Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
8 2 2024
My power is made perfect in your weakness!
The Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). God ordains that Paul be weak so that Christ might be seen as strong on Paul’s behalf.
How do you see that relating to you today.
What is this weight that you carry and how have you invited God into the equation?
Sin is what we do when we seek enjoyment or satisfaction from a bite of forbidden fruit.
In Hebrews 11:25-26 he says, “choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ
greater riches than the treasures in Egypt”
But we willfully trade God’s grace of obedience for a temporal pleasure Why?
Because we buy the lie. “This is no big deal. Who will know”?
And the seed grows and starts to appear in the cracks of the good things we value. And in time, we’re tempted with another lie to defend it or justify it to save face to others or to ourselves..
The price escalates far beyond the initial pleasure or comfort, but it isn’t the first time, is it?
Each episode waters that old seed. Giving it strength and power to become more and more invisible to your conscious, until… it becomes part of the fabric of who you are.
Accepted, justified, minimized until it becomes like the person who swears occasionally, but is transformed into this person who can now do it in front of their innocent children.
So, he passes on the seed to those who don’t know better, as they emulate the example of a respected figure in their life. Sadly in one form or another…that is many of our roots.
The wages of sin grow only one way. Rom 6:23 There is absolutely no redeeming value, just more justifying lies. And so, the world creates its own standards and the righteous are chastised and demonized for being intolerant, non inclusive, and an extremist.
“If you have eyes to see”, (Matt 13:16) look around you for the evidence or better still… look in the mirror None of us are immune.
But “his power is made perfect in our weakness”. We cannot see these truths without his grace. We cannot see his righteousness and our blindness without repentance. And you may not discover it walking alone. We need accountability… we need mentoring and nurturing in the body of believers he has created for his glory and ultimately for ours too.
Finally, one final motivation to turn to God completely.
LOVE!
If you would visualize a movie when God looks down with a tear streaming on his face because of the sin hardened hearts of mankind. Mark 3:5 says “sin grieves the Son of God”. Ps 34:18 promises us that
“the Lord is close to the brokenhearted.”
As a parent or a friend, how can you be close to someone who is brokenhearted and not feel their pain?
I believe God weeps over the fruit that we have made a constant part of our diet.
Turn back and give him everything!
Reba McIntyre Back to God
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9q-08aTNh8&list=PLCd-wh1hNZpQRQZ73gnTCeUYflnkLMF_S&index=10
