Tag: Paul

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The Eternal Internal Power

Dear Sister,

Don’t you just love stories of an underdog’s triumph? The poor, weak individual who overcomes great obstacles, finds strength, defeats the stronger foe, and stands on top with great victory and power at the end! All throughout, the storyline shows how the feeble character finds, develops, and builds their previously undiscovered power. These stories rarely fail to fire me up and cause me to dig deeper into my soul to conquer whatever challenge I face at the time. I. Will. Win.

But, then I read Jesus’ message: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” 2 Cor. 12:9b. This is still part of an underdog story, but it has a different ending. Instead of a vibrant winner (Paul, in this case) being carried jubilantly to the front of the church, a model of health, he continued to limp along in their midst. This ending is all the more significant because Jesus gets the glory. For, in spite of his ailment, and perhaps because of it, Jesus is seen in Paul’s actions—in his life. Jesus is glorified, not Paul.

I delight in precision, order, and perfection. I strive and goad myself to reach goals that have tangible evidence of success. Now, I am dismayed to find that I may have been investing a great amount of time ‘painting the outside’ and neglecting the much more important eternal inside. That is not to say our physical well-being, careers, and the state of our possessions do not matter; but they cannot compare to the value of our relationship with Christ. And, above all, all aspects of our lives should point to and give glory to our Lord and Savior.

If I am in the spotlight, beautiful and strong in my own right, I can distract others from the Lord. No, I can never take away from His glory, but I do not want to impede another’s access to our precious Savior, nor do I want to bask in that which is fleeting. So, while I do not want trials and struggles (here, I freely admit I am weak and treasure my creature comforts), I do echo Paul’s desire that Jesus’ power dwell in me. Lord, if You are glorified more because I suffer—please, grant me Your mercy and Your power to persevere and let this unworthy vessel shine transparent for You.

Stumbling with you,

 

Rebecca

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Counsel From The Cross

Dear sister,

We have all given counsel. Most of it is never done officially in an office, yet we do it everyday. We have given it to countless strangers, friends, and family. We have been helpful and probably not so helpful, done it well and done it poorly.

Sisters, we love to talk and share our stories and opinions to others. Think about a time when someone told you of a person with a particular health issue or someone who was pregnant, what did you do? If you are like me, you replied with a story of someone YOU knew of that had/has the same thing and what the outcome was. Then I told the person what they should or should not do based on this account. Look back this day or week and just think of the counsel you have given your husband, child, friends, or stranger. How did it go? Was it biblical counsel?

As believers, we all are called to give biblical counsel (Acts 20:20, Rom 15:14, Col1:28). We are to instruct, teach, admonish, and encourage people to live their life to the glory of God. But how do we do that? Crazy enough, the Bible actually shows us how to give Godly, biblical counsel for any and all circumstances. The Lord inspired Paul and others to write letters to many Christian churches who were struggling with every day issues and questions and Paul gave them biblical counsel. But that begs the question: how did he counsel? From the cross.

Paul starts almost all of his letters with rich theology. He reminds the believers of their history, how they were dead in their transgressions and deserved God’s eternal wrath. That their good works done in righteousness got them no where and are like filthy menstruation rags (that’s the picture the Greek word paints). Then at the right time, Jesus came and bore their sin debt on the cross and granted them forgiveness for all time and put His perfect righteousness on them! Now they are seen by their creator as perfect and adopted into His eternal family as a son complete with all spiritual blessings and inheritance. In light of this theology, he then gave counsel on how they should behave and convicted them of any sin that was seen. He counseled them to love their wives as Christ loves the church, for wives to respect and submit to their husband, for children to honor their parents. He told fighting people to make up, to not get drunk, to always work hard, to not quarrel about what spiritual gift the Lord has given you. He tells believers to rejoice always, to be humble like Christ, to think on right things and not to gossip or speak ill of others. He tells them to love God and love their neighbor. Not to earn favor, but out of thankfulness and joy from what they have in Christ.

Oh sister, the Word is full of counsel for us to give and take. It says that we have an active-responsible heart and not a passive-reactive-victim heart. It says that we may have things that have contributed to our lives but they have not determined our lives. It says we are sinners that need to be forgiven not a being that simply needs more self-esteem. It tells us to repent, have faith, renew our minds, and that we are being sanctified, not that we need our inner needs met or to have more self-worth and confidence. Our worth and confidence need to be in Christ alone (remember what our own righteousness looks like)! Scripture tells us that our Lord is sovereign over all things and to get to know Him and trust Him, not to think that He doesn’t care or see us in some of our most sticky situations.

Can you see and feel the difference? Our counsel should be full of hope! We can face anything because of Christ! There is an answer and ultimate cure for every situation…the Bible says so! Counsel at the heart level…where we think and what we believe…is wise counsel. And wise counsel comes from scripture. Can you see how daily reading of the Word helps with our counsel? Can you see being overwhelmed with Christ’s grace and mercy helps view circumstances differently? Can you counsel someone in light of the sovereignty and character of God? This is discipleship in action. We are commanded to give it. Oh sister, read your Bible, pray, go to a Godly church, feed your mind on spiritual meat so when people come to you for counsel, you can give counsel based on the cross.

~Colleen