The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe
"Take"
"And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 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" (II Corinthians 12:9).
Note the Apostle Paul did not write that he felt pleasure in the challenges of life. Our brother shared the mental, emotional, and physical experience we all have in troubles. "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed" (II Corinthians 4:8-9). Paul rather declared, "I take pleasure." This involved the determination of his heart and mind to believe that God had woven His eternal purpose in Christ into everything, every matter, and every moment of the Apostle's existence (Romans 8:28-29; Ephesians 1:11). Even more, our Lord offers His abiding presence in all things. "I am with you always" (Matthew 28:20). God offered Paul a pleasure not of emotion or sensation, but rather of deep inner knowledge and conviction that all was well, even as Paul's world often crashed down around him. The Apostle took the gift offered, even as Moses also "endured as seeing Him who is invisible" (Hebrews 11:27).
In a world devoted to sensation and emotion, God's offer of pleasure to the spirit and heart may seem strange and even unappealing to some. Consider, however. Would we rather seek a fulfillment dependent on happenings, circumstance, and conditions? Or a promise of peace and joy available in all things, at all times, and in all contingencies? The fool opts for the former. "To be carnally minded is death." The wise take the latter. "To be spiritually minded is life and peace" (Romans 8:6).
Only the Eternal can provide permanent peace to the heart amid the vagaries of our earthly existence. Sensation and emotion? Or faith and conviction? The choice is ours, and countless opportunities will lie before us in this and every day to take the only abiding and lasting peace available to our hearts…
"In everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
(Philippians 4:6-7)
"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusted in Thee."
(Isaiah 26:3)
Weekly Memory Verse
And I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them.
(John 17:26)
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