Jesus was referred to by the prophet as the “hope of Israel.” Hope always is looking ahead and those many righteous Jews down through the centuries living on tiptoe, anticipating Messiah’s coming, fulfilling the promise that He would arrive.
Everything we have is a gift from God and once you learn to appreciate what you’ve been given, giving back is a natural response. Generosity increases contentment and instead of striving for more, you enjoy what you have.
In this message, Chuck Swindoll reminds us that no halo graced the head of Jesus when He was born. Nothing in His physical appearance set Him apart. And yet, this baby was God in the flesh, the eternal Son of God who came to save us from our sins.
From 2 Corinthians 12:2–10, Pastor Chuck Swindoll extracts Paul’s lessons and concludes that God’s grace is not only sufficient, but His power works best in weakness!
Paul called his disability “a thorn in my flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7). The downside of this “thorn” was the awful torment it brought. The benefit was that it kept Paul from being self-sufficient. The pain he endured forced him away from self-serving pride and toward an all-important discovery: “When I am weak, then I am strong” (12:10).
Listen to Pastor Chuck Swindoll explain how Saul experienced supernatural contentment in the harshest circumstances.
Strength in weakness—sounds like an oxymoron. However, when you are weak it is possible to be strong, just as Paul says in 2 Corinthians.
Tragic situations are transformed when God steps in. And He takes the most (seemingly) insignificant things to transform. Underdogs become overcomers, weaknesses turn into strengths, and obstacles are nothing but opportunities that launch significant events.
God does His best work in you after you’ve exhausted your own strength. He doesn’t use “super-strong” people. He uses the inadequate and ill equipped, “...for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Sexual promiscuity is neither new nor novel. It is as old as humanity, always promising more than it can deliver. More palatable words have replaced the obsolete and ugly ones. Inviting terms cause the ugliness of illicit sex to be veiled in mystery, fascination, and excitement.
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