WEAK BUT BOLD
Monday, August 30, 2010
Verse for Today
2 Corinthians 12:10 - Therefore I am well content with weakness, with insults, with distress, with persecution, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
Contentment in low estate is a state of affairs that we attain through discipline of our desires and preferences. We get grace to be satisfied with what we have and what we do not have. Those who do not have this self discipline usually get tempted to search for and work hard for the things that they do not have and put all effort to obtain it in greater quantity and quality. But contentment in weaknesses, insults, distress, persecution and difficulties of various type require special grace. It comes from suffering for a cause that is worthy enough to go through. Often such lives end up in martyrdom for a worthy cause. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Joseph, Paul, John and others went through such experiences of sufferings for the cause of God and His truth. They all considered suffering worthy of the cross they carried willingly. They developed a great satisfaction in suffering because they stood for the truth and felt it appropriate to lay their lives for the sake of the truth that they carried forward in their lives. It was a privilege for them to suffer for the cause of God. It was as if they were paying back to God in a minute way their gratitude for being made God's children and were called upon to serve and worship Him. It was for them a matter of great thrill and exuberance to go through persecution and sufferings made them exceedingly joyful. It is amazing to see that even in their weaknesses, they felt strong in their faith, convictions, trust and dependency on the Lord.
Dear friend, are you facing difficulties in your life because you stand for the truth? Do you consider it a privilege to go through these difficulties for the truth that you hold and bear witness to it? When you go through these difficulties, the Spirit of God who indwells you reassures your spirit that your sufferings are not a waste, but a response to the sufferings of the Lord Jesus on the cross for you. If you face shame for the Lord who faced shame for you, it is a way by which you are called upon to suffer shame for Him. But at such moments of weakness, you are able to experience great spiritual strength and boldness to go through it all. Thus these experiences make your faith firm and solid. That is why when we suffer for the Lord, we do not complain or murmur. When we are deprived of our rights for the sake of the Lord, we can also be silent like the Lord in front of the rulers and the mob, and praise the Lord for the privilege to suffer for Him. If He has gone through tremendous persecution for us, the least that we can do for Him is to suffer at least something for Him. The experience of being strengthened by Him in our spirits in the wake of sufferings is thus a great spiritual experience when we live by His strength and not by our strength. These sufferings thus make us patient and mature to endure the situations that we face. His Spirit will encourage us to go through difficult situations and come out spiritually victorious for His praise.
Philippians 3:8 - More than that, I count all things loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.
Thought for Today
Divine strength in human weakness makes a spiritually powerful saint.
Verse for Today
2 Corinthians 12:10 - Therefore I am well content with weakness, with insults, with distress, with persecution, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
Contentment in low estate is a state of affairs that we attain through discipline of our desires and preferences. We get grace to be satisfied with what we have and what we do not have. Those who do not have this self discipline usually get tempted to search for and work hard for the things that they do not have and put all effort to obtain it in greater quantity and quality. But contentment in weaknesses, insults, distress, persecution and difficulties of various type require special grace. It comes from suffering for a cause that is worthy enough to go through. Often such lives end up in martyrdom for a worthy cause. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Joseph, Paul, John and others went through such experiences of sufferings for the cause of God and His truth. They all considered suffering worthy of the cross they carried willingly. They developed a great satisfaction in suffering because they stood for the truth and felt it appropriate to lay their lives for the sake of the truth that they carried forward in their lives. It was a privilege for them to suffer for the cause of God. It was as if they were paying back to God in a minute way their gratitude for being made God's children and were called upon to serve and worship Him. It was for them a matter of great thrill and exuberance to go through persecution and sufferings made them exceedingly joyful. It is amazing to see that even in their weaknesses, they felt strong in their faith, convictions, trust and dependency on the Lord.
Dear friend, are you facing difficulties in your life because you stand for the truth? Do you consider it a privilege to go through these difficulties for the truth that you hold and bear witness to it? When you go through these difficulties, the Spirit of God who indwells you reassures your spirit that your sufferings are not a waste, but a response to the sufferings of the Lord Jesus on the cross for you. If you face shame for the Lord who faced shame for you, it is a way by which you are called upon to suffer shame for Him. But at such moments of weakness, you are able to experience great spiritual strength and boldness to go through it all. Thus these experiences make your faith firm and solid. That is why when we suffer for the Lord, we do not complain or murmur. When we are deprived of our rights for the sake of the Lord, we can also be silent like the Lord in front of the rulers and the mob, and praise the Lord for the privilege to suffer for Him. If He has gone through tremendous persecution for us, the least that we can do for Him is to suffer at least something for Him. The experience of being strengthened by Him in our spirits in the wake of sufferings is thus a great spiritual experience when we live by His strength and not by our strength. These sufferings thus make us patient and mature to endure the situations that we face. His Spirit will encourage us to go through difficult situations and come out spiritually victorious for His praise.
Philippians 3:8 - More than that, I count all things loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.
Thought for Today
Divine strength in human weakness makes a spiritually powerful saint.
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