{"id":5911,"date":"2015-06-05T01:04:45","date_gmt":"2015-06-05T01:04:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pjhmail.wordpress.com\/?p=5911"},"modified":"2015-06-05T01:04:45","modified_gmt":"2015-06-05T01:04:45","slug":"weakness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/5911\/weakness\/","title":{"rendered":"Weakness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning John,<\/span><\/p>\n

It has been a “different” six days for me.\u00a0 It has been over 20 years or more since my body has been in a state where I\u00a0could not do anything.\u00a0 I have been asking why, I think we must do that when these things happen.\u00a0 I don’t have an answer from the Lord.\u00a0 I know it is a sober time, and I know Jesus has answers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday Sue T. sent me these old “Thoughts for the Morning” that I sent you years ago, when, I don’t know.\u00a0 But they were a blessing to me to read them, and I thought I would pass them along.\u00a0 If anyone is hurting, weak, or afflicted, I believe it is good to consider these things too.\u00a0 It will\u00a0give us peace\u00a0knowing that God is working, and although we may be weak, He is still God.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gary<\/span><\/p>\n

============<\/span><\/p>\n

Thought for the Morning 1-15<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Rejoicing in Weakness, Part 1<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"JD\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Good afternoon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Boy, I am having a blessed day today!<\/span><\/p>\n

This afternoon I went to the coffee shop with my Greek New Testament book and started to read 2 Corinthians. Donna said you all got blessed at verse 10, in chapter 12. But I never got there! I was overcome by reading verse 9!<\/span><\/p>\n

I don’t know anything really about the Greek language, but I can match up the words a little bit here and there – and here are some possibilities of what I read in verse 9:<\/span><\/p>\n

“The power is perfected in weakness”<\/span><\/p>\n

“My power is perfected in weakness”<\/span><\/p>\n

“The power in weakness is perfected”<\/span><\/p>\n

“My power in weakness is perfected”<\/span><\/p>\n

“The power in weakness is made perfect”<\/span><\/p>\n

“My power in weakness is made perfect”<\/span><\/p>\n

“In weakness my power is perfected”<\/span><\/p>\n

“In weakness the power (of God) is perfected” …. and so on.<\/span><\/p>\n

I just could not get off of those words… re-reading and rearranging them. And then, I started to get all flushed, and feeling it. The feeling was, “I’ve been going about it all wrong all this time!”<\/span><\/p>\n

The goal, we oftentimes hear, is to “be strong in the Lord”. That’s not what I was feeling. I was feeling that the goal is really, to be “weak”. How weak can we be? How genuinely humble can we be? I was nearly afraid to think and say the next thought – but I did pray it anyway before fear could stop me: “Jesus, send me opportunities to be ‘weak’. In insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in distresses. For this truth, God, give me the strength I do not have without you.”<\/span><\/p>\n

All of the people that God touched were made weak. Abraham (went out), Moses (fled), Joseph (imprisoned), David (sinned), your father (failures and disappointments, persecutions)…. who’s willing to go there?<\/span><\/p>\n

God help us. I pray that God’s children will answer such a call.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thought for the Morning 1-16<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Rejoicing in Weakness, Part 2<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"vince\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Hi John.<\/span><\/p>\n

I have NEVER before made the connection between weakness (infirmity), and power (strength). It was exciting to see how many times it is in there. That’s good.<\/span><\/p>\n

2Cor. 12:9-10 “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee:<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>for my strength is made perfect in weakness<\/span>. Most gladly therefore<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me<\/span>. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong<\/em>.”<\/span><\/p>\n

2Cor. 13:4 “For<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God<\/span>. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.<\/em>“<\/span><\/p>\n

Heb.\u00a011:34\u00a0“[Those of faith]\u00a0quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword,<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>out of weakness were made strong<\/span>, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens<\/em>.”<\/span><\/p>\n

1Cor. 2:3-5 “And<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>I was with you in weakness<\/span>, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power<\/span>: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men,<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>but in the power of God<\/span><\/em>.”<\/span><\/p>\n

1Cor. 15:42-43 “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory:<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power<\/span><\/em>.”<\/span><\/p>\n

1Cor. 1:24-25 “But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks,<\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/em>Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God<\/span>. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>the weakness of God is stronger than men<\/span>.<\/em>“<\/span><\/p>\n

Gary<\/span><\/p>\n

============<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks, Gary. That is good! Paul speaks of taking pleasure in his weaknesses several times late in 2Corinthians, “so that the power of Christ may cover over me.” Amen!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Pastor John<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

PS- You are such a weakling that you make me feel weak!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Good morning John, It has been a “different” six days for me.\u00a0 It has been over 20 years or more since my body has been in a state where I\u00a0could not do anything.\u00a0 I have been asking why, I think we must do that when these things happen.\u00a0 I don’t have an answer from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-netmail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5911"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5911\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}