Thankful for a Thorn [Part 1]

Pastoral author and Bible teacher Alan Wright in order to be fulfilled in this world.

The primary thing you need to do is strangers are welcome to another message of good news will help you see your life in a whole new light untangled Britt excited for you to hear the teaching today. In the series victorious living is presented in an old church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It's a book written by Pastor Alan called God moments it can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries as you listen to today's message go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at pastoralan.org that's Pastor Alan.O RG or call 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860. More on this later in the program but right now let's get started with today's teaching here is are you ready for some good news if you're in the middle of a spiritual battle that mean you're outside the will of God probably means you're right in the middle of it, wherein second Corinthians again today and where chapter 12 to talk about the famous thorn in the flesh. Paul's thorn in the flesh. Second Corinthians chapter 12 verse ones where we are. I must go on boasting.

Paul writes, though there's nothing to be gained by placing desire I gotta do that so I don't want to do this.

I can't believe I'm doing as I tell you about some of the spiritual revelations I've had the same, nothing gained by all divisions and revelations, the Lord, I know a man in crises speaking out of third person about himself final man in Christ to 14 years ago was caught up to the third heaven, whether in the body around the body I do not know God knows this man was caught up in the paradise whether in the body or out of the body. I know God and he heard things it cannot be told which man may not matter what happened, this man, I will boast but on my behalf.

I will not boast, except my weaknesses that I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool for I would be speaking the truth but I refrain from it so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations of thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak I am strong some years ago.

The story is told that there was a fish fishing company was sending they were sending caught across the country from the East Coast to the West and they were trying to find the best way to deliver it fresh. At first I just froze it and they had compliance complaints about its taste after been frozen so they try just putting the cot into just put it into some some water in our send it across. But they found that by the time it got there. The coefficient losses texture become, Moshe and I and it still had a stale taste to it. So some I had the idea.

Evidently that they put a catfish in there who was sort of a predator of the cod and and let them swim around together all the way over there with this one fish chasing the other fish whole time so that their economy and chase the way and by the time they got over there there there taste and fresh is this I just come out of the seat and the moral of this story is unless something's chasing you, you're liable to become mushy and stale. It's strange how we don't tend to do things unless we need to do them on Ohio's caught my attention but I was observing at the beach. The seagulls they have to be the laziest creature on the face of the earth because have you ever notice that a seagull who could fish the wide-open blue seed for all the fish you want will come and just stand there for ever. If some human has a sandwich or some cheese doodles on the beach. Now you see this, it's amazing. I don't know how they know what, instinct of radar.

They got built-in if some toddler got some cheese doodles down the beach like was the case near me and you just hate it when it happens because July no man put all my hat and get the birds are common and how they know as soon as you break out those cheese doodles, editors, boom there 345 goals there and within about 10 seconds. Here come the goals all down the little radio and their air one IRA got some cheese it'll down here and onto the beer as a child if the child they will be dropping and throwing of the noodles and next thing you know there's 100 seagull coming within a reasonably safe disingenuous there watching the birds at the hello are they going to sit there just hoping that the child would drop a cheese noodle or something and set different about a hour now, these birds have wings, they can fly over 20 miles an hour.

They have excellent eyesight far better than a human one.

Only birds that has eyes that can move around in his socket. The way human eyes do their smart enough to know how to pick up a clamp drop down to a hard rock to get to the meat of the clan. They even known to been seen to have a tapping motion on the ground in certain areas. The causes worms to come up so they get them.

These are pretty smart birds, and they can lie and they can see and they could fish for the millions and fish dinner out in the sea, there's a chance that they could just stand there and have a cheese doodle drop in the amount they'll stand there all day long. Where award too much like the goals we tend to just do the things that we need to do and if you don't need to do it, then you probably don't know if you ever notice out about image of God knows that about our human nature.

That's is kind of the way we we are.

If there's something that we need to work on unless we have a sense of passion or a need for that. We don't really tend to to go before we laugh in our house because the first church I served in Durham, there was old man there's name was Claude Harrison. Claude was a remarkable one the most positive, energetic, old people I've ever been around in my whole life.

He was in his 80s and he still plowed his garden with a mule. He worked all the time. He was positive all the time and I think it might've been his 85th birthday that is asked a method called hat.

What is the secret and I was a very young man at the time I save one of the seeker here.

You are your chakras attack your active every day.

You still work in your garden. You seem to do what I said in the hat. He was the secret of such health at your age and he said, unforgettable. He said you know how when at the end of a long day you feel tired. You just feel like maybe sit down on the couch maybe just watching a TV show just kind of sitting there. You know how you feel like that so yeah, I know that you don't get out and do something so our house always held Claude a dozen likenesses that would do something. What would Paul say drive saying is about going to talk about something today that is a bit deeper than that. Point of all this is to say if in the natural realm of things Siegel won't even use its wings unless it feels like it has to and a human being won't grow unless you feel like you need to how much more so in things of the spirit, the deepest things of life.

Be that unless we have a sense of urgency and need to draw upon the grace and power of God that we are likely to do so, or lease not to the depths that God wants us to go and I think that's really what Paul is describing in this text, its attacks, in which he really is talking about three different things here is talking about unspeakable glorious revelations. I spent some time talking about that.

We'll talk about that in many talks about an excruciating relentless thorn something that's intensely painful and won't go away just keeps happening over and over and they talked about a surprising powerful grace unspeakable glorious revelations excruciating relentless thorn surprising powerful grace and talent right will have more teaching moment. Today's imported series facing a problem when well-meaning Christian friends said something like that. The problem was such an expectation. Of course, is that telling someone that my faith doesn't actually help the person have more faith once more faith. What can we do to get more faith in his highly acclaimed book, God mimics Pastor Alan Wright describes when the most important biblical pathways to building your faith, remembering God's presence in your life. You see God's faithfulness yesterday you find it easier to trust him tomorrow you like this, full of God moments and through Allen Wright's teaching series and book a treasure map to help you discover them off when you make a gift with a very special find out Allen Wright's faith building but God moments the album series that he is preached on the subject things you both. When you make your gift, it's time to discover you and God mimics from yesterday and be filled with fresh fish for college 544-4861 come to our website pastor at Gatwick today's teaching now continues here once again is Alan writing me just preface this with a very very important truth comes into conflict with the prevailing ideology of the spirit of the age I think is important to step back and identify what are the wrong assumptions and deceptions that are inherent within today's culture.

And here's one of them essentially is something like this in order to be fulfilled in this world. The primary thing you need to do is change your circumstances, that this is not to say that God doesn't care about. I want to be very clear about that. He does he cares about your environment cares about circumstance he cares about us being well fed and cared about us being together, but cares about all the same, but the lie is that it's the fundamental or the primary thing that you need to be spending your time on is changing things outside yourself and the reason is wrong it is when Jesus came he said repent, which means change your way of thinking for the kingdom of God is at hand.

He said I have, and I've changed everything, because I brought my kingdom with me.

Therefore, the primary thing that needs to change is you and it is to say that God cares about our prospering. But if you are a bitter unforgiving and angry person in your shack if we put you in a mansion. You still will be a bitter angry non-forgiving person, the more important thing in his change is something that changes inside of you removed our daughter and to college this week. I'm two nights of an empty nest and is just lose it's hard to believe my baby girl and advice as to how we dealing with the emotions of this and I set a good old-fashioned denial. I'm just in denial that told Abby acid is no big deal.

What is dropping off her summer camp. Last thing I said to her telephonic. See you soon. And so we dropped off but it is must be some that in North Carolina when you take a child to college in August that in order for to be an official drop off the temperature has to exceed 90°.

I think it must be. Every parent has dropped the student college must know that. And it has to have a least relative humidity of 85% and so you're carrying stuff in and funny thing is that a lot of these parents. To be about my age where you don't really want to carry heavy things anymore, and yet you do because you carried it in for you baby girl and so for once in my life I was a smart guy and I had a dolly and so I came time to move the door refrigerator and I did that on the dolly on this one handedly this carry nothing in but unfortunately there was a guy in front of a poor guy and he had the thing still in its box and a good and caring. Very well, so you just had it by the little plastic needle tie that surrounded these Dragon now heard of Dragon and I'm thinking that probably not good for the refrigerator ended series annoying, but I just behind a little bit and he goes around the corner his wife that know anybody is within earshot and also that I hear her say we just click and drag is lagging back with Mike dolly Babbitt wanted mayors and widows understood that with the fact of the matter was she thought her whole problem in the world was the sound of a refrigerator Dragon but I tell you her problem was deeper than that. I thought about my services are Mama pastor, I think you need some counseling and displays our issues into something on the outside. No way. Not me. It's the it's you need to carry refrigerator differently and then I'll be. Paul is talking about this in the deepest sense what he saying is that there was something difficult thorn.

He wish he could get out of it and not have to deal with. God said no because it was a transformational process that he wanted to take place inside of Paul that had to do with Paul.

Drawing upon the power of God to get ahead of myself. The first thing Paul talks about here these unspeakable glorious revelations and he says that is that these are unspeakably's are unspeakable in the sense that these are things a man sounding loud under talking about a time. He says he was called up into the third heaven probably just talking about the presence of God, not the earthly realm not last. Here we have is probably what he's talking about some speculation about that are the different stages of heaven, but I think for our purposes, just means he was in the express glorious presence of God so palpably present was the spirit to him envisions that he had.

Paul became unaware of himself that he didn't know whether he was in his body or whether God is just, had just raised them to some kind of ecstatic vision, but he speaks of himself in the third person any just says I know a man in Christ when you say that way. He saying essentially that this experience that I've had of God is not because there's something special about me. It's just because I'm in Christ and honestly, the experience of God is available to anybody in Christ. Remember, a big part of the issue we've been seeing in second Corinthians is that there were one or more people in Corinth who were lauding themselves as super apostles, and they were saying that Paul was not glorious enough that he was too weak. He had too many weaknesses. He didn't seem impressive when they'd seen him in person.

He didn't seem to be. He didn't seem to be boisterously eloquent seem to be strong in his letters, but not strong in his physical person and and they were trying to discount his apostolic status and so Paul and Chapter 11 has gone and said I'll tell you what I've been through and that he comes this place and that now I gotta tell you about spiritual revelations, probably. There were some false leaders in court. There was think look at all these revelations and visions and trances and things that we've had in prophetic times without their trying to establish their leadership basins and Paul is utterly reluctant to share anything about this any doesn't share hardly any specifics about all he saying this is a stop on hunting will talk about this on miniatures tell you I have been in the presence of God so vividly.

Can you tell you if I was in my body or not, but I'm not talking part of this is that there are just some things that are too holy into animate to talk about. You'll talk about the most intimate things that you share with another human being spouses don't common share about all of their intimate interactions because that would just prove that it was an actual intimacy, but it's something that makes it intimate is a something that you not share with somebody else and I've had times like this with God was very clear to me this is between me and this is me in God and and is not to be shared. Paul speaking of these visions.

This way, and then he says that this thorn in the flesh was given. It is subject of much much commentary and I don't like the ESV's translation of this word that is rendered here, conceded in verse seven to keep me from becoming conceited something is right work. The word literally in Greek is exalted. The reason I don't like this word conceited is because conceited being stuck on yourself and really prideful and we just don't see any evidence that this was Paul's battle. Paul's everywhere he goes everywhere he writes he's talking about the paradox of God's power in our weakness and he knew all that is new. All of his earthly credentials. His resume was so strong. One of the most erudite men of his age and so many miracles it taken place there. I don't think that because he had the special revelation from God that he was going to become conceited, like thereby look at me how great I am evidence so far from Paul but I don't get to.

I think that it is a moment but he says that I was given a thorn in the flesh and the way it reads it's unclear who the subject is a thorn was given. It's in the it's in the passive citizen say God gave me a thorn specifically say Satan gave me the phone. I think the reason the language is carefully passive here is there are things in our life that come to us from the powers of hell as an attack against us. And yet God is so sovereign and so why though the enemy has intended it for evil God is minute for good right today's teaching how to be thankful for thorn from our series on second Corinthians all about Victoria's living and Alan is back in a moment with additional insight on this for your life in a final word in every moment nearly escaped from danger and having them you were surprised by blessing living.

The chest knew the direction to take you to this and moments of God's grace. Perhaps they been covered by the sands of time just gone unnoticed in the rush of life. Your life is full of God moments when you make a gift procedure a special bundle pastor. I went hearts during both God moments and defeating them containing all his audio messages on the subject. They can't get to start your spiritual treasure hunt I'm covering you a dynamic, how you remember yesterday will determine how you live tomorrow. The gospel is shared when you get to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you get today. We will send you a special offer.

We are happy to send this to you as I thanks from Alan Wright Ministries, seven 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website pastor at Gatwick will gala on the surface, thankful for thorn and how to be thankful for is as a way to work on is not because it and this is a message that I just cannot over emphasize the importance of it because is not just about the issues of suffering in this world about this seemingly mysterious statement of Paul about the thorn that God didn't take away and what is meant by that. We bring real clarity to that, but in the midst of Paul's glorious revelations. He did experience something that was an excruciating thing I want us to point to how that really is a picture spiritual warfare, but the surprising grace of God. All of this, Daniel. I just think it begins with this essential.

We have to demolish and and just cast aside the lie of the culture, the spirit of the agents is what you need most is you need some better circumstances. You need less problems and easier life. Most alcohol for God fixing our circumstances about the big message the big take away here is that no what we need is the grace of God. And when I just say there's a cliché going deep with that truth today. Today's good news message listener supported production Alan Wright Ministries