Post by tomdurst on Jul 29, 2013 8:40:44 GMT -5
STRENGTH IN WEAKNESS
by Thomas E Durst
by Thomas E Durst
2 Corinthians 12:10 Amplified Bible (AMP)
10 So for the sake of Christ, I am well pleased and take pleasure in infirmities, insults, hardships, persecutions, perplexities and distresses; for when I am weak [in human strength], then am I [truly] strong (able, powerful in divine strength).
Paul endured hardships for the sake of the gospel that none of us could ever begin to imagine and he learned to depend wholly upon the Lord for his strength. He learned that recognizing the weakness of human strength was the secret of experiencing divine strength. Everyday we are faced with challenges on every hand. How shall we meet them?
Ongoing temptations and trials of our faith are opportunities for us to see our need for increasing dependence upon God rather than human will power. As we grow spiritually we will see our human faults more fully and how much we continually need to turn to God for strength. All kinds of "how to do it" formulas and programs ad nauseam, even within Christianity, have confused people and led them to turn to some kind of human resources instead of looking to God as the only true power and source of lasting help.
Recently someone asked the question, "How can I love the unlovable?" God's love is poured forth into our hearts by the Holy Spirit as a gift of His grace (Romans 5:5). As we open our hearts and spend time in communion with the Divine we experience more and more of His unfathomable love. One can travel land and sea, attend many seminars, workshops or retreats, read stacks of books on spirituality and endlessly blog on the Internet and be utterly destitute of simple faith and what it means to walk with the Savior. We experience great peace as we increasingly return to the utter simplicity of dependence upon God and cease depending upon man (see Jeremiah 17:5; Zechariah 4:6). The magic formulas or short cuts to victory and overcoming can be very deceptive and often point people totally in the wrong direction.
I would like to close by encouraging you to remember the simplicity of these inspired words quoted below. I think that in the midst of all of this higher education, modern technology, and flurry of self-help programs that we've forgotten the provisions for victory that have been given to us by our loving God.
Jeremiah 29:13 Common English Bible (CEB)
13 When you search for me, yes, search for me with all your heart, you will find me.
1 Corinthians 15:57 New Living Translation (NLT)
57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
I invite you to read LOOK BENEATH THE SURFACE which is on the link below:
LOOK BENEATH THE SURFACE