7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! 8 Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me. 9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions and hardships, for the sake of Christ, for when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (LSB) Read Philippians 4:10-13 on the site.
I believe that what ails the visible Church the most at this time in the early 21st Century is actually the root of most, if not all, of the growing apostasy we are witnessing. This ailment is the product of decades of poor doctrine and man-serving preaching and teaching….
God has given the Church, except for His Remnant, a spirit of stupor that has blinded them so that they have believed the lie that the center of all things is not Christ, but themselves. Their felt needs are far more important to them than God’s glory. They view God as being good when their circumstances are ok, but not good when they aren’t. They have bought their goods at Vanity Fair and they have become their idols. Let us look at a wonderful Biblical example of a man who did not devalue his relationship with God in order to have temporal pleasure.
1 Now Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian official of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had brought him down there. 2 And Yahweh was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. Genesis 39:1-2 (LSB)
His own brothers had sold Joseph into slavery. Those who bought him sold him again in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh. Potiphar’s name can mean, “the one whom the god Ra has given.” His position in the Egyptian government was that of Captain of the guard. He was responsible for the political security of Pharaoh. Joseph went from Jacob’s favorite and privileged son to a slave. Not only that, but he was also in a foreign country and an alien culture where he probably didn’t even speak the language. Remember, he had the gift, from God, to interpret dreams and had been given dreams by God of his future greatness. Now, he is slave. This makes the statement in this passage that the LORD was with Joseph puzzling to our 21st Century minds where he is called successful, but he is owned by another and he himself owns nothing.