The LORD is gracious and merciful Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness. Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts, And I will tell of Your greatness. On the glorious splendor of Your majesty And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate. One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts. Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised, And His greatness is unsearchable. I will extol You, my God, O King, And I will bless Your name forever and ever.Įvery day I will bless You, And I will praise Your name forever and ever. The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles. Actually I should have been commended by you, for in no respect was I inferior to the most eminent apostles, even though I am a nobody. I have become foolish you yourselves compelled me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake for when I am weak, then I am strong. That can be true of us, too.įor if I do wish to boast I will not be foolish, for I will be speaking the truth but I refrain from this, so that no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me.īecause 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!Ĭoncerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.Īnd He has said to me, ``My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Whether in feast or famine and even when insulted and persecuted for the sake of Christ, the apostle rejoiced in his weakness because he’d learned the secret of contentment: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil. In suffering, we grow closer to Him, and “endurance its perfect result, so that may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:4). We can brave hardship and sorrow because the Almighty is with us, promising “our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (2 Cor. When our strength is lacking, we begin to discover God is enough. He prayed three times for it to be removed, but God promised only grace, explaining that His power is perfected in weakness. We’re not told what (or who) the painful aggravation was, but it tormented and humbled him. We can become anxious and walk away from God-or we can trust Him to help us. Circumstances may not be in our control, but our response is. Sometimes they accompany us all our years and can seem unbearable. Not all our problems are that little or so easily removed. When she died, her room was filled with friends who tearfully mourned this kind woman who loved helping others.If you’ve ever had a splinter in your finger or a pebble in your shoe, you know how bothersome the pain can be. The tender care she provided reminded me of my friend Julie who still paints her elderly mother’s nails because it’s important to her mom that she “look pretty.”Īcts 9 tells us about a disciple named Dorcas (also known as Tabitha) who showed kindness by providing handmade clothing for the poor (vv. As Rachel gently pulled the razor across his face, she explained, “Older men of his generation like to have a neat shave every day.” Rachel had seen a need and acted on her instinct to show kindness, dignity, and respect to someone. In the last few days of my dad’s life, one of the nurses dropped by his room and asked me if she could give him a shave. Our Daily Bread Devotional 27th February 2023 MESSAGE So, Peter’s brief stay in Joppa was not only eventful but reached forward throughout the history of the church as people from every tribe, tongue, and nation were invited to respond to the gospel. This vision would prepare the way for the door of the gospel to be opened to the gentiles. 40), he said, “Tabitha, get up.” This echoes Jesus’ Aramaic words to Jairus’ daughter in Mark 5:41, “ ‘Talitha koum!’ (which means ‘Little girl, I say to you, get up!’).” This event sets the stage for the events in Acts 10, when Peter received a heavenly vision in anticipation of messengers from the Roman centurion Cornelius (vv. However, Peter’s time in Joppa is also highlighted (vv. The main event we usually focus on in Acts 9 is the conversion of Saul of Tarsus.
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