Grace..only Grace

⁷ To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Cor 12:7-9

There is a general feeling that everyone should not have to wash their dirty linen in public. It is really embarrassing.  This, for many a Christian, causes us to ask God to heal us without having to let other people know what exactly is going on. We hope that He can work on us offline and have only the good and perfect things online. After all, you are a man of God. What will people say when they discover that you are walking around with a thorn?
 "..⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me."
Conceit is a real danger to christian. Again I had to consult my good friend Google to gain a better understanding. This is what I got as a definition:

1. an excessively favorable opinion of one's own ability, importance, wit, etc.

There are times you may be tempted to think that it is your own ability that got you where you are. Or that you fasted more than others, that is why you are doing big things. Or that you tithed so faithfully and that is why you live in abundance. Or that you prayed so fervently and that is why all things are working out well for you.
The answer to conceit is a firm and loving hand of God saying one word 'Grace'. It is by grace that you can do what you do, say what you say, why people are touched the way they are. It is the reason why blessings flow in your life and overflow into other people's lives.
"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." 2 Cor 9:8
 
I think that is why a thorn from Satan will remain there while God whispers to you 'GRACE!'

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness'

This humbles us that we can reach out to the church/fellowship we are plugged in to and say 'I am weak. I have a thorn, I am wounded' I am not perfect, please hold my hand and help me up once again

When you meet me and greet me
I answer that I am fine
but when you try and ask again
I say head ache back ache, heart ache and all
Yet I find it hard to say much more
when I am not quite sure you care
And yet I long to give much more
for I find it so hard to stand on my own

Brother I need you, draw me closer
Give me a hand and I'll tell you more
For I have got no reason to hide from you
when i know it would cool down my pain
Tell me you love me my brother
I need your love
Sister I need you
Reach out your hand to me with a smile
Brother i need you
draw me closer
Share in my love
We need each other
I know you need me too, We need each other

The other day I met someone in need of just a smile
But deep inside I never cared, I wounded him some more
Then I heard his heart crying out to me
If you wound me then who'd make you bright
When my heart is shining a light then the darkness around me will become bright

Brother I need you....
"Brother I need you" by Peter Kasamba on the Album "I have a God

I know I have messed up quite a few lyrics there :(
One of our weapons that pulls down the strongholds of sin is community or fellowship
when we are drawn away from communion with each other, the devil has a field day. That is why it is essential to abandon our aloofness and get back to true fellowship and share who we really are. This draws us deep into each other as well as deep into God as never before. you don't know what it is be with God, in God until there is humility enough for you to submit to true communion with each other.
Sometimes the presence of the thorn drives you from communion because you think that you will not be accepted with a thorn so deep. You think that people will think differently of you now that you have a thorn like the rest of us. You are not special after all. Yes, that's the truth. Your gifting is special, but you are part of the body nevertheless.

'Keep us humble dear Lord we pray. May we not need a constant reminder of a thorn in our lives to ward off conceit. Give us the Spirit that is in Christ.."Who being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped" Phil 2:6
AMEN

Worship: In Accountability

⁹ But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Have you ever looked through your LinkedIn Contacts and have been quite intimidated because it looks all your friends have grown leaps and bounds in their careers? It looks that you are the only one who is not 'prospering' or not 'achieving'. So you are tempted to make your title bigger than it actually is and maybe use huge words to disguise the fact that you are actually a Cleaner!
Hmmm. I am amazed at how God has lifted the people around me to high positions of responsibility all around the world and indeed to Him be all glory and honor! Amen
However in most friends' CVs or profiles(I think in mine too), they will not list the lowly positions they once held. Yet interestingly, it is these lowly positions where their business character was developed. That is where they learned endurance, patience, gratitude even with low pay, honesty and many such like virtues. Why is it the case, I wonder? The answer is actually quite simple. We want to be identified by our strengths. We append our university achievements to our names..may be to show that we are educated. We want to beat our chests and say 'I am the biggest', 'I am The Bull in the Kraal'.
So, is this wrong?...Be the judge. the whole theory of evolution hinges on Natural Selection. This is a process by which the stronger and better ones succeed and the weak ones are eliminated. And indeed, you may need to thump your chest loudest if you are to get that promotion. In many interviews this question is asked 'What makes you think you are the best person for this job?' They are in essence telling you 'Hey Tarzan, do what you do best!' (thump, thump,wu, wu!!)
We all want to be identified by our strengths, competencies, talents, achievements and by how many fell on the way and left us standing. You know a first class degree feels good when you are the only one with it. when the whole class get it, you will not be that excited!
So, believe me it is quite shocking when the holy Spirit through Paul says "..Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses.."
One of the most powerful weapons the devil uses against the Christian is when he tells you that you are powerful and invincible. He tells you that you are too big to be accountable. You are too strong a christian to confess that you have a problem with envy or lust. Therefore when you fall you are completely isolated. that is the absolute recipe for disaster.
The verse quoted above unveils God's standard against the devil's 'flood' . "I will boast about my weaknesses". You will continue in the cycle of sin until you acknowledge that you are actually not that strong. You can now be honest and let people know that 'this man of God has some serious issues'. People may have known you as the one who moves mountains but the truth is that we are no different than the rest.You did not drop from heaven with a parachute.

So then, Arthur, do you mean that I should go and shout my shortcomings on the rooftops? Well, of course this requires some wisdom. Jesus usually chose a trio of disciples to whom he showed himself (James, John and Peter). Then sometimes it was with all the twelve. But there always was a finite predetermined number that he chose to reveal the secrets about himself or the kingdom of Heaven. he sometimes gave parables to crowds but the explanation was only to his disciples.
We, too, can get a finite number of God-fearing friends to whom we should be completely accountable to.
A word of caution from Jesus..Matthew 7:6
6 "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces"
What I think Jesus is telling us...Do not be a pig. Understand the weight and value of what has been entrusted to you and treat it with utmost confidentiality. If a great friend entrusts you with his/her heart, do not go around 'sharing prayer requests' about your brother/sister. This is how fellowships die and how great friendships disintegrate.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

You know, the reason why our lives are void of the power of God is that we delight more in our strengths. This, as we see from above, evaporates God's power in your life. We see that God's power is made perfect in weakness. so why then do we continue to think..or make others think that we are so powerful? Is it worth boasting about how you preach the gospel to thousands and the hundreds that have given their lives to Christ but yet live a life of defeat? Why not boast about your weaknesses so that God's power is unlocked in your life?

"Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."
I cannot tell you how much peace flooded my life when I decided to be accountable to a group of God-fearing friends. Much as there is pain when you confess sin, this does not measure to the joy that fills your heart when you know that you are in the light. Nothing is hidden. for the first time I was having true and honest fellowship. I opened my side and my friends saw my wounds and scars. I trust them and I know that they will bandage them and I will be healed.
I think sometimes we do not know the depth of character that the brethren around you have been endowed with. True fellowship brings out these gems.
The bible says "If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth." 1 John 1:6
you live a lie if you delight more in your strengths. If all that your friends know about you is that you are a powerful minister of the word, casting out demons, healing the sick etc. Those are strengths which, actually are gifts of the Holy Spirit. you are not living in true fellowship if you cover up your wounds and pretend to others that they don't exist.

" 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."
When your life is in the light...then we are having real fellowship. The other life is just a series of pretensions. Much as they may actually be fact, they do not say who you are. Pretensions are one of the major strongholds of sin in anyone's life.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5
"8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us" 1 John 1:8
The truth is that we are deceiving ourselves and others as well. We are all at God's mercy and in need of his grace for our salvation. No matter how eclectic our preaching may be, if we try to pass ourselves as having only good, strong and perfect attributes, we are preaching a lie. The truth is not in us
"9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives." 1 John 9-10

Be strengthened by this: You are weak. you are not a giant. No matter how far we have fallen, 'His grace is sufficient for us' I can not top it up. I cannot improve on it. It is sufficient.
His strength is made perfect in weakness.."

Lord Help me be completely honest with my friends. Not hiding away in my tent what is dedicated for destruction but rather exposing it so that it will lose its power and grip in my life. Help me 'boast in my weaknesses' rather than in my strengths so that Your power will be unlocked in my life. The power to overcome.
Amen