The Thorn in the Flesh....

Before I came to Christ in a saving manner I often wondered what kind of God would allow His own to suffer, whether if it was from terminal cancer, death and or incurable disease….I had a hard time I should confess wrapping my mind around this concept but by all due respect that was my ignorant non-Christian mind…a mind with no Holy Spirit guide and a mind without God’s wisdom, once in salvation I made it my business to understand more-more of this God I once questioned, and! Low-and-behold a great revelation came upon me and this time around I am proud to say it was through the guidance of the Holy Spirit and long sought out wisdom through God and through my own personal forbearance I understood exactly what kind of God we serve!

Theologians have invested great time in researching the “thorn in Paul’s flesh,” which is evidence that some really want to relate to Paul's thorn or just want to know what it was, the pieces of scripture and or great sources of reference have succored with my research which  has been more than a great “Wealth of interesting information” to be able to read and understand the different views of some in which I thoroughly respect, however through some scriptures like, 2 Corinthians 12:7, 2 Corinthians 11:24-26, Acts 13:45, Galatians 4:13….And the lists of  Bible verses pertaining to this subject are endless-these are to name a few….and through out I have yet come across a “specific” mention of this “thorn” that Paul spoke of and when I state specific I literally mean specific in terms of what the diagnosis/ prognosis was  this “thorn” Paul suffered from without the dilution of man-made interpretations,  despite the somewhat suspense of the “thorn” in Paul’s flesh in which I personally enjoy taking the layman approach-by the way only because for years like most despite my unsaved questions I bore and still bare a thorn in my flesh…don’t worry it's not a pimple, freckle, mole, beauty mark or anything located superficially on my flesh, rather it’s an interesting thorn-a thorn that left me in quandary before coming to Christ of whether or not an individual like I could be loved genuinely, would I be able to live a normal life in lieu to my “thorn?” questions arose in the brinks of desperation but I am here to tell you that the discovery of Christ in my life has eased my once objective thinking to an optimistic and grateful thinking through God's transformation-you see…intimately knowing God and loving Him has allowed me to embrace this once nagging “thorn” in my life….I now know for a fact that my “thorn” allows me to maintain a coat of humility  and reminds me constantly that I too am human and need the Lord more than I have ever needed Him despite the work He does through me and sometimes in life we do need such reminders, I am often reminded of the time that Paul begged God to take the “thorn” away and God reminds Paul that; “He is all he needs and nothing else should matter,” (That’s my interpretation of course of 2 Corinthians 12:8-9) the “thorn” in my flesh has allowed me to become dependent on God for strength which has allowed my faith to grow, it has also believe-it-or-not shielded me from bad life decisions, because God has called you to Ministry doesn't mean you are 100% pure of all “thorns,” don’t let your “thorn” hold you back from experiencing God’s best in your life, Paul traveled and planted churches and healed the sick but his “thorn” is a positive constant reminder that even the man/woman of God can have a “Flaw” and God can know it-and choose to do absolutely nothing about it because at the end of it all He is all you need!

Memory

Blessing Proportions

         

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

So many times we get caught up in our wants versus the needs that if we are not too careful we might become victims of blessing-deprivation and fall negligent to our required blessing proportion (That’s correct!) though the word deprivation is synonymous to basic necessities it’s also appropriate for a believer to understand the importance of not depriving one's blessings, the act of not being happy or content with what God has already given you can lead to an act of blessing-deprivation….sure! If you are like some, where they feel-often than most that they have everything they need but what happens when they start looking at other people’s blessings and wondering why it’s not them? Or better yet-this one is my favorite…when non-believers seem to be getting more blessings than them! (I know-right! What’s up with that?) I have truly come to learn through God that everything I have in this moment is a blessing (Literally) that clunker of a car-is a blessing because I don’t have a hefty note-which can be an additional financial burden, that old-raggedy house and furniture I have is an absolute blessing because some people in other parts of the world don’t even know what a couch feels like later-alone a place with a roof over their head and running water! even though most than less the food I have in my pantry and refrigerator is not comparable to having fillet Mignon and lobster tails every night but that’s OK too because it’s a blessing to even have some type of food in the pantry and refrigerator so I eat it with sheer-joy, whatever the case is-it’s all a blessing-a blessing God has given you and no one can take it away or compare to it, avoid depriving yourself from the acknowledgement of God’s blessings in your life by always thanking God for every-little thing in your life (I mean every-little thing in your life) praise God in thanksgiving at all times and enhance your appreciation for God’s blessings, just think for a second that maybe-just maybe you might be missing out on the crucial lesson at hand by depriving your blessings and feeding into your wants and or yearning for other peoples blessings.

I always think of the time when I was younger let’s say anywhere from the time I learned to eat soluble foods and right before teen years, my mother would always give me a serving of food in my plate that was proportionate to my age, she never served me with the same serving that she served my father. Why? (I am glad you asked) because she knew that my father’s appetite and stomach could handle his large  portion and she knew that my small stomach could only handle the little portion she gave me and because of that no food was wasted-because if she served me the portion she served my father at the age of 5 I stood a chance to over eat and mainly waste the food, when we tend to over eat (In my experience) I feel horrible and regret eating the food, then when food is wasted in most cases it’s because there was an overabundance in the plate which creates for a lack of appreciation! (I think you know where I am going with this one!) God gives you an appropriate portion blessing so that you remain energized in Him and grateful in Him, if He gave you an over-sized portion of blessings all the time you will never be thankful, instead you can end up wasting the resource because of the abundance of it (Yes! that is where I was going!)  So next time someone says. “Count your blessings.” Make sure you-literally count them!

Memory