Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

2 Corinthians 12:6-9 (NLT)

6 If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message,

7 even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.

8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.

9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

In God’s Word, not only have we been blessed with amazing facts about God, and His son Jesus, but there are excellent examples of followers of Jesus that catches our attention and guides us to a way of life that is pleasing to God. There is much to say about Paul and his missionary journeys and the churches that he started and the multitudes that he ministered to, but in this passage today we look at characteristics of the man that would benefit us to follow his example as we endeavor to become a more Godly person. The humility of this man is unbelievable. God had blessed him in so many ways that he would have been able to boast an awful lot, however God also placed something very challenging in his life to help deter him from boasting. This bothered Paul a lot, because he didn’t want to be rejected or scorned by the folk he was trying to minister to (Galatians 4:13-15), so he prayed on multiple occasions for God to cleanse/heal him. Each time Paul was reminded that something much more important was ever so prevalent in his life, and that was God’s wonderful grace (His unmerited favor), and it was really all that he needed. Furthermore, Paul was reminded that God’s grace would actually be more powerful and effective in his life through his weakness and downtime. This therefore gave Paul reason to brag about and boast about his weakness so that God might receive honor and glory from those that Paul spoke with. Let’s bring this down to an example in our day and time. Let’s imagine that one of us had been blessed to start many churches in various parts of the country, or even the word, and we saw many people won to Christ as a result of our preaching, or church starts. Now as we return to our home church to brag about all that God did through us, we are diagnosed with cancer and must undergo months of treatment. When we eventually make it to our home church, we find very little to say about the church starts and the salvation of those along the way, but rather how God helps us to make it from day to day as we deal with the debilitating decease of cancer, and how we are unsure from day to day if we will make it. I believe that we would be extremely disappointed, but I also believe that God could use that witness to win even more souls than us bragging about the work performed and the souls won, as it may have looked more like something we personally accomplished. Bottom line is that we should never expect to see credit here on this earth for what we do in Jesus name and for His sake, for it is God that receives that glory. Secondly, we have only today to live for and ask for God’s continued grace. Nothing of what we did in the past assures us of a good or better day today. Let’s place our faith and trust in God for what we need today.

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Dear God, this is such an awesome reminder about Your wonderful grace. So often we tend to pray to You with such great expectation because of the faithfulness of the one we are praying for, or because of what they have accomplished, or because of all those being reached for You through their ministry. I am reminded that all of these things are credited to You, and not to the individual we are praying for. I need Your grace each and every day. I need Your healing touch afresh today. I need a closer walk with You today than any day in my past, because I need to realize that Your grace is all sufficient today. Please make Yourself known to me today and work through me so that others may be blessed and healed in Your name. You are such an awesome God, and I count it a privilege to be able to call on You each day as my Savior.

 

àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
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