16/07/2023
Praise God,we can see how you are doing in the ministry of God.this is a request to you if we can work together to build the kingdom of God in both our continent we are in Africa Kenya mostly welcome
UNDERSTANDING A THORN IN THE FLESH
And lest I be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.
For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it may depart from me.
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distress for Christ’s sake: for when I’m weak, then I’m strong.
2 CORINTHIANS 12:7-10
This is a very powerful and mysterious illustration of Paul giving us information of being puffed up, and being exalted above measure.
Above measure means, you have passed the point of measuring. It’s as if the tape measurer has reached it’s limit whereas it cannot measure anymore. In other words, it’s maxed out.
Here is the story.
Paul had just finished a trip into the third heavens. He was so careful in not receiving praise, he claimed that he knew someone who went into the heavens, when all the while it was him.
2 Corinthians 12:1 says: It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory, I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
The word EXPEDIENT means to be better, to be good, or to profit from. In other words, it did him no good to glory in this or these matters.
The word GLORY means to praise himself. He found out the hard way that all Glory belongs to The Lord. He found out that knowledge puffs up. Knowledge without humility is very very dangerous.
The key here is, that if we exalt ourselves, God has a way to bring us back down, Thus bringing about, “A thorn in the flesh”.
What is a thorn in the flesh?
A thorn is the pointed parts of a rose•A pointed piece of wood•A stake, or a splinter. These are metaphorical words.
Thorns irritates•Thorns cuts•Thorns makes one bleed. However, in this light, a thorn is a messenger from satan. It is a demon. It comes to bring harm to the flesh, or the body.
This messenger was sent due to the fact of glorying. So, a thorn in the flesh is an enemy allowed by The Lord to bring us back down to earth.
This always had me wondering; “Who sent the messenger“?
Did The Lord God allow this messenger to be sent, or did He Himself send it to keep us humble. The fact of the matter is that a messenger was sent.
The reason I question whether or not it was sent by the Lord was due to Paul asking the Lord to remove it. And guess what, The Lord did not remove it. Paul asked three times for it to be removed. And that’s when The Lord responded by saying; “My GRACE is sufficient for thee”. God’s Grace kept Paul during his suffering. He found out, that when he was weak, that’s when he became strong. He was no longer operating in his strength, but the strength of the Lord.
Most people thought that Paul’s thorn had something to do with his eyes, but from a wider view, it could have been anything. Due to this, Paul changed his approach. He began to glory or boast in his infirmities,reproaches, necessities, persecutions, and distresses for The Lord’s sake.
Yet through all of this, Paul secretly gave us an out; If you noticed, he said; “Lest I be exalted above measure”.
That word LEST, left a condition, meaning if you don’t praise yourself, you can escape what I encountered,...... and this is when I was absolutely amazed as to how good God is. Because everyone of us, at one time or another, entered a place of arrogance of self praise, because of the fact that we thought we knew God better than others, causing a demon to be sent our way.
There is so much more information on this, I’m just scratching the surface on this valuable information given to us by the Apostle Paul.
Some of us will try to rescue someone who God currently has in class, learning this painful and necessary lesson. Sometimes we need to learn how to stay out of God’s way.
Remember to prepare for Rapture, Jesus is coming soon.