wisdom. I trust in him and he is my strength. He gives  me the strength to serve him, but not to serve my  own pride. Too many are motivated by self, pride, power, being important, no, we are to lose ourselves in Christ Jesus. He is to work in us and through us, his good pleasure. He is our strength and he cares for us always. Do not fear.

Be of good courage

  

Josh 1:7  Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.
Josh 1:8  This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
Josh 1:9  Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Be strong and of good courage, not bad courage. Some are bold to do evil, this is not God's command. We are to observe to do all according to God's word. We fail when we leave his word. Our courage is not just our bodies strength but also our soul, our godly Character and trust. Our faith in God keeps us going and not with many words but by his word and promises.

1 Cor 9:24  Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
1 Cor 9:25  And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
1 Cor 9:26  I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
1 Cor 9:27  But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

Watch out for lusts of the flesh and pride of life. Submit all to God as the Proverb says.

Prov 3:1  My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
Prov 3:2  For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
Prov 3:3  Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
Prov 3:4  So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
Prov 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Prov 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Prov 3:7  Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
Prov 3:8  It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

Have good courage and obey God.

Lev 26:6  And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.
Lev 26:7  And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.
Lev 26:8  And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

The people of God are to have courage, for God goes with them. Pray for our military and our government leaders that they trust God and are of good courage. We are not to serve the devil, but the Living God. We take our orders from above, not from evil but from our righteous commander. Be a good soldier of the LORD, stay in his word and his will so that we will go forward as the victorious people of God.