Good Company

1 Corinthians 2:1-5   And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom proclaiming to you the testimony of God.  For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.  I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

Even Paul came in weakness, fear, and in much trembling.  Friend, we are in good company.  I, too, come trembling at the thought of "proclaiming to you the testimony of God".  I mean, really, what do I know?  What authority do I have to speak of the things of God?  I have no wisdom, no superiority of speech.  I'm a simple stay-at-home mom with minimal biblical training, light exposure to missions or evangelism, and very little confidence.  Paul speaks of persuasive words of wisdom.  I doubt my wisdom has ever persuaded anyone toward anything.  But, here's what I do know.  I know Christ, I know His death, and I know His resurrection.  I know it personally.  I know He called to Me, in the deepest part of my heart and since that moment I've not been the same.  I know parts of me have died, sinful parts, and I know He's replaced those parts with new life.  I know it has been a demonstration of His Spirit and power and it has only required my obedience, which again has been through His power within me.  And this testimony of mine, the testimony of God gives your faith something to grab onto. 

So, in the weakness of my speech, the absence of my wisdom, and in my trembling, I pray that you will see God.

Many of us feel that we are powerless to make a difference, ill-equipped to be effective in our faith.  Paul felt the same way, but He still knew how to accomplish God's plan of reaching others for God's kingdom.  Let God do it through you.  It was God's power in Paul that would work and will be God's power in you!

God is For You

In case you are feeling a little down, here's a lovely reminder of something incredible today.

Jesus, take the jaw!

I'm just about to head to the dentist with great trepidation in my step.  I have had some of the worst pain ever in my jaw since last Wednesday.  It has been so bad that at the last minute I backed out of a trip with my students to Daytona, Fl.

If you know me at all, you know that was not an easy thing for me to do.

I'm extremely nervous about the potential pain I'm about to endure so I decided to get Jesus as close to my jaw as possible:

Jesus, take the the jaw!