When we are weak we are strong 2 Corinthians 2:10
Corinthians 2:1-15
1 Dear brothers and sisters, when I first came to you I didn't use lofty words and brilliant ideas to tell you God's message. 2 For I decided to concentrate only on Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. 3 I came to you in weakness -- timid and trembling. 4 And my message and my preaching were very plain. I did not use wise and persuasive speeches, but the Holy Spirit was powerful among you. 5 I did this so that you might trust the power of God rather than human wisdom. 6 Yet when I am among mature Christians, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world, and not the kind that appeals to the rulers of this world, who are being brought to nothing. 7 No, the wisdom we speak of is the secret wisdom of God, which was hidden in former times, though he made it for our benefit before the world began. 8 But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would never have crucified our glorious Lord. 9That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him." 10 But we know these things because God has revealed them to us by his Spirit, and his Spirit searches out everything and shows us even God's deep secrets. 11 No one can know what anyone else is really thinking except that person alone, and no one can know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit. 12 And God has actually given us his Spirit (not the world's spirit) so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. 13 When we tell you this, we do not use words of human wisdom. We speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit's words to explain spiritual truths. 14 But people who aren't Christians can't understand these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them because only those who have the Spirit can understand what the Spirit means. 15 We who have the Spirit understand these things, but others can't understand us at all.
We are weak but the Spirit is strong. It is time to put on the mind of Christ.
Why often do we not understand things? Usually it is because we use our life experience to understand things, but this is limited. That is why we are weak. If we are to truly understand God and His plan then we need to cast off our limited understanding and put on Christ's mind.
God wants us to fully experience His secrets through His Spirit. If we are to immerse ourselves in God and God is Love then we need to allow His Spirit to reveal to us God's deep secrets. And God has given us his Spirit. So why do we still view the world through our own limited perspective when God wants to reveal to us His deep secrets?
Paul is talking of a spiritual journey, not a rules and regulation denomination or church based life that tells you how to think and do. He is talking of the inward walk that we must venture on if God is to make sense in our everyday life.
He is talking about the 'narrow' path.
Matthew 18:3 And he said to them "I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Was Jesus really talking about sins in the way we understand them or was he talking about the way we think of things? Our way of thinking being distorted and at times shameful. Children understand in a simplistic way, their thoughts have not been corrupted by experience, therefore they are able to enter the kingdom of heaven with their innocence. In other words, they can through the Spirit, understand God's mystery, His Love. They can venture inward to the Soul and where God's deep secrets are revealed. Unless you turn from your sins (distorted thoughts) and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Remember we are talking of a Spiritual encounter, where we are free to 'see' and 'hear' in the Spirit. The narrow path.
John 3:5 Jesus replied, 'I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.'
Again this is a call for us to shed our thoughts, and to put on the mind of Christ. The narrow path.
Matthew 19:24 I'll say it again - it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!
This could be a man who is rich in worldly wealth, worldly knowledge, worldly talents, etc. This does not mean a rich man with wealth cannot get into Heaven but the mystery of God's deep secret is that we must be wealthy in God's understanding, in God's mind first and foremost. The narrow path.
We like Paul must decide to concentrate only on Jesus Christ and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal God's deepest secrets to us. This narrow path will take us to the very depths of Love where we will find communion with God. That is our prize, that needs to be our goal, our resurrection. This is God's Wisdom.
God bless.
(photo by M. Kaz)
