2 Corinthians 12Paul was given a vision of heaven and then "a thorn in the flesh" to keep him humble.INSIGHTThe Bible gives us a number of reasons why Christians suffer adversity. One reason is to strengthen and mature us. Another is that it is the natural consequence of our own foolishness from which God does not necessarily protect us. And another reason Paul gives us in today's chapter is to keep us humble. If things always went well for us, if life was always "coming up roses," we would tend to become conceited, to think more highly of ourselves than we ought and perhaps think less of others. Notice that Paul only prayed three times for the removal of his "thorn in the flesh" (vv. 7-8). When it was clear that God was not going to remove it, Paul accepted it.PRAYERBecause the Lord always has a reason for allowing adversity, we can praise Him for all things:Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts,And I will declare Your greatness.They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness,And shall sing of Your righteousness.The Lord is gracious and full of compassion,Slow to anger and great in mercy.The Lord is good to all,And His tender mercies are over all His works. (Psalm 145:6-9)Pause for praise and thanksgiving.


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FAMILY AND FRIENDS ARE A GIFT FROM GOD.

Last week, my husband, Lee and I walked a journey that we've never walked before. A year and a half ago, Lee retired from 48 years of active ministry. He was a Senior Pastor for most of those years and had a passion to encourage people to study the Word and apply it to their lives. His desire was to point the lost to God. This year and a half has not been a smooth journey. There are 2 additional personal issues that have drained our energy and faith.

I had been away from home a couple of days to find Lee in a confused state of mind. He had not been feeling well physicall for some time. I called our doctor and was advised to take him to ER immediately. Because our doctors are still in the Dallas area, I started driving him to a hospital in that area ( over an hour of driving time). We were almost there, when Lee started grabbing his chest and thrashing around in the back seat of our car. I knew he was having a heart attack as he fell to the floor, and then total quiet. As I was speeding, blowing my horn, praying, checking on him, and trying to get one of our adult kids on my cell, I knew he had died. John, our son-in-law told me to stop and he would call 911 to come and get us. Within 5 minutes they were there, and a hospital was withing 5 minutes of our location.

Lee did not have a heart attach or stroke, but they found his sodium level to be dangerously low. So low that it put him into a seizure and death could have taken him at this point. Within a short time period, our family, friends and ministers were there supporting us. Lee was in ICU four days, and in Progressive Care for 2 days. We both gained our emotional, physical and spiritual strength back as we were supported by so many. I went from thinking I had lost my husband, to a state of thankfulness for life.

God has a plan for all of our lives and as we walk the journey before us, we not only need God, but we need each other. Isaiah 43:2 says: "WHEN THOU PASSEST THROUGH THE WATERS, I WILL BE WITH THEE; AND THROUGH THE RIVERS, THEY SHALL NOT OVERFLOW THEE. WHEN THOU WALKEST THROUGH THE FIRE, THOU SHALT NOT BE BURNED; NEITHER SHALL THE FLAME KINDLE UPON THEE."

Thank all of you who are available to God when He is in need of you to love, support, encourage, pray and visit.

Love,

Sharon