In Stripes Above Measure…
Has life hit you so hard that you’ve been knocked down?
Have you gone too far to find the middle ground?
Did they raise you so high just to pull you back down?
Have you been so lost you could never be found? ~ Relate, for King and Country
If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity. ~ II Corinthians 11:30 NKJB
When one is living in their “infirmities” they are living in their unstable self. Reckless in all manners of living. Shunning our Father and listening to the dictates of the evil one.
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We love helping others and believe that’s one of the reasons we are chosen as Ambassadors of the Kingdom, to serve God’s children. We look to the Greatest Commandment as our Powering force.
When we are “shipwrecked” in our lives and the sails have broken and fallen into the sea we used to turn to the substance that stopped the pain – drugs, work, exercise, alcohol, chocolate, sex, gambling, pornography and the list goes on. Today, as we awaken again and again, in the arms of Jesus Christ we turn to Him for relief, we turn to Him for restoration instead of another mask, we turn to Him to have our mercies renewed and grace to stop the aching within our heart and soul.
Tears are pain, guilt and shame leaving the body. Deep breathes are the Holy Spirit filling our soul bringing us Comfort to clear our mind and soften our heart that we may receive His Counsel. As each tear falls we are reminded that we are not alone, we are not who the devil says we are but rather we are a child of God.
Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. ~ II Corinthians 11:22-23 NKJB
We are all the same. Our pain is no different than our neighbors. Our hurt is exactly the same as the homeless people we pass daily. Our emptiness is no less dark than the drug addict about to shoot-up again. We do not boast of our pain, we use it as a point of healing for others. It is our testimony of the deep, unending love that Jesus Christ has for all. Jesus makes it possible that we should be free from pain; free from death. We did not do it of our own accord but, rather, He made it all possible.
From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; ~ II Corinthians 11 24-25 NKJB
As we climb to safety, apply salve to our wounds and bandages to the cuts Jesus Christ, Immanuel is with us. It is He that makes the healing to increase. It is He that gets us to shore that we may live. It is He that makes the bleeding to stop and the stones to bounce off. We can not do that. We can only ask that He make it possible in our life that belongs to Him.
Either the Scripture is the divine Word of God teaching us how to live and how to be a reflection of God, or it’s nothing more than a historical account of events.
