Paul’s Thorn…

Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” 2 Corinthians 12:7 was allowed by God just as Satan was granted dominion over Job’s wealth and then his health. As we learned from the Job story that God believes in us the same way we believe in Him and nothing in all creation can come between our faith in the Almighty, if only we believe. So what was the reason for Paul’s thorn in his flesh if not to help him to avoid being “exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations” as the text says. As we read further we see that he pleads 12:8 that it might depart. No use splitting hairs or forming dogmatic conclusions on what the exact particulars of this passage may be 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. Of this much we are sure a “thorn in the flesh” had come upon Paul by the way of a messenger of Satan and that the Providence of God allowed this to happen.

So God allows Paul and I would stagger a guess at all believers in general the act of suffering as a way of growing spiritually as opposed to worldly. We all live in this world, we all have certain beliefs from this world and God wants to replace lies with truth. The bottom line is that there is pain involved in growing in Godliness just as there is pain in creation, birth, muscles, etc. The whole idea here is it seems to be a rule that there is no growth except by pain. We are advised over and over to embrace our trials and count them as blessings as I’m sure that the blessings follow the trial, if only you believe. Could this be God’s way of teaching us to have a positive attitude for the Kingdom that is the opposite of the prosperity teaching which obviously seemed to exist even in the time of Job and Paul’s ministry? Or perhaps we are to embrace our trials as a way of learning simple logic and being able to accept things as they are and not as we think they should be, trusting God all the while.

Either way if we learn or willfully choose not to turn from our path as we work through our trial, to which this is likely specifically chosen for us due to the condition of our hearts. We will come out the other side as we should be. With further God given knowledge and revelation that strengthens our walk with the Almighty and helps in the remaking of the new creation we have become.

So I ask you again Christian can you feel the presence of God when you walk with Him, talk with Him, worship Him, argue with Him (yes you can argue with God), wrestle with Him, listen to Him, wait for Him, serve Him, receive Him, preach Him, Can you feel the presence of God?

If you cannot feel the presence of God there is only one solution and lest God do it for you I would humble myself today!

1 PETER 5:6

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,

If everything was always rosy okey dokey for Paul many more people would have came to Christ but his condition scared away the faint hearted shallow folk that attended church just for the image. You know the type always to busy to commit to anything or to serve when asked or most times begged. We are not here to consider each others feelings when in truth we are phoney baloneys attending church just for the image of it.

So how would you know if you’re one of these types?

Simple really, ask yourself theses questions and the answer will tell you if you are a real Christian or the phoney baloney type that is attending church just for image.

1. How many folks did you bring to Jesus today?

2. How about his week?

3. How about this month?

4. How about this year?

5. How about your whole life?

You want to be a real Christian, tell people about Jesus and discard your excuses in the refuse pile with all the other garbage TODAY!

Want to learn how to spread the gospel in about five minutes flat take a look at The Way of the Master to learn more…

May...

The Lord bless and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

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All posts by M.A.C. © Bruce W. Moar

Walking with God… Part Deux (2)

Before we get back to Saul lets take a look at the parallel sufferings of Job and Paul and how their suffering in and of itself may have strengthened them in their gift of faith in God the Father.

Job a man who had grown children, was very rich and was considered greatest of all the people of the East. He was a man who feared God and shunned evil.

Job 1:6 Satan, satan (sah-tahn) Strongs #7854: An opponent, the arch enemy of all that is good. Satan is a hater, a destroyer, an accuser, obstructer and adversary of God and all who would fear and obey Gods will.

Now the story of Job and Paul are both stories of real men in a real time, with real names, real feelings and the ability to think just like you and I. So if Satan felt compelled to bother them it was due to his wanting to stop what they were doing for God. That is why scripture continually tells us to count trials as honor in serving our God. Job had a fear of God that his sons may have sinned and cursed God in their hearts so he regularly offered intercessory prayer for them.

Satan came before God and God bragged about the righteousness of Job to Satan, (Job 1:8Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil."). The response of Satan was to accuse Job saying “if God took away his hedge of protection from him Job would surely curse Him”. God then gives control (permission) of all Jobs possessions to Satan but he is not to harm Job physically. Now in perspective, the beauty of this passage and story is that not only did Job believe in God but God also believed in Job, isn’t that great, that God can believe in us as we do Him?

Job’s first response after losing all he had was not to question why but to accept it and to continue to praise God with this;

"Naked I came from my mother's womb,
and naked I will depart.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised."

Satan is really peeved now and again asks God for permission this time to affect Jobs health and physical wellness. God allows this too. Now just as God himself in Jesus Christ choose Paul when we would not have, we must not try to put anthropomorphic thinking (human attributes unto God) as a rule. Rather we should take comfort in the fact that God calls and equips us and believes in us with the same measure we do Him.

Ask yourself this Christian, how would you have faired in Job’s position, would you have cursed God for losing all your wealth even your health if in the same position? Do you trust the relationship you have with the almighty to be one that is unbreakable by you or Him because of your belief and faith in the strength and love that bonds the relationship? Have you pursued God first, as it is written “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you”? Back to 1Samuel 16:7 God does not see as we do his sight is deeper than surface as we are surface only. We cannot see the heart of any man except for our own hearts that is why scripture compels us to examine ourselves first.

God finally reveals himself as a whirlwind (Job 38:1-42:6) to Job and ends the argument of Job and his friends. God challenges Job to learn from his suffering as compared to the suffering we as humans think that we or others suffer due to something intrinsically wrong, that we must suffer penitently as opposed to educationally for furtherance of our minds, spirits and wisdom. God describes the greatness of the earth, the heavens and his awesome design of all creatures upon the earth. God then allows and challenges Job to directly question Him.

God further challenges Job by asking Job directly if he is the judge of God 40:8. We as humans feel that we must be judges and that is our original sin to judge. We judge God based on the actions of professing Christians, we judge God based on what he does or doesn’t do. We judge people based on their suffering thinking they must have done something wrong or are so full of sin to deserve their calamity or position in life. When if we do as Job did and spent the time of a trial holding fast to our innocence we would be justified and righteous for God believed that we are capable of such character.

However those who did not hold fast the confession of God were reprimanded and their fate put into the hands of the one who gave intercessory prayer from the beginning (Job 42:8-10). Job’s friends were ordered to humble themselves by giving a burnt offering and that Job the true servant of God would pray for them and forgiveness of their folly lest God deal with them according to their folly.

To Be Continued…Next Paul’s Thorn

May...

The Lord bless and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

Try a Bible Quiz and test your knowledge

click here ---> BIBLE QUIZ <--- click here

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All posts by M.A.C. © Bruce W. Moar

Walking with God…

When you walk with God can you feel His presence (Shekhinah)? This form is the English spelling of a feminine word from biblical Hebrew. Shechinah is derived from the Hebrew verb שכן. In biblical Hebrew the word means to literally settle, inhabit or dwell.

Hebrew lesson aside lets look at the Bible for some illustration of the word or the lack of Shekhinah in the lives and deeds of some early biblical characters lets start with Saul.

1 Samuel 8:1 – 15:35, establishes Saul as King of Israel. The text says Saul was very handsome and that there was not a more handsome person amongst all the children of Israel and from his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people. He was a married man with one son, Jonathan.

God told Samuel that he had chosen Saul to reign over His people and he was then anointed as King and later proclaimed King over Israel. The text says again that there was no one like him among all the people. So Saul chosen by God to reign over His people because they demanded a King from among themselves God granted their desire. The importance of this time is an ending of the apostasy that took place in the era of judges and the people now established, still didn’t trust God enough but demanded a King, which God provided in Saul. Saul who was physically superior to all the people and to look and see it you would notice it.

This point brings us half way through the story so far and reminds me of a verse yet further ahead at;

1 Samuel 16:7

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees;^[a] for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Footnotes:

1. 1 Samuel 16:7 Septuagint reads For God does not see as man sees; Targum reads It is not by the appearance of a man; Vulgate reads Nor do I judge according to the looks of a man.

God knows our nature to judge because it is our original sin and part and parcel of what we are. We are judges of God and man alike for our original sin was not disobedience in the eating of the apple but judgement. The symptom of this sin is the way we live from the outside in depending on outside influences to tell us we are right, good, righteous, good looking, the list is unbelievably inexhaustible. If I can only achieve this then I will be accepted by all. Meanwhile God accepts us as we are you don’t need a membership to enjoy God’s covenant blessings but you do need to trust and believe God’s word.

For blessed are those who believe without seeing John 20:29

To Be Continued…

May...

The Lord bless and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

Try a Bible Quiz and test your knowledge

click here ---> BIBLE QUIZ <--- click here

Subscribe in a reader

All posts by M.A.C. © Bruce W. Moar