"I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols..." (Isaiah 42:9a NIV)
HUMILITY! Some of us need a good dose of this! It's amazing how fast we become proud and puffed up and forget that we are merely vessels(of CLAY no less). When we draw close to God and seek after Him with our whole hearts, God begins to do amazing things in and through us. In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, we see Paul at this point. He's talking about all the great revelations and visions he was given. Every time I read 2 Cor. 12:1-10, I am amazed. Paul is talking about when he was caught up to the third heaven. Could you imagine being caught up to the paradise, where God dwells?!
Most of us have not experienced anything that magnificent and yet still we become conceited and proud. We begin to think that we are self-sufficient. Even I am guilty of this. We begin to exalt ourselves instead of Christ. Pride has led to the downfall of many in the Bible; Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the casting down of Lucifer from Heaven and many more. Who are we, mere mortals, who are but dust, here today and gone tomorrow, who are we to think that we could survive for one second without Almighty God? But yet still we do it!
When things start going well in our lives, we start thinking "Hey, I'm doing pretty gooood". I know some of you may be thinking "No, that's not me". Sometimes we don't think it, but our actions prove it to be true. We begin to operate as if we do not need God and that is a dangerous position to be in. And some of us even begin to boast about what God has done through us, or what He has revealed to us as if we ourselves have have done these things by our own power!
In the passage above, Paul is trying to prove a point to the Corinthians: don't boast as the world does! They try to lift up themselves so that they get the glory. Paul basically says in verse 6 of 2 Cor. 12, that he could boast about God's demonstrations of power in his life and he would be telling the truth but he says he refrains so that others will not think more highly of him than they ought to.
We should have that same mindset. We should not seek to turn people's attention toward us by boasting about what "we" have done. This is a work of the flesh that hinders our growth. We should ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS turn the attention of others onto our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to whom ALL glory belongs!
God says in Isaiah, "I will not give my glory to another...". In 2 Cor 12, Paul says that there was given him a thorn in his flesh to keep him from becoming conceited. I believe this thorn reminded Paul of exactly how human he was. Paul asked God to take away the thorn but God replied, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness". This blew my mind! God's power is made PERFECT in our weakness (i.e, the weaker we are, the greater God's power working in and through us!) After this, Paul goes on to say that he boasts GLADLY about his weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on him. In fact he even says that he DELIGHTS in his weaknesses!
We should never lose sight of the fact that we are weak in ourselves. We should never turn the focus on ourselves but on the One to whom all power and glory belong. In fact, we should boast in our weaknesses. As 2 Corinthians 4:7 says, "We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us". Our goal should be to point others to that Treasure and not to exalt the jars of clay.
Prayer: Father God, I thank you for Your patience with me. I thank you, Father, for your correction and your guidance. I ask forgiveness for my pride and I ask that You would help me to humble myself under Your mighty hand. Oh God, I ask that You would not allow the sin of pride to take root in my heart but that You would help me to walk humbly before You, knowing that I am merely a vessel to be used by You. Remind me, God, that this all-surpassing power comes from You and does not originate with me. Help me not to boast as the world does but help me to boast in my weaknesses that Your power may rest on me because I know that when I am weak, then I am strong. Help me to point others to Christ instead of diverting the focus to me. Help me to give you the glory that is due Your Name in everything I do, say and think, in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. ALL GLORY BELONGS TO YOU, OH GOD!
"7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
HUMILITY! Some of us need a good dose of this! It's amazing how fast we become proud and puffed up and forget that we are merely vessels(of CLAY no less). When we draw close to God and seek after Him with our whole hearts, God begins to do amazing things in and through us. In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, we see Paul at this point. He's talking about all the great revelations and visions he was given. Every time I read 2 Cor. 12:1-10, I am amazed. Paul is talking about when he was caught up to the third heaven. Could you imagine being caught up to the paradise, where God dwells?!
Most of us have not experienced anything that magnificent and yet still we become conceited and proud. We begin to think that we are self-sufficient. Even I am guilty of this. We begin to exalt ourselves instead of Christ. Pride has led to the downfall of many in the Bible; Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the casting down of Lucifer from Heaven and many more. Who are we, mere mortals, who are but dust, here today and gone tomorrow, who are we to think that we could survive for one second without Almighty God? But yet still we do it!
When things start going well in our lives, we start thinking "Hey, I'm doing pretty gooood". I know some of you may be thinking "No, that's not me". Sometimes we don't think it, but our actions prove it to be true. We begin to operate as if we do not need God and that is a dangerous position to be in. And some of us even begin to boast about what God has done through us, or what He has revealed to us as if we ourselves have have done these things by our own power!
In the passage above, Paul is trying to prove a point to the Corinthians: don't boast as the world does! They try to lift up themselves so that they get the glory. Paul basically says in verse 6 of 2 Cor. 12, that he could boast about God's demonstrations of power in his life and he would be telling the truth but he says he refrains so that others will not think more highly of him than they ought to.
We should have that same mindset. We should not seek to turn people's attention toward us by boasting about what "we" have done. This is a work of the flesh that hinders our growth. We should ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS turn the attention of others onto our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to whom ALL glory belongs!
God says in Isaiah, "I will not give my glory to another...". In 2 Cor 12, Paul says that there was given him a thorn in his flesh to keep him from becoming conceited. I believe this thorn reminded Paul of exactly how human he was. Paul asked God to take away the thorn but God replied, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness". This blew my mind! God's power is made PERFECT in our weakness (i.e, the weaker we are, the greater God's power working in and through us!) After this, Paul goes on to say that he boasts GLADLY about his weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on him. In fact he even says that he DELIGHTS in his weaknesses!
We should never lose sight of the fact that we are weak in ourselves. We should never turn the focus on ourselves but on the One to whom all power and glory belong. In fact, we should boast in our weaknesses. As 2 Corinthians 4:7 says, "We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us". Our goal should be to point others to that Treasure and not to exalt the jars of clay.
Prayer: Father God, I thank you for Your patience with me. I thank you, Father, for your correction and your guidance. I ask forgiveness for my pride and I ask that You would help me to humble myself under Your mighty hand. Oh God, I ask that You would not allow the sin of pride to take root in my heart but that You would help me to walk humbly before You, knowing that I am merely a vessel to be used by You. Remind me, God, that this all-surpassing power comes from You and does not originate with me. Help me not to boast as the world does but help me to boast in my weaknesses that Your power may rest on me because I know that when I am weak, then I am strong. Help me to point others to Christ instead of diverting the focus to me. Help me to give you the glory that is due Your Name in everything I do, say and think, in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. ALL GLORY BELONGS TO YOU, OH GOD!