strong when weak - mutually exclusive?

2 Corinthians 12: 1 This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don't know—only God knows. 3 Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know 4 that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell.

5 That experience is worth boasting about, but I'm not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses. 6 If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won't do it, because I don't want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, 7 even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.

8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Same passage in The Message

1-5 You've forced me to talk this way, and I do it against my better judgment. But now that we're at it, I may as well bring up the matter of visions and revelations that God gave me. For instance, I know a man who, fourteen years ago, was seized by Christ and swept in ecstasy to the heights of heaven. I really don't know if this took place in the body or out of it; only God knows. I also know that this man was hijacked into paradise—again, whether in or out of the body, I don't know; God knows. There he heard the unspeakable spoken, but was forbidden to tell what he heard. This is the man I want to talk about. But about myself, I'm not saying another word apart from the humiliations.

6 If I had a mind to brag a little, I could probably do it without looking ridiculous, and I'd still be speaking plain truth all the way. But I'll spare you. I don't want anyone imagining me as anything other than the fool you'd encounter if you saw me on the street or heard me talk.

7-10 Because of the extravagance of those 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 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 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.

So...

Psalm 56:11 I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?

walking toward, or into

Joshua 3: 1 Early the next morning Joshua and all the Israelites left Acacia Grove and arrived at the banks of the Jordan River, where they camped before crossing.2 Three days later the Israelite officers went through the camp, 3 giving these instructions to the people: "When you see the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD your God, move out from your positions and follow them. 4 Since you have never traveled this way before, they will guide you. Stay about a half mile behind them, keeping a clear distance between you and the Ark. Make sure you don't come any closer."

5 Then Joshua told the people, "Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do great wonders among you."

6 In the morning Joshua said to the priests, "Lift up the Ark of the Covenant and lead the people across the river." And so they started out and went ahead of the people.

7 The LORD told Joshua, "Today I will begin to make you a great leader in the eyes of all the Israelites. They will know that I am with you, just as I was with Moses.8 Give this command to the priests who carry the Ark of the Covenant: 'When you reach the banks of the Jordan River, take a few steps into the river and stop there.'"

9 So Joshua told the Israelites, "Come and listen to what the LORD your God says.10 Today you will know that the living God is among you. He will surely drive out the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites ahead of you.11 Look, the Ark of the Covenant, which belongs to the Lord of the whole earth, will lead you across the Jordan River! 12 Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.13 The priests will carry the Ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth. As soon as their feet touch the water, the flow of water will be cut off upstream, and the river will stand up like a wall."

14 So the people left their camp to cross the Jordan, and the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them.15 It was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river's edge,16 the water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam, which is near Zarethan. And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho.

17 Meanwhile, the priests who were carrying the Ark of the LORD's Covenant stood on dry ground in the middle of the riverbed as the people passed by. They waited there until the whole nation of Israel had crossed the Jordan on dry ground.

When the children of Israel cross thru the Red Sea, God pulled the waters back before they walked into the sea.

Here at the Jordan River, God rolled back the water after the priests started walking into the river.

It's one thing to walk through the Red Sea on dry land after the miracle had taken place. It's completely different if you're a priest carrying the Ark of the Covenant walking to the Jordan River in middle of the fall flooding.

Sometimes we have to walk toward & into our miracle before we see the miracle happen.

I feel like that these days.

Just a thought...

I love you

sowing

2 Corinthians 9:10

(NLT) For God is the One who gives seed to the farmer & then bread to eat. In the same way, He will give you many opportunities to do good, & He will provide a great harvest of generousity in you.

(The Message) This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God.

(NIV) Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.

(NKJV) Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness,

(NASB) Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness;

(Amplified) And [God] Who provides seed for the sower and bread for eating will also provide and multiply your [resources for] sowing and increase the fruits of your righteousness [which manifests itself in active goodness, kindness, and charity].

Do you ever feel like your just fooling yourself, reading into scripture more than what's really there? Do you ever feel like you get into a mindset & everything you see & hear reminds you of one thing. Do you ever feel like there a good chance you could be missing the mark?

I do

crossing Jordan

What does God have say to you (& me) thru these words God spoke to Joshua right at the beginning of Joshua's leading the children of Israel into the Promised Land?

Are you standing on the banks of your own Jordan River, ready to walk into a promised place in your life?

I feel like I am.

What does God have to say to us?

Joshua 1: 1-9 (The Message) After the death of Moses the servant of God, God spoke to Joshua, Moses' assistant:

"Moses my servant is dead.

Get going. (well, that couldn't be plainer, for Joshua, or you, or me)

Cross this Jordan River, you and all the people. (it's time to move out of the old place in your life.)

Cross to the country I'm giving to the People of Israel. (Don't just, get moving, move into that thing I've been talking about)

I'm giving you every square inch of the land you set your foot on — just as I promised Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon east to the Great River, the Euphrates River—all the Hittite country—and then west to the Great Sea. It's all yours. (God's gonna fulfill whatever He's been talking your ears off about)

All your life, no one will be able to hold out against you. (If we move into areas He leads us into, we'll be in places where His will is supremely active)

In the same way I was with Moses, I'll be with you. (Iow, we're just as special, what we're about is just as important as what Moses did)

I won't give up on you; (Good to know, even though we may feel like we're all alone in this)

I won't leave you. (Iow, He's got our back)

Strength!

Courage!

You are going to lead (hard to imagine we'll be leading people, certainly through our attitude & example, but who know in what other means & areas?) this people to inherit the land that I promised to give their ancestors.

Give it everything you have, heart and soul. (Iow, don't slack off)

Make sure you carry out The Revelation (This could mean the Bible in general for us) that Moses commanded you,

every bit of it. (I'd say, if we're gonna move into something He's been leading us toward, we'd better have a lot of Bible under our belt)

Don't get off track, either left or right, so as to make sure you get to where you're going. (don't get distracted with the mundane or inconsequential - focus on the things God's leading us toward)

And don't for a minute let this Book of The Revelation (the Bible for us) be out of mind. (don't forget anything that's either been or will be revealed through the Bible to us)

Ponder and meditate on it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it. (iow, read & heed)

Then you'll get where you're going; (we're gonna make it)

then you'll succeed. (we're gonna carry out the work he has for us - remember success in the world's eyes & success in God's eyes are 2 different things)
Haven't I commanded you? ( just a gentle reminder of who's idea this is - ours or His?)

Strength!

Courage!

Don't be timid; (we don't have to be shy or inferior feeling)

don't get discouraged. (well! I'm sure we all posess such security & maturity that we would never get down along the road of this adventure! Yeah, right! Iow, we don't need to allow circumstances & our perceived filtered view to always be correct)
God, your God, is with you every step you take." (can't beat that assurance!)

Pretty heady stuff, huh?! And why shouldn't it apply to any of us who are standing on the bank of our own Jordan River, starting to move into an area of our lives where God has promised us something, or where He's indicated us to be, do, or go, or where He's physically, emotionally, psychologically, &/or spiritually telling us to move into?

the uniqueness of our Abba Father

2 Corinthians 7:6a ...God, who encourages those who are discouraged...

7 words, slipped into a narrative by Paul, talking about when Titus came to see him.

But with those 7 words, Paul delineates an important difference about our God, from the gods of that day, & the gods of this day.

Paul indicates that Abba Father is so intimately aware of who we are that He feels it when we're discouraged.

Paul also indicates that our Abba Father cares & love us so much, & is so perfectly in line with who we are & what's going on in our lives, that He is capable & willing to lift us when we feel down about something or someone.

Those who were followers in any other of the world religions of Paul's time could make that claim of personhood so selfless & loving in the personality of their god. And none of the other world religions today can, either.

Our Abba Father is the only One that intimate, caring, & loving.

dangerous & uncivilized

2 Corinthians 6: 1-10 Companions, as we are in this work with you, we beg you, please don't squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us. God reminds us,
"I heard your call in the nick of time;
"The day you needed me, I was there to help."
Well, now is the right time to listen, the day to be helped.
Don't put it off;
don't frustrate God's work by showing up late, throwing a question mark over everything we're doing.
Our work as God's servants gets validated — or not — in the details.
People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly . . .
in hard times, tough times, bad times;
when we're beaten up, jailed, and mobbed;
working hard, working late, working without eating;
with pure heart, clear head, steady hand;
in gentleness, holiness, and honest love;
when we're telling the truth, and when God's showing his power;
when we're doing our best setting things right;
when we're praised, and when we're blamed;
slandered, and honored;
true to our word, though distrusted;
ignored by the world, but recognized by God;
terrifically alive, though rumored to be dead;
beaten within an inch of our lives, but refusing to die;
immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy;
living on handouts, yet enriching many;
having nothing, having it all.

11-13 Dear, dear Corinthians, I can't tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn't fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren't small, but you're living them in a small way. I'm speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!

We live such prissy little hot-house kind of lives. When we look at the life described by Paul that he writes about here in this chapter, our lives of privilege are pale in their comparison to his. Would we be any more committed to Jesus if we suffered any of those things listed by Paul that had happened to them? (That part about "beaten within an inch of our lives, but refusing to die" seems a bit daunting, to say the least.) We get cranky if our latte's are hot enough & our ac isn't cool enough, or if we have wait in line too long, or wait in line at all. What would we all be like if we had to live a life like Paul describes his to be?!

Last night, I told Tyler after HOG that God has an exciting & dangerous life planned for him. I tell you what I told him - don't miss it - embrace it. Let the current of God's will carry each of us to wherever & to whatever He wills.

I've learned to control myself (a little bit better than I used to - I know, I know - it's hard to tell sometimes) when people talk to me about how boring life as a Christ follower looks like. It's hard to not laugh in their faces! My life has been a lot of things, but boring is not one of them. About the time I get adjusted to where I am & what I'm doing, God's up & changes things - sometimes a little, sometimes a lot.

Let's embrace that dangerous, uncivilized life God dreamed for each of us; a life that fits into that overarching will for humankind - that will that's much like a large broad river in which our task is to not fight the current & not let our feet drag the bottom & slow our progress - to let the current in that river of His will carry us anywhere in the river He wants as we flow along with Him.

Think about it... (did any of this make any sense today?)

I love you