Grace that is Greater than Healing

This is a simple post from the Message Bible..

Message Bible-2 Corinthians 12:7-10

"Because of the extravagance of these 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.

At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and I begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and 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. Now I take the 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."

The Christian life is simple-not easy. We are called to surrender to Christ, to abide in Him, and to walk in the Spirit. Simple-not easy.

Shalom

 I need shalom, I want shalom! Shalom is really something we would all like because it is what we all need to enjoy everything else.

Shalom is captured by the following terms; wholeness, blessings, prosperity, calmness, stillness, being undisturbed, being complete, having security, and the profound word of Peace.

 No matter how old or young you are, shalom is the secret to making life fulfilling. You can have everything this world offers and without shalom, it’s all hollow-it doesn’t satisfy-there is always something missing. 

Our world in 2013 is in desperate need of Shalom. Shalom is an old Hebrew term, there are more than a dozen English words that try and capture the meaning of shalom.

 We all crave shalom, we want shalom, and we need shalom-it’s like this unspoken thing that we are all trying to get but we don’t consciously know that we are striving for shalom. We feel empty when we don’t have shalom, there is something wrong that is hard to define, so we try and get more stuff from our world. We think that our wish list will solve the emptiness, but the only One who can meet the need for shalom, is the One who created the need. Our world system and the stuff from this world doesn’t satisfy- we all need and want true shalom, ultimate peace-but it is only found in a relationship with God. 

As hard as we try to get peace by just getting one more thing from our list, it will never completely satisfy. My desire is that we would all experience shalom. Wouldn’t you really love to have shalom this season? Turn to the God of the universe-Yahweh-and ask Him for His Peace, that peace that passes understnding.

Complain or Change our Focus

We have no excuse for our attitudes of despair-no excuse for being tired-as I complain about other believers, as I complain about our government, as I complain about my circumstances-I am ultimately complaining about God and doubting His goodness. We can change our attitudes by changing our focus-move our eyes off of our circumstances and look to the God of circumstance! He is not tired, depressed, or worried and He lives within you-believer!

Please People or Please God

Who are some people you are trying to please?

We are taught that to get ahead in this life we need to learn to focus on pleasing people-the never ending game begins by trying to meet our own needs and then we move to the needs of those around us. We try and meet our needs, the needs of friends, the needs of parents, and of course, all the needs of the kids. We try and meet the needs of our spouses, our bosses, and our co-workers. On top of that comes trying to meet the needs of our religious leaders, our church, and then at the root we try and meet the needs of God- we try to live up to some standard that makes us okay with our Holy God.  How is that working for you? 

  I find that if I forget my identity as Abba’s child-as the beloved, accepted child of God-I become enslaved to the approval or the disapproval of others instead of being who I am-a bond-servant of Christ.

That is what happened to the Apostle Paul as he was climbing the ladder of success-moving up in leadership in the Jewish religion of all places(what a better place than to be pursuing religion)-God stopped him cold-knocked him down-humbled him!    

 Galatians 1:10 Paul learned to stop and consider that in Christ, he is pleasing to God.

What are some ways God stops us when we are going our own way-when we are trying to please ourselves and other people?

Is God reminding you that you are acceptable and pleasing to Him?

Is it time to step aside and allow God to be God in your life and the lives of those around you?

 Rest in Him! It is amazing what God can accomplish without our help.

What do you Treasure in Life?

What do you regard as precious? What are trying to store and collect? Where are you investing your life? What causes you to think, "My life would be better if I only had______or my life would be worse if I lost_______?" We all make investments of time, money and energy to the things or people that we believe are worthwhile. When it's all said and done, and we look back on our lives, we will understand that our lives were given to these investments. You see, there is a life at stake here, yours! I believe it is worth the time to consider the end, and to consider where you are investing your life.
If we treasure our relationship with God as our primary investment, every other investment will fall into place. It sounds reasonable and simple, but there are plenty of false gods-counterfeit gods, that vie for our attention-that clamor to be preeminent.
There are popular American Idols; good works, good stuff, and good relationships that compete with  who is the ultimate good----God. You see we can treasure our good works, our good performance over our relationship to God. It's easy to think, I'm a pretty good guy, and thus I am probably on the right track with my life. The Apostle Paul discovered his good works, which were significantly better than mine, by the way, were rubbish compared to knowing Christ. When Paul began to pursue God as his treasure, did Paul stop doing good works? No, as a matter of fact, God then used Paul to pen most of the New Testament. When God is the treasure, good works follow, He is the source of all that is truly good.
Another stumbling block to having God as our treasure is the stuff of this world.We all know there is a lot of attractive stuff everywhere we turn. We desire the assets, the riches, the leisure, and the material prosperity of our world, often thinking we can fit God in after we achieve our dreams. God doesn't just "fit in" anywhere, He IS! As we realize our significance, our acceptance, and our security ultimately come from God, only then are we able to take or to leave the stuff of this world. We can learn AW Tozer's secret-the blessedness of possessing nothing-potentially having everything and yet possessing nothing.
Finally we stumble over human relationships; family, marriage, and friendship among others. We believe if we can just have these relationships, everything else in life will fall into place. We become people-pleasers wherein we try to make everyone around us happy and thus believe we will be joyful and fulfilled. Healthy relationships with people spring from and have their foundation in a healthy relationship with God.
As we evaluate where to invest our lives, we must ask, "Why invest in God first over good works, good stuff and good relationships?"  The obvious answer is that He is God, He is the Creator, the Provider, the Judge, and the Great I AM. But beyond the obvious, Jesus Christ provided us with a track record of how to invest a life. Jesus Christ had everything beyond what we could ever imagine-yes, good works, good stuff, and good relationships-the ultimate of each! This great God decided to give it all up for what He knew had the greatest value- He gave His all for the best investment-He gave His life for you!! Will you surrender your life to Him?