I have spoken to you much from this portion and from other portions as well of the value of weaknesses. In none of these was I intending to speak about those weaknesses which are short comings related to the sinful nature. Instead I want you to understand that My servant Paul is referring to his own limitations as a man and the tendency of both the inner man and the outer man towards frailty and a lack of capacity apart from My grace and My enabling. When he speaks here of the possibility of becoming conceited over the great revelations that were given to him, he is referring to the incapacity and inability of the natural man to handle supernatural experiences in a way that will glorify Me. Therefore the thorn in his flesh was a means of dealing with that natural tendency so that, as My Word declared to him, he could find his sufficiency in My grace as My power was perfected, not in his strength, but in his weakness. And such was My dealing with him that he became glad and was willing to boast in what produced that within him which glorified My Son. How many of My sons and daughters who read these words regard very lightly what they are saying. How very few, including yourselves, want to embrace such a process so that they will say with My servant Paul, “For Christ’s sake I delight in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and in difficulties”. Do not most who name the name of My Son think, in relationship to themselves, regarding such circumstances, “Perish the thought? That was good for a man like Paul, but it is not what I want for Myself”? But think carefully, My servant Paul did not naturally delight in that thorn, nor did he naturally delight in the painful experiences he mentions here, but he declares that for Christ’s sake he delighted in them. Are you willing to come to such a place in your heart that you can delight for the sake of My Son to go through the most difficult experiences? If you were able to recognize as Paul recognized that those difficulties were experienced and endured for His sake, would you like Paul be able to delight in them? Do you not see that Paul was not enjoying his suffering as such, but like My Son he was looking beyond to recognize what was being accomplished for the glory of My name, for the fulfilling of My purpose. My son and My daughter, though the experiences of My servant Paul may seem far beyond what is possible for you, I want you to know that the same grace that worked this attitude in him is available, yes is even extended to you and to all who want to live for the glory of My Son. And I want you to recognize that, even as Paul says in this portion, it is so that the power of My Son may rest upon you that such a process is necessary. This is why there is such a great glory in being able to be glad about the kind of weaknesses that My servant Paul is writing about here. Though it may be the pathway of shame in the eyes of men, it is truly a pathway of glory in My eyes. And I speak to you today in this way so that you might choose in your hearts to be led in this path for the glory of My Son.
Tags: Choice, Give Glory, Weakness
My servant Paul admonishes the believers to rejoice always in Me. You certainly cannot always rejoice in your circumstances, but you can always rejoice in Me in the midst of any and every circumstance. If your expectation for good and for blessing is from Me rather than from any other source, then even in the midst of difficult and hard circumstances you will be able to rejoice as did My servant Paul in the midst of his circumstances. And as he indicates here, your very demeanor, your gentleness, and your forbearance will be evident to all because you will not be looking to your circumstances for your blessing, for your help, for your comfort, but you will be looking to Me. You will know that I am near.
And this will enable you to pray with confidence. This will enable you to receive My peace. And out of this, as My servant admonishes, the focus of your thoughts will be upon that which is good and you will be like My servant Paul, an example to follow. And as I have been and continue to be with you, you will indeed know Me as the God of peace. This is a choice that you may exercise. It is not something too hard for anyone who truly knows that I am near and ready to bless.
Tags: Choice, God Confident, Rejoice, Thoughts
The world says that you gain through aggressiveness and assertiveness, through ambitious striving to achieve your own goals. The world says you defend yourselves, you promote yourself, you insist upon your rights and you do everything you can to assure that they are given unto you. The world honors arguments and complaints. It honors those who achieve, even though it may have been at the cost of others. But you see here what a great contrast it is that what the world regards as achievements and the means by which such is achieved and the way of My Son which is My way. As My Son, being equal with Me, He already had the highest place, but in order to fulfill My will and to achieve your salvation, He had to descend to the lowest place. As it declares here, He humbled Himself, first of all by letting go of His high position and taking the place of a servant. He also humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death on a cross. So you see that He pursued a course that is exactly opposite to the one recommended and supported by the world. And you see that as He did this, He was motivated in heart to fulfill My will. His obedience was to Me and you know that the portion that He embraced with suffering and death was done so willingly for your salvation. Though His paths lead through pain and suffering, He was thoroughly convinced of His ultimate triumph and His ultimate exaltation.
Now understand that when it declares here that your attitude should be that of My Son in humbling yourselves, I well understand that you cannot achieve humility through any kind of self effort. But when it declares that you are to embrace the attitude of My Son, it is not talking about something that you cannot accomplish, for what this declares is that in this matter you have the power of choice. The attitude that you possess in your hearts will permit you to receive the character of My Son by which that which is in Him will be worked out in you. Therefore it begins with your attitude.
And as you embrace this humbling of My Son by choice, you will find that His humility, His humbling of Himself which enabled Him to obey My will even to the point of death is that which will be worked out through you.
This is truly the secret of the power of My Son’s life and it is that very power which will enable you to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, because having embraced the attitude that is in the heart of My Son, you will experience My work within you to will and to work out My good purpose. And let Me say unto you that if you are truly walking in the humility of My Son, you will not boast in anything related to human accomplishment, but you will rather glory in the fulfillment of My will.
This will be a sure hallmark of walking in the humility of My Son.
Tags: Choice, Humility, Obedience