{"id":6507,"date":"2022-09-11T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-11T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/?p=6507"},"modified":"2022-07-26T11:21:42","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T16:21:42","slug":"boasting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2022\/09\/11\/boasting\/","title":{"rendered":"BOASTING"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

2 minute read.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Daily Reading: <\/strong>Isaiah 8:1-9:21 ESV<\/a>, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 ESV<\/a>, Psalm 55:1-23 ESV<\/a>, Proverbs 23:4-5 ESV<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daily Verse:<\/strong> \u201cI must go on boasting<\/em>. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.\u201d (2 Corinthians 12:1 ESV<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

KAUCHAOMAI (2744): <\/strong>\u201cMeans \u201cto boast or glory,\u201d is translated \u201cto boast.\u201d[i]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glory to God.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul feels like he has no choice but to boast.  However, Paul doesn\u2019t glorify himself but God.  After breaking a 14-year silence, Paul tells the Corinthians about his vision.  Because Paul struggled with pride, God gave him a thorn in his flesh.  Three times Paul begged God to remove the thorn. God responded with grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut he said to me,\u00a0\u201cMy grace is sufficient for you, for\u00a0my power is made perfect in weakness.\u201d\u00a0Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that\u00a0the power of Christ may rest upon me.\u201d (2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

God\u2019s words humbled Paul, making him thankful for his weaknesses.  Paul learned contentment because of his thorn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Extended grace.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone has a thorn or two in their life, an area of imperfection that drives them crazy.  When you have a thorn in the flesh, it festers and causes the skin to get red and inflamed.  The slightest touch can cause a flash of intense pain, causing you to wince.  Learning to live with the prickly weed requires God\u2019s help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaning into the Savior will help you find relief from the irritation.  Christ gets the glory as you overcome your thorns, allowing His strength to shine in your weakness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An illustration I heard long ago, the source unknown, explains it well: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An alcoholic asked his pastor, \u201cWhy doesn\u2019t God take away my desire to drink?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pastor responded.  \u201cWhat do you do when you want to drink?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI get on my knees and pray.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf God took away the desire to drink, would you spend as much time praying?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God uses the thorns in our lives to draw us closer to Him.  Christ\u2019s strength overcomes our weaknesses, His grace sufficient.  Seek God for help; He won\u2019t let you down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[i]<\/a> Strong, J., & Strong, J. (2010). The New Strong’s expanded exhaustive concordance of the Bible<\/em>. Greek Dictionary of the New Testament<\/em> (p.136) Thomas Nelson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Check out my new release on Amazon<\/a>. Learn how I used prayer to control my emotions and develop healthier relationships in my life. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2 minute read. Daily Reading: Isaiah 8:1-9:21 ESV, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 ESV, Psalm 55:1-23 ESV, Proverbs 23:4-5 ESV Daily Verse: \u201cI must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.\u201d (2 Corinthians 12:1 ESV) KAUCHAOMAI (2744): \u201cMeans \u201cto boast or glory,\u201d… Continue reading BOASTING<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6507"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6515,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6507\/revisions\/6515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}