As for us, we have all of these great witnesses who encircle us like clouds. So we must let go of every wound that has pierced us and the sin we so easily fall into. Then we will be able to run life’s marathon race with passion and determination, for the path has been already marked out before us. We look away from the natural realm and we fasten our gaze onto Jesus who birthed faith within us and who leads us forward into faith’s perfection. His example is this: Because his heart was focused on the joy of knowing that you would be his, he endured the agony of the cross and conquered its humiliation, and now sits exalted at the right hand of the throne of God! Hebrews 12: 1-2TPT
Wholly-Holy Align Your Life With Jesus!
I have a thorn in the flesh, yet I know I can run the race of this life with passion and patient endurance because of Christ in me, the hope of glory. You, Father God are the “Proof”, You, Jesus are the “Proven” and You, Holy Spirit are the “Prover”! Triune God, for me, with me, You have helped me overcome so much, which I could never have done without You. I am so grateful. I am thankful to be learning to be “Intentionally Kingdom Cultured”! I am an overcomer, because I stand on the strong foundation of Awe-GOD, Proof, Proven and Prover! You, Triune God, have demonstrated to me that I can do all things through the proven strength of Jesus, that I don’t have to see the proof, I cling to the Prover and I believe what the Proven says and have faith in the One Who lives in me, the One Who has been proven and the One Who is the prover of all things. My focus is on God and when I find wholly-holy alignment with God, within a vital-vertical kingdom perspective, my weakness is superseded, miraculously so, by the strength of God. Christ in me, the hope of glory. It is in the moments where I make the next right choice, when all that is wrong was stacked up against me, it is in these moments to a right choice, that I know, without a doubt, God is with me in strength, power, purpose and provision. Awe-GOD. It is the best celebration ever when we can say no to our flesh, we can stomp on the enemy’s temptation with God’s Truth, resisting our enemy by doing good, doing the next right thing.
Paul’s “Thorn”~ The extraordinary level of the revelations I’ve received is no reason for anyone to exalt me. For this is why a thorn in my flesh was given to me, the Adversary’s messenger sent to harass me, keeping me from becoming arrogant. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to relieve me of this. 9 But he answered me, “My grace is always more than enough for you, and my power finds its full expression through your weakness.” So I will celebrate my weaknesses, for when I’m weak I sense more deeply the mighty power of Christ living in me. 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 The Passion Translation
Now all discipline seems to be more pain than pleasure at the time, yet later it will produce a transformation of character, bringing a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who yield to it. So be made strong even in your weakness by lifting up your tired hands in prayer and worship. And strengthen your weak knees, for as you keep walking forward on God’s paths all your stumbling ways will be divinely healed! In every relationship be swift to choose peace over competition, and run swiftly toward holiness, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Watch over each other to make sure that no one misses the revelation of God’s grace. And make sure no one lives with a root of bitterness sprouting within them which will only cause trouble and poison the hearts of many. Hebrews 12: 11-15 TPT
Listen Up And Be Intentionally Kingdom Cultured!
God got the victory over a weakness that I usually just give into, it is a thorn in my side that the Lord has not taken from me, even though I have asked and asked. The pain of this “thorn” leads me to Jesus, because I can’t bear it without Him. When My circumstance does not seem to change, I respond to God, instead of reacting to my situation, that I have prayed over and over again for God to change. Responding to God with the suffering and the frustration that goes along with it, makes a good difference in my response. In this slight change of focusing up, I can get the strength to grow through the hard seasons of life with a patient endurance undergirded by God. I love my vital-vertical relationship with God, where I am becoming “Intentionally Kingdom Cultured” learning a different focus from the one I naturally go to. I no longer will have a “go to focus” on this situation, that usually crashes my spirit. I will look up for a new focus, a new response, and I will stomp the old reaction that leaves me in the enemy’s pit of despondency. I know without a doubt in this era where everything is changing and right is wrong and wrong is right, that this is a good time for me to change it up. My response needs to be intentionally kingdom cultured, to not have the normal reaction and flesh out. I know, without a doubt, in times such as these, I need to dig my life roots deeper in the Kingdom of God, and be found responding through God’s Kingdom perspective. Let it be so. Change it up. Listen up to The Bridegroom’s Voice.
Prayer, Love, and Gifts of Grace~ Since we are approaching the end of all things, be intentional, purposeful, and self-controlled so that you can be given to prayer. Above all, constantly echo God’s intense love for one another, for love will be a canopy over a multitude of sins. Be compassionate to foreigners without complaining. Every believer has received grace gifts, so use them to serve one another as faithful stewards of the many-colored tapestry of God’s grace. For example, if you have a speaking gift, speak as though God were speaking his words through you If you have the gift of serving, do it passionately with the strength God gives you, so that in everything God alone will be glorified through Jesus Christ. For to him belong the power and the glory forever throughout all ages! Amen. 1 Peter 4:7-11 The Passion Translation
Followship Feeds Your Soul With Patient Endurance
The enemy likes to spread chaos through false narrative that aggravates the thorns in our side with impulsive human reaction. Truth takes time to unfold and be clearly present in our reality. That is why we listen up to God first. God is our reality of truth. We should never run with the mob mentality of mediatic false frenzy, a say so, which appeals to our human condition with fear and anxiety. Wait on God, we wait before we react, looking past what we “think we know” asking God for discernment to see past our worldly viewpoint, to hear His mind, to experience His heart and then respond in followship of Him. Labeling is a trap of our enemy, so before we label anything, or anyone, stop and look to God, because we can’t know the heart or motive of another person, nor can we know the purposes of God that are in play in our lives. God knows. We can’t rightly judge a situation or label it by our past experiences. If you have a thorn in your life, that you have asked God to remove, remember this truth: The past is under the blood of Jesus and we have no rights to it, He bought it with His self-sacrifice. Today is a new day, and we should live it through the lens of a Kingdom perspective. We are people who are taught daily and God is changing it up in us. Are we willing to let go of what we think we know and submit ourselves humbly to the ONE Who knows? That is where the true change has a beginning and your soul is fed with the strength of patient endurance. If you have a “thorn in the flesh” something that just continually hurts, and there is no relief from it, don’t try to figure it out, don’t label it with past titles, look to God to give you a Kingdom perspective, so you can “grow through” until He decides to purposefully remove it. Until then, we know we are encouraged and supported by God, God’s family and all the witnesses cheering us on in heaven.
Thanks for stopping into The Bridegroom’s Café. Today on the Author Table we are serving a vegetable plate for our soul. It may not be something we enjoy feeding our soul, but it is necessary for the strength our spirit needs to change. Everyday we need to partake in the Word of God, it strengthens us in ways we could not even begin to imagine. That is why I hope you subscribe to The Bridegroom’s Café, so you don’t miss one meal, Chef Jesus prepares. We can listen up to “The Bridegroom’s Voice” daily, this is such a good spiritual habit to develop. I highly suggest this book:
