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10 Life-Changing Lessons from 2nd Corinthians You Can_t Ignore · truthunedited

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  Speaker 1: Have you ever felt like life has hit you so
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  Speaker 1: hard that you have nothing left to give? Have you
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  Speaker 1: ever wondered where God is in the middle of your suffering?
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  Speaker 1: Have you ever felt like you are too weak, too broken,
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  Speaker 1: too unqualified for God to use. If you have ever
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  Speaker 1: felt this way, you are not alone. Paul, one of
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  Speaker 1: the greatest apostles in history, wrote Second Corinthians, not from
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  Speaker 1: a place of strength, but from deep suffering. He had
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  Speaker 1: been beaten, imprisoned, betrayed, and crushed by hardship, and yet
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  Speaker 1: in the midst of it all, he did not write
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  Speaker 1: about how to escape suffering. He wrote about how God's
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  Speaker 1: power is made perfect in weakness. This is one of
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  Speaker 1: the most counterintuitive truths in the entire Bible. The world
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  Speaker 1: tells us that strength is about success, power, and self sufficiency,
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  Speaker 1: but God says the opposite. True strength is not found
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  Speaker 1: in our abilities, our confidence, or our control. It is
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  Speaker 1: found in complete dependence on Him. And that is the
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  Speaker 1: heart of Second Corinthians. This book is not about avoiding pain.
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  Speaker 1: It is about finding purpose in it. It is not
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  Speaker 1: about having everything together. It is about allowing God to
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  Speaker 1: work through our brokenness. It is not about proving ourselves
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  Speaker 1: It's about learning to trust that God's grace is enough.
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  Speaker 1: And in this video, we are going to break down
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  Speaker 1: ten of the most powerful messages from Second Corinthians in
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  Speaker 1: a way you have never heard before. Because the truth is,
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  Speaker 1: many believers struggle with the same questions. Why does God
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  Speaker 1: allow suffering? How can I trust God when I feel
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  Speaker 1: weak and unworthy? What does it really mean to rely
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  Speaker 1: on His grace instead of my own strength. By the
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  Speaker 1: end of this video, you will not only understand the
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  Speaker 1: Book of Second Corinthians, you will understand how to find
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  Speaker 1: God's strength in your weakness, how to walk in true
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  Speaker 1: spiritual endurance, and how to live with unshakable faith even
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  Speaker 1: in the hardest seasons of life. And if you want
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  Speaker 1: to go even deeper, we have created a full explainer
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  Speaker 1: video on the Book of Second Corinthians, breaking it down
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  Speaker 1: verse by verse, along with an e book study guide
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  Speaker 1: to help you grow in your faith. Both are linked
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  Speaker 1: in the description. Now, let me ask you something. Have
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  Speaker 1: you ever felt like your struggles were proof that God
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  Speaker 1: had abandoned you? Have you ever looked at your weaknesses
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  Speaker 1: and thought, how could God ever use someone like me?
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  Speaker 1: If so, this message is for you, because God is
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  Speaker 1: not asking you to be strong. He is asking you
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  Speaker 1: to trust that His strength is enough. So if you
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  Speaker 1: are ready to see your pain through a different lens,
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  Speaker 1: to understand why weakness is not failure, and to discover
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  Speaker 1: how God's power is at work even in your struggles,
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  Speaker 1: then stay with me because what you were about to
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  Speaker 1: hear might change everything. With that being said, let's get started.
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  Speaker 1: The first powerful lesson we learn from Second Corinthians is
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  Speaker 1: that God comforts us so we can comfort others. We
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  Speaker 1: just talked about how this letter is not about escaping suffering,
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  Speaker 1: but about finding God's strength in the middle of it.
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  Speaker 1: But have you ever wondered why God allows us to
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  Speaker 1: go through pain in the first place. Why doesn't He
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  Speaker 1: just remove every hardship the moment we ask him to.
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  Speaker 1: Paul gives us the answer in Second Corinthians one three
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  Speaker 1: to four, where he writes, Praise be to the God
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  Speaker 1: and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the Father of
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  Speaker 1: compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us
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  Speaker 1: in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those
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  Speaker 1: in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves from God.
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  Speaker 1: Do you see it? God does not just comfort us
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  Speaker 1: to make us feel better. He comforts us so we
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  Speaker 1: can become a source of healing for others. Your pain
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  Speaker 1: is not meaningless, Your suffering is not wasted. Every trial,
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  Speaker 1: every heartbreak, every season of struggle is equipping you to
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  Speaker 1: minister to someone else who will one day walk through
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  Speaker 1: the same thing. But the question is will you let
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  Speaker 1: God use your pain for his purpose? Because many people
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  Speaker 1: suffer but never heal. They go through trials, but instead
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  Speaker 1: of finding comforting God, they grow bitter, angry, and distant.
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  Speaker 1: They become trapped in their wounds, believing that pain is
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  Speaker 1: a sign that God has abandoned them. But Paul is
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  Speaker 1: telling us something different. Your suffering is actually an invitation
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  Speaker 1: to know God's comfort like never before. Think about the
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  Speaker 1: people in your life who have encouraged you. The most
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  Speaker 1: chances are they are not the ones who have had perfect,
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  Speaker 1: pain free lives. They are the ones who have been
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  Speaker 1: through the fire and come out stronger. They are the
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  Speaker 1: ones who have experienced deep suffering but also deep healing,
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  Speaker 1: and that is exactly how God works. In the Bible,
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  Speaker 1: some of the most powerful leaders were also the most
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  Speaker 1: broken people. Joseph was betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery,
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  Speaker 1: falsely accused and thrown into prison for years. But through
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  Speaker 1: it all God was preparing him to become the second
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  Speaker 1: most powerful man in Egypt, to save an entire nation
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  Speaker 1: from famine. If Joseph had never suffered, he never would
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  Speaker 1: have been in a position to bring deliverance to others.
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  Speaker 1: Moses was a murderer who ran away into the wilderness,
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  Speaker 1: living in isolation for forty years before God called him
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  Speaker 1: to rescue Israel. His time in the desert was not punishment.
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  Speaker 1: It was David was hunted down by King Saul, living
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  Speaker 1: in caves fearing for his life before he ever became king,
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  Speaker 1: And it was during his suffering that he wrote many
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  Speaker 1: of the psalms that still comfort millions to day. And
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  Speaker 1: Paul himself, the man who wrote these words in Second Corinthians,
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  Speaker 1: was beaten, shipwrecked, imprisoned, and nearly killed multiple times, and
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  Speaker 1: yet instead of complaining, he saw his suffering as a
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  Speaker 1: way to bring comfort to others. So what about you,
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  Speaker 1: What pain have you been through? What trials have shaped you?
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  Speaker 1: What wounds have left scars on your soul? Because right
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  Speaker 1: now there is someone who needs to hear your story.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe you have walked through the pain of losing a
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  Speaker 1: loved one, and now you are uniquely able to comfort
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  Speaker 1: someone who is grieving. Maybe you have struggled with anxiety, depression,
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  Speaker 1: or fear, and now you can help someone else find
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  Speaker 1: peace in God's presence. Maybe you have battled a diction, shame,
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  Speaker 1: or brokenness, and now your testimony can bring hope to
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  Speaker 1: someone who feels like there is no way out. God
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  Speaker 1: never waste suffering. What the enemy meant for evil, God
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  Speaker 1: can turn for good. What once felt like a curse,
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  Speaker 1: God can use to bring blessing to others. What once
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  Speaker 1: was your greatest pain, God can use to bring healing
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  Speaker 1: to someone else, but you have to be willing to
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  Speaker 1: share it. Many people want to help others, but they
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  Speaker 1: do not want to be vulnerable. They do not want
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  Speaker 1: to talk about their struggles, their past, or their pain.
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  Speaker 1: They want to appear strong, put together, and in control.
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  Speaker 1: But true ministry does not come from a place of pretending.
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  Speaker 1: It comes from a place of honesty. Paul himself never
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  Speaker 1: tried to hide his suffering. In fact, he talked about
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  Speaker 1: it openly. He did not try to act like he
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  Speaker 1: had it all together. He knew that his weakness was
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  Speaker 1: the very thing that allowed God's power to shine through him,
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  Speaker 1: and it is the same for you. If you have
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  Speaker 1: experienced God's comfort is healing, his grace, then do not
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  Speaker 1: keep it to yourself. Some One else needs to hear
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  Speaker 1: what God has done in your life. Some One else
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  Speaker 1: needs to know that they are not alone. Some one
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  Speaker 1: else needs to see that if God carried you through,
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  Speaker 1: he can carry them through too. So let me ask
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  Speaker 1: you who in your life needs to hear your testimony.
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  Speaker 1: May be it is a friend who is struggling with
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  Speaker 1: something you have already overcome. Maybe it is a family
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  Speaker 1: member who needs to see that healing is possible. Maybe
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  Speaker 1: it is someone you have not even met yet. But
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  Speaker 1: one day God will bring them into your path and
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  Speaker 1: He will use your pain to bring them hope. So
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  Speaker 1: to day, choose to believe that your suffering has a purpose.
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  Speaker 1: Choose to trust that God is not wasting your pain,
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  Speaker 1: and choose to let Him use your story to bring
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  Speaker 1: healing to someone else. Because what the enemy meant to
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  Speaker 1: destroy you, God is turning into a testimony. The second
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  Speaker 1: powerful lesson we learn from Second Corinthians is that our
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  Speaker 1: sufficiency comes from God, not from ourselves. We just talked
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  Speaker 1: about how God comforts us so that we can comfort others.
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  Speaker 1: That He never wastes our suffering, but uses it to
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  Speaker 1: bring healing and hope to those around us. But what
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  Speaker 1: happens when we feel completely unqualified, unequipped, and incapable of
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  Speaker 1: being used by God? What happens when we feel like
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  Speaker 1: we are not strong enough, not knowledgeable enough, not wholly
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  Speaker 1: enough to do what He has called us to do.
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  Speaker 1: Paul answers this in Second Corinthians three five through six,
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  Speaker 1: where he writes, not that we are sufficient in ourselves
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  Speaker 1: to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency
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  Speaker 1: is from God, who has made us competent as minaced
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  Speaker 1: of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of
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  Speaker 1: the spirit. For the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.
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  Speaker 1: In other words, you do not have to be enough,
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  Speaker 1: because God already is. And that is one of the
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  Speaker 1: most freeing truths you will ever hear. Because the world
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  Speaker 1: tells you that you need to prove yourself, that you
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  Speaker 1: need to be self sufficient, independent and strong, that your
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  Speaker 1: worth is based on your abilities, your achievements, your intelligence,
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  Speaker 1: and your success. But God tells you the opposite. He says,
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  Speaker 1: I am not asking you to be enough. I am
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  Speaker 1: asking you to trust that I am enough. Think about
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  Speaker 1: that for a moment. How many times have you held
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  Speaker 1: back from something because you felt unqualified. How many times
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  Speaker 1: have you doubted that God could use you because you
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  Speaker 1: felt too weak, too broken, or too inexperienced. How many
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  Speaker 1: times have you thought, I am not ready, I do
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  Speaker 1: not know enough, or some one else would be better
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  Speaker 1: for this. That is the lie of self sufficiency, the
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  Speaker 1: idea that in order to be used by God you
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  Speaker 1: have to bring something to the table. But Paul is
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  Speaker 1: telling us your sufficiency is not in yourself, it is
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  Speaker 1: in Christ. This is the pattern we see all throughout scripture.
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  Speaker 1: God never calls the qualified, He qualifies the called. Moses
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  Speaker 1: was a stuttering murderer when God called him to lead
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  Speaker 1: Israel out of Egypt. I am slow of speech and tongue,
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  Speaker 1: Moses told God. But God answered, who gave human beings
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  Speaker 1: their mouths Now, go I will help you speak and
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  Speaker 1: will teach you what to say. Exodus four ten to twelve.
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  Speaker 1: Gideon was hiding in fear when God called him a
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  Speaker 1: mighty warrior. Go in the strength you have, God told him,
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  Speaker 1: am I not sending you Judges six fourteen. Jeremiah was
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  Speaker 1: too young and afraid. When God called him to be
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  Speaker 1: a prophet, do not say I am too young. God
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  Speaker 1: told him, you must go to every one I send
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  Speaker 1: you to and say whatever I command you Jeremiah one, p. Seven.
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  Speaker 1: And Paul himself, the man who wrote these words in
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  Speaker 1: Second Corinthians, was once a persecutor of Christians, hunting down
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  Speaker 1: believers and throwing them in prison. If anyone should have
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  Speaker 1: been disqualified, it was Paul. But God does not call
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  Speaker 1: the perfect, He calls the willing. He does not need
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  Speaker 1: your strength, He needs your surrender, because God's power is
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  Speaker 1: made perfect in weakness. So what does this mean for you?
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  Speaker 1: It means you do not have to wait until you
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  Speaker 1: are good enough to step into what God is calling
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  Speaker 1: you to do. It means you do not have to
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  Speaker 1: rely on your own ability, You can rely on His strength.
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  Speaker 1: It means you do not have to fear your weaknesses,
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  Speaker 1: because your weaknesses are the very thing that will allow
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  Speaker 1: God's power to shine through you. Think about Peter. He
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  Speaker 1: was impulsive, emotional, and unreliable. He denied Jesus three times,
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  Speaker 1: and yet after being filled with the Holy Spirit, he
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  Speaker 1: preached a single sermon that led three thousand people to salvation.
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  Speaker 1: Think about David. He was just a shepherd boy, overlooked, unimportant,
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  Speaker 1: and untrained, and yet God chose him to defeat Goliath
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  Speaker 1: and become King of Israel. Think about Mary. She was
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  Speaker 1: a young, unwed teenager from a poor town, and yet
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  Speaker 1: God chose her to be the mother of Jesus. God's
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  Speaker 1: pattern has never changed. He chooses the weak to shame
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  Speaker 1: the strong. He chooses the foolish to confound the wise.
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  Speaker 1: He chooses the unqualified so that he alone gets it's
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  Speaker 1: the glory. So let me ask you. What is God
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  Speaker 1: calling you to do that you have been avoiding because
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  Speaker 1: you feel unqualified. Maybe you feel like you are not
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  Speaker 1: ready to lead, but God is saying I will equip you.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe you feel like you do not have enough knowledge,
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  Speaker 1: but God is saying I will give you wisdom. Maybe
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  Speaker 1: you feel like you are too broken, too flawed, or
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  Speaker 1: too weak, but God is saying, MY grace is sufficient
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  Speaker 1: for you. Because here is the truth. If God has
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  Speaker 1: called you, he has already given you everything you need.
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  Speaker 1: You may not see it yet, you may not feel ready.
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  Speaker 1: You may still have doubts. But God is not asking
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  Speaker 1: for your perfection. He is asking for your yes so
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  Speaker 1: to day, make the decision to trust that your sufficiency
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  Speaker 1: is in him. Step forward in faith, knowing that He
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  Speaker 1: is the one who qualifies you, because when you stop
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  Speaker 1: relying on your own strength and start relying on his,
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  Speaker 1: that is when His power will be revealed in your
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  Speaker 1: life like never before. The third most important lesson we
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  Speaker 1: learn from Second Corinthians is that we carry this treasure
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  Speaker 1: in jars of clay. We just talked about how our
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  Speaker 1: sufficiency comes from God and not from ourselves, that we
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  Speaker 1: do not have to be strong, perfect or qualified for
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  Speaker 1: Him to use us. But that leads to a deeper question.
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  Speaker 1: If God's power is so great, why does he allow
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  Speaker 1: us to feel weak? Why does he let us go
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  Speaker 1: through hardships, struggles, and moments that break us. Paul answers
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  Speaker 1: this in Second Corinthians four seven to nine, where he writes,
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  Speaker 1: but we have this treasure in jars of clay to
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  Speaker 1: show that this all surpassing power is from God and
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  Speaker 1: not from us. We are hard pressed on every side,
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  Speaker 1: but not crushed, perplexed but not in despair, persecuted but
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  Speaker 1: not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed. This is one
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  Speaker 1: of the most powerful truths in all of scripture. God
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  Speaker 1: chooses weak, fragile, and broken people to carry his greatest treasure,
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  Speaker 1: his presence, his power, his gospel. But why because if
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  Speaker 1: we were strong on our own, if we had everything together,
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  Speaker 1: if we never faced struggles or weaknesses, we would take
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  Speaker 1: the credit. We would believe that we were strong in ourselves,
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  Speaker 1: that we could handle life without God, that we did
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  Speaker 1: not need his grace. But when we are weak, when
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  Speaker 1: life presses us, when we are tested and broken, that
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  Speaker 1: is when God's glory shines through us the most. Think
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  Speaker 1: about it. What happens when you put light inside a
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  Speaker 1: clay jar. If the jar is perfect, solid and untouched,
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  Speaker 1: you can barely see the light inside. But if the
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  Speaker 1: jar is cracked, broken, or chipped, the light shines through
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  Speaker 1: the cracks. This is exactly what Paul is saying. Your cracks,
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  Speaker 1: your weakness, is your struggles. They are not what disqualify you.
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  Speaker 1: They are what allow God's glory to be seen in you.
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  Speaker 1: And yet many of us try to hide our cracks.
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  Speaker 1: We think if people knew my struggles, they would never
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  Speaker 1: respect me. We believe, if God is really with me,
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  Speaker 1: I should not be facing this much hardship. We tell
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  Speaker 1: ourselves if I was stronger, wholly a better I would
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  Speaker 1: not feel this week. But Paul is reminding us weakness
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  Speaker 1: is not a sign that God has abandoned you. It
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  Speaker 1: is the very place where He is working the most.
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  Speaker 1: Look at the words Paul uses, we are hard, pressed
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  Speaker 1: on every side, but not crushed, perplexed but not in despair,
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  Speaker 1: persecuted but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed. Paul
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  Speaker 1: is saying, yes, we go through hard things, Yes we
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  Speaker 1: feel the weight of suffering, but even in the world moments,
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  Speaker 1: God does not let it destroy us. And if any
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  Speaker 1: one knew suffering, it was Paul. This man was beaten, imprisoned, shipwrecked, betrayed,
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  Speaker 1: and stoned nearly to death, and yet he did not
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  Speaker 1: see these things as evidence that God had left him.
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  Speaker 1: He saw them as proof that God's power was sustaining him.
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  Speaker 1: So let me ask you, what has life thrown at
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  Speaker 1: you that has made you feel weak. Maybe you feel
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  Speaker 1: like you are barely holding everything together. Maybe you are
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  Speaker 1: pressed on every side financially, emotionally, spiritually, but not crushed.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe you are perplexed wondering why God is allowing this season,
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  Speaker 1: but not in despair. Maybe you have been betrayed or abandoned,
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  Speaker 1: but God has never left you. Maybe you feel like
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  Speaker 1: life has knocked you down, but you are still here,
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  Speaker 1: still standing, still holding on to faith. And that is
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  Speaker 1: the miracle. The world looks at suffering and sees it
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  Speaker 1: as a reason to give up, But when we go
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  Speaker 1: through suffering and still hold on to faith, it is
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  Speaker 1: a testimony that God is at work in us. Think
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  Speaker 1: about job He lost everything, his family, his health, his wealth,
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  Speaker 1: and yet even when he did not understand why, he
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  Speaker 1: refused to curse God, and in the end God restored him.
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  Speaker 1: Think about Joseph. He was sold into slavery by his
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  Speaker 1: own brothers, thrown into prison for a crime he did
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  Speaker 1: not commit. But instead of becoming bitter, he remained faithful,
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  Speaker 1: and in time God raised him up to save an
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  Speaker 1: entire nation. Think about Jesus. He was beaten, mocked, and crucified.
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  Speaker 1: His body was broken, his hands and feet pierced, and
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  Speaker 1: yet through his suffering he brought salvation to the world.
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  Speaker 1: God's greatest power is often revealed in our greatest weak lines.
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  Speaker 1: But here is the challenge. Will you trust Him in
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  Speaker 1: the breaking? Will you trust that the season you are
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  Speaker 1: in right now, no matter how painful, is not meant
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  Speaker 1: to destroy you, but to refine you. Will you believe
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  Speaker 1: that even when you feel pressed on every side, God
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  Speaker 1: is holding you together. Will you stop hiding your cracks
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  Speaker 1: and allow God's light to shine through them, Because one
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  Speaker 1: day the thing you are walking through right now, the pain,
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  Speaker 1: the struggle, the questions, will become the very thing that
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  Speaker 1: God uses to bring healing to someone else. Someone will
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  Speaker 1: look at your life and say, if they made it
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  Speaker 1: through that storm, maybe I can too. Someone will hear
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  Speaker 1: your testimony and realize if God was faithful to them,
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  Speaker 1: maybe he will be faithful to me too. Someone will
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  Speaker 1: see the light of Christ shining through your broken places
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  Speaker 1: and be drawn to him. So to day, instead of
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  Speaker 1: asking God to remove every struggle, ask him to reveal
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  Speaker 1: his power through it. Because you are not crushed, you
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: are not abandoned, you are not destroyed. You are a
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: vessel of God's glory, and even in the breaking, his
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: light is shining through you. The fourth most important lesson
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: we learn from Second Corinthians is that we walk by faith,
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: not by sight. We just learned that we are jars
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: of clay, fragile and imperfect, yet carrying God's glory within us.
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: We are pressed but not crushed, struck down but not destroyed.
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  Speaker 1: But when life gets hard, when circumstances do not make sense,
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: when everything around us feels unstable, how do we keep going?
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: Paul gives us the answer in Second Corinthians five seven,
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  Speaker 1: where he writes, for we walk by faith, not by sight.
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: At first glance, this verse might seem simple, but it
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: carries one of the most profound truths in the Christian life. Because,
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: let's be honest, walking by faith is not easy. It
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: is easy to trust God when life is good, when
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: prayers are answered, when things are falling into place. But
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: what about when everything feels uncertain. What about when you
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: pray for healing and the sickness gets worse. What about
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: when you step out in faith and instead of doors opening,
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: they slam shut. What about when you're doing everything right
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: yet life keeps hitting you with storms. In those moments,
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: everything in us wants to walk by sight, to trust
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: what we can see, feel and understand. But Paul is
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: telling us that is not how faith works. Faith is
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: choosing to trust God even when nothing makes sense. Faith
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: is believing that God's promises are true even when circumstances
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: say otherwise. Faith is walking forward when you cannot see
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  Speaker 1: the next step, because you know that God is guiding you.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: And the Bible is filled with people who had to
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: walk this kind of faith journey. Think about Abraham. God
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: told him to leave everything behind, his home, his family,
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: his security, and go to a land he had never
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: seen before. But God did not give him a map.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: He did not tell him the details. He simply said,
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: go and I will show you. And Abraham had to
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: walk by faith, not by sight. Think about Moses. God
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: told him to lead Israel out of Egypt, but he
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: did not tell him about the Red Sea standing in
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  Speaker 1: the way. He did not explain how he would split
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: the waters. He just told Moses to move forward, and
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: in the moment when everything looked impossible, Moses had to
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: choose faith over fear. Think about Peter. Jesus told him
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: to step out of the boat and walk on water.
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: But walking on water defies logic, defies sight, defies human understanding.
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  Speaker 1: The moment Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, he walked
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: in the impossible, but the moment he focused on the
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: wind and the waves, he started sinking. And this is
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  Speaker 1: where many of us struggle. We start out in faith,
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  Speaker 1: we believe God is leading us. We take the first step,
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: but then we look at our circumstances. We see the obstacles,
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  Speaker 1: we feel the weight of uncertainty, and we start sinking
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: in fear. So let me ask you, where is God
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: asking you to walk by faith right now? Maybe you
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: are in a season where God is calling you to
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: trust Him for provision, but all you can see are
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: the unpaid bills. Maybe you are believing for a miracle,
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: but all you see are obstacles. Maybe you are stepping
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: into something new, uncomfortable and unknown, and fear is telling
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: you to turn back. But here is what Paul is
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: reminding us. Faith is not about what you see. It
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: is about who you trust. This Israelite saw giants in
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: the Promised Land, but Caleb and Joshua saw God's power
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: to overcome them. Elijah saw a sky with no reign
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: for three years, but he believed God's promise of a
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: storm coming. Jesus saw a cross, suffering and death, but
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: he also saw the resurrection on the other side. Because
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: faith does not deny reality, faith sees beyond it. Faith says, yes,
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: the situation looks impossible but my God is greater. Faith says, yes,
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: I feel weak, but His power is made perfect in
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: my weakness. Faith says, yes, I do not understand this season,
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: but I trust the one who is leading me. And
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: this is where walking by faith changes everything. It means
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: trusting in God's word more than your emotions. It means
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: following his voice even when the path is unclear. It
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: means holding on to his promises even when everything around
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: you says the opposite. Because the truth is sight can
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: deceive us. Sight says there is no way out. Faith
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: says God will make a way. Sight says the battle
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: is too big. Faith says the battle belongs to the Lord.
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: Sight says I'm too broken, too weak, too unqualified. Faith
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: says God's grace is sufficient for me. So to day,
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: ask yourself, are you walking by faith or are you
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: walking by sight? Are you letting your circumstances dictate your faith?
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: Or are you letting your faith dictate how you see
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: your circumstances? Because Paul is reminding us, real faith is
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: not about waiting until everything makes sense. It is about
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: trusting God even when it doesn't. Maybe to day God
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: is calling you to step out in faith, to trust
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: him for the next chapter, even though you cannot see
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: the full story, to believe in his promise, even when
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: reality seems to say otherwise. So take that step, walk forward,
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: even if you do not know what comes next, because
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: when you walk by faith and not by sight, you
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: will see God do things that defy logic, break barriers,
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: and prove that He is faithful beyond what you can imagine.
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: The fifth most important lesson we learn from Second Corinthians
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: is that we are ambassadors for Christ. We just talked
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: about how we are called to walk by faith, not
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: by sight, trusting in God's promises even when circumstances seem uncertain.
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: But that raises another question. If we truly live by faith,
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: what does that look like to the world around us?
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: How do our lives reflect the message of Jesus. Paul
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: answers this in Second Corinthians five twenty, where he writes,
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: we are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: his appeal through us. We implore you, on Christ's bath
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: half be reconciled to God. This verse carries a powerful truth.
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: If you are a believer, you are not just someone
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: who follows Jesus. You are his representative on earth. Think
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: about that for a moment. An ambassador is someone who
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: represents their home country in a foreign land. They do
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: not speak for themselves, They do not represent their own opinions.
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: Everything they say and do reflects the leader who scent them.
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: And Paul is telling us that is exactly who we
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: are as Christians. We are not just people who go
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: to church. We are not just individuals trying to live
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: good lives. We are Heaven's representatives on earth and that
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: should change everything about the way we live, because, whether
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: we realize it or not, people are watching us. They
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: watch how we react when life gets hard. They watch
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: how we treat those who hurt us. They watch how
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: we handle stress, disappointment, and conflict. They watch whether our
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: actions match what we say we believe. And the truth
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: is we either draw people to Jesus or we push
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: them away. This is why Paul was so passionate about
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: reminding the Corinthians of their role. The church in corinth
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: had spiritual gifts, but they also had division, immorality, and selfishness.
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: They were called to represent Christ, but their actions were
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: often reflecting the world instead, and sadly this still happens
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: to day. How many people have walked away from faith
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: not because of Jesus, but because of how they were
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: treated by Christians. How many people have been turned off
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: by the Gospel, not because of what the Bible says,
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: but because of how believers have acted. How many times
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: have we misrepresented Jesus by our attitudes, our words, or
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: our lack of love. Because the truth is, the world
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: will not read the but they will read your life.
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: The way we treat others tells them what kind of
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: God we serve. If we are harsh and judgmental, they
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: will believe that God is harsh and judgmental. If we
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: are hypocritical, they will believe that Christianity is fake. If
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: we claim to love Jesus but live like the world,
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: they will see no reason to follow him. But the
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: opposite is also true. If we love even when it
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: is hard, they will see the love of Christ. If
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: we forgive even when we have been wronged, they will
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: see the power of grace. If we stand firm in
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: faith even when life is difficult, they will see that
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: Jesus is real. This is what it means to be
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: an ambassador. It means that everywhere you go, every interaction
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: you have every conversation you engage in, you are representing
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: the Kingdom of God. So let me ask you what
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: message is your life sending. Owing people closer to Jesus
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: or making them question if He is worth following. Are
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: you reflecting the love of Christ or just blending in
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: with the world. Are you living in a way that
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: makes people want to know God or are your actions
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: pushing them away. Jesus made this clear in Matthew five
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: sixteen when he said, let your light shine before others,
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: that they may see your good deeds and glorify your
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: Father in heaven. He did not say show off your knowledge.
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: He did not say prove that you are right. He
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: did not say win every argument, And he said let
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: them see your light. Because people may not understand theology,
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: but they will understand love. They may not be drawn
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: to church, but they will be drawn to kindness. They
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: may not want to hear a sermon, but they will
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: notice a life that reflects Jesus. So today ask yourself,
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: how are you representing Christ? Are you a reflection of
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: his grace or do you let pride and self righteousness
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: get in the way. Are you a vessel of his
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: love or do you only love people when it is convenient.
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: Are you living with integrity knowing that your life is
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: a testimony to the God you serve? Because when we
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: embrace our role as ambassadors, it changes everything. It changes
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: how we handle conflict because we know our words carry
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: the weight of Christ's name. It changes how we face
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: hardship because we know that our response is a witness
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: to others. It changes how we interact with those who
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: do not believe, because we are showing them what Jesus
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: is really like. This is not about perfection, It is
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: about authenticity. The world does not need more Christians who
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: just know the right words. It needs believers who live
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: in a way that reflects the truth of who Jesus is.
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: So to day, remember who you are and who you represent.
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: You are not just a person trying to live a
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: good life. You are not just some one with Christian beliefs.
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: You are an ambassador of the King. And everywhere you go,
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: everything you do, everything you say, you are making Him known.
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: The sixth most important lesson we learn from Second Corinthians
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: is that we should not be unequally yoked. We just
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: talked about how we are ambassadors for Christ, called to
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: represent him in every aspect of our lives. But how
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: can we effectively represent Christ if we are deeply tied
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: to people, relationships, and influences that pull us in the
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: opposite direction. Paul warns us about this in Second Corinthians
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: six fourteen, where he writes, do not be unequally yoked
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: with unbelievers, For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: what fellowship has light with darkness? At first glance, this
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: might sound harsh, but Paul is not telling us to
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: avoid unbelievers altogether. After all, how can we be ambassadors
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: for Christ if we completely isolate ourselves from the world.
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: What he is saying is something much deeper. Be careful
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: who you align yourself with, because the people closest to
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: you will shape your faith. To fully understand this, we
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: need to look at what it means to be yoked.
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: In Biblical times, a yoke was a wooden beam that
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: connected two oxen together to plow a field. The yoke
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: ensured that the animals walked in the same direction at
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: the same pace, with the same goal. But if one
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: ox was strong and the other was weak, or if
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: one wanted to go left while the other wanted to
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: go right, the yoke became a burden. Instead of working together,
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: they would struggle against each other. And this is exactly
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: what happens when we tie ourselves to people who do
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: not share our faith, values, or spiritual direction. Think about it.
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: How can you move forward in your faith when the
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: person closest to you is pulling in the opposite direction.
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: This is why Paul's warning applies to every major relationship
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: in our lives. If you marry someone who does not
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: share your faith, how will you build a christ centered home.
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: If your closest friends do not value Godliness, how will
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: they encourage you to grow in righteousness. If your business
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: partnerships are built on worldly ethics, how will you honor
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: God in your work. This is not about judging others.
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: It is about protecting your own walk with God. Because
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: the truth is relationships shape us more than we realize.
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: Think about Solomon, one of the wisest men in the Bible.
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: He started off devoted to God, but because he married
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: foreign wives who worshiped idols, his heart was slowly led astray.
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: First Kings eleven four. He did not wake up one
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: day and decide to abandon God. It happened gradually as
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: he allowed himself to be yoked to people who pulled
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: him in the wrong direction. Think about Samson, who was
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: called to be set apart for God, yet kept getting
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: entangled with women who did not share his faith. His
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: relationship with Delilah was not just a bad romantic choice,
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: It was a spiritual compromise that ultimately led to his
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: downfall Judges sixteen, fifteen twenty one. Think about the Israelites
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: in the Old Testament. Every time they formed alliances with
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: pagan nations, every time they married people who did not
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: worship God, they slowly drifted from their faith. It was
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: never an instant decision. It was always a gradual fading away.
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: And the same thing happens today. Many believers think I
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: can handle it. I will be the one to influence them.
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: Many enter relationships thinking I will bring them to church
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: and they will change. Many convince themselves as long as
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: they respect my faith, it does not really matter. But
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: the problem is influence works both ways. It is rare
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: for someone to pull another person up to their level.
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: More often than not, the one with lower standards pulls
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: the other person down. If you are constantly surrounded by
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: people who do not value faith, prayer, or holiness, you
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: will start to compromise little by little. If the people
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: closest to you do not encourage your spiritual growth, you
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: will eventually stop growing. If you stay in relationships where
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: God is not the foundation, you will slowly find yourself
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: building on shaky ground. This is why Paul says what
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: fellowship has light with darkness Tewod Corinthians six fourteen, because
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: the truth is light and darkness cannot exist in the
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: same place. If you turn on a light, darkness disappears.
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: If you allow darkness to grow, it dims the light,
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: but they cannot fully coexist. So what does this mean
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: for us? Does it mean we should avoid every unbeliever
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: number Jesus himself spend time with sinners, tax collectors, and outcasts.
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: But there is a difference between ministering to the world
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: and being yoked to the world. Being yoked means you
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: are tied to someone in a way that affects your direction,
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: your values, and your purpose. And if that person is
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: not walking toward Christ, they will slowly pull you away
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: from him. So today, take a moment to evaluate your
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: closest relationships. Are your friendships helping you grow spiritually or
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: are they pulling you toward compromise. Is your dating or
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: marriage relationship built on Christ or are you constantly having
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: to choose between your faith and pleasing your partner? Are
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: your business partnerships aligned with God's principles or do they
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: push you toward ethical shortcuts? Because who you yoke yourself
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: to will determine where you go. If you want to
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: grow closer to God, you need people who will walk
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: with you, encourage you, and challenge you in faith. If
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: you want to stay strong in your beliefs, you need
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: friends who will pray with you, hold you accountable, and
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: push you toward righteousness. If you want to live a
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: life that honors God, you need relationships that align with
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: His will, not just your desires. So today ask yourself
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: who are you yoked to? Are they leading you closer
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: to Christ or are they making you question your convictions?
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: Are they strengthening your faith or are they slowly weakening it?
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: Are they pushing you to be the person God has
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: called you to be? Or are they keeping you tied
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: to old habits and mindsets. Because when you choose the
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: right relationships, when you surround yourself with people who love
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: Jesus as much as you do. When you walk alongside
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: those who share your faith, you will find strength, encouragement,
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: and a deeper relationship with God than you ever imagined.
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: The seventh most important lesson we learn from Second Corinthians
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: is that God's grace is sufficient. We just talked about
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: how the people we align ourselves with shape our spiritual walk,
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: how being unequally yoked can slowly pull us away from
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: God's best. But what happens when the battle is not
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: external but internal? What happens when the greatest struggle is
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: not the people around us, but the weaknesses within us.
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: Paul gives us the answer in Second Corinthians twelve nine
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: to ten, where he writes, but he said to me,
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: For when I am weak, then I am strong. This
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: is one of the most counterintuitive truths in the entire Bible,
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: because the world teaches us to hide our weaknesses to
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: cover up our flaws, to project an image of strength, confidence,
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: and self sufficiency. But Paul is saying the exact opposite.
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: He is saying, I boast in my weakness. He is saying,
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: I do not run from my struggles. I embrace them.
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: And why because our weakness is the very place where
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: God's power is revealed. Think about that for a moment.
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: What if the things you hate most about yourself, the
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: areas where you feel broken, unqualified, or not good enough,
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: are actually the places where God wants to show his
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: greatest power. What if the very thing you think disqualifies
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: you is actually the thing God wants to use for
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: his glory. Paul understood this better than any one. In
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: this passage, he talks about his thorn in the flesh,
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: a mysterious struggle that he does not fully explain. Some
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: believe it was a physical affliction, Some think it was
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: spiritual warfare. Others believe it was a constant struggle with
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: opposition or emotional pain. Whatever it was, it was something
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: that tormented him, something that made him feel weak, something
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: he desperately wanted God to remove. And Paul did what
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: we all do. He prayed for it to go away,
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: not once, not twice, three times. He begged God to
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: take it from him, but God did not remove it. Instead,
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: he gave Paul a greater revelation, My grace is sufficient
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: In other words, Paul, you think you need this problem
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: to disappear, But what you really need is to see
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: that My grace is enough. And that is a truth
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: that we all need to embrace because we all have thorns.
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: Maybe yours is a battle with anxiety, depression, or fear.
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: May be yours is a past mistake that still haunts you.
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: Maybe yours is a struggle with temptation that you keep fighting.
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: Maybe yours is a physical limitation, an illness, or a
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: pain that will not go away. And like Paul, maybe
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: you have prayed God, take this away. God fix this? God?
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: Why am I still dealing with this? But what if
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: God's answer is not to remove the struggle, but to
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: give you the grace to endure it. What if instead
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: of changing your situation, God wants to change your perspective.
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: Because here is what Paul discovered. Grace is not just
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: God's forgiveness. Grace is His power at work in our weakness.
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: Grace is what gives you the strength to keep going
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: when you feel like quitting. Grace is what gives you
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: peace in the middle of the storm. Grace is what
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: allows you to say, I may be weak, but I'm
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: not defeated. I may struggle, but I'm not abandoned. I
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: may not have it altogether, but His power is at
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: work in me. And this is why Paul said I
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: delight in weaknesses, in hardships, in persecutions, not because he
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: enjoyed suffering, but because he realized every time he felt weak,
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: it was an opportunity to rely on God's strength. And
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: the same is true for you. If you never felt weak,
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: you would never know God as your strength. If you
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: never felt lost, you would never know Him as your guide.
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: If you never faced battles, you would never see Him
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: as your victory. This is the paradox of the Gospel.
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: When we embrace our weakness, we experience His power. But
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: too often we try to handle everything on our own.
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: We think I need to be strong. We tell ourselves
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: I cannot let anyone see my struggles. We believe if
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: I were a better Christian, I would not feel this way.
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: But Paul is showing us. God is not asking you
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: to be strong on your own. He is asking you
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: to surrender. So let me ask you, what is your thorn?
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: What is the thing in your life that you keep
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: asking God to remove, but He is asking you to
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: trust his grace instead. Maybe it is a season of
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: waiting and God is teaching you that his grace is
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: enough even in uncertainty. Maybe it is a battle with
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: sin and God is reminding you that his grace is
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: greater than your failure. Maybe it is a painful situation
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: you do not understand, and God is showing you that
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: his grace is holding you together even when life feels
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: like it is falling apart. Because here is the truth.
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: You do not need to have it all together. You
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: do not need to be strong all the time. You
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: do not need to pretend that you are okay when
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: you are not. You simply need to let God's grace
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: be enough. And when you do, you will experience a
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: strength that is not your own, a power that does
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: not come from you, a peace that does not depend
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: on your circumstances. Because when you are weak, that is
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: when you are actually the strongest. The eighth most important
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: lesson we learn from Second Corinthians is that the weapons
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: of our warfare are not carnal. We just talked about
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: how God's grace is sufficient, how his power is made
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: perfect in our way weakness, and how we do not
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: have to rely on our own strength. But this brings
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: us to an even deeper reality. There is a battle
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: happening that we cannot see, and it cannot be won
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: with human effort. Paul addresses this in Second Corinthians ten
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: three to five, where he writes, for though we live
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: in the flesh, we do not wage war according to
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: the flesh. The weapons we fight with are not the
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: This verse reveals something critical about the Christian life. We
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: are in a war, and whether we realize it or not,
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: we are constantly fighting battles that go beyond what we
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: see with our physical eyes. But here is the problem.
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: Many believers are fighting spiritual battles with natural weapons. They
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: are trying to win against temptation with sheer will power.
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: They are trying to overcome fear with positive thinking. They
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: are trying to fight anxiety, addiction, and sin with self
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: help strategies. And when those things do not work, they
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: wonder why they keep falling back into the same cycles,
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: why they feel exhausted, why they are constantly struggling to
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: live in victory. It is because the battle is not physical,
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: it is spiritual. Paul is making it clear, you cannot
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: fight a spiritual enemy with human weapons. If your battle
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: is in the mind, you cannot win with logic alone.
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: You need the truth of God's word. If your battle
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: is with temptation, you cannot win with self discipline alone.
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: You need the power of the Holy Spirit. If your
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: battle is with fear and anxiety, you cannot win with distractions.
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: You need the peace that comes from prayer. Because this
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: war is not against flesh and blood. Paul expands on
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: this in Ephesians six twelve, where he says, for we
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against rulers,
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: against authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: And here is where many people get it wrong. They
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: think their battle is against other people, their boss, their spouse,
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: their family, their enemies. They think their battle is against circumstances,
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: a financial problem, a sickness, a difficult situation. They think
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: their battle is against themselves, their weaknesses, their past, their struggles.
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: But Paul is saying, your real battle is spiritual. That
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: means you do not need a carnal weapon, You need
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: a spiritual one. And Paul tells us exactly what those
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: weapons are. First, the word of God. When Jesus was
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: tempted in the wilderness, he did not argue with the devil.
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: He did not try to justify himself, He did not
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: rely on emotions. He fought back with the word. Every
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: time Satan tried to deceive him, Jesus responded with it
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: is written. This is why knowing scripture is so important,
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: because when the enemy tells you you are not good enough,
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: you can respond. It is written, God's grace is sufficient
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: for me. When fear tells you you are alone, you
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: can respond. It is written. God will never leave me
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: nor forsake me. When temptation whispers, just give in. You
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: can respond. It is written. Resist the devil, and he
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: will flee. The Word of God is not just information,
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: it is a weapon. Second, prayer. Many battles are lost
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: because people do not pray. They try everything, therapy, ad vice,
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: self improvement, but they forget to go to God in prayer.
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: Prayer is not just a religious ritual. It is your
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: direct communication with the one who has already won the battle.
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: When you pray, you invite God's power into your situation.
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: When you pray, you activate the authority Christ has given you.
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: When you pray, you shift the battle from your hands
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: to God's hands. This is why Jesus told his disciples
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: in Mark nine twenty nine that some battles only come
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: out by prayer and fasting. There are struggles in your
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: life right now that will not break until you start praying. Third, faith,
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: Paul says in Ephesians six sixteen, take up the shield
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: arrows of the evil one. Faith is what protects you
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: when doubts, fears, and attacks come. Faith is what keeps
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: you standing when life tries to knock you down. Faith
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: is what allows you to believe that even in the battle,
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: God is still in control. Because the truth is the
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: war has already been won. Jesus defeated the enemy at
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: the Cross. He disarmed the powers of darkness, stripped them
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: of their authority, and declared victory. But here is the challenge.
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: Will you fight from that victory or will you live
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: in defeat? Will you take up your spiritual weapons or
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: will you keep trying to battle with your own strength?
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: Because the enemy knows if he can keep you fighting
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: with the wrong weapons, he can keep you losing the battle.
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: So to day, ask yourself, what battles am I fighting
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: and what weapons am I using? If you are struggling
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: with temptation, are you using the word of God to
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: fight back or are you just trying to resist on
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: your own. If you are battling fear, are you using
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: prayer to cover yourself or are you just hoping the
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: fear will go away? If you feel overwhelmed, are you
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: walking in faith or are you letting doubt control you?
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: Because Paul has given us the key, we do not
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: fight with the weapons of the world. We fight with
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: divine power. And when you take up those weapons, when
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: you stand firm in God's truth, when you stop fighting
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: with human strength and start fighting with spiritual authority. You
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: will see victories you never thought possible. The ninth most
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: important lesson we learn from Second Corinthians is that generosity
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: reflects God's heart. We just talked about how spiritual battles
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: are fought with spiritual weapons, how we must use prayer, faith,
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: and the word of God to overcome the attacks of
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: the enemy. But there is another battle that many believers face,
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: the battle of trust, especially when it comes to giving.
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: Paul writes in Second Corinthians nine six through seven, whoever
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: never sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give
• 54:10
  Speaker 1: what you have decided in your heart to give, not
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: At first glance, this verse might seem like it is
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: just about money, but it is about so much more.
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: Generosity is not just about finances. It is about faith, trust,
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: and the condition of your heart. Because here is the truth.
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: What you do with what you have reveals what you
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: truly believe about God. If you struggle to give, whether
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: it is money, time, kindness, or forgiveness, it often comes
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: from a place of fear, fear that there will not
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: be enough, fear that you will be left empty, fear
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: that if you give too much, you will lack what
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: you need. But Paul is teaching her something different. When
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: you give with an open heart, you are reflecting the
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: very nature of God. Because God is the ultimate giver.
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: He gave his son so we could be saved. He
• 55:15
  Speaker 1: gives grace even when we do not deserve it. He
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: gives mercy even when we have failed. He gives provision
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: even when we cannot see where it is coming from.
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: And when we live generously, we are walking in his image.
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: Think about the story of the widow in Zariphath in
• 55:32
  Speaker 1: First King seventeen. She only had a handful of flour
• 55:37
  Speaker 1: and a little oil. A famine had devastated the land,
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: and she was preparing a final meal for herself and
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: her son before they died. Then the prophet Elijah shows
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: up and asked her to make him a small cake first.
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: At that moment, she had a choice to hold on
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: to what little she had, or to trust that if
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: she gave, God would provide. She chose faith, and what happened.
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: Her jar of flower never ran out, her oil never
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: ran dry. She and her son had more than enough
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: to survive. This is the principle that Paul is talking
• 56:12
  Speaker 1: about in Second Corinthians nine. When you give with trust,
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: you position yourself for God's supernatural provision. Because the truth is,
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: generosity is never about how much you have, It is
• 56:26
  Speaker 1: about how much you trust. Think about the boy with
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: the five loaves and two fish in John six. Thousands
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: of people were hungry and all he had was a
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: small meal. It was not enough to feed everyone, and
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: logically he could have thought, this is all I have.
• 56:43
  Speaker 1: I need to keep it for myself, But instead he
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: gave it to Jesus, and Jesus multiplied it. The boy
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: gave what little he had, and in return thousands were
• 56:54
  Speaker 1: fed with leftovers. This is the heart of generosity. It
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: is not just about giving when you have plenty. It
• 57:02
  Speaker 1: is about giving when you have little, believing that God
• 57:05
  Speaker 1: is your source. And this applies to more than just money.
• 57:10
  Speaker 1: Some people struggle to be generous with love because they
• 57:13
  Speaker 1: have been hurt before. Some struggle to be generous with
• 57:17
  Speaker 1: forgiveness because they do not want to be taken advantage of.
• 57:21
  Speaker 1: Some struggle to be generous with their time because they
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: feel stretched too thin. But what if generosity is not
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: about what you have, but about what God can do
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: through what you give. Paul says, whoever sows sparingly will
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will reap generously. If
• 57:43
  Speaker 1: you sow love, you will reap love. If you sow kindness,
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: you will reap kindness. If you so forgiveness, you will
• 57:50
  Speaker 1: reap freedom. If you so trust in God, you will
• 57:53
  Speaker 1: reap provision beyond what you expected. But Paul adds something important.
• 57:58
  Speaker 1: God loves a cheerful giver. This means that giving should
• 58:02
  Speaker 1: not be done reluctantly or out of obligation. God does
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: not bless force generosity. He blesses joyful generosity. Think about
• 58:12
  Speaker 1: how a parent loves to give to their children. When
• 58:16
  Speaker 1: a child receives a gift with excitement and joy, it
• 58:19
  Speaker 1: brings the parent delight. But if the child takes the
• 58:23
  Speaker 1: gift and complains, that's all, why didn't you give me more?
• 58:28
  Speaker 1: The joy is lost. The same is true with God.
• 58:33
  Speaker 1: He is not just looking at what we give, He
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: is looking at how we give it. So let me
• 58:39
  Speaker 1: ask you, how is your heart when it comes to generosity?
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: Do you give only when it is easy. Or do
• 58:45
  Speaker 1: you give even when it requires faith? Do you hold
• 58:49
  Speaker 1: on to what you have in fear or do you
• 58:51
  Speaker 1: trust that God is your provider? Do you give out
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: of obligation or do you give with joy? Because the
• 58:57
  Speaker 1: way you give is a reflection of how much you
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: trust God. And here is the truth. You cannot outgive God.
• 59:05
  Speaker 1: Every time you trust him, he provides. Every time you
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: sow into others, he multiplies. Every time you step out
• 59:12
  Speaker 1: in generosity, you position yourself for blessing. So to day,
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: ask yourself, where is God calling me to be generous?
• 59:21
  Speaker 1: Maybe it is in giving financially, trusting that God will provide.
• 59:26
  Speaker 1: Maybe it is in forgiving someone, releasing the bitterness that
• 59:29
  Speaker 1: has been holding you back. Maybe it is in giving
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: your time to serve, knowing that what you do for
• 59:36
  Speaker 1: others does not go unnoticed by God. Because when you
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: live with a generous heart, you do more than just
• 59:44
  Speaker 1: bless others. You reflect the very heart of God himself.
• 59:49
  Speaker 1: The tenth most important lesson we learn from Second Corinthians
• 59:54
  Speaker 1: is that we must examine ourselves to see if we
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: are truly in the faith. We just talked about generosity.
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 1: How giving is not just about money, but about trust.
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 1: How a generous heart reflects the very nature of God.
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: But this brings us to a deeper question. What does
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: it mean to truly walk in faith? How do we
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: know if we are genuinely living for Christ or just
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: going through the motions. Paul answers this in Tewod Corinthians
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 1: thirteen p. Five, where he writes, examine yourselves to see
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 1: whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: not realize that Christ Jesus is in you, unless, of
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: course you fail the test. This is a powerful challenge
• 1:00:41
  Speaker 1: because many people assume they are in the faith simply
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 1: because they go to church, read the Bible occasionally, or
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 1: pray when they need something. But Paul is saying, do
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 1: not just assume. Examine, test yourself, look at your life
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 1: and ask am I truly following Christ? Or am I
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 1: just performing religion? This is not about doubting salvation. It
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 1: is about making sure that our faith is real, active
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 1: and alive. Because the truth is, it is possible to
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 1: think you are following Jesus when in reality your heart
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 1: is far from him. Jesus himself warned about this in
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 1: Matthew seven twenty one to twenty three, where he said,
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: not everyone who says to me, Lord Lord, will enter
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does
• 1:01:32
  Speaker 1: the will of my Father, who is in heaven. Many
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 1: will say to me on that day, Lord Lord, did
• 1:01:39
  Speaker 1: we not prophesy in your name, and in your name
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 1: drive out demons, and in your name perform many miracles?
• 1:01:47
  Speaker 1: Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you.
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: Away from me, you evil doers. This is one of
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 1: the most sobering passages in scripture. It shows that it
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 1: is possible to do religious things, pray, preach, even perform miracles,
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 1: yet still not truly know Jesus. So Paul is telling us,
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 1: examine yourself, test your faith, make sure it is real.
• 1:02:16
  Speaker 1: But how do we do that? Look at your heart.
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: Many people want Jesus as savior, they want forgiveness, grace
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 1: and blessings, but they do not want Jesus as Lord.
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 1: They do not want him to have full authority over
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 1: their lives. But real faith is not just believing in Jesus,
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 1: it is surrendering to him, Paul says in Romans ten nine.
• 1:02:40
  Speaker 1: If you declare with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
• 1:02:47
  Speaker 1: you will be saved. The key phrase is Jesus is Lord,
• 1:02:51
  Speaker 1: not just someone we call on when we need help,
• 1:02:54
  Speaker 1: but the one we follow, obey and trust with everything.
• 1:02:58
  Speaker 1: Ask yourself, is Jesus truly Lord of my life? Or
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 1: do I just believe in Him when it is convenient?
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 1: Look at your actions, Paul says in Second Corinthians five seventeen.
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 1: If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
• 1:03:14
  Speaker 1: The old has passed away. Behold the new has come true.
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 1: Faith produces change. If you say you're a Christian, but
• 1:03:23
  Speaker 1: there's no difference between your life now and your life
• 1:03:26
  Speaker 1: before Christ, something is wrong. Are you growing in love, patience,
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 1: and holiness? Are you fighting sin or are you comfortable
• 1:03:34
  Speaker 1: with it? Are you becoming more like Jesus? Or are
• 1:03:38
  Speaker 1: you still shaped by the world. This does not mean perfection,
• 1:03:43
  Speaker 1: but it does mean transformation. James two seventeen says, faith
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 1: by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
• 1:03:55
  Speaker 1: A real relationship with Jesus will always lead to visible fruit.
• 1:03:59
  Speaker 1: Look but your desires. One of the greatest tests of
• 1:04:02
  Speaker 1: true faith is desire. Do you desire to know God more?
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 1: Do you crave his word or do you find it boring?
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 1: Do you enjoy his presence? Or do you only pray
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 1: when life gets hard? Jesus said in John ten twenty seven,
• 1:04:18
  Speaker 1: My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 1: they follow me. If you never spend time with God,
• 1:04:26
  Speaker 1: never seek him, never desire to grow, then it is
• 1:04:30
  Speaker 1: time to examine your heart. Because real faith is not
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: just knowledge, It is a relationship. Look at your repentance.
• 1:04:39
  Speaker 1: A true believer does not live in wilful rebellion. Yes
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 1: we all struggle, yes we all fall short, but there
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 1: is a difference between fighting sin and making peace with sin.
• 1:04:52
  Speaker 1: John writes in First John threty nine. No one who
• 1:04:55
  Speaker 1: is born of God will continue to sin because God
• 1:04:58
  Speaker 1: seed remains in them. They cannot go on sinning because
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 1: they have been born of God. This does not mean
• 1:05:05
  Speaker 1: we will never sin, but it does mean that when
• 1:05:08
  Speaker 1: we do, we will feel conviction. We will repent, we
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 1: will fight against it. Ask yourself, am I truly turning
• 1:05:15
  Speaker 1: away from sin? Or am I excusing it? Look at
• 1:05:20
  Speaker 1: your love. One of the greatest marks of a true
• 1:05:22
  Speaker 1: believer is love, Jesus said in John thirteen thirty five.
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 1: By this, every one will know that you are my disciples.
• 1:05:31
  Speaker 1: If you love one another. If your faith is real,
• 1:05:35
  Speaker 1: it will show up in how you treat people. Do
• 1:05:37
  Speaker 1: you love those who are hard to love? Do you
• 1:05:40
  Speaker 1: forgive or do you hold grudges? Do you serve others?
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 1: Or is your faith just about your needs? First John
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 1: four twenty says whoever does not love their brother and
• 1:05:52
  Speaker 1: sister whom they have seen cannot love God whom they
• 1:05:56
  Speaker 1: have not seen. Paul is not telling us live in fear.
• 1:06:01
  Speaker 1: He is telling us to live in awareness. It is
• 1:06:04
  Speaker 1: possible to go to church but not be changed. It
• 1:06:09
  Speaker 1: is possible to know the Bible but not know Jesus.
• 1:06:14
  Speaker 1: It is possible to say you follow Christ but still
• 1:06:18
  Speaker 1: live for yourself. So to day, take a moment and
• 1:06:22
  Speaker 1: examine yourself. Is your faith real or is it just routine?
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 1: Do you truly know Jesus or do you just know
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 1: about him? Are you growing or have you become stagnant?
• 1:06:34
  Speaker 1: Because the good news is if you realize you are
• 1:06:37
  Speaker 1: far from God, you can come back to day, repent,
• 1:06:41
  Speaker 1: seek him, surrender fully. Because Jesus is not looking for religion,
• 1:06:46
  Speaker 1: he is looking for hearts that are truly his. The
• 1:06:50
  Speaker 1: final and most important challenge we face is this Are
• 1:06:54
  Speaker 1: we trusting in our own strength or have we fully
• 1:06:57
  Speaker 1: surrendered to God's power. We have seen through Paul's words
• 1:07:01
  Speaker 1: in Second Corinthians that the Christian life is not about
• 1:07:04
  Speaker 1: presenting ourselves as strong, perfect, or self sufficient. It is
• 1:07:10
  Speaker 1: about embracing our weakness so that God's strength can be
• 1:07:14
  Speaker 1: revealed in us. We just talked about the importance of
• 1:07:18
  Speaker 1: examining ourselves to make sure our faith is real, not
• 1:07:22
  Speaker 1: just something we perform, but something we truly live out.
• 1:07:27
  Speaker 1: But once we examine our hearts and see our shortcomings,
• 1:07:31
  Speaker 1: our struggles, our weaknesses, what do we do next? Do
• 1:07:36
  Speaker 1: we hide them, do we try to fix them on
• 1:07:38
  Speaker 1: our own, or do we surrender them to God, trusting
• 1:07:42
  Speaker 1: that he can use even our brokenness for his glory.
• 1:07:47
  Speaker 1: Paul's journey was filled with suffering. He was beaten, imprisoned, betrayed,
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 1: and constantly under attack, and yet he did not boast
• 1:07:58
  Speaker 1: in his accomplishments. He did not take pride in his
• 1:08:02
  Speaker 1: own strength, he said in Tewod Corinthius twelve nine to ten.
• 1:08:05
  Speaker 1: But he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you,
• 1:08:09
  Speaker 1: for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I
• 1:08:13
  Speaker 1: will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so
• 1:08:16
  Speaker 1: that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why,
• 1:08:20
  Speaker 1: for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships,
• 1:08:23
  Speaker 1: in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak than
• 1:08:27
  Speaker 1: I am strong. This is not just poetic language. It
• 1:08:32
  Speaker 1: is a reality that Paul lived. He understood something that
• 1:08:36
  Speaker 1: many of us struggled to grasp. God is not asking
• 1:08:39
  Speaker 1: you to be strong on your own. He is asking
• 1:08:42
  Speaker 1: you to surrender so that His strength can be revealed
• 1:08:45
  Speaker 1: in you. Think about Moses. He was called to lead
• 1:08:49
  Speaker 1: an entire nation out of slavery, yet he argued with God,
• 1:08:53
  Speaker 1: saying he was not a good speaker. He saw his
• 1:08:56
  Speaker 1: weakness as a limitation, but God saw it as an
• 1:09:00
  Speaker 1: opportunity to reveal his power. And what happened Through Moses.
• 1:09:05
  Speaker 1: God performed miracles, parted the Red Sea, and led his
• 1:09:08
  Speaker 1: people to freedom. Think about Gideon. He was the least
• 1:09:11
  Speaker 1: in his family, hiding from his enemies when God called
• 1:09:15
  Speaker 1: him a mighty warrior. Gideon saw himself as weak, but
• 1:09:20
  Speaker 1: God saw him as someone he could use, and through Gideon,
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 1: God delivered Israel from their oppressors. Think about Peter. He
• 1:09:30
  Speaker 1: was impulsive, he denied Jesus three times, and he was
• 1:09:34
  Speaker 1: far from perfect. Yet after he surrendered to Christ, God
• 1:09:39
  Speaker 1: used him to preach at Pentecost, where thousands came to
• 1:09:42
  Speaker 1: faith in one day. In every one of these stories,
• 1:09:46
  Speaker 1: the pattern is the same. Weakness is not the end
• 1:09:49
  Speaker 1: of the story. It is the place where God's power
• 1:09:52
  Speaker 1: is revealed. And the same is true for you. Maybe
• 1:09:55
  Speaker 1: you feel like your past disqualifies you. Maybe you feel
• 1:09:59
  Speaker 1: like your struggles too great. Maybe you think you are
• 1:10:02
  Speaker 1: not strong enough, not good enough, not capable enough. But
• 1:10:06
  Speaker 1: here is the truth. God is not looking for strong people.
• 1:10:11
  Speaker 1: He is looking for surrendered people. Because the greatest miracles,
• 1:10:16
  Speaker 1: the greatest transformations, the greatest testimonies do not come from
• 1:10:21
  Speaker 1: people who have it all together. They come from people
• 1:10:24
  Speaker 1: who have given everything to God and allowed him to
• 1:10:27
  Speaker 1: do what only he can do. So the question remains,
• 1:10:32
  Speaker 1: have you truly surrendered? Are you still trying to fight
• 1:10:35
  Speaker 1: your battles in your own strength or have you handed
• 1:10:38
  Speaker 1: them over to God? Are you still carrying the weight
• 1:10:41
  Speaker 1: of your struggles or have you laid them at the
• 1:10:44
  Speaker 1: feet of Jesus? Are you still trying to prove your
• 1:10:47
  Speaker 1: worth or have you accepted that God's grace is enough?
• 1:10:52
  Speaker 1: Because here is the promise. If you will surrender, if
• 1:10:55
  Speaker 1: you will trust, if you will stop trying to be
• 1:10:58
  Speaker 1: strong on your own, you will see God's power move
• 1:11:02
  Speaker 1: in your life in ways you never imagined. Your pain
• 1:11:05
  Speaker 1: is not wasted, your struggles are not meaningless, Your weakness
• 1:11:09
  Speaker 1: is not something to be ashamed of. God is using it,
• 1:11:14
  Speaker 1: just like he used Paul's suffering to write letters that
• 1:11:16
  Speaker 1: are still transforming lives to day, just like he used
• 1:11:20
  Speaker 1: moses weakness to lead a nation, just like he use
• 1:11:24
  Speaker 1: Peter's failures to build his church. He is using your
• 1:11:28
  Speaker 1: story so to day, let go stop holding on to
• 1:11:31
  Speaker 1: the need to be strong and let God be strong
• 1:11:34
  Speaker 1: for you. Stop trying to fix everything yourself and let
• 1:11:37
  Speaker 1: God do what only he can do. Stop fighting with
• 1:11:40
  Speaker 1: your own strength, and start fighting with His power, because
• 1:11:44
  Speaker 1: when you do, you will discover a truth that Paul
• 1:11:47
  Speaker 1: understood so well. When you are weak, that is when
• 1:11:51
  Speaker 1: you are actually the strongest. After everything we have explored
• 1:11:55
  Speaker 1: in Second Corinthians, there is only one thing left to
• 1:11:59
  Speaker 1: do before God. In surrender. We have learned that His
• 1:12:04
  Speaker 1: power is made perfect in our weakness, that suffering is
• 1:12:08
  Speaker 1: not a sign of abandonment, but a place where His
• 1:12:12
  Speaker 1: glory shines the brightest. We have seen how Paul endured trials, persecution,
• 1:12:19
  Speaker 1: and hardship not because he was strong, but because he
• 1:12:23
  Speaker 1: had learned to rely completely on God's strength. And now,
• 1:12:27
  Speaker 1: as we close, it is time to ask ourselves, are
• 1:12:30
  Speaker 1: we ready to trust God? In every season of life?
• 1:12:34
  Speaker 1: There are moments when faith comes easily, when everything is
• 1:12:37
  Speaker 1: going well, when prayers are being answered, when joy overflows.
• 1:12:43
  Speaker 1: But then there are moments when faith is tested, when
• 1:12:46
  Speaker 1: the storm does not pass, when the healing does not
• 1:12:49
  Speaker 1: come as quickly as we hoped, when the weight of
• 1:12:52
  Speaker 1: life feels unbearable. And it is in those moments that
• 1:12:57
  Speaker 1: we must decide will we trust Him anyway? Paul understood
• 1:13:03
  Speaker 1: this deeply. In Second Corinthians one eight to nine, he writes,
• 1:13:08
  Speaker 1: we were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure,
• 1:13:13
  Speaker 1: so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt
• 1:13:17
  Speaker 1: we had received the sentence of death. But this happened
• 1:13:20
  Speaker 1: that we might not rely on ourselves, but on God,
• 1:13:23
  Speaker 1: who raises the dead. That last line changes everything. This
• 1:13:28
  Speaker 1: happened that we might not rely on ourselves, but on God.
• 1:13:33
  Speaker 1: What if the trials we are facing right now are
• 1:13:36
  Speaker 1: not meant to break us, but to draw us closer
• 1:13:39
  Speaker 1: to Him. What if the things we see as obstacles
• 1:13:42
  Speaker 1: are actually opportunities for God to reveal his strength. What
• 1:13:47
  Speaker 1: if instead of praying for the struggle to end, we
• 1:13:50
  Speaker 1: ask God to show us how to trust Him through it.
• 1:13:54
  Speaker 1: Because when we learned to rely on God instead of ourselves,
• 1:13:58
  Speaker 1: we step into a faith that is unshakable. David understood
• 1:14:03
  Speaker 1: this when he faced Goliath, not because he was the strongest,
• 1:14:07
  Speaker 1: but because he trusted in the name of the Lord.
• 1:14:10
  Speaker 1: Daniel understood this when he was thrown into the lion's den,
• 1:14:15
  Speaker 1: not because he had the power to shut their mouths,
• 1:14:18
  Speaker 1: but because he knew God would protect him. Job understood
• 1:14:22
  Speaker 1: this when he lost everything, not because he had all
• 1:14:25
  Speaker 1: the answers, but because he still declared, though he slay me, yet,
• 1:14:30
  Speaker 1: will I trust him? Job thirteen fifteen. And now it
• 1:14:34
  Speaker 1: is our turn, so let us pray. Heavenly Father, We
• 1:14:38
  Speaker 1: come before you to day, fully aware of our weakness,
• 1:14:42
  Speaker 1: but confident in your strength. We thank you that you
• 1:14:45
  Speaker 1: are not a distant God, but a God who walks
• 1:14:48
  Speaker 1: with us through every season. When we are weak. You
• 1:14:52
  Speaker 1: are strong when we are lost. You guide us. When
• 1:14:56
  Speaker 1: we feel like we cannot go on, you lift us up. Lord.
• 1:15:01
  Speaker 1: We surrender our battles to you. The struggles we cannot fix,
• 1:15:05
  Speaker 1: the burdens we cannot carry alone, the pain we do
• 1:15:08
  Speaker 1: not understand, We place them in your hands. Teach us
• 1:15:13
  Speaker 1: to trust you, not only in the moments of blessing,
• 1:15:15
  Speaker 1: but in the moments of hardship. Remind us that you
• 1:15:19
  Speaker 1: are working even when we cannot see it, that you
• 1:15:22
  Speaker 1: are faithful, even when we do not feel it. That
• 1:15:25
  Speaker 1: you are our refuge, our provider, our ever present help
• 1:15:31
  Speaker 1: in time of need. God. For those who are weary,
• 1:15:34
  Speaker 1: strengthen them. For those who are doubting, reassure them. For
• 1:15:38
  Speaker 1: those who feel like giving up, remind them that you
• 1:15:41
  Speaker 1: are not finished with their story. We ask for faith
• 1:15:44
  Speaker 1: that does not waver, for peace that surpasses understanding, and
• 1:15:49
  Speaker 1: for courage to walk forward even when the path is unclear.
• 1:15:55
  Speaker 1: May we be like Paul, who declared that no suffering,
• 1:15:59
  Speaker 1: no trial, no weakness could ever separate him from the
• 1:16:03
  Speaker 1: love of Christ. May we be like Jesus, who, even
• 1:16:07
  Speaker 1: in his greatest moment of agony, prayed not my will,
• 1:16:12
  Speaker 1: but yours be done. And Lord, we pray that this
• 1:16:16
  Speaker 1: message would reach those who need it most. There are
• 1:16:19
  Speaker 1: people watching right now who feel like they have been forgotten,
• 1:16:23
  Speaker 1: people who are questioning. If you still see them, people
• 1:16:27
  Speaker 1: who are desperate for hope, Father, meet them where they are,
• 1:16:30
  Speaker 1: speak to them in the way only you can let
• 1:16:34
  Speaker 1: them know that they are loved, that they are not alone,
• 1:16:37
  Speaker 1: and that your grace is more than enough. As we close,
• 1:16:42
  Speaker 1: we thank you for this journey through Second Corinthians. We
• 1:16:45
  Speaker 1: thank you for Paul's words which continue to challenge and
• 1:16:49
  Speaker 1: encourage us to day. And we thank you that no
• 1:16:52
  Speaker 1: matter what we face, we can stand firm in this truth.
• 1:16:58
  Speaker 1: When we are weak, you are strong in Jesus name. Amen.
• 1:17:04
  Speaker 1: If this message has blessed you, we encourage you to
• 1:17:06
  Speaker 1: go even deeper. We have created a full explainer video
• 1:17:10
  Speaker 1: on Second Corinthians, breaking down these lessons in a way
• 1:17:14
  Speaker 1: that will help strengthen your faith even more. And for
• 1:17:17
  Speaker 1: those who want to study at their own pace, we
• 1:17:19
  Speaker 1: have also put together an e book to guide you
• 1:17:22
  Speaker 1: through this powerful book of the Bible. Both are linked
• 1:17:26
  Speaker 1: in the description below. And finally, if you know someone
• 1:17:30
  Speaker 1: who is struggling right now, someone who feels like they
• 1:17:34
  Speaker 1: are barely holding on, share this with them, because sometimes
• 1:17:39
  Speaker 1: all it takes is one message of hope to change
• 1:17:42
  Speaker 1: a life. May God bless you, strengthen you, and remind
• 1:17:45
  Speaker 1: you daily that His grace is sufficient for you. Stay blessed,