The Apostle Paul was a pretty incredible guy. When we talk about great Christians, we will always recognize him. He had great insight, and incredible drive to share God’s love, and he was brilliant… what’s not to like? That is kinda what he talks about in this passage. But he says that even though he has a lot to boast about, he realizes that his greatest strength is when he is the weakest.
6If I had a mind to brag a little, I could probably do it without looking ridiculous, and I’d still be speaking plain truth all the way. But I’ll spare you. I don’t want anyone imagining me as anything other than the fool you’d encounter if you saw me on the street or heard me talk.
7Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! 8At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, 9and then he told me, “My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.”
Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. 10Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become. 2 Corinthians 12:6-10 TMSGWhy? Why would we be stronger by being weaker? I’m not exactly a genius, but that doesn’t seem to add up…
I had to struggle with this question a lot. I like to do things for myself for the most part. I like to know that I am capable. I like to feel strong! But my problem is that I was trying to live my Christian life as the strong guy… the unstoppable force… the one that was going to change the world… I was going to show God just how strong I was, and how important to His Kingdom I was. Man was that stupid!
What I didn’t realize is that I don’t have to be strong, I don’t need to change the world, and I don’t need to be an unstoppable force because Jesus has already done these things! He is the one who is strong! He is the one who is capable! I didn’t realize that by trying to do everything on my own, I was really robbing God of His glory! He already changed everything, I just need to walk in that change!
So, when Paul says that the weaker he gets, the stronger he becomes, it is because in his weakness, God’s strength takes over. We have to realize that we can’t do this without Him. If we could change the world, we would have done it already. If we had the strength, we wouldn’t need God.
But, we don’t have the ability. We don’t have the strength. And we can’t do it. Paul’s statement isn’t so much telling us to be weak, but he is telling us to realize that we already are. God doesn’t need rock stars or super heroes. He needs the weak. He receives the greatest glory when His strength passes through someone that is obviously incapable. Because then it is Him who did it. He is the one who receives the fame and honor. He is strong… we are weak… and that’s the way He like it!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
The Real House Builder- Hebrews 3:3-4
But Jesus deserves far more glory than Moses, just as a person who builds a house deserves more praise than the house itself. For every house has a builder, but the one who built everything is God. Hebrews 3:3-4
When I was reading this earlier this morning, it kinda jumped out at me. Like any pastor, I started to think how I could use this to teach myself and others the truth that I had seen here. So, I thought I would blog about it, but I didn’t have time right then. Now, the Holy Spirit is applying these verses even deeper into my life, and all it took was a change of location.
Right now, I am sitting in a parking lot where I can see a Mormon temple a few hundred yards away on my left, and a Hindu temple a few hundred yards away on my right…. interesting location… If God wanted to show me a little something about how “houses” are built, He sure picked the right place! These are the kind of houses that people build. Sure, they build them to honor their god, or their belief system, but they are still built by people.
According to this verse in Hebrews, no matter what the “house” looks like, the one who will get the praise is the builder. These “houses” that I am sitting between are beautiful. They are incredibly decorated and built. And they are built to honor a god… or are they? If the writer of Hebrews is correct, it is the builder that really receives the praise. We can say that we build things to honor someone or something else, but in reality, when we build it, we want the glory. We build things so that people will recognize us.
Now, please don’t think that I am only picking on the Hindus or the Mormons… I just happen to be sitting where I am sitting. I could just as easily be sitting between an Assembly of God and a Catholic church… The truth would still be the same: We build things so that people can recognize us. So that we receive the praise and the glory.
But what about the real “Builder”? Hebrews 3:4 says that “the one who built everything is God.” We spend a lot of time building our lives, without ever considering who made it all possible. Without the Master Builder, God Himself, you and I wouldn’t even be here. We wouldn’t exist. We spend a lot of time taking credit for what our lives have become, without ever giving credit to the one who gave us life!
Physicist, Steven Hawking, has just come out with a book stating that he can prove that life can create itself. He says that because of natural laws like gravity, that matter can simply come into existence. To these statements, Evangelist Ray Comfort, has responded: “How can there be a Law, without a Law-Giver?”
How can your life become something without the Life-Giver? You and I are nothing without Him. We can spend our time building a beautiful “house” and taking all the credit; or, we can give credit to the One who is worthy of it… “The Real House Builder”!!
When I was reading this earlier this morning, it kinda jumped out at me. Like any pastor, I started to think how I could use this to teach myself and others the truth that I had seen here. So, I thought I would blog about it, but I didn’t have time right then. Now, the Holy Spirit is applying these verses even deeper into my life, and all it took was a change of location.
Right now, I am sitting in a parking lot where I can see a Mormon temple a few hundred yards away on my left, and a Hindu temple a few hundred yards away on my right…. interesting location… If God wanted to show me a little something about how “houses” are built, He sure picked the right place! These are the kind of houses that people build. Sure, they build them to honor their god, or their belief system, but they are still built by people.
According to this verse in Hebrews, no matter what the “house” looks like, the one who will get the praise is the builder. These “houses” that I am sitting between are beautiful. They are incredibly decorated and built. And they are built to honor a god… or are they? If the writer of Hebrews is correct, it is the builder that really receives the praise. We can say that we build things to honor someone or something else, but in reality, when we build it, we want the glory. We build things so that people will recognize us.
Now, please don’t think that I am only picking on the Hindus or the Mormons… I just happen to be sitting where I am sitting. I could just as easily be sitting between an Assembly of God and a Catholic church… The truth would still be the same: We build things so that people can recognize us. So that we receive the praise and the glory.
But what about the real “Builder”? Hebrews 3:4 says that “the one who built everything is God.” We spend a lot of time building our lives, without ever considering who made it all possible. Without the Master Builder, God Himself, you and I wouldn’t even be here. We wouldn’t exist. We spend a lot of time taking credit for what our lives have become, without ever giving credit to the one who gave us life!
Physicist, Steven Hawking, has just come out with a book stating that he can prove that life can create itself. He says that because of natural laws like gravity, that matter can simply come into existence. To these statements, Evangelist Ray Comfort, has responded: “How can there be a Law, without a Law-Giver?”
How can your life become something without the Life-Giver? You and I are nothing without Him. We can spend our time building a beautiful “house” and taking all the credit; or, we can give credit to the One who is worthy of it… “The Real House Builder”!!
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